Zombieland

Zombieland is a 2009 American zombie comedy horror film, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and directed by Ruben Fleischer. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, Zombieland was released on October 2, 2009 in the US and Canada, with an R rating for horror violence/gore and language in the US^[3][4] and a 14A rating in Canada for gory scenes and coarse language.^[5] The film is credited as having the second highest-grossing start on record for a zombie film behind the Dawn of the Dead remake and as “the first [American] horror comedy in recent memory to find significant theatrical success”.^[6] It grossed $60.8 million in 17 days, becoming the top-grossing zombie film in history; the title was previously held by the Dawn of the Dead remake.^[7]

The film takes place within a post-apocalyptic world, beginning with narration from Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a college student from Austin, Texas, who is on his way to Columbus, Ohio to see if his parents are alive. He begins by explaining that his survival so far has been due to not having any friends to be attached to and not being close with his family, as well as a list of “rules” for surviving the zombie apocalypse (triggered by a virulent form of human adapted mad cow disease), which becomes a recurring motif in the film. After surviving a few zombie attacks, he encounters Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), whose life goal is to find the remaining Twinkies on Earth. To avoid attachment, Tallahassee insists that no real names be used and instead go by their home towns: Columbus and Tallahassee.^[8]

As Columbus and Tallahassee search a grocery store for Twinkies, they meet two sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and her little sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Through a con, the sisters manage to steal their weapons and truck, but the men soon find a Hummer H2 truck loaded with weapons and pursue them. The sisters manage to con the men yet again and take the H2 after their stolen car breaks down, this time taking the men as prisoners. After a tense standoff, Columbus convinces the group that it’s better to stick together.^[9]

^{Taken From Wikipedia}

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati in the Hindi version) and exceeds people’s expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials.

After its world premiere at Telluride Film Festival and subsequent screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival and the London Film Festival, Slumdog Millionaire initially had a limited North American release on 12 November 2008, to critical acclaim. It later had a nationwide grand release in the United Kingdom on 9 January 2009 and in the United States on 23 January 2009. It premiered in Mumbai on 22 January 2009. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on 31 March 2009.

Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film of 2008, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven BAFTA Awards (including Best Film), five Critics’ Choice Awards, and four Golden Globes. Slumdog Millionaire has stirred controversy concerning language use, its portrayals of Indians and Hinduism, and the welfare of its child actors.

Doubt

Doubt is a 2008 film adaptation of the John Patrick Shanley stage play Doubt: A Parable. Written and directed by Shanley and produced by Scott Rudin, the film stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis, who were all nominated for Oscars at the 2009 ceremonies. It premiered on October 30, 2008 at the AFI Fest before being distributed by Miramax Films in limited release on December 12, 2008 and in wide release on December 25, 2008.

Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior.

Sister James (Amy Adams), a young and naïve teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school’s only African-American student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald’s locker. On guard for unusual behavior, Sister James reveals her suspicions to Sister Aloysius.

Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school’s Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times, Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. The priest relents, revealing that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine. He explains that he had promised the student not to tell anyone about the incident, and that he could remain an altar boy. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy. Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius that he is disappointed in the way she handled this.

Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn’s innocence, but Sister Aloysius’ belief that he has behaved inappropriately with the boy is unshakeable. Sister James later confronts Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald’s locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy and Sister James’ doubts are assuaged.

Sister Aloysius sends for Donald Miller’s mother to reveal her suspicions. Mrs. Miller (Viola Davis) surprises Sister Aloysius by stating that she should not pursue the matter further and that he only has to last until the end of the school year before he goes on to attend high school. To protect him from an abusive father, she asks that the matter be dropped.

Despite having no evidence and no support from Donald’s mother, Sister Aloysius demands that Father Flynn tell the truth or she will go to his superiors. Father Flynn repeats that there is no illicit relationship, but Sister Aloysius says she knows that he has a history of problems, having moved to three different parishes in five years. She tells him that she has contacted a nun at one of his prior churches (she refuses to say whom) and that this nun corroborated her suspicions. Father Flynn is furious that she has contacted a nun rather than the church’s priest. Sister Aloysius demands that he resign. Unable to stand up to her willingness to destroy his character, he succumbs to her demands.

Following his final sermon, the nuns sit together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn has left, he has been given a more prestigious parish with its parochial school, in effect a promotion. She goes on to reveal that she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn’s former church. Repeating a line from earlier in the film that “In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God,” she adds that there is also a price. Aloysius breaks down in tears and says to Sister James, “I have doubts.”

Constantine’s Sword

A new day has risen and a new evil power, which is really an old evil power, has infiltrated the system.

Wilfred has asked me to help moderate this blog, which I will do even though I am kind of an extremist. So, I have decided to make it part of my 4488 step plan to rid the world of brain disorders. Anyways this month’s selection is only 2 weeks late and is listed below.

Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews – A History (2001) is a book by James P. Carroll, a former priest, who attributes to the Catholic Church a history of antisemitism and argues that this became the foundation for the hatred that led to the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis. The book’s title refers to Constantine’s transformation of the cross into a sword with which to conquer non-Christians. A documentary film of the same name, “Constantine’s Sword” based on the book was shown at film festivals in August 2007. The movie was directed by Oren Jacoby, who is also listed as a producer, and written by James Carroll and Oren Jacoby. It was released by the production company, Storyville Films.

Watchmen

As requested (thank you Ian), the movie ‘Watchmen’ debuted this month in theaters.  I was privileged to have seen it this past weekend.

Set in an alternate-history 1985, Watchmen follows a group of former vigilantes as tensions heighten between the United States and the Soviet Union while an investigation of an apparent conspiracy against them uncovers something even more grandiose and sinister. – wikipedia

What did you think of the movie or the graphic novel? If you have read the graphic novel, do you think the movie tells the story faithfully? How do the heroes in this movie/graphic novel differ from the traditional comic book? Who is you favorite character (if there is one)? I am anxious to here what you think.

New Movie: Religulous

For the month of March we will be watching Religulous.

Bill Maher grew up in a Catholic/Jewish home and has a unique perspective on religion. This documentary or mock-umentary, depending on  how you see it, wants to point out how relevant religion is in our society.

One thing I have to ask right out is: how do you pronounce Religulous? I say it like ‘rediculous’, so with a hard “G” sound in the middle, but I have heard people say it with a soft “g”.  How do you say it?!?!

March Movie

Hi Everyone, we need to pick a movie for March.

We have a good list to pick from:

11th Hour
Religulous
The Corporation
Expelled
Crash
Ghost Town
Burn After Reading
Unknown White Male
Let the Right One In

SInce we live in a Democratic society, we will pick the movie most people want to watch.

Wilf

February Movie: Frailty

We are watching “Frailty” for the month of February starring Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey.

Fenton Meeks (Matthew McConaughey), comes forth to tell the FBI that his brother Adam may be the serial killer who calls himself God’s Hands, who the FBI has been searching for. The film uses flashbacks to show Meeks’ childhood with a father (Bill Paxton) who believed he was on a mission from God to destroy demons that inhabit human bodies. Fenton saw his dad as evil, while Adam saw him as a hero.
- from IMDB

While your posting your comments about the movie, I would like it if you could post a rating, (thumbs up or down, 5 stars out of 5 stars , 6 out of 10, etc..) and tell us what you liked or hated about the movie.  

I haven’t watched it yet, but I think I will get to it this weekend.

Later, Wilf

You are invited to…

Be a film critic!

The rules are simple.

Every month, on the first of the month, a Movie title will be posted.   It may be any movie, but preferably Documentaries, Top 100 films, Film classics and foreign. You can find a good list at: http://www.imdb.com or at http://www.rottentomatoes.com, if you want to suggest titles.

For the rest of the month, there will be a general discussion of the movie.  Post your review. Ask questions. Tell us why you hate the movie or loved the characters. Post your opinion and rating of the movie.

But most of all, have fun!