Filmmaker Ruben Fleischer is having a very good 2009. The former music video director has seen his debut feature, Zombieland, open at number one at the US box office and take in nearly $75 million domestically, while earning an impressive 89% Fresh rating from critics — not bad for a horror-comedy road movie revolving around the undead. With the film about to open in Australia, we got the chance to catch up with Ruben and ask him his five favorite films. And a fine list it is, too.
I think everybody has their movie when they’re a kid that they love, and that was the one that I used to watch over and over again. And it kind of introduced me to soul music, which I hadn’t really known about before. Each of those scenes are kind of like a music video in themselves, and I think that definitely contributed to me later becoming a music video director. John Landis went on to direct the greatest music video of all time, so I think it informed him as well.
Rushmore (1998,
86% Tomatometer)
It’s a movie that I love and I’ve watched a ton of times. I think that early Wes Anderson was just so exciting and original, and he reinvented Bill Murray in a really cool way. The specifics of the production design and everything are just super inspiring.
Midnight Run (1988,
100% Tomatometer)
I guess Midnight Run was a big influence on this movie, and it’s a movie I’ve always loved. I just love the combination of Charles Grodin’s dry humour and De Niro in, you know, his funniest ever role. It’s a great combination of action and adventure.
Down by Law (1986,
88% Tomatometer)
Off the top of my head I’ll say Down by Law, the Jim Jarmusch movie with Tom Waits and John Lurie and Roberto Benigni. It just has sort of a weird sense of humour and it’s a bit of a road movie itself. It’s original in a really cool way.
[laughing] I wanted to say “all Mel Brooks” but I guess I’ll just say Blazing Saddles because of how ahead of its time it was, in terms of the humour and how cutting edge it was. It really pushed boundaries.
