Zombi 2 and Midnight Sun XXX

The are few zombie movies more recognizable than Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2.  It came out the year after Romero's Dawn of the Dead (titled Zombi in Italy) and like Dawn was criticized for being too bloody.  It has become a cult movie favorite and Fulci's greatest achievement.  This movie, for me, embodied Italian Horror.  It was grotesque and dark but at the same time adventurous and racy.  It was movie #2 in our zombie movie night.  I decided i would pair this extreme movie with an extreme beer Midnight Sun's XXX Black IIPA.  Both are dark, bitter, and for some, hard to handle.

In 2009 Midnight Sun set to work with a vision.  They wanted to brew something really special for the 30th anniversary of Specialty Imports.  They are one of the few breweries (maybe even the first?) to brew a black IIPA.  They use dehusked carafa to add a smooth rich dark maltiness to the beer without adding the bitterness or overly roasted flavor that some dark malts can impart.  But alas, I'm getting ahead of myself.  I was looking for the oak aged version but could only find the regular one.  The oak aged is MUCH MUCH better.  The longer aging smooths it out a bit more and the oak flavor is right on target adding even more complexity and smoothness.  That's a beer for another day.  I poured it into my snifter and at 8.5% it's got the viscosity of an even bigger beer.  It's really dark.  Sort of a black dark brown mix with a deep light walnut head with stays for a bit and leaves great lacing.  There is a big roasted aroma with oats, bread, and of course those big citrus american hops.

After a couple of longs sniffs i dive into this old friend.  It reminds me of Gonzo but not quite so thick.  Its got a lot of malt up front but not so much to confuse this beer with an export stout or a Baltic Porter.  No there's a lasting bitterness that while assertive, doesn't take over the beer the way it does in most IIPAs.  Instead the beer finds this perfect balance between luxurious roasted malts and citrus hoppy bitterness.  Midnight sun has found the perfect mix of chocolate and pine, espresso and grapefruit.  The finish is strong but not oppressive which allows you to plow throw a bomber without blinking.  This beer stands well on it's own as a warmer in long winter nights or would pair well with chili or chocolate.  The only reason this beer doesn't rate higher is because I've tried the oak aged version and therefore i know it can be even better. 

The movie starts out in New York harbor where a derelict vessel is found adrift.  When the harbor Patrol boards it they find no one is on board......except a zombie!!!  The boat belonged to a scientist who's daughter finds out he's missing and sets out to find him.  She takes this bad comb over reporter with her to a Caribbean island to investigate.  The only way to get to the island is by paying this American couple to take them.  We soon learn that Americans can't travel from one island to the next without some naked scuba diving.  It's one of the more unattractive activities you can do naked.  What does she encounter while down there but A SHARK....and a Zombie.  But that's not all.  They zombie fights the shark.  I think this song was the inspiration for the song Zombie vs Shark by Send More Paramedics.

They become stranded on this Island where Dr.Menard (our island quack) has been doing research into why the dead on the island have been rising.  (I can think of safer medical fields to participate in.)  There's not a lot of plot to tell.  The two four travelers try to fend off hordes of the risen dead.  It never really explains why the dead are rising other than some quick references to the possibility of voodoo.  It is on an island so who knows.

There are some great scenes in this movie.  Some of the most memorable scenes in any zombie movie i would argue.

The first of which being the zombie on the boat in the harbor.  He was big and nasty and took a nice chunk out of a cop.  It sets the pace for the rest of the movie.  Oh yea and why are all Italian zombies covered in mud?

The second was the famous Zombie vs Shark scene.  They even used green blood for the zombie which i thought was a nice touch.  This was very innovative and original.  If they were to redo this scene today they might try to use a shark that has teeth.  That would make it more believable.

Third was the eye gouging scene.  This was the first of it's kind.  Dr. Menard's wife gets her head yanked onto a broken board.  The splinters gouge into her eye in super slow motion.  It looks just real enough to be awesome.  Burial Ground did the same gag with broken glass.  It just feels cheap after seeing the original.

Forth was the resurrection of the famous "worm eyed" conquistador zombie.  Not only does he kill off the naked scuba girl but also has a little head explosion of his own.  Judging by how these zombies rose from the grave I'm going to assume that the 6ft rule had not yet been enacted.  These zombies were barley covered with leaves.

I know this is going to sound bad but even with all those great scenes i listed i still don't really like this movie.  I think it moved slowly, none of the characters were really likable, and the action scenes were boring.  I appreciate this movie for what it is and I'm proud to have it in my collection....but it's not the jewel some people make it out to be.  Sorry Italy.  Watching the special features only made me more angry.  The people that they interviewed tried to claim that this was a totally original idea and the movie was better than Romero's Dawn.  This movie doesn't hold a candle to Dawn of the Dead. Wiki says it's supposed to be a prequel.  The DVD says it's supposed to be its own movie.  I think it's hard to make a prequel to a movie that already had a prequel!!!  Night of the Living Dead!  If you didn't want your movie to get confused as a prequel maybe you should have named it something different.  Zombi 2 sounds like your basing it off of zombi.  Anyway that's a lot of rant.  This movie was ok.  The beer was amazing.  Rent the movie.  Buy the beer.

The Beer:

Aroma – 8/10

Appearance – 5/5

Taste – 8/10

Palate – 4/5 

   Overall – 18/20

Total = 43/50

The Movie:

Production – 4/5

Plot – 3/5

Gore – 4.5/5

Zombies – 3/5 

  Overall – 4/5

Zombieland and Midnight Sun's Sockeye Red IPA

I had to do it despite everything i felt in my heart.  I had to review Zombieland.  It's a joke from the start.  I can't watch this without thinking "FU kid from that Facebook movie.  Nobody cares!"  And stop stealing the acting style of that kid from Superbad and Juno.  He came first and he deserves it.  Your just some nerdy copy cat.  I watched this movie at the theater the first time.  I walked out shaking my head.  I have a serious problem with the fact that 3 of the 4 survivors are kids with no training, skills, weapons, or preparation. But maybe if they put characters that would have actually survived, then the average 16 year old wouldn't have related to, watched, and then bought this movie.  It's all about money.  This movie was a cookie cutter Hollywood teen comedy with a few trendy zombies thrown in.  Whatever.  I'm going to give this a round two just to make sure.  Everybody deserves a second chance, right?

I decide to pair this pit of despair with a cold friend.  I don't normally review beers that you can't purchase across the country but this time...this time it's different.  You see in a few weeks I'm moving down to Seattle. While there are many things i will miss about Alaska undoubtedly the biggest is Midnight Sun Brewery.  This brewery is lighting Alaska on fire with it's creativity and refusal to yield to conventional styles or pubic opinion.  Hell their summer seasonal is a wheat based IIPA.  That's bad ass!!!  They make a 14.3% English style barleywine that is one of the best I've ever had.  They have an oak aged Belgian Dark Strong and Black IIPA that will blow your mind.  Their flagship beer is the Sockeye Red IPA.  It's 5.7% abv and 70 IBUs.  That's a lot of IBUs for that little alcohol.  Well it is.  It pours a clear, copper/red with a small but comforting white head.  It's a little lighter than the picture leads to believe.  It's got a real fresh grassy, resiny nose.  This is another in the long line of citrus American IPAs that I've been drinking.  But this ones different.  This one is light bodied and very drinkable without being too thin or watery.  There isn't a lot of malt backbone but that's not why I'm drinking it.  It's more hop tea than beer.  It's a special green faced kick you in the balls while you slam a couple of 22 oz bombers, type of beer.

The opening scenes play through and I'm thinking maybe i was wrong about this movie.  I love the fireman getting attacked by the guy whose on fire.  The half naked stripper chasing the guy still holding the singles was another fresh idea that made me laugh.  The zombies are pretty sweet.  The spewing black blood was awesome!  Nerdy guy's rules are stupid.  Yes they're true and in some cases a pretty funny but i can't stand the way the words are animated on the screen.  I had no idea we were going to be doing stupid shit.  Now that we've laid the ground work for the shit show lets unload. "Columbus" just annoys the piss out of me.  Woody makes this film interesting.  I like his bad ass yet realistic persona.  However, this too goes to shit when he begins his Twinkie rant.

The two girls that trick them into giving them their guns....what would have happened if Tallahassee had just shot her.  That would have really changed the film.  I mean some people would see the bite mark and it's all over.  There are huge holes in the plot and a lack of zombies in scenes where there should be some.  And when the 12 year old tries to be tough as they hold up the guys a second time.  It's just such a sad thing to watch something so stupid get such a big budget.  When they drive in downtown L.A. to get the map of the stars there really weren't that many zombies.  I also noticed there weren't a hell of a lot of ditched cars either.  There were a few in the beginning of the movie and then none in this highly populated area?  Really?  

I didn't like the smashing stuff scene at all.  I thought it was pretty cheesy.  Isn't shooting zombies blowing off steam enough.  It's not enough to chop off a zombies head with a pair of hedge trimmers.  No no, what really makes me feel better is smashing Native American art souvenirs.  Smashing a zombie face with a baseball bat......or breaking a drum?  This was silly and unnecessary.  This whole movie was like that for me.  What i hate more is how many people love this movie.  Who are these people?  They can't be true zombie fans.  Yes i'm a snob.

There was a few zombie screw ups.  Zombies can't turn door knobs, won't pick at their teeth, and CAN'T CLIMB.  This is a big thing that i normally would overlook it was a shoulder high fence but they climbed a giant amusement park ride.  Speaking of amusement parks....why, why, why, why would you turn all of the lights on to the amusement park.  They should have gotten eaten for that stupidity.  And what's the worst place to go.  The up and down ride thing.  I understand there wasn't a lot of good options at that point but there must have been something better than that.  What was the best possible scenario for that (if they hadn't gotten rescued)?  So your on the ride and you go up......now what?  Even if you get the thing stuck up there where will you go?  They arn't going to just go away.

But there are some good parts.  This movie isn't as bad as i once thought.  Bill Murry instantly gives this movie an automatic 3 stars.  The recreation of the Ghostebusters scene was really funny.  I love his movies and his cameo saves this movie for me.  I didn't expect it when i first saw the movie.  Bill Murry...thank you.  But, from there it's on it's own.  Iwish i had better things to say about this movie.  I know i'm in the minority of people who don't like this movie but it's true.  I can't justify more than 3.5 stars on this load of poo.

The Beer:

Aroma – 7/10

Appearance – 4/5

Taste – 7/10

Palate – 4/5 

   Overall – 18/20

Total = 40/50

The Movie:

Production – 5/5

Plot – 2/5

Gore – 3/5

Zombies – 3/5

  Overall – 3.5/5