comment #1

Chase Kahn says ...

"Zombieland" is such a good film, it really surprised me. I was expecting that it would be a heavy metal, guitar-riffing splatter-fest, which it is, but it's a bit more than that.

It was like "Adventureland" with the water gun horse races replaced with killing zombies in a coming-of-age mold.

comment #2

Eloi Manning says ...

Or, people have been watching news programmes and documentaries and interviews about the economy for a year now, and they felt like HAVING FUN on a Friday night instead of paying to watch two more hours of it.

comment #3

Pynchon8 says ...

Because they hate Michael Moore in the hinterlands, come on. Not a tough one. A lot of people out and out revile him for his tactics in F911 (see what I did there?). That this movie is tanking should be no surprise.

comment #4

Eloi Manning says ...

"An underwhelming Capitalism debut means people are just sitting there in their living-room easy chairs, too bummed or numbed to get up and do (or at least watch) something. God, what a lazy and stubbornly conservative country this is...honestly!"

Because nothing says activism like going to watch a film. Fight the power, in between mouthfuls of popcorn.

Moore's genius is making champagne socialists feel like they're effecting change as they sit in the multiplex.

comment #5

TimesArrow says ...

EloiManning? What a name! That is truly inspired!

comment #6

moveable hype says ...

Did anyone catch 'The Invention of Lying'?

Spoiler---
I was totally surprised by the 'God is a fiction created by man to comfort those who don't know better' theme that dominated the middle part of the movie.

Not your standard high concept romantic comedy fare. Pretty ballsy for a mainstream movie.

comment #7

allstar397 says ...

Eloi nailed it. We are overloaded everyday with it, in the newspapers( or web equivalent) and on the TV news. Not many wanted to plop down their (dwindling) dollars to see Michael Moore's schtick and "LOOK AT ME" attitude attached to a topic we are saturated with every minute of every day. Besides, shouldn't you be making a fat joke about Moore or something?

comment #8

great scott says ...

@ movable hype - If that's true then the studio can probably expect a huge drop next weekend once word gets out in Eloi land.

comment #9

austin111 says ...

Ummmm.....for most in the hinterland or at least most in the obesity/improverished/ignorance prevails hinterland, Moore is a socialist/commie/liberal/pinko/blahblahblah. Doesn't matter that he is just as fat as they are. They're fat sheep who prefer to be led to the slaughter for the most part. They can't be bothered to get up and move away from Glenn Beck, Bill O, Limbaugh, or Hannity, because these guys speak to their worst fears no matter how inappropriate the expression. Their jobs are being taken by foreigners, the government is the enemy, the president is a black man who hates them, etc. etc. etc. Reality never intervenes in that universe.

comment #10

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Eloi Manning...a great name. And I have to say that I laughed at his post.

comment #11

PopcornEyeglass says ...

Michael Moore doesn't really tell us anything new or interesting in his movie - it's not really a big surprise no one wanted to see it.

comment #12

George Prager says ...

I saw Fahrenheit 911 but it's not like I was looking forward to seeing it, or that I enjoyed it while I was watching it, even though i agreed with it. It's like new Moore's movie exists so he can go on TV and talk about it and that's the end in itself.

"news programmes" hmmm....

comment #13

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Evidently, people can share Moore's opinion that things are f'd up while also thinking that Michael Moore is just about as far from the solutions they'd like to see as a human can get.

comment #14

great scott says ...

Well said, Ronald McFurBall.

comment #15

Travis Crabtree says ...

Your comments were okay, austin111, but are you sure they were annoyingly pseudo-elitist enough?

Try again, but this time make sure to point out how you, personally, are better than they are, being sure to slip in your own educational background as evidence.

(try the vegan soy latte)

Power to the Sheeple!

comment #16

caslab says ...

I agree with a lot of what Michael Moore has to say, but bugs the shit out of me. I don't think I'm alone. It's not the message, it's the medium.

comment #17

George Prager says ...

People who use the word "sheeple" don't have any friends.

comment #18

George Prager says ...

And "vegan soy" is redundant.

comment #19

Travis Crabtree says ...

Way to get it, George.

comment #20

Travis Crabtree says ...

.....but "vegan latte" isn't

comment #21

George Prager says ...

No one orders a "vegan latte." I worked at Starbucks. it would never happen, even at a place where the kind of people who loved MAMMA MIA would come in and ask if the "Calm" tea had caffeine in it.

Crabtree, you usually bring your "B" game to HE. I'm very disappointed in you.

comment #22

Morbo says ...

Yesterday I did a double-feature of "Zombieland" and "Capitalism". I actually enjoyed both very much, which is a surprise because I went into the latter just looking for the failings.

As always, Moore occasionally plays fast & loose with the facts, but he hits the mark more often than not. For him, it's pretty non-partisan - he digs into the Dems & Repubs with equal zeal. Best of all, he keeps the annoying "look at me" stuff to a minimum. Liberals AND conservatives will find much to digest here if they approach it with an open mind. Recommended for all thinking Americans (there's no hope for the non-thinking ones).

And on an entirely different note, "Zombieland" does indeed kick all kinds of ass. I'm on the same page as Jeffrey - I actually enjoyed it more than "Shaun".

FWIW, my 3:45 showing of "Capitalism" was better-attended than the 2 PM "Zombieland" I saw first. I live in the Clear Lake (NASA) area about halfway between Houston & Galveston. We actually have a pretty active over-40 moviegoing population here (of which I am part) and movies for grownups tend to do pretty well. The Eloi have completely taken over yet.

comment #23

Morbo says ...

Damn, that last line was supposed to read "The Eloi haven't completely taken over yet.".

Proofread, you idiot!!

comment #24

MovieBob says ...

I saw the film, at a screening with Moore for Q&A. I liked it, it's probably the first "upbeat" Michael Moore movie in awhile, and it's not nearly as controversial as it's pitching itself to be.

But I don't think it'll be a big hit, maybe not even as big as sicko.

Simply put, "the economy" just isn't a sexy topic like guns or health or 9/11 were. So that hurts it right there. Also, there's the very real fact of Moore's diminishing relevance. Like it or not, the old-time Liberal foot-soldiers seem like a redundancy in the Age of Obama. The people who REALLY like polemical documentary like to feel that they're fighting "The Power," and this one is WITH the single most powerful (seeming) guy on the planet right now.That's another strike right there, and Moore himself alluded to it at the screening: A lot of the people who "do their part" by going to his movies feel they've already "done their part" for this cycle by voting for Obama.

Finally, and again I say this without prejudice one way or another, but a "rebel" ceases to matter when the next generation turns on or ignores him. Jeff, to your generation Moore is an important figure. To MINE (I'm 29) he's an elder-statesman of liberal activism. To a HUGE (and NOT "conservative" since these kids are the Obama Base) swath of the generation behind me, aka "Generation South Park," he's a punchline. Why? At least partly because, to these kids, economic liberalism isn't a serious thing - their issues are SOCIAL. Make no mistake on this, Obama's "youth contingent" doesn't care about socialism vs. capitalism - it's about gay rights, abortion, "sticking it" to Jesusland, etc for them. If they hate Glenn Beck, for example, it's mostly because he's robbed them of the ability to be "cool" calling themselves Libertarians. If Moore applied his tactics and style to a pro gay marriage movie, it'd blow doors off the place.

comment #25

Travis Crabtree says ...

All of that was just a diabolical construct to get you to cough up the delightful little nugget that you worked at Starbucks. But which one?

And let us not lose sight that austin111 comes off as a snotty, effete community college sociology major.

You worked at Starbucks.

comment #26

George Prager says ...

What austin111 comes off as is besides the point. You used the word "sheeple" which is only used by fat losers who never get laid. Then you tried to make a joke about "vegan soy lattes" which is redundant, unoriginal, and not funny. These are unforgivable transgressions. Then you make fun of my working at Starbucks. It was hard, it didn't pay much, a small percentage of the regular customers needed a serious beating, but it was probably the most fun I ever had at a workplace. It was good honest work. It's not collecting a welfare check. Don't you agree, good conservative Crabtree?

comment #27

Terry McCarty says ...

Curious about the silence re WHIP IT.

comment #28

George Prager says ...

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/07/whip_it.php

comment #29

Travis Crabtree says ...

George.... I don't know if you're seriously misreading everything or if you're going for some kind of post-ironic, "pretend I don't get it which is funny in and of itself" type thing.

My use of the word "sheeple", was in a sentence used to parody (quite obviously) parody something that a guy like austin111 would say. As in, "the sheeple do what talk radio tells them, man".

And who said I was making fun of you for working at Starbucks? (again, which one? In L.A.?)
I was relenting to the fact that I was foolish enough to get into a coffee debate with a professional. Besides, the latte sentence in the original post was, again, supposed to be the voice of austin111.

Fuck it. Am I really talking about this? You ARE taking the piss, right? I don't really have to explain this, do I? I thought you were one of the smart ones.

comment #30

George Prager says ...

Crabtree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppMQ2Jvekfg

comment #31

Travis Crabtree says ...

Prager:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTzhOPCgqLs

comment #32

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nzd0R_OeOc

comment #33

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCM6HCTJeRU

comment #34

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UZ0AI_W86g

comment #35

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKROeWxZHfg

comment #36

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOROvO2fxTc

comment #37

great scott says ...

Crabtree and Prager.

2 men enter. 1 man leaves.

comment #38

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://vimeo.com/1006434

comment #39

COCO says ...

George--
Not ''Vegan Soy''.........Soylent Green.
Zombies=entertainment
M. Moore=reality and bad news....we already know......all just waiting for the taxes to go up.
Popcorn=Eloi candy with butter.
Saw the Bruce Willis movie today at the Senior rate
some societal pointed barbs.....funny in spots.
''Youv'e done some terrible things Lawrence....
terrible things.''

comment #40

reverent and free says ...

MovieBob, did you this episode of The Awful Truth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABH_RFeeGAs

comment #41

reverent and free says ...

Also, I'd agree with your assessment of the film. I remember the long lines that stretched through the lobby to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I saw Capitalism at the first evening show, and there wasn't a line outside the door at all.

comment #42

DeeZee says ...

Jeff: Just be glad Whip It bombed. That looked like a generic flick which was trying to cash in on Juno. (Surprised that 'Lying made the top 5, though.) It is a shame about 'Capitalism not doing better, but who the hell releases a movie like that in October? Should've been one month earlier, when no one was watching shit, anyway, or one month later, since that's also usually a dead time for movies. Maybe it'll still nab Best Doc, though.

comment #43

DeeZee says ...

I was just thinkin' that Zombieland has got to be the first Woody Harrelson movie which opened at #1 in over a decade.

comment #44

Terry McCarty says ...

George Prager wrote:
http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/07/whip_it.php

Actually thought someone here would see the entire movie rather than trying and convicting it based on the trailer. Am seeing it later today.

comment #45

austin111 says ...

For the record, Crabbie, I'm not saying that the obese and generally unhealthy are doing what the talk radio/fox tv guys/gals tell them to do. Only that they reaffirm what they're already thinking. College educated, post-grad. Work with many of the obese and generally unhealthy and so have a window into their thought processes, such as they are. Some educated folks who aren't so obese are also prone to believe what makes them feel comfy, too. But no, I don't generally see myself as a effete snobble.

comment #46

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZi6U811hxE

comment #47

Josh Massey says ...

"I was just thinkin' that Zombieland has got to be the first Woody Harrelson movie which opened at #1 in over a decade."

Or a year and a half. (Semi-Pro).

comment #48

Travis Crabtree says ...

austin111...what about obese, uneducated, welfare-collecting inner-city people who listen to, believe and agree with the crazy rantings of self-appointed "black leaders", activists and race-baiting preachers who tell them to vote Democrat? Oh that's different. Funny thing is, your knee-jerk reaction will be to cry "racism", when in fact you'll probably come off even more racist because of your belief that "it's different in the inner city because 'they' don't know any better". Some bigotry of lowered expectations, that sort of thing.

Finally, it's so tiresome to "blame the equipment" as it were. (that's a sports analogy... I point that out because you don't strike me as a sports enthusiast) When your guy wins, it's a beautiful example of The People voicing their strength! When the other guy wins, it just proves that people are stupid.

You're an insufferable bore.

But I've more important things to tend to......

comment #49

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNNVEoPSIqk

comment #50

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlyjAS523TY

comment #51

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Aagzlmknc

comment #52

George Prager says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tho2NZpEcE

comment #53

DeeZee says ...

Josh: You have a point, though that wasn't a Harrelson vehicle per se. It was more like he was just in it, too. I think the emphasis was more on Ferrell.

comment #54

Travis Crabtree says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf5o-8eZdag

comment #55

Terry McCarty says ...

WHIP IT, in spite of overlength and the tendency to--in its weakest moments--opt for a sort of hipster Garry Marshall approach, is actually pretty good.

Hope it's not the only film Drew Barrymore directs.