zombie-palooza

I don't know what it is, lately, but I have been drawn to watching zombie movies. That may not seem such a big deal, with today's post-apocalyptic zombie-heavy film offerings, but it is a real departure for me. I really don't like zombies. I have watched and loved horror movies from an early age. I've loved Dracula and all of his minions and incarnations. Frankenstein, aliens, creatures from black lagoons and other environs. Ghosts, devils, werewolves, you name it. But I have always drawn the line at zombies. Those brain-craving ghouls have always freaked me out, without any of the thrills that accompany other classic horror monsters.

Night of the Living Dead: "They're coming to get you, Barbra ..."

I think I can trace my fear of zombies to George Romero's classic low-budget black and white horror film, Night of The Living Dead. I saw it at a tender age, on television, like most other horror movies I was introduced to, with my dad and the rest of our family nearby. But it was so creepy, so scary, so ... possible. Yes. It still gives me shivers just thinking about it. It also was one of those movies that pissed me off, as it, like so many others that seem to always kill the back guy.

What I didn't realize at the time, was that Romero actually intended the film to be his own interpretation of author Richard Matheson's horror novel, I Am Legend. I had already seen two other film versions of that classic story with dear old dad — The Last Man on Earth, with Vincent Price, and The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston. I loved both versions. The Heston one was flashier and less serious and somber than the Price version, so was probably my favorite of the two.

The other night I finally saw the most recently filmed version of the story, I Am Legend, starring Will Smith as the last man on earth. I liked it, although it was most interesting as a study in loneliness. It was truly heartbreaking when Smith found himself truly alone around the middle of the film. The vampire/zombies were more typical movie bad guys than truly frightening.

I Am Legend: Just a story about a man and his dog ... and hordes of the undead

World War Z: Brad Pitt, trying to remain calm in many, many storms

I saw I Am Legend just a few days after finally getting up the courage to watch World War Z, which had been gathering dust in my Netflix queue for ages. I have always been a big Brad Pitt fan, so it was definitely the zombies which kept me from checking it out any sooner. I have to admit that I loved this movie. I'm still thinking about it. It was tense. And intense. I literally sat on the edge of my seat through some of the sequences. I never read the original novel by Max Brooks (son of Mel), so the variations from its oral history style didn't bug me.

I really liked World War Z's globe-trekking nature, which reminded me a bit of Bram Stoker's Dracula, where the action goes from England to Transylvania and back again. Pitt plays Gerry, a former UN investigator, who is coerced into tracking down the origins of a zombie plague which is sweeping the world. His love for his family and his fears for their safety are strong motivators. His questioning mind is also a big factor. He can't help but be fascinated by this terrible situation. There are some thrilling sequences: the family's initial witnessing of the zombies attacking in Philadelphia, Gerry's travels to South Korea,and Jerusalem, and an amazing zombie attack mid-flight. The show-stopes may well be Gerry's attempts to elude sound-sensitive zombies in the silent corridors of a World Health Organization labyrinthian lab in Wales.

I saw the unedited cut of World War Z, because that's what's on offer from Netflix. I'm not a big fan of gore, but the story and acting was compelling enough to keep me watching, even when blood may have been spurting. There is already a sequel in the works, set to be released in 2017. For once, thanks to Brad Pitt and Game of Thrones' recently thrilling depictions of wights and White Walkers, I have to say, I am going to be looking forward to seeing a zombie movie. Who knows, maybe I'll even get up the courage to see this one in the movie theater.

here come the men in black ... again

 A definite summer popcorn movie, Men in Black 3 can't possibly be as fun as the first film, but it also can't be as awful as the second. Luckily, it manages to be maybe not exactly inspired, but at least silly and fun and for the most part, good-natured.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back as Agents J and K, the mismatched but strangely perfect partners who cruise New York City in the hip product-placed car of the moment. They are part of the Men in Black (MIB), a top-secret force who keep an eye on resident aliens and protect the world from its latest galactic threat. This time around it happens to be an incarcerated monster called Boris the Animal, from K's past, who escapes from his prison on the Moon and travels back in time to seek revenge on K, who foiled him the first time around.

When J wakes up the next morning and finds K not only missing but dead for decades, the new head of MIB, O (Emma Thompson, in a brief but welcome appearance), sends him a little further back in time to stop Boris from killing K and following his original plan, which was the destruction of Earth. This opens up an opportunity for Josh Brolin, who plays a young K, to turn in a wonderful performance and dead-on impersonation of Jones. His delivery and demeanor were so right-on that at times one might wonder whether Jones dubbed his lines.

J and K on the job (Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones)

In 1969 (Josh Brolin, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Smith)

It's no surprise that he majority of the movie's best lines and one-liners belong to Will Smith, who is clearly enjoying being back in the black suit and skinny tie. His trip to the swinging '60s takes him to Andy Warhol's Factory and an Apollo launch as he and K try to stop Boris. The time travel, like in most movies doesn't always make sense, and a twist at the end that was fairly easy to spot may confound audiences, but the general mood is fast and fun, and J's easy rapport with both K's is fun to watch.

Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire) plays a most interesting alien that J and K run across. The same cannot be said for Jemaine Clement, who plays Boris. Not the actor's fault, the alien he plays is one-note, repulsive to look at, and an all-around bore. Why director Barry Sonnenfeld made his bad guy alien physically repellent rather than truly scary I'm not sure. I'm also not sure what the kiddies will think about the weird vagina dentata imagery going on in Boris's hands and other parts of his body. Thankfully Boris is just a small part of Men in Black 3. Rumor has it that Smith and Jones are up for a fourth installment. The films have been paced fairly far apart (MIB came out in 1997, MIB 2 in 2002) in the past. But would they be able to work Josh Brolin back into the mix?