Four Movies

Oh, man, don’t have time really even to mini-review all of these (edit: that’s a lie. I couldn’t help it). But they’re far and away the best stuff I’ve seen lately:

This one—wow. Halfway between Tombstone and Unforgiven, and kind of built on the dramatic backbone of Shane. Doc rides again. Unlike most westerns, though, this one’s got some real emotional punch.

Thought this was just going to be a mindless romp, but, turns out? It’s probably now in my top five favorite zombies movies, ever. Seriously. This and Dead Set and Return of the Living Dead and Doghouse and 28 Days Later. So, so good.

Shane Black’s still got it. This is kind of like a distillation of his other work—all his other work, like he took the pieces that worked in each, and figured they weren’t broken, so why not use again, right? It’s got the buddy cop fun of Lethal Weapon, the same daughter from The Last Boy Scout, the LA feel of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And it’s just so fun. It never stops. Best theater-movie I’ve seen in a long while.

Home invasion stuff, man. Why’s it hot right now? You’re Next is maybe my favorite of them, but this, the story, it’s just so beat out, so well-paced, and the individual sequences are just textbook. Really dug this one. Makes me realize that home-invasion stories, they really foreground the ‘rebirth’ part of the whole monomyth/hero’s cycle.