Zombieland

I watched this movie a week ago courtesy of Netflix. Actually, I paid for it, so it's not really a courtesy, is it?

Zombieland is a mild-humored horror about zombies. Some time in the future, a disease breaks out and Metallica plays great music and many people become zombies. Now living on his own in fear of zombies, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) narrates the movie and gives us tips for living with zombies. Tips such as 'don't forget the double-pump'.

Suspicious of everyone, Columbus (who uses this name because that's where he's from) runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee has a fetish for Twinkees and a no-nonsense way of dealing with zombies - and this means fire power.

On their journey they run into 2 girls, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone) who initially pretend to be sisters, but con the guys and steal their truck. After conning each other a couple of times, they eventually conclude that they need to work together and head to an amusement park where it is rumored there are no zombies.

Zombieland is gory-funny. It's not scary at all. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Zombieland is 88 minutes long, which I thought was too short, and is Rated R for continuous violence, gore, and language.

I got a good laugh out of this movie. And with a cameo from Bill Murray, this movie my kind of horror movie. Nothing made me jump. And that's good. Additionally, there is awesome music throughout. And Emma Stone is pretty hot. For these reasons, I give Zombieland 4 stars.

Definitely, Maybe

Definitely a chick-flick, maybe. But as I have said before, I seem to be a sucker for many of these. There are always really cute girls that I like to look at. And usually there's some jackass guy that makes me angry and wonder why hot chicks dig jerks. But I digress.

Definitely, Maybe is an Adam Brooks movie staring Ryan Reynolds (Waiting..., Van Wilder) as Will Hayes, the divorcing father of Maya (Abigail Breslin). When he announces his impending divorce, she throws a tantrum and refuses to talk to him. Finally, good sense comes to her and she decides to throw 4 billion questions at him about his love life and he begins telling her a story of the romantically conflicting time he had with 3 girls.

One of the 3 girls (Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, and Rachel Weisz) would end up being Maya's mother, so throughout the story, she is trying to decide which one she hopes is her mom. To throw her, he changes the name of all of the girls, or so we are led to believe.

In his youth, he meets a hot girl working at the Bill Clinton headquarters in New York City. I told you he was conflicted, right? It's deeper than romance. Anyway, he then meets a girl who is married to/dating a professor (a really old Kevin Kline). And finally, there's the college sweetheart who still lives in Texas. All have their great traits, yet all of them have something that drives him nuts.

A friend of mine said the movie was kind of corny. However, I liked it. Like Maya, I was unable to figure out who the mom was. And there's a nice little twist at the end. See - love does win in the end - at least in the movies. The rest of us are schluffing away at our jobs only to go home and do laundry and the kids to bed.

Another movie meant for my wife that she has yet to watch, I gave this movie 4 stars. There's enough humor and cute girlness that I think the guys will like it. And it's kind of interesting seeing Ryan Reynolds not being a total jerk like in the rest of his movies. The movie is just under 2 hours long and is rated PG-13 for language, sexuality, "frank discussion", and, get this - smoking. Gasp!!!!

No Reservations

When I first got this movie, I thought it was your typical romantic comedy. I got it for my wife who has yet to watch it. Figures.

Anyway, No Reservations stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a Kate, the head chef at some hoidy-toidy restaurant in New York City. No one there really likes her, but she runs a tight ship and the food is good. In fact, I was getting hungry watching the movie. And now I'm getting hungry while writing this review.

Kate's sister and niece are coming to visit her, but sadly, Kate's sister is killed in a car accident. Kate is forced to take in her niece, a prospect that does not exactly excite her. She's been without a date for several years and this will not help matters. The girl, Abigail Breslin (Definitely, Maybe; Little Miss Sunshine), obviously distraught over the loss of her mother, must now learn to live with with an aunt who's clueless about raising a child. This is evident with the dishes that she makes her for dinner and the ones she packs her for lunch. All kids like Mandarin chicken over marinated saffron and pork rice for their school lunch, right???

Meanwhile, the owner of the restaurant, Patricia Clarkson (Lars and the Real Girl, Good Night and Good Luck) decides to hire a suex chef while Kate is on bereavement. When Kate returns to work, Nick (Aaron Eckhart - The Dark Knight, Thank You For Smoking), is running a fun kitchen with music and laughter, yet still turning out wonderful dishes. Did I mention that I'm really hungry?

Fearing that her job and kitchen are endangered, Kate and Nick squabble and threaten each other, pretty much for the rest of the movie. Kate brings her niece to the restaurant and she falls in love with the whole atmosphere, plus she loves hanging out with Nick. So guess what? Nick and Kate fall for each other. Here's the romantic part of romantic-comedy. So maybe it's a romantic-drama.

Now the problem is - will the restaurant succeed with both of them and can they work and date together? Only watching this movie will tell.

This 2007 movie is rate PG for "some sensuality" and language. No Reservations is 104 minutes, so that's a buck 40 that you'll have to suck it up if you're watching this with your lady or sensitive boyfriend. I give this movie 3 stars. It's predictable, but no so much in a bad way. You know what you're getting when you watch the movie and you shouldn't be disappointed. And as the pun of the title implies, you should no reservations about watching this movie. Get it?