Shaun Of The Dead - An absolute blast, Shaun of the Dead deftly mixes comedy and zombies, while also being able to pull off weighty emotional content in surprisingly effective ways. I loved how the film opened with a montage of shots suggesting that humanity doesn't need to be turned into zombies, we've already done it to ourselves! Shaun is an outstanding character, a slacker going nowhere in life until faced with a challenge he can't escape from and finds the power within himself to become a hero. The strong relationships between the characters win our sympathy. Unlike most horror films, it is genuinely affecting when the characters die (well, except for the twat ) or are placed in harm's way.
It also does a very good job of introducing the story. It takes its time and gives things to us in bits and pieces, rather than just throwing us into the fire. The filmmakers impressively capture a disintegrating world on a budget. Lots of jokes, good action, good makeup and gore effects, even good small-scale CGI use. Wow, I have 2 zombie films in my top 10 right now. A-
Friday Night Lights - One of the best sports films in recent memory, it is best at capturing the mood of the small town who's life revolves around their football team and the way our expectations as fans overwhelm the humanity of the players on the field. The film is great at portraying the sportstalk/chat room mentality where players are heroes and coaches geniuses when they win, and the next week those heroes and geniuses suck and have forgotten everything they seemingly knew because of a different outcome in the game.
The film is spotted with fine performances, Derek Luke as the heartbreaking Boobie Miles, Lucas Black as the conflicted quarterback, Billy Bob Thorton's nuanced Coach Gaines, who understands the political games he has to play, but doesn't let it effect who he is. The ultra creepy character played by Tim McGraw, trying to live through the son he is constantly disappointed by, because his own life never shown brighter than when he was 18 years old.
Director Peter Berg makes a nice switch from the usual in-your-face hyper editing of recent football films with a handheld, documentary style reminiscent of the gritty style of behind the scenes football programs on ESPN and NFL Network. The football scenes are very well done and realistically portray the energy and ability to absorb pain that playing football requires. Like any good sports movie, he generates legitimate emotion and "chill scenes" on the field.
His only mistakes are in casting too wide a net in his adaptation. He tries to include too many players, as if he felt he had to identify somebody to follow on the defense, but was unwilling to commit the time to really tell us anything about them. The script alludes to several things that could have made interesting subplots, the QB's golddigger girlfriend, racism in the town, college recruiting, or the boosters, but these are things we see briefly and are left undeveloped. Also, Berg can't quite resist some of the hoary sports movie cliches during the end of the film (post "big game) that he managed to avoid for most of the running time.
Very good, one of the best Hollywood films I've seen so far this year, but doesn't reach the pantheon of classic sports movies like Rudy or The Natural. B+
