On Tuesday I had the pleasure of sitting down with Abigail Breslin and Alessandro Nivola to discuss their new film, JANIE JONES. The film had its US premiere on Friday night at the Tribeca Film Festival. I saw an early cut of the film last week and really enjoyed it. (Review HERE)
Sometimes arriving early to a press event has its rewards. Prior to the interview, I had the chance to watch Abigail Breslin perform a quick acoustic song for a few people. I never would have guessed that she is still learning to play. As I said in Tuesday’s daily recap, she is insanely talented in everything she does. Alessandro joked that she made a deal with the devil and that would honestly explain a lot.
Here is a video of our full interview. The only thing trimmed from it is when a bee decided to invade as we were about to begin. We talk about JANIE JONES, crying on cue, Jordan Creek Mall and even ZOMBIELAND 2. Enjoy!
ZOMBIELAND was a near-perfect zombie picture that offered as many laughs as it did thrills, and, overall, it was one of the most entertaining times at the theater all year. Now comes word from Moviehole that a sequel is not only planned, it is definite. To that, I simply say, “Why?” Leave the first film alone. Leave the first film’s ending alone. I’m going to get into some spoiler territory here on the first ZOMBIELAND, so, if you haven’t seen it, you may want to divert your eyeballs elsewhere.
Seeing Columbus, Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock drive off into the proverbial sunset after escaping the onslaught of zombies is a picture-perfect ending. I was so fearful near the end of ZOMBIELAND that some of them might not make it, it was such a sigh of relief when, indeed, they all did. I know this was initially planned as a pilot episode for a series, but that didn’t happen. The film that was left in its place was a perfect, little one-shot, and no amount of money means we deserve another go at these characters.
Unfortunately, if and when a sequel does come out, that means a few things story-wise:
More survivors – I don’t want to see more survivors. These four and Bill Murray were perfectly simple and perfectly effective. Having the quartet come upon a whole other group of survivors would just seem obvious and wasteful.
More zombies – It’s a sequel. We have to up the ante, right? That means a ton more zombies. At some point, it’s going to feel like, excuse the pun, overkill. The group they faced at the end of the first film was just the right size.
More threats of character death – I like all four of these characters. Putting them into a whole new film means any one of them could get taken out, and that, I don’t like one bit.
Let’s just brush past the idea that this sequel is going to be 3-D. I’m not shy in expressing my deep hatred for the over-usage of 3-D technology. It’s pointless, and, more often than not, it’s distracting.
Of course, director Ruben Fleischer, and writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick could come up with something that makes a ZOMBIELAND sequel just as successful as well as just as much fun as the first film. We shall see. For now, I say this is a lose/lose situation on all counts.
Hands down, ZOMBIELAND is the best 81 minutes of pure, unadulterated violent, bloody laugh-your-ass-off fun that $9 (on average) can buy you this year. If you’re a fan of horror-comedy, then ZOMBIELAND is a must-see movie. Furthermore, you’ve really got to try seeing it at your local movie theatre to fully enjoy this rowdy romp. This is one of those films that is meant to be seen in a theatre, crowded with other genre-loving fans, whereas your own laughter is exponentially heightened by the laughter of everyone else around you.
ZOMBIELAND begins with Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) narrating the brief history and current state of the land once known as America, now overrun with flesh-eating zombies. For the few surviving humans, life is hard, but survival is possible with a little preparation, common sense and of course, cardio. Columbus ends up meeting Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) by chance during his long journey home to Ohio. Despite their obvious differences in personality and intended geographical destinations, the two pair up and travel together, resulting in cleverly executed zombie executions and plenty of laughs.
Columbus learns a lot about zombie-killing from Tallahassee and Tallahassee in turn reluctantly learns a little from Columbus, but it’s their encounters with Wichita (Emma Stone) and her 12 year-old sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) that will teach them both the most. While Tallahassee sees this as being the most fun of his life, Wichita and Little Rock are more focused on surviving at any and all costs, making Columbus’ immediate infatuation with Wichita that much more complicated.
Many have been calling ZOMBIELAND America’s answer to SHAUN OF THE DEAD. To this, I say neigh, neigh! Yes, it has it’s similarities (in a good way) but it’s not quite as good as SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Of course, it’s also not the same kind of movie. Sure, they both deal with average people struggling to survive in a world suddenly struck by a zombie plague, but there are major key differences. For example, SHAUN OF THE DEAD honors the traditional definition of what makes a zombie, whereas ZOMBIELAND employs the more modern hyper-raging zombie concept.
Ignoring all the raging zombie haters for a moment, this direction works well for ZOMBIELAND. The slow, clumsy zombies wouldn’t mesh with Fleischer’s fast-paced, action-driven style. The raging flesh-eaters of ZOMBIELAND are mindless killing machines driven by an instinctual drive for food. This fact is illustrated wonderfully in the film. One of my favorite scenes depicting this point is early on when Columbus finds himself stricken with one of his inconveniently common IBS attacks while being chased by two hungry, growling corpses. His relatively clear-headed response to this danger is a direct result of his long and specific list of survival rules and very funny, even though it takes a moment (by design) for the audience to figure out what he’s doing.
Ruben Fleischer (GUMBALL 3000: 6 DAYS IN MAY) directed this zombie-killing masterpiece and he did so with great flair and enthusiasm. ZOMBIELAND is not a long movie, but it’s length is perfect, as is the comedic timing and writing. Woody Harrelson is hilarious, giving one of his funniest performances since playing Roy Munson in KINGPIN. He’s a redneck with only one thing in life he’s good at… killing zombies. At the same time, he reveals a bit of sadness in his heart (which, although this sounds mean, is also hilarious) for a loved one lost.
Jesse Eisenberg (ADVENTURELAND) is also surprisingly good, taking his same type of comedic character up a notch with a more polished approach. His sarcasm is spot on and his chemistry with Harrelson is unexpectedly brilliant. The two actors play off of each other very well, being extreme opposites and creating a sort of Abbot and Costello type of relationship. Tallahassee and Columbus “dislike” each other, but they also seem to click, complimenting each other in ways they’re not willing to acknowledge.
Emma Stone (SUPERBAD, THE ROCKER) is both cute and cunning. She’s not the most demanding presence as an actress, but she’s got the icy, hard-to-get survivor role pegged fairly well in ZOMBIELAND. She has Columbus wrapped around her little finger and easily out-smarts Tallahassee at the drop of a hat, but she also has a soft side to her that Columbus eventually is able to apply just enough pressure to cause Wichita to let down her guard.
ZOMBIELAND is a high-energy experience, integrating on-screen graphical text (a la FRINGE) to accompany Columbus’ list of rules and their application during the small group’s journey. The cinematography and editing also exhibit this same caffeine-induced, hyperactive style. The soundtrack is eclectic, kick-ass and funny, including the brilliant use of Metallica’s “For Whom the Bells Toll” during the opening title sequence, which is simply and easily one of the coolest and best of the year. Finally, without giving anything away, Bill Murray’s performance in the film is abso-freaking-lutely awesome and certainly my favorite part of the film
Overall, fans of this type of movie should not be disappointed. However, a few quick precautions… those who fear clowns, beware! Those who think this movie’s all fun and no gore, beware! Those who absolutely despise and loathe the anti-traditional fast-moving zombies with unhealthy levels of Hulk-smashing anger, beware! Otherwise, prepare yourself for one helluva undead-head crushing, car door-bashing, baseball bat-wielding, all-out creative zombie-killing party!
Patrick Swayze, who sadly passed away late, last week, was going to cameo in ‘Zombieland’…as a zombie. This bit of news on the film comes from screenwriter Rhett Reese, who sat down recently with Shock Till You Drop. The initial plan was to have a large star pop up in a cameo as one of the undead, and their first choice was Swayze.
Explains Reese about the role:
That was many years ago, before he got sick. It was [going to be] a Patrick Swayze zombie. They got attacked by him zombified and we had these wonderful moments where they found a potter’s wheel and there’s Columbus on the wheel and these other hands come up behind him and it’s Patrick Swayze the zombie. Ultimately, they fight and Patrick bull rushes Tallahassee who grabs him and lifts him into the air, a la Jennifer Grey, and smashes him into a pillar.
Sadly, Swayze had to step away from the role due to his declining health, and the people behind ‘Zombieland’ went to work to find another star to fill the role. Among the actors who were groomed but didn’t work out were Sylvester Stallone, Joe Pesci, Mark Hammill, The Rock, Kevin Bacon, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Matthew McConaughey. A choice was finally made, and the part still remains, but we’ll have to wait until the film releases on October 2nd to find out who took the part.
A strange thing happened last evening before the We Are Movie Geeks’ screening of ‘District 9.’ We got trailers. Not only that, but one of them was for ‘Zombieland,’ the new riotous zomedy (new term I’ve coined for zombie comedies) starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. The MPAA screen at the beginning was green, but the trailer sure was not a green band trailer. It was full of bloody zombies (red blood, to note), a few thrown out curse words, and Harrelson giving Eisenberg the bird via a mannequin’s hand. The phrase “nut up or shut up” probably shouldn’t have been there, either, but I wouldn’t put it past the MPAA to not even know what the hell that means. I’d like to think this is a new trend in Hollywood. It’d be nice to see trailers for R-rated film that are going to be playing in front of other, R-rated films get more adult without warranting the dreaded red band.
Anywho, thought I’d throw that out there.
Coming Soon got their exclusive mits on this new poster. It’s nothing great, grand or wonderful, but it gets the point across. Seeing Woody Harrelson carrying a shotgun is always a good sight, and calls to mind his best performance as Micky Knox in ‘Natural Born Killers.’ I’d give anything to have him say the phrase, “That’s why helicopters were not deployed.” in every film he makes from here to the end of creation.
‘Zombieland’ comes out on October 9th. Our boys Scott, Matt, and Kent will be checking it out next month at Fantastic Fest.
From the onslaught of upcoming horror films, ‘Zombieland’ seems to be at the top of a lot of people’s most anticipated lists. This red-band trailer is sure to whet their appetites even further. From what I gather, it’s essentially the same thing that was shown at Comic Con, and it’s available now for your viewing pleasures.
Check it. Be sure you fill in your birthday information (or whatever information you want) into the boxes to confirm you are of age:
In a world overrun by zombies, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) are perfectly evolved survivors. But now, they’re about to stare down the most terrifying prospect of all: each other.
Who doesn’t love horror comedy movies about zombies? Well, then I am certainly not your friend, but for those of us that do you can feast your eyes on the teaser ‘Zombieland’ poster above. Here is the synopsis for the film:
In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss — but when you’re afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying’ bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.
YES! If that wasn’t enough it stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Amber Heard and a zombiefied Bill Murray! This is sure to please fans of all horror/comedy genres.
‘Zombieland’ has been hitting the rounds lately with news and photos. One of the coolest news pieces is that Bill Murray will make a cameo in the film as the undead.
‘Zombieland’ is a horror-comedy (how convienent given my ‘I Heart Horror’ article about this sub-genre) that focuses on Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) & Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee is on a cross-country trek to get the world’s last Twinkie…. ok, I had to laugh about the Twinkie. They are joined by Emma Stone (‘Superbad’) and Abigail Breslin (‘Little Miss Sunshine’).
‘Zombieland’ is written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick (‘The Joe Schmo Show’) and will be released on October 9, 2009.
Zombies are good, zombies are great, zombies are popping up all over the place. Zombies are creepy, to them we are yummy and sometimes they even can be kind of funny?
OK, excuse the lame attempt at zombie poetry. Combining zombies and comedy isn’t altogether new, but the hybrid genre is apparently getting a celebrity boost from veteran funnyman Bill Murray.
Shocktillyoudrop.com has revealed that “an anonymous industry tipster” has spilled the beans about a special comedic cameo will be made by Murray in the upcoming ‘Zombieland’ movie, due to hit theaters on October 9, 2009.
Why is this such a big deal? Apparently, while the cameo is suggested as a brief one, Murray will appear in full zombie make-up. Yes, Bill Murray will be an undead brain-eater!
The cast will include an array of frightened talent, including Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and Amber Heard. ‘Zombieland’ is directed by Ruben Fleischer (The Girls Guitar Club).
Columbia Pictures is developing a new horror-comedy called ‘Zombieland’… title sort of says it all, eh? Ruben Fleischer (Jimmy Kimmel Live) is set to direct the script written by the pen-wielding team of Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (The Joe Schmo Show). Woody Harrelson has signed on to star in the movie, hopefully he’ll last longer than he did in ‘No Country for Old Men’.
[“Zombieland” revolves around a mismatched pair of survivors who find friendship and redemption in a world overrun by zombies. Harrelson plays one of the men, a zombie fighter named Albuquerque.] — Hollywood Report
