Capital Celluloid 2014 - Day 303: Fri Oct 31

Zombieland (Fleischer, 2009): Rio Cinema, 11.30pm



Great programming from the Rio Cinema for Halloween with a Laurel and Hardy classic short and a Betty Boop cartoon (originally banned in 1933) accompanying the main feature Zombieland, a post-apocalyptic road comedy.

Chicago Reader review of Zombieland:
Scattershot but sharp, this postapocalyptic road comedy gives Shaun of the Dead a run for its money. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, The Squid and the Whale) is a neurotic loner whose life hasn’t changed much since a zombie plague ended civilization as we know it; eventually he teams up with an ass-kicking Woody Harrelson and tough-as-nails sisters Emma Stone (Superbad) and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) to find a more hospitable terrain. Writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wring a surprising amount of juice from the familiar premise, and director Ruben Fleischer heaps on the gore without burying their character-based comedy and surprisingly heartfelt moments. This is worth seeing just for the title sequence.
Cliff Doerksen

LAUREL AND HARDY: Another unlikely but loveable pair of idiots get into another fine mess when Stan and Ollie become body snatchers for a mad scientist in the 1928 classic HABEAS CORPUS.

+ BETTY BOOP: It's the scariest time of year, and sexy, surreal cartoon legend Betty Boop hosts a party with the help a scarecrow, but an uninvited gorilla causes chaos. BETTY BOOP'S HALLOWEEN PARTY was banned in 1933, but now everyone can singalong to "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing."

£10 entrance includes complimentary blood red cocktail.

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