ZOMBIELAND: THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

Little Rock: Who's Bill Murray?
Tallahassee: ...I've never hit a kid before...

I mean, that's like asking who Gandhi is.
Little Rock: Who's Gandhi?

This is by far the most clever and well written zombie movie ever made. In fact, among movies that start with a Z, this movie is the highest grossing ever. Box office gold. It's a post apocalyptic world, where zombies have taken over and zombies are notorious for not cleaning up after themselves. We meet Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) who is one of the few non-zombie survivors. He has survived so long because he has developed a 32 point plan for how to protect and defend oneself against the zombies. Along his quest to get back home to see if his family has survived, he runs into Tallahassee (a delightful Woody Harrelson) who is a buff, gun toting zombie killer.

They reluctantly team up (the yin/yang of manliness) and come across two sisters, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone) who cunningly take control of the situation for their own quest, one grand last time at Adventureland. Only Wichita and only at the end of the movie has a name. Along the way, they stop in and spend some time at Bill Murray's place. Murray plays himself and the references to his past work with Harrelson are clever.

Columbus: You know there's a place untouched by all this crap?

Tallahassee: Out east, yeah?

Columbus: Yeah.

Tallahassee: Out west, we hear it's out east, out east they hear it's out west. It's all bullshit. It's like you're a penguin at the North Pole hears the South Pole is real nice this time of year.

Columbus: There are no penguins in the North Pole.

                             Tallahassee: You wanna feel how hard I can punch?

This is a hilarious and fun film to watch. I feel nothing but pity for my friend Suzy who has an aversion to all things zombie. I have a clown phobia like Columbus and still managed to make it through a gruesome clown scene. The acting is great, the dialogue is funny and smart and it is a new look at an old genre. Woody, although halting filming due to a marijuana bust, is the man and his charisma and childlike joy make this movie a pleasure to watch.
BIG bite: Fun, funny and clever... a fantastic movie.