Isle of Dogs (2018) - 4/5

This movie is predictably funny, sweet, quirky, and occasionally a bit harsh in the signature style of Wes Anderson. It’s an evolution of The Fantastic Mr. Fox visually, but the story is more classic rescue adventure fodder with some fantasy and sci-fi elements thrown in. Its quirkiness will impact audiences differently, but where Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou had the quirkiness on full display Isle of Dogs relegates it more to the deeper levels of story and narrative structure.

Closest comparison: It’s like The Fantastic Mr. Fox with a more grounded story.

Setting: Near Future Sci-Fi
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Quirky

The Dead Don't Die - 3/5

This is a weird, slow movie that suffers from bland ad-lib dialogue. The first half is great: methodical setup, dry humor with measured delivery, and several interesting plot threads to investigate. Unfortunately, some of the plot threads go nowhere and the ones that do end not just strangely but often unsatisfactorily. Still, it kept me interested and chuckling for most of the runtime and although not all of the humor lands, much of it does for the zombie-movie-loving crowd.

Content warning: Gore

Closest comparison: This is a slow, strange homage to older B horror films like Night of the Living Dead and Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Setting: Zombies
Plot: Action Adventure
Tone: Dry Comedy

Zombieland - 4/5

This movie is pedal-to-the-metal funny from start to finish. Of course, it’s zombie-themed humor so if that turns your stomach then definitely skip this one. The action is fun, but it’s the interpersonal dialogue that is the real highlight of this movie. It was one of the first movies to heavily feature text digitally inserted into the space of the scene, and its comedic impact hasn’t been matched since. And it has a pitch-perfect mid-movie character turn that raises the whole movie to another level.

Closest Comparison: It’s the fun comedy version of movies like 28 Days Later and I Am Legend.

Setting: Post-Apocalyptic
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Comedy

The Jungle Book (2016) - 2/5

Not worth your time. All of the actors phoned in their lines (except Ben Kingsley) and the tone of the writing was all over the place. Just see Zootopia a second time instead. Or better yet, just watch the 1994 live action Jungle Book.