#22: Love Actually

For us to do all types of films, love and romance are part of the genres necessary to watch the 365 films. I was actually completely surprised from this movie. Even though the title is Love Actually, it's less about love than you would expect it. It's got a great story outline, pretty much it's around six to eight story outlines that manage to come together in the end. Love Actually was extremely funny, where I expected something deep and romantic between two characters throughout the entire movie. Bill Nighy plays Billy Mack, a pop-star, who is unbelievable and so hysterical to watch. A tag team of big names such as Colin Ferth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Kiera Knightley and Emma Thompson are among great role characters for this movie. This may be the most shocking but Liam Neeson made me almost cry of laughter, I always see him as this tough macho guy, but he plays the role of a single dad, who's just great at what he does in the film. The reason I say this is because of one of my favorite movies of Liam Neeson's is Taken, where he plays a father out to get gang members who kidnapped his daughter, where he just takes absolutely no prisoners. Oh, and I wanted to add, if you haven't heard of him, Kris Marshall, possibly the funniest character in the film. Outright hysterical. Now, the title Love Actually does come into play and love does play a pretty big role in this film, where it is prevalent around every character. It's a touching, laughable, saddening, and joyful film all at the same time. Richard Curtis hits the nail on the head with his directing and screenwriting. Lastly, if you didn't realize it's a British film, which inevitably makes this movie even better, for me at least.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

- Josh Berg

#7: Zombieland

It's a rare comedy that I enjoy enough to watch more than once. Usually, the jokes are tired or the plot is unoriginal. Zombieland definitely isn't the first movie to depict a zombie apocalypse, but the approach was relatively unique. Shaun of the Dead took comedy to the zombie world years ago, but other than that, the niche genre is relatively unexplored (ignoring those zombie movies that attempt a serious, grim view with comical failure).

Woody Harrelson, an actor I've never enjoyed much, took this movie by storm. His role was the perfect addition to Jesse Eisenberg's timid, admittedly wussy character. If this movie had - at any point - tried to take itself seriously, the whole thing would have been lost. The key to Zombieland's success, in my eyes, is that it was always fun. There's never a point in the film where you'd get strange looks if you laughed out loud in a theater, and that makes the whole thing one fun ride.

(Disclaimer: I love zombie movies. Even the crappy cheesy ones are fun. Something about running around a wasteland creatively killing zombies is just awesome to me. If you aren't a zombie flick fiend, read Josh's review for a more objective take.)

Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10

-Taylor Dobbs

The title might turn people away from this movie. Well, at least it did for me in the beginning. I thought it would be another stupid and unbearable movie to see on DVD. After hearing so many people come to me and say "Have you seen Zombieland?" I'd respond with a "No..." I think every person I spoke to said something along the lines of "You need to go see it, it's actually so funny." Well, here I am and I saw it for you. Honestly, Zombieland was really good. I thought it would have a crap plot and horrible acting as most zombie movies have. This one was different; Jesse Eisenberg was hysterical. He puts no effort into being absolutely hilarious, reminding me of another favorite actor of mine, Vince Vaughn. Alongside him, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin tag team to create a posse of funny characters, meeting up along the way with Bill Murray. The premise of the movie wasn't exactly the greatest but the acting really put this movie together and made it very enjoyable for us to watch. It was definitely one of the funnier movies I've seen within the last year or so. I actually do recommend seeing this movie, especially if you like comedies. All in all, a good performance.

Overall Rating: 8.6 / 10

- Josh Berg