The 50's had Alfred Hitchcock, reinventing the directorial art with enduring classics like Rear Window and North by Northwest, as well as cult hit experiments in cinematography such as Rope and The Lady Vanishes. The 60's and 70's were the era of bliss, camp, and weed (but mostly weed) representing the height of the slasher/monster flick genre with Romero's Dawn of the Dead and Wes Craven's Halloween. The hardcore and, honestly, terrible 80's carried with them a whole slew of movies that defined the modern action movie, like Blade Runner, The Terminator and Lethal Weapon. And, of course, the laid-back 90's refined everything that was accomplished before them, setting the stage for a storm of indie legends and controversy, films like Pulp Fiction and...Pulp Fiction again (Everything in the 90's wanted to become Pulp Fiction.)
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| Our forefathers |
And the 90's were laid-back. Everybody was just chillin', enjoying the come-down of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall had fallen and the Gulf War was ending as well, and the whole of America was finally putting a sloppy, tangled age of oil fires and race riots behind them. Where Walter Cronkite had once been reporting from smoke-choked jungles and the death of a beloved president, Green Day was now preforming on Letterman and clad in sloppy street clothes. And then there was that 9/11 thing, but we don't need to cover that.
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| "Pfft; bring it on, terrorists!" |
And boom-- now we're here. It's 2011 and president is Barack Obama. The current Best Picture holder is The King's Speech. The Record of the Year belongs to Lady Antebellum. The Lombardi trophy has returned home to Green Bay. The national debt stands at 54 trillion-something (seriously, holy shit.)
Exactly 21 years ago, the San Francisco 49ers were the reining Super Bowl champs (total fluke), the head Grammy-winners were Arif Mardin and Bette Midler for “Wind Beneath My Wings,” the Best Picture was Dances with Wolves (the first Avatar), the residing president was George H. W. Bush, and the national debt was...probably still 54 trillion, who cares. This isn't about that shit; this is a movie blog. Now that the tone's been set, let's get to the topic: Both of those eras were identical in nearly every way, minus the fact that we're quickly exiting the first decade of the 21st century and have yet to discover our definitive period piece. Give me American Beauty and the social network any day; we need a movie that truly sums up the melodramatic world of sensationalism we live in today.
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| Not you. Fuck you. |
But if you think that this is going to be several pages of Palahnuik-esq satire, hold on-- I have your answer: Zombieland. That's right, I said it; Zombieland. It may not be the greatest film ever made, but it meets the criteria for a definitive title of today.
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| "'I never made it as a workin' class hero; 21st century break--' Oh, hey. We shooting this?" |
For those of you shouting “nay, nay, nay,” (Joseph Decrux-- I'm a huge fan, man) I ask that you look deep into yourselves, taking care not to snag your elbow on the globs of Warhammer 40k minifigurines and mountains of WoW giftcards, and analyze the world we live in: A metropolis of humor revolving around cheesy pop culture and the destruction thereof. Movies are little more than wallet-fatteners to the suits that produce them. And holy shit, what is up with all the fucking zombies? There are zombies literally everywhere. It's like we're actually in the midst of a digital apocalypse, only it's the DVD players and iPods that are being invaded by the hordes and the “hordes” are all Simon Pegg and Woody Harrelson. Even excluding the strait-to-DVD releases, there are still way too many corpses shambling on-screen to eat up your monies.
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| And, y'know, only a few are good. |
Whenever a ZomDrama comes out these days, it's immediately panned by critics because they just don't posses the same cultural impact they had back in 1978. Or they're just not funny. But Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland is a rare stray from the established form, foregoing the slapstick alienation elements of a fresh apocalypse and instead embracing a jaded, daily-grind kind of approach to the genre. The writing is quick and witty, as well as relevant and lightly accusatory to and of its target audience. At first glance its just a blissful stiff-slaying romp with more shotguns than you know what to do with, but after you've seen it ten times (me) you start to notice the smart bits of satire. This almost guarantees that it won't hold up at all in ten years, but for today's youth, it's better than penicillin (but, like, not really. You need that, kids.)
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| Pictured: Today's Youth |
Plus, the actors and actresses involved are all up-and-coming stars, with a nice mix of beloved classic icons that we all grew up watching (ie. Bill Murray and Woody Harrelson). Good 'ol Jesse Eisenberg produces what is probably the second-most iconic performance of his very promising career, delivering a character which is quickly becoming a classic archetype for the Young Survivor guy. Woody Harrelson, who's always great to watch, is equally timeless in his truly badass role, and Emma Stone brings that passive spunk into what is honestly a taboo genre unhindered, and the same could be said for 'lil Abigail Breslin; I'm not a fan of kid actors at all, but she is a rare exception. She doesn't try to steal the show yet retains a delightful presence.
With current writing and acting, as well as plenty of creative integrity and aesthetic appeal, Zombieland is what people should imagine when thinking of that crazy little decade in between the fall of the World Trade Centers and the zombie uprising! Save yourself!
When Tom's "mild"-mannered alter-ego isn't bitching about movies on the interwebs, he's killing zombies with his buddy Jack. Not just any "Jack"-- The Jack. Join the winning side at Jack's Highly Classified Zombie Survival Guide and keep the local cemetery in business
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