Zombieland

A nice take on the saturated zombie genre. It's end of the world with a dark sense of humor. But it's more about the time after the zombies first appear to ravage the world. It's a bad of misfits who are trying to survive in an impossible situation. It has a great cameo about halfway through, and the zombies aren't the shambling kind, but the much worse running at you kind.

Although it doesn't exactly do anything new, it does it in a fun way, and if you're a zombie fan, you should like this one as well. It's pretty gruesome, but that's part of the charm. It does have a few tender moments, but they enhance the movie rather than slow it down.

Enjoy, and remember your double tap!


3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
An easily spooked guy, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), joins forces with wild man Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) to fight for survival in a world virtually taken over by freakish zombies. As they destroy scores of the undead, they meet up with two other survivors, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone), and journey to a supposedly safe abandoned amusement park. Ruben Fleischer directs this horror romp.

Motherhood

My wife rented this based on the description.  She couldn't finish it.  I tried to, and I couldn't finish it.  It was just too annoying.  Uma Thurman plays a mother with a lot on her plate.  The problem is, she doesn't really have that much on her plate, she's just an idiot.  For example, she has to deal with getting a birthday party ready while handling all the nuances of living in a big city, like being able to park.  I could see this being a problem if she was supposed to have just moved, but the character had been living there for a while.  But she was acting as if she had never had to park before.  And she was soooo busy getting ready for a party in a few hours, yet she had plenty of time to take her kid to the park and hang out.  I have ADD, but even I know that it's a good idea to get ready for something before it actually begins.  And being stupid isn't the same as being overworked.

Minnie Driver was cute, but not cute enough to make up for Thurman's character being just too stupid to reproduce.  Maybe if you're an Uma Thurman fan it would be okay.  Or if you had the choice between this movie or a root canal.  Otherwise, just save the time and do something else.

1 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary
Financially strapped Eliza Welch (Uma Thurman) wants to throw her 6-year-old daughter a great birthday party, but all of Manhattan, her goofy dog, and her 2-year-old dynamo of a son seem to be conspiring against her. Besides the pressure of the party, Eliza must battle an invasive film crew, fend off a flirtatious messenger boy and keep up appearances at the playground. Katherine Dieckmann directs; Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards co-star.

Mr. Brooks

I didn't expect much from this movie since it starred Kevin Costner, and I haven't liked anything of his since No Way Out.  But this one was actually enjoyable enough that I could forget Costner was even there.  It's sort of like a version of Dexter where the main character isn't out to help the world through his illness.  Demi Moore wasn't that annoying, either.  The story could have been fleshed out a bit more around her character and Costner's, but I'm not sure if the actors would have been up to the challenge.

3 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
Kevin Costner plays against type, starring as a man caught in a deadly downward spiral -- and at war with his own alter ego (William Hurt) -- in this psychological thriller from writer-director team Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon (Stand by Me). Demi Moore co-stars as a sharp-witted police detective whose passion for her job attracts the attention -- and respect -- of the very serial killer she's tracking.

Serenity

I missed Firefly when it first aired.  No idea why.  Maybe I was too busy working or chasing skirts.  Or I didn't have cable.  But about five years later I sat down with the whole series and watched it through.  I loved it.

So then I saw Serenity (the name of the spaceship).  It nicely wrapped up most of the storylines yet hadits own plot.  It was really pretty good science fiction.  And that's hard to do.  If you like SF flicks, then this is a must-see.  And don't worry if you haven't seen the series, it has enough backstory for you to easily catch up.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Plot Summary:
Picking up where his cult show "Firefly" left off, writer-director Joss Whedon's tale of galactic unrest follows Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), captain of the transport ship Serenity, and his scrappy but loyal crew. When the ship picks up two fugitives from the powerful coalition ruling the universe, "Mal" and his mates find themselves at the center of a cosmic conflict, pursued by military forces and space-roaming savages.

Back to the Barnyard

Ok, let me start off by saying the kids enjoyed this. But it lost at least one star because the artists and animators didn't care to do any research on what cows really look like. I know it's a cartoon, and animals don't talk either, but male cows - bulls - DON'T HAVE UDDERS!

It drives me up a wall when I see this movie, or the spin off series. This big, manly bull with udders. Like he's some sort of cross-dressing bovine, or a transbullvite. It's so udderly - I'm sorry - UTTERLY wrong that it ruins the whole thing for me.

My kids think I'm crazy to get so worked up, as does my wife. So if you don't care about whether or not the animals are drawn right, then add a star to the review. Otherwise, avoid the cringe.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
When the farmer's back is turned, the animals party down in Barnyard. A young cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James, The King of Queens) loves to have fun at the farm's wild late-night hoe-downs, despite the disapproval of his father, Ben (Sam Elliott, Thank You for Smoking). When Ben dies defending the barnyard from marauding coyotes, Otis is chosen as the new leader--but responsibility sits uneasily on Otis' head and he fears he may not be able to protect his friends from the coyotes.

Smokin' Weeds

Showtime really makes some good shows.  Weeds is another one of those.  That combination of drama and comedy that just seems to work so well when done right (when done wrong, you get the Dukes of Hazard). A good watch, all the way.

3.9 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
Upper-class suburbanite Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker, in an Emmy-nominated role) takes her creativity to, er, new heights in this Showtime dramedy about a single mom who becomes a drug dealer to make ends meet.

Dexter

Again, another serial killer themed work.  When done properly, it can be a very engrossing topic. 

Dexter, although not terribly realistic in many cases, is still very entertaining.  It's nice to think someone could channel such a horrible drive into something so...productive.  As long as you can suspend disbelief on the whole anti-hero thing (as if someone that fracked up wouldn't self-destruct in a cloud of blood and bullets one day), it's well worth the time.  Keep in mind it's a series, so it may take a while to see it all.

4 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
Playing a sympathetic serial killer might sound like a stretch, but former "Six Feet Under" star Michael C. Hall pulls it off in this macabre drama about a likable forensics expert who channels his violent tendencies into knocking off miscreants. Dexter Morgan (Hall) seems so harmless, in fact, that neither his girlfriend (Julie Benz) nor his cop sister (Jennifer Carpenter) suspect the true nature of his extracurricular activities.