Zombieland

Plus Whip It, Capitalism: A Love Story and more

By Roger Ebert on October 1, 2009

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY: Michael Moore’s latest doesn’t suggest a solution for our economy, and is a little disorganized, but contains chilling explanations of “peasant insurance” and the Wall Street gambling known as “derivatives.” There is also awesome, long-forgotten footage of Franklin Roosevelt calling for a Second Bill of Rights. And first-person testimony from victims of the meltdown. (R) Three and a half stars – Roger Ebert


THE INVENTION OF LYING: Ricky Gervais co-writes and co-directs this satire set in an alternate and entirely truthful universe about a loser who discovers that fibbing has its privileges. With Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and the mighty Tina Fey.


WHIP IT: Ellen Page (Juno) is plucky and enchanting in Drew Barrymore’s directing debut.  She plays a small-town Texas girl, sick of the beauty pageants her mother fires her into, who sneaks off to Austin one night, sees a roller derby and gets a whole new idea of herself.  Page, doing her own skating, is small but fast, and earns the respect of her teammates, in an unreasonably entertaining coming-of-age comedy that sees the modern version of roller derby as a sort of gothic-punk-warrior woman ritual. (PG-13) Three and a half stars – RE


ZOMBIELAND: Unexpectedly funny.  Jesse Eisenberg, named after his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, is making his way back home across a zombie-infested America.  He encounters another non-zombie survivor, Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson).  The two team up, not without many disagreements, and eventually find two healthy women: the sexy Wichita (Emma Stone) and her little sister, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).  It comes down to a road movie threatened by the undead, as countless zombies are shot, mashed, sledge-hammered and otherwise inconvenienced, not without wit. (R) Three stars – RE