Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my thoughts on ZOMBIELAND and THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS from Fantastic Fest. Let's start with the undead, shall we?

I’ve seen ZOMBIELAND twice now if that tells you anything.

Yes, I love it. Yes, it’s as good as everybody says it is. And yes, there’s a surprise appearance that if you don’t know of by now do your best to keep it secret.

Basically ZOMBIELAND is Woody Allen and John Wayne paired together in a buddy road trip zombie apocalypse comedy. If you’re not sold you don’t exist to me.

You’ve seen the trailer, you know the premise. Done and done. I won’t go into plot, there’s no need. The flick comes out in a couple of weeks and you don’t want me blabbing the whole story to you.

So, let’s just go over my impressions. Emma Stone really is turning into this generation’s Kathleen Turner, getting hotter by the movie and that husky voice will melt your heart (if you go for the wimminses). Whoever casts her as a femme fatale first will be called a genius.

Jesse Eisenberg has perfected the neurotic geek and makes a lead that pretty much everyone can relate to. Except the jocks with no geeky interest whatsoever. For them they have Woody Harrelson, who absolutely knocks it out of the park as the cynical zombie-killing, snakeskin jacket wearing, banjo playing, gun shooting badass.

Pairing these two types together in the constant danger of the zombie apocalypse is what makes this movie work more than anything else. Their rocky friendship feels real despite both characters being larger than life.

And that’s the power of the movie, the ability to have a real heart and real emotion in a film so comical and unreal.

It’s true this film is more comedy than horror-comedy, but that’s fine. That’s the world this movie set-up and it never deviates. The zombies are depicted as fast and vicious. They pose a threat, but they’re not the point of the movie, just a new reality these characters have to live in.

Ruben Fleischer shows a lot of talent here. He shoots the hell out of this movie, the slow-motion opening reminiscent of WATCHMEN’s fantastic opening credits sequence. I especially like the zombie-on-fire section of the credits sequence.

And make sure to stay after the credits for another bit of awesomeness featuring… someone special. I so want to gush over the big appearance, but I just can’t be that dick so close to release.

I was able to nab an interview with Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg that turned out great and we talk in-depth about the entire movie, including the surprises, so I’ll post that on opening weekend.

Zombieland has my biggest recommendation as a horror and comedy nerd. The flick has heart and is fun, funny and just plain cool.

I also caught my first secret screening yesterday. I missed ROBOGEISHA, which was Secret Screening #1, but made it in for Secret Screening #2 which turned out to be the rough cut of George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, which was a tad uneven, but really damn fun.

And we get to see The Dude again! I know Jeff Bridges isn’t playing Jeffrey Lebowski, but his new age hippy army commander is real fuckin’ close, down to the hair, beard and attitude.

This film is filled with people who make me smile. George Clooney can do no wrong (and yes, I even count BATMAN & ROBIN. That movie was a horrible fucking turd, but even then Clooney somehow managed to be a good Bruce Wayne), Ewan McGregor is one of the most likable actors working and Kevin Spacey can play a fantastic douche!

And yeah, it’s weird every time McGregor talks Jedis and Jedi Warrior. He even has a speech where his journalist character talks about feeling like a farmboy far away from home having to save the galaxy from evil… or a hobbit who was once safe in the shire. Hrrmmm… maybe a little taste of things to come if some of the rumors circling around THE HOBBIT are true.

Based on a true story (more than you think, according to the opening title card) of the army exploring psychic soldiers beginning post-Vietnam the flick follows McGregor as he tries to prove his manhood to his fleeing wife (the cute redhead that Faraday fancied on LOST) by going to Iraq as a nobody journalist.

While there he finds life in the “dangerous” luxury hotel with the other journalists waiting for passage into the real war zone not to be what he was expecting. Soon he falls in with Lyn Cassady (Clooney) and he gets his adventure.

One of the things I loved about the movie was that there might have been some truth to this shit… Not massive things… these guys train for decades and we have one man who supposedly stopped the heart of a goat and can make clouds scatter. But Clooney is kind of a fuck-up regularly, so it’s hard to imagine this guy possessing the powers of a Jedi Warrior.

The cut we saw was still a little rough and I imagine we’ll be seeing some edits to this flick before it unspools in early November. The last feels a little rushed, but the first two acts are drop dead funny.

Heslov had some really charming motherfuckers in this movie and he milks them for all they’re worth. I left the theater feeling like I just watched a Coen-lite movie. It’s got the quirk and fun of a Coen film, but the whole experience was much lighter than I was expecting, but that’s not a bad thing. Not every thinking man’s comedy has to be saddled with a heavy message or serious drama core.

That’s it for those two. See you folks tomorrow for my continuing Fantastic Fest coverage. Flicks I’m going to be talking about very soon: George A. Romero’s SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD, CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT and an indie undead bromance filled with tons of gore and laughs called THE REVENANT! Stay tuned!

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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