Movie: "Where the Wild Things Are"

Max Records is a boy living in a single parent suburban home. He has a fantastic imagination, but cannot control his anger or emotions. In a fit or rage, he leaves home and sets sail in a small boat to an island populated by bigger- than- life sentient fantastic creatures. There he establishes himself as king over the wild things. Most of the story is spent in conflicts amongst the wild things and his rule over them.

Max is mostly out of control emotionally the first twenty minutes of the movie. The facial animation of the creatures is excellent. The story and cinematography are dark and cheerless. You definitely will not leave the theater feeling enlightened or uplifted.

Despite being based on a children’s book, I would not recommend taking small children to see this.

Movie Review: "Zombieland"

This movie is a spoof of Zombie movies- including “Night of the Living Dead” and “I Am Legend.” Almost the entire population of the earth has been infected with a virus that turns everyone in to flesh-eating zombies. The plot centers around the relationship between a dysfunctional neurotic University of Texas undergraduate, Columbus, and a zombie-killing psychopath, Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson. Columbus wants to return to see his family in Ohio and Tallahassee wants to return to his home in Florida. Tallahassee is obsessed by his search for the last Twinkie and the desire to kill as many zombies along the way. Their quest is complicated by their encounter with two sisters who are on their way to an amusement park in Los Angeles. Billy Murray makes a cameo appearance as a zombie impersonator.

I personally enjoyed the twisted sense of humor that usually centered around the application of the myriad “Rules of Zombieland.” You need to get past the first ten minutes of unnecessary gore at the beginning of the movie. If not for the needless profanity, the movie would not have been rated R.