quentin tarantino

Zombieland

  • Reading time:2 mins read

You can tell this is the filmmakers’ first major project after film school.

I too often confuse Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera. They’ve got the same hair, same build, same facial expressions, and they’re cast in similar roles. So it is that when the film freezes and spells out Eisenberg’s personal (postmodern ironic film-hip) tips and techniques for zombie survival, the mind travels to Scott Pilgrim. Similar conceit. Not the same kid. Whereas Pilgrim takes the conceit further than sense dictates, and thereby elevates itself beyond the conceit in much the way that the mind stops processing Tarantino’s violence as violence, Zombieland is content to lurk in the hipster fog beneath the glowing neon signs. So it’s not transcendent, and therefore the affectations do end up feeling a little gratuitous.

But oh, I’m speaking in absolute terms here. Zombieland ain’t bad. A bunch of kids wanted to make an ironic zombie movie and they got some high-profile talent involved. You’ve got Woody Harrelson. You’ve got Bill Murray. You have a script by someone who watched a little too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You have good cinematography and effects work. It’s a noble effort, and it’s got a good spirit to it.

You’d think the kids would know that there is no way Jesse Eisenberg’s character could afford that apartment, though. Who do they think he is, Mark Zuckerberg?

Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked

  • Reading time:3 mins read

by [name redacted]

Expanded from my weekly column at Next Generation, and posted on the game’s release date.

Samurai Champloo is the latest hit by Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe, who might well be described as the Sergio Leone or Quentin Tarantino of the anime world. killer7 developer Grasshopper Manufacture has what might be described as strong aspirations to be the Quentin Tarantino of the videogame world. So this is a sort of clever pairing.

A Japanese trend I’ve begun to notice lately is the subcontracting of lucrative licenses to the most prestigious niche or up-and-coming developers – the likes of Treasure, Dimps, Cavia, Yuke’s. These are damned good developers, each with specific skill sets, specific views toward what makes a good videogame, and a substantial cult following. The trend is not unlike Hollywood’s recent predilection toward matching big blockbusters to the Cannes elite, resulting in movies like Batman Begins and the Spider-Man series.

Over here, any parallels are more the exception than the rule. The closest you really get are the likes of Neversoft, which sprang out of nowhere with Tony Hawk and – despite its success – has managed to keep relatively small and self-contained, seemingly more interested in exploring its ideas about design than in growth for the sake of growth. Treyarch is another good example. Maybe some past incarnations of Shiny or Raven or BioWare would count, though in their current forms they’re a little too… important.