My Day: Auto Mechanics, Wally-World, Zombies

Just got back from Albuquerque. I got my car door adjusted (finally!), and went back to bloody Wal-Mart to pick up all the stuff I forgot to get the last time I was there. And, while I was up there, I figured I'd do something I do all too seldom these days and catch a movie. Disturbingly, it was actually kind of hard to find something I was interested in seeing. I considered Alexander, but the buzz I've heard so far on it hasn't been all that positive, and I wasn't really feeling ready for a three-hour commitment. I gave serious thought to Saw, which looks absolutely fascinating, but which, based on the reviews I've read, appears to contain very high levels of gore of precisely the kind that really gets to me. (I barely made it through Seven, for instance, and that only because I was watching it at a friend's house and didn't have the option of turning it off.) I figure maybe that's better viewed on the small screen, where it's easier to look away. In any case, it wasn't exactly what I was in the mood for.

Then I realized that Shaun of the Dead was playing at the discount theater. Score! Because that was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. Very cool film. The tagline is "A romantic comedy. With zombies." And, by Jove, that is exactly what it delivers. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more that you need in a movie. It's frequently laugh-out-loud funny without ever going over the top, and it manages to balance the humor, drama, and horror elements amazingly well. Definitely recommended.