Finding Your Place…In Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)

Directed By: Ruben Fleischer

Starring:
Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee
Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus
Emma Stone as Wichita

It is rare to find a film that functions efficiently as both a comedy and a horror film but Zombieland, packed to the gills with laughs galore as well as gory zombie carnage, is just that. Narrated by the slightly neurotic Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), the film follows him and professional zombie killer Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) as they travel across post-apocalyptic America trying to find…well, I don’t exactly know. Though there is a time when Columbus is hoping to find his family, the film is primarily concerned with them simply surviving in a world they affectionately call Zombieland. After encountering the beautiful Wichita (Emma Stone) and her younger sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), they form an unlikely and quirky family (of sorts) that, while heading to an amusement park in California, kills zombies and has fun. For those who are wondering, the answer is “Yes”…yes, that really is all there is to the film’s scant storyline.

When An Idea Overshadows Its Execution

100 Feet (2009)

Directed By: Eric Red

Starring:
Famke Janssen as Marnie
Bobby Cannavale as Shanks
Ed Westwick as Joey

Eric Red’s 100 Feet has been making its rounds since mid-2008 and finally found an American release via the Sci-Fi Channel. For those who are “in the know,” any film that ends up on that much-maligned network has an automatic death sentence. Several months after its edited-for-content version was first unleashed, it has finally found an uncut domestic release on DVD. The good news is that it never belonged on the Sci-Fi Channel alongside such films as Frankenfish and Beyond Loch Ness (two films that I am proud to say I have never seen). Even better news is that it is, no doubt, substantially better than just about every other film ever to have its debut on there. The bad news is that, while it is a good film, it is also deeply flawed. An intriguing and occasionally powerful concept is mired in the woes of its obviously low-budget and shoddy technique. This is a prime example of a film that is all idea with very little skilled execution.