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Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: scarred on 19 Jun 2009, 12:51
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Woody Harrelson + Zombies.
Who needs to know more?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfLaApNzzDY
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Haha this looks awesome.
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Woody Harrelson, huh. Are they zombie stoners?
Wait, how would you tell?
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All I will say is this will be incredibly awesome provided it is at least R rated and contains absurd amounts of ludicrously over the top violence.
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Oh man, had to bring this back, mainly because I went and saw it last night, and it was the most satisfying movie experience I've had in a long time, completely over the top badassitude, hilarious unexpected cameo, and overall just a great movie experience, anyone else catch this yet or do I need to be careful with spoilers?
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It's not out in the UK until tomorrow (my birthday helpfully, so I can ensure my girlfriend comes to it despite her misgivings), so yes I will aim for the head if you drop any spoilers without fair warning.
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I haven't seen it yet, either. I was hoping that the nearest drive-in would still be open, since this seems to be a good movie to see at a drive-in, but it is closed for the winter. Not sure whether I'll watch it at the theater or wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it on a projector out in a field.
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hopefully my paycheck arrives today so i can go see this after work.
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If I'm going to see this, then I'll be waiting for that cameo everybody talks about so much the whole frikkin time. It looks like a fun movie, though. I've heard more good things about it.
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Holy fucking shit I loved this film. The cameo was amazing and unexpected, and I loved it. Woody Harrelson was the fucking man in this, easily my favorite role of all time for him now.
Also, my first theater movie with my girlfriend.
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man i saw this two days ago. it was so ridiculously good. dear god.
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Hope to see it this weekend. Everyone I live with has seen it and demanded I go.
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I have to admit, this makes me smile every time I see the trailer. I'm going to try to catch it this weekend. :)
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saw it last night. it was fantastic. loved pretty much everything about it but i think my favorite thing (besides the afformentioned cameo, oh god it was so awesome) was the gratuitous amount of slow-motion. it was beautiful.
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Oh yeah, I love the slow-motion shit. The only thing that's better than shooting 130 frames per second is going through a garden in June in full bloom and filming insects on plants with a macro lens. Shit I need to start looking for jobs involving nature photography.
then getting slow-mo of a praying mantis eating a moth or some shit.
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It was pretty excellent. It reminded me of Shaun Of The Dead, not just because of the zombies but because both have the feel of being made by big nerds that were ever so excited to be doing something with zombies. But at the same time both know they're comedies first and foremost and don't make the mistake of trying too hard to be a proper zombie film and getting everything wrong. It's a comedy with some zombies in, not the other way round, and it's all the better for it.
Also, the cameo really is shitting awesome.
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Stay after the credits, yo.
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shit, I didn't, what happened?
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I saw it this evening. I thought it was studiously mediocre, self-conscious garbage
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You. Hate. Fun.
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Look if I'm going to watch a shaun of the dead rip-off I'd at least enjoy one written by people who understand how funny works.
I'm seriously shocked you guys liked it.
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It's okay to be dead inside, Khar.
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aha yes.
My first problem would be poor writing. The only time I couldn't predict the jokes was when it was just OMG SOOOO RANDOM LOL. Hey the Cowboy likes Twinkies, how quirky and zany is that! Oh, let's cut into some gut-wrenchingly mawkish sentimental bullshit about characters it is almost impossible to care about. Then let's have those fucking rules pop up like the most hideous fucking visual conceit of the year (which they were). Don't bother about where to put those rules, there'll be plenty of space owing to the way the entire movie is shot like a conservatively lit episode of the OC. Yeah, the slow motion shots were pretty. Unfortunately my folks have a plasma screen HDTV that recieves the discovery channel, giving me an opportunity to watch Time Warp fairly regularly, so it was hardly an original treat. I was actually pretty stoked through the credits sequence, but it was a huge rollercoaster of dissapointment from then on. What it ended up kind of reminding me of, especially with the awful, grating, so hip and self-fucking-conscious voiceover, was a feature length episode of Scrubs with zombies. Now, that's not all bad. I can think of a few situations where I might watch Scrubs. For example say my entire body is paralysed but I'm in the room with it on. Or say Mike Tyson threatens to anally violate me with an MG-42 if I don't watch some Scrubs. This movie wasn't really as crap as scrubs, but it was depressingly mediocre, which can actually be worse. Without really glaring flaws (apart from the fucking narration), you pick apart things a good movie might have gotten away with, like the way absolutely nothing in the film makes any logical sense (In a film where the BASIC PREMISE is the guys set of survival rules). In a better film it wouldn't matter that somehow you can make an amusement park run a full month after the end of western civilisation just by flicking some switches. In this film it's just dumb. It doesn't play for the kind of comedy where you can get away with shit like that. To be honest, it barely plays to any kind of comedy at all on account of really not being that funny apart from a bunch of really standard slapstick gags that will always be pretty amusing. But anyway, yeah, probably the most dissapointing film I've seen in the cinema since The Wicker Man remake, though I have been pretty good about avoiding crap since then.
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I saw this yesterday and loved it. Woody is awesome, and Emma Stone is a straight up fox. Probably the funniest movie I've seen in a long time.
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Scrubs is a great show.
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You're fucking insane.
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I like Twinkies.
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You're fucking insane.
Says the guy whose idea of fun is going to listen to someone who sounds like they are getting dissected alive on-stage and getting punched in the face repeatedly by a bunch of drunks.
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man if you ever diss on "drunken vivisectionist anger" again i will straight up cut you
but seriously, while khar and i may not agree on many things when it comes to culture stuff, this is one thing he's got a point on. scrubs is like family guy - so tired and formulaic that what we once thought an acceptable show is utterly contaminated (even back into the past)
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Without really glaring flaws (apart from the fucking narration), you pick apart things a good movie might have gotten away with, like the way absolutely nothing in the film makes any logical sense (In a film where the BASIC PREMISE is the guys set of survival rules). In a better film it wouldn't matter that somehow you can make an amusement park run a full month after the end of western civilisation just by flicking some switches. In this film it's just dumb.
Yeah, that bit made no sense and they really could have made more out of the survival rules since they were a bit thin on the ground after the start. Although it was in a lot of ways predictable I found it well played so I didn't mind, it might have done what I expected but it did it well.
Fuck Scrubs though, although I like dissecting drunk punching music as well so maybe there is a correlation there.
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Says the guy whose idea of fun is going to listen to someone who sounds like they are getting dissected alive on-stage and getting punched in the face repeatedly by a bunch of drunks.
I have gone to such a show and I'm pretty sure I'd go again, although I'd make sure to have some gatorade and painkillers around in the morning this time.
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I really wasn't prepared mentally for the idea that people on this forum like scrubs. It was just a total left-field thing.
Do you guys like Friends as well?
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I actually don't think I have ever seen a full episode of scrubs. I just thought that the idea of someone who enjoys mosh pits calling others insane for liking scrubs was kind of odd.
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Friends is not a good show.
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Honestly there is almost no correlation between the two shows other than genre
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They are both one half-hour in length and comedies! Clearly, they're exactly the same.
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I know some teenagers who own the friends box set and have claimed to have watched the whole thing. That was really weird.
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They are both one half-hour in length and comedies! Clearly, they're exactly the same.
They're both shitty, unfunny primetime comedy shows. 50 Cent and the Pussycat Dolls don't sound the same, but they're still both rubbish pop artists.
Not that I ever personally said they were similiar.
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Aside from the "primetime comedy show" part, that's just a completely subjective assessment. Which is fine. At this point all we can do is yell at each other until we get bored and this thread goes back to being about some movie with Woody Harrelson and a Michael Cera wannabe. And I'm really tired.
Let's all just agree that Friends sucks balls and move on.
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How about that How I Met Your Mother. It's the new Friends, right?
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Let's all just agree that Friends sucks balls and move on.
I can totes get behind this. Never have I even slightly understood the appeal of that show.
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That and Sex in the City
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My understanding is that Sex and the City is a form of lifestyle porn. The Hills and Gossip Girl may ostensibly deal with different topics with a different tone, but ultimately I can't help but think they all thrive due to a combination of voyeurism and vicarious consumerism. Or at least that's my theory on it; I can't imagine that it's the writing that fuels their popularity.
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I can think of a few situations where I might watch Scrubs. For example say my entire body is paralysed but I'm in the room with it on. Or say Mike Tyson threatens to anally violate me with an MG-42 if I don't watch some Scrubs.
1) line breaks are awesome
2) speaking of utilizing rAnDoM hUmOuR
I'm not sure how interested I am in this movie to begin with so I don't really care one way or the other about this debate, but Scrubs had a couple of good seasons and then sucked for years. How I Met Your Mother is really good and has a very deft way of gradually developing its characters.
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I'm sorry I think the things you like are bad Johnny.
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There's an ad running on E4 over here that depicts scenes from How I Met Your Mother. It introduces all the characters, but the narrator accidentally calls them by their counterpart on Friends before correcting himself on each one. Then he admits 'okay, it's basically exactly like friends, but without the annoying David Schwimmer character'.
I saw a few episodes and he was completely wrong. There was an annoying David Schwimmer-like character afterall.
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Yeah, Ted is the worst character on that show, which is sad because he's the main character. Fortunately, he's just the weakest link on a very entertaining and clever show.
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Aside from the "primetime comedy show" part, that's just a completely subjective assessment. Which is fine. At this point all we can do is yell at each other until we get bored and this thread goes back to being about some movie with Woody Harrelson and a Michael Cera wannabe. And I'm really tired.
Let's all just agree that Friends sucks balls and move on.
Except Jesse Eisenberg is actually funny, and a decent actor.
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waaaaaaaaah (http://www.schadenfreude.net/2009/08/24/i-was-michael-cera-first.php)
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haha
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Hey guys, instead of feeding into Khar's general hatred of everything, how about we talk about Zombieland for a couple of minutes instead?
This movie was, simply put, god damn funny. No offense Khar, but I'm pretty sure the point went about ten feet over your head. It's a fucking satire and an obviously intentionally shallow one at that. They cast Woody fucking Harrelson as a lead role, for fuck's sake, man. This was not a movie you were supposed to go into expecting a tight plot and insightful dialogue, it was an obvious exercise in blowing shit up and laughing one's tits off. I'm pretty sure I'd have given this movie a fucking Oscar if it were in my power.
I'm not a fan of random for the sake of random. I can sympathize that stuff like Scrubs and Family Guy are both absolute shit, but very little in this movie was random and yes, I'll give that much of it was predictable, but everything is predictable and formulaic these days and the difference lies in whether they play the payoff well, which this movie did. The hallmark of a truly enjoyable comedy is that you can see what may be coming but it still elicits a laugh. If something had to shock and surprise you to entertain you, then what would be the point of repeat viewings? Formulaic does not automatically equal shit.
I'm also getting really bored of all the Shaun of the Dead comparison. Two vastly different flicks. Hell, I think it draws more parallels to Hot Fuzz than anything: over the top action playing to as many cliched conventions as possible to hilarious result.
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What was it a satire of exactly?
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I can accept it as being maybe a pastiche but that's a different thing.
EDIT: Maybe the problem is that I'm not American. I have no idea who Woody Harrelson is, and I didn't pick up on anything to suggest that the extremely mawkish sentimental scenes were meant to be anything but that. That's the main thing that made me make a scrubs comparison, that and the main character and his narration.
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I think it depends on how strictly you interpret the word satire. Zombieland is a pastiche of the road trip comedy and zombie horror genres in much the way Shaun of the Dead is a pastiche of the romantic comedy and zombie horror genres, and in both cases the unorthodox combination adds a satirical edge to things almost by default. Quite simply, both movies throw a spotlight on the fact that well, zombies (and the vast majority of zombie films by extension) aren't terribly interesting in and of themselves. In both cases the zombies really just act as a catalyst that force characters out of their respective ruts and into situations where they have to deal with their interpersonal baggage rather than just keep slouching through their lives. Neither movie is really about zombies or even fear when it comes right down to it.
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I've had a terrible week this and this film was my highlight by miles. I fucking loved it.
The slow mo bits were fantastic, I thought it wasn't over used and meant that the action was really watchable, unlike a lot of modern action where it just moves so fast you can't enjoy it. (Spiderman 3 thanks for ruining Venom for me you cunts.)
I thought the Characters were likable and established quickly, I loved the cut away scenes, which weren't OMG RANDOM LITERALLY at all in my eyes, they were just funny.
The Family bit was Laboured, but I will will forgive them all for the Slow Mo Stripper & THE FUCKING CAMEO.
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Just got back from seeing this film and i absolutely loved it. I don't know if i would call it a satire but as a comedy in general it was fantastic. Great acting, a good plot, a good script and no overabundance of special effects that often ruin these kinds of films.
Definitely one of my favourite films in a long while.
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Shaun of the Dead was much better; you're right not to compare the two movies.
I'd say that depends on what conclusion you come to. Making the comparison isn't wrong in and of itself.
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This movie was great.
Seriously, if anyone went in expecting more than the trailers advertised, than that's pretty silly of them.
This movie was mental dials set to nil, enjoy.
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I always think about the films I watch, and I still liked it. I really dislike that defence of a film when it gets criticised, just saying "you're not meant to think about it, stop thinking about it you're spoiling the fun with your thoughts". If a film ever did require you to force yourself into some kind of stupor to enjoy it then it would be beneath contempt.
I'll give that much of it was predictable, but everything is predictable and formulaic these days and the difference lies in whether they play the payoff well, which this movie did. The hallmark of a truly enjoyable comedy is that you can see what may be coming but it still elicits a laugh. If something had to shock and surprise you to entertain you, then what would be the point of repeat viewings? Formulaic does not automatically equal shit.
If you think everything is predictable and formulaic then you need to watch better films, because that just isn't true. As for surprising not being necessary, it really is one of the cornerstones of comedy: doing the unexpected and surprising in order to create a humourous juxtaposition. I've seen only a tiny number of comedies that improved with repeat viewings, and hardly any of those were films so that isn't much of a defence either. I mean, I totally agree with you that it's a thoroughly entertaining film but it's also not a film where I have a hard time seeing why people wouldn't like it, and not without good reasons or because they missed the point either.
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Do you have any regrets?
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Man, thanks Wolves, it is nice sometimes not to be judged insane or stupid for not liking something.
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I really dislike that defence of a film when it gets criticised, just saying "you're not meant to think about it, stop thinking about it you're spoiling the fun with your thoughts". If a film ever did require you to force yourself into some kind of stupor to enjoy it then it would be beneath contempt.
Can you suggest ways to convince my '300' loving friends that this is the case?
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I can't really blame someone for not liking Zombieland either. First off, it's pretty low comedy. It's not interested in subtlety, so physical humor and a couple of cheap laughs better be something you enjoy. The romantic subplot led to some dull scenes and was harder for me to buy into than the zombie apocalypse conceit. Spoiler incoming: I mean, honestly now, she robbed the guy twice at gunpoint! By pretending to need help! And he basically decides that he wants to be around her immediately after this. Hell, he didn't even really forgive her or need to be convinced or anything; it's basically like he never really minded in the first place because she's cute. What the hell?
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It should probably be noted that he's heavily implied to be a virgin and humanity is close to extinct. I can see some people being rather forgiving under those circumstances.
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Can you suggest ways to convince my '300' loving friends that this is the case?
Replace their DVDs of the film with the specially edited version where you read an essay entitled Safe Harbour For Masculinity: The Imagined Past And Traditional Gender Roles In Contemporary Cinema over the top. It could convince them of the joys to be had from criticism or more likely get you punched for wrecking their DVDs, but you never know.
Do you have any regrets?
The baggy trousers I wore in the early 2000s were pretty inadvisable.
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Define baggy. If you mean falling off your hips, okay. If you mean cargo pants, fight you.
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Let's just say I wouldn't have been kicked out of a nu-metal band for dress code violations.
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It should probably be noted that he's heavily implied to be a virgin and humanity is close to extinct. I can see some people being rather forgiving under those circumstances.
I could buy into it if he had any misgivings whatsoever about it, but he was basically moon-eyed over her from the start and it never really flagged for even an instant.
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Have you ever met a guy like that? I had a friend just like him back when I first went to college, and I could absolutely believe him not having any reservations. Guys like that tend to over romanticize everything, and want a relationship so badly that they will overlook just about anything for the "right girl".
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I had a friend who was like that, but he hit his limit when she stole from him.
The girl in this movie stole from him. Twice. With guns. And she did it by appealing to his better instincts.
I'm not saying it ruined the whole movie for me. I enjoyed myself. But I did think it was honestly a pretty damn weak subplot.
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I agree that the subplot wasn't particularly captivating, but I'd say it's pretty low on the totem of unlikely character decisions in movies. I can name a handful of people I know personally off the top of my head that probably would've done the same thing. Shit, there was a point in my life where I honestly wouldn't be surprised to have found myself doing so.
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The guy I was thinking of never had his girlfriend/eventual wife steal from him. However, he did believe her when she told him that she wasn't cheating on him, she just got in a "hickey war" with her neighbor.
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I would not risk my life against death by zombies just to get my fuck on.
Well, any kind of death for that matter.
Yeah, they had a kind of semi established relationship by that point but still that is a pretty weak excuse to save someone in that situation. The whole rule #shitload-but-we'll-only-show-four of Don't Be A Hero being turned into Be A Hero at the very last instant was pretty shit as well.
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I had a friend who was like that, but he hit his limit when she stole from him.
The girl in this movie stole from him. Twice. With guns. And she did it by appealing to his better instincts.
I'm not saying it ruined the whole movie for me. I enjoyed myself. But I did think it was honestly a pretty damn weak subplot.
If you want a psychological foray into the zombie apocalypse that strives for realism, I recommend Max Brook's World War Z, which has probably been optioned for a movie by now. Zombieland was a comedy. So yes, people might not have acted like you would expect them to. Comedy.
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If you want a psychological foray into the zombie apocalypse that strives for realism
Ahahahahahahahah hahahahaha. Haha.
I guess maybe it does strive for realism on second thought, it might just completely fail in its attempt.
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Really? You're dissing on World War Z?
No. Get out.
Just get out.
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I'm not proud of it, but there are parts of that book that make me tear up a bit every time I read them. Especially the bit about the pilot who parachutes out of her plane and has to hike to safety. Something about the ending of that chapter....
Oh yeah, and the interview with the feral kid.
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Really? You're dissing on World War Z?
No. Get out.
Just get out.
Soon as Max Brooks stops trying to pretend he knows anything related to the military or firearms, sure.
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Zombieland was a comedy. So yes, people might not have acted like you would expect them to. Comedy.
You can take the condescension and shove it.
I'm just talking about verisimilitude or if you're a Colbert fan, truthiness. A movie can be balls out ridiculous but still somehow ring true a bit. For example, Nolan's Batman films are by no means realistic, but most people (including myself) don't really notice or particularly care that there's plotholes you could drive the batmobile through. That's because the movie is very consistent about characterization and is very dedicated to its tone. As Hitchcock once said, a good movie should play the audience like a piano. But with Zombieland, they just couldn't quite cover the bases well enough to get me to buy into the sentimental "We're a family now!" moments, and that's why I can sympathize a bit when Khar says that he thought the mawkish stuff was tough to appreciate, particularly since I'm basically incapable of relating to a protagonist who would act like that.
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When Bill Murray pretended to be a zombie, it lacked verisimilitude.
The world was barren. And here is this man playing golf and pretending to be zombie.
"Show more verisimilitude!" I cried.
But Bill Murray could not hear me.
Because he was dead.
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Yeah, but see, here's the thing: it didn't really have to be particularly true to a character, and more to the point, it was funny and was the sort of thing you expected to happen with Bill Murray being involved. The sentimental parts? Not so much, and if anything these scenes were undermined by the fact that the rest of the movie was markedly different. It is about tone. Trying to have your cake and eat it too is a tricky business. Again, I liked Zombieland. I just think that the sentimental bits were rather shabbily bolted onto a movie that made me laugh a few times.
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I have never understood that expression. It is easy to have your cake and eat it too. I myself frequently procure and consume cakes. What is difficult is not having your cake and then eating it. This means you are eating someone else's cake. You are a cake thief, and deserve to be shunned.
Or perhaps the expression refers to one's desire to own a cake and simultaneously eat a cake. With the boundary supposition that one may only have one cake at a time, then certainly eating a whole cake would deprive one of the cake. With cake ownership set to C and cake consumption set to K, then C + K = 0. So indeed as one consumes a cake, one simultaneously deprives oneself of cake ownership.
Happily I live in Canada, where cakes are both cheap and plentiful. I also know a number of bakers, both amateur and semi-professional, who can be induced to supply me with frequent cakes. I can therefore maintain a lifestyle allowing me to simultaneously own and indulge in cakes whenever my whim requires.
What I'm trying to say is that we are perhaps overanalyzing the movie. You are of course entitled to your opinion, but in my eyes the dramatic bits are the bits that glue the comedic bits together in a non-slapstick zombie comedy. Pointing to a recurring gag (the girls driving away with the boys' stuff) and complaining about how that rendered the dramatic moments implausible seems to me like missing the point. Shaun of the Dead also suffered from an implausible romantic relationship but that didn't stop it from being an awesome movie because it demonstrated how much fun it can be to play video games with your zombie buddy.
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The problem I have is that I had all these thoughts while I was actually watching the movie. Ideally, I should be too entertained to do that.
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My sister studied Media & film as her degree (I'm going somewhere with this...) She was really into the technical side of things, the way shots worked & what they were called. WHilst this was really interesting when watching Star wars for the twelvetyith time, when watching a new film it SUCKED. & I mean SUCKED all the fun out of it.
That is over analysing to the point of it not being fun any more, questioning a movie whilst watching it is GOOD (Maybe not for the movie.) It is what people who like films do, otherwise we should all just switch off & go watch Epic movie & Idiocracy would be even more real than it is.
A truly great film that sweeps you up & takes you away somewhere else & has you invest your emotions into made up characters (Or sometimes real ones if it's a doc.) is a rare & beautiful thing.
Zombieland made me forget that I'm having a shitty time at the moment & I can't get the image of the slo-mo stripper out of my head, but not talking about it afterwards, whether that was waiting for my bus home with the person I went to see it with, or on here or anywhere else defies the point of going to see a film, sharing the experience, good or bad is integral to my enjoyment.
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With cake ownership set to C and cake consumption set to K, then C + K = 0. So indeed as one consumes a cake, one simultaneously deprives oneself of cake ownership.
Sigg'ed.
I will probably see this movie. It sounds pretty entertaining.
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A note on Versimilitude: I think a better word is "consistency". Dr. Seuss once said something like this: if he wrote a book about a magical animal called a Zaboomaloot with two heads, people would accept that without a second thought. But if someone noticed that the Zaboomaloot's closet had sweaters in it that only had one neck each, they would say, "Hey, that's not realistic!" Now, why are people willing to accept that a magical two-headed animal exists, but they won't accept a tiny break in continuity? It's because every story needs to have internal logical consistency according to its own rules. The lesson from this is that even a totally silly comedy needs to follow the rules it set up for its own world.
That being said: honestly I didn't think Zombieland was laugh-out-loud funny, it was just awesome. The action scenes were wildly entertaining. In short: every scene in Zombieland that involved killin' zombies was kick-ass. Every scene that did not involve killin' zombies was kick-ass.