Zodiac
With David Fincher (2002's Panic Room, 1995's Se7en, 1992's Alien 3) directing this true story of a serial killer terrorizing San Francisco and parts of California in the early 1970s, I was expecting a nail biting, edge-of-my-seat experience. Unfortunately, my wishes were not fulfilled. The film starts tense enough with the introduction of the killer (always in the shadows) going through the steps of his first kills with music of the times blaring in the background. Especially tense was the knifings of a couple at a lake. The tension is maintained as the first pair of characters from the San Francisco Chronicle (a cartoonist played by Jake Gyllenhaal and a crime reporter played by Robert Downey Jr.) are sucked into the case when the first of many cryptic notes are sent to the news media. The tension is heightened once more by the two detectives (played by Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards) assigned to the case. Where and when will Zodiac strike next? The threat to kill a school bus full of children. The dead-end leads. All worked well—for the first hour. Then the film plateaus as leads dry up and time passes. Now I start looking at my watch. The use of background 1970s music ends; the Anthony Edwards' character asks to leave the case (film) and even the Zodiac killer stops killing. I'm wondering about now if I should leave with them. The only one hanging in there is the Jake Gyllenhaal character who manages to breathe new life into the case and the film when he takes it upon himself to find the Zodiac—in the final act. So for the last 40 minutes or so, the film is back on track with a few tense moments. I went expecting a thriller (this is no Se7en) and got a crime drama that was 30 minutes too long.

Zombieland
After mad-cow disease kills all the cows in the world, it spreads to humans, turning them into zombies—real zombies—the flesh eating kind. Our narrator, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) brings us up to date on world events as he travels, on foot, to Columbus, Ohio, USA, hoping to find his parents alive. He claims to have kept himself alive this long by following a special code, which he teaches to us throughout the film. Along the way he meets, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who is on his way to Tallahassee, Florida. Tallahassee is obsessed with searching for Twinkies, in spite of the danger. The two join together and Columbus joins Tallahassee in his never-ending search for the sweet cake. Tallahassee informs Columbus that Twinkies "do have a limited shelf life," adding urgency to his quest because "one day they will all be gone." Soon, joined by sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), the four survivors walk and ride across the country smashing, crushing, and shooting any zombies who get in their way. One amusing side story is the "zombie kill of the day," where they compare creative and innovative kills. However, while the guys prefer to head east, the girls would rather visit an amusement park near Los Angeles, rumored to be zombie free. Their disagreement over destinations makes for some of the non-zombie conflict in the film. Zombieland is definitely a laugh riot and while many zombie scenes are funny, we never forget what they are and what they want—human flesh. For me, Jesse Eisenberg was perfect as the nerdish, reclusive, college student, Columbus. In fact, those nerdish, reclusive qualities have allowed him to survive so far. He reminds us of his code throughout most of the film, usually at the expense of some poor slob who becomes zombie food amidst laughs from the audience in my theater. There is some attention paid to Tallahassee’s life before Zombieland, which adds some tender moments. I’ll leave it to you to decide if Woody Harrelson pulls it off. However, the highlight of the film is when our gang holes up in a star’s home in Hollywood, CA. Here the audience is treated to a wonderful, although short appearance by a famous comedian also dealing with the zombies in his own, special way. Zombieland has plenty of zombie scenes to satisfy diehard fans of the genre, and I am happy to say, these zombies must be shot in the head (old school) to kill them. I am sure there will be comparisons with Shaun of the Dead. Again, I’ll leave that up to you to decide if one is better than the other. Until then, try to see Zombieland in a crowded theater so you can share the jack-in-the-box scares with others. I must have jumped three times, when I wasn’t laughing. In the end, I think you’ll agree that Zombieland is very entertaining.