STACK #180 Oct 2019

CINEMA

FEATURE

In Zombieland: Double Tap we see the White House far from its glory. This is not the first time.

Director Ruben Fleischer on the set withWoody Harrelson and LukeWilson

We establish at the beginning that there's a taxonomy of different zombies

INDEPENDENCE DAY Any sensible intergalactic invader wanting to bring us to our knees by blowing things up would go for the Empire State Building and the White House. Good thing they didn't touch the Sydney Opera House.

Him? and Dirty Grandpa . “Zoey has a totally different energy to the

Wilson’s Albuquerque and Thomas Middleditch’s Flagstaff to the sequel, Fleischer shakes his head when STACK quizzes him

original cast and it was fun to have a character that was stuck in 2009, Juicy Couture culture. She's so Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan of that era, so it's funny to think about somebody who for the past ten years has been living in that world as her reality,” Call it a rebound, it doesn’t take long for Columbus to ask her to join them at the White House, although the honeymoon doesn’t last long. Fearful for Little Rock and Wichita’s safety, the trio leave the safety of the White House, picking up the sisters’ trail in Memphis where they discover Elvis’s iconic Graceland home has been burned to the ground. On their way out of town, they spot The Beast parked outside The Hound Dog Hotel, where Dawson‘s Nevada has made her home. “I’ve been a fan of Rosario for so long and was really excited to work with her. Nevada is a huge Elvis fan, and a keeper of the flame of Elvis; a natural kindred spirit to Tallahassee, and potential love interest,” teases Fleischer. Certainly, the sequel has some additional rules and features new zombie varieties including Homers (dumb ones), Hawkings (smart ones) and Ninjas (sneaky ones). “We establish at the beginning of the film that there's a taxonomy of different zombies.” Working with such talent made Fleischer’s job easy. “It was really a joy every day because we were always finding new things and new ideas to elevate what was on the page. When you have such talented comedians, they bring so much to the table.” Just don’t expect any cameos fromTom Hardy. “ Venom is a self-contained work, that it just felt like these guys are in a different universe,” he says.

about persistent rumours Bill Murray will return, citing every director’s complaint that Murray doesn’t possess a cellphone and is almost impossible to reach.

He was particularly interested in exploring Breslin’s story arc, given that she was only 12 when they made the original. “Ten years have passed so Abigail’s Little Rock is now a woman. She's only lived with her small nuclear family, and wants to spread her wings and leave the nest, like any teenager. She wants to meet boys and friends her own age, which leads to an interesting plot point.” Borrowing fromTallahassee’s saying, ‘Go big, or go home’, the team particularly had fun in recreating the White House as their new base, where we see them celebrate Christmas. “They hang out in the Oval Office, decorated with stuff they've pilfered from the Smithsonian,” says Fleisher. Tallahassee also has a new ride, The Beast. “It’s based on President Obama's old presidential limo, which is this incredible bulletproof thing that the Secret Service dubbed 'The Beast', because it weighed eight tons, and it's just indestructible. He’s customised it into his own Mad Max, zombie killer machine. There's a little Twinkie on the front and bullhorns and a bulldozer. He's made it his own”. At least, he did, until the girls take off in it. “Naturally he’s sad the girls have split, but he's even more sad they took The Beast with them.” Deutch was a revelation. “She just blew my mind. I wasn't familiar with her prior to her audition, and she just came in with the Madison character fully realised. I think, in part, growing up in the Valley, she just channeled that Valley girl, Kardashian, Paris Hilton kind of thing,” he says of the actress best known for roles in Why

WHITE HOUSE DOWN 17 years after putting the House in peril in Independence Day , director Roland Emmerich returned for another swing, with cop Channing Tatum attempting to keep POTUS Jamie Foxx out of paramilitary hands.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN Coincidence or conspiracy? Released earlier, but in the same year as White House Down, was another siege on Pennsylvania Avenue, this time by the North Koreans. Aaron Eckhart is the president, with Gerald Butler riding shotgun.

VICE Metaphorically speaking (if director Andy McKay is to be believed), no one did more to deface the White House and all it symbolises than Dick Cheney, vice president under George W. Bush. Through ruthlessness and rat cunning, Cheney would erode the democratic foundations of the institution. The end result being an executive structure beyond recognition.

Zombieland: Double Tap is in cinemas on Oct 17

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