This issue, the toothy Ricky Gervais escapes from your TV screen and zombies run wild.

The Invention of Lying

(PG-13, Now Available)

This high concept film presupposes a world in which no one has ever lied because they mentally cannot. In some ways this world is not so dissimilar from ours. The better looking and more successful you are, the better your life is. It's just that honesty is so much more brutal for a "fat man with a pug nose."

Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) is an Englishman working as a screenwriter in America. Films are a bit different in this world. Since no one can create fiction of any kind, the latest blockbusters feature distinguished gentlemen in smoking jackets reading historical accounts. Mark, who's been stuck with the 14th century, is fired and about to be evicted when, suddenly, something snaps in his brain. Something that has never happened before in history.

He lies.

Due to his discovery, he's able to withdraw enough from the bank to keep his apartment. As he explains to his best friend Greg (Louis C.K.), "I said something that wasn't." There's no word for it yet. In fact, the word "truth" doesn't exist because it doesn't need to.

Soon he starts figuring out what else he can do. No matter how outlandish the tale, no one disbelieves him because no one has reason to. Mark uses his gift to get his job back by writing the world's first fictional screenplay, in hopes of winning over Anna (Jennifer Garner).

The controversial element of the film comes when Mark tries to comfort his dying mother (Fionnula Flanagan). Fearing "nothingness," Mark explains when she dies, there won't be nothingness, but instead describes a place that sounds a lot like heaven. Mark's attempt to ease his mother's pain ends up making him a worldwide celebrity overnight, as people believe Mark knows "what happens after you die." Desperately, Mark tells the world that there's "a man in the sky" who determines our fates. If you're good, you'll go to be with him and live in a mansion when you die.

From this point forth, "The Invention of Lying" is blatantly atheistic. Gervais and his co-writer, co-director Matthew Robinson, share this belief, but there's nothing here designed to influence anyone's way of thinking. While I don't share their viewpoint, I respect their right to say anything they want and no believer should feel threatened by it. After all, "Star Wars" takes place in a universe where the Force has replaced God and that's hardly controversial.

The early part of the film is particularly good, in which we see billboards that read, "Pepsi: When They Don't Have Coke." The romantic comedy element is sweet and it's well played by Gervais and Garner as a kind-hearted woman who simply isn't able to soften what she believes to be the truth about Mark. In the end, "The Invention of Lying" is a good movie, but never quite hits the stride of Gervais's television work. 7.5/10.

Zombieland

(R, Avail. 2/2)

I've wanted to declare a moratorium on zombie movies the past couple of years. I like zombie movies but since the one-two punch of the "Dawn of the Dead" remake (the original being THE gold standard for zombie movies) and the instant comedy classic "Shaun of the Dead" in 2004, we have been deluged with them. They've become inescapable. Every time you look there are more of them. You just can't keep them down! Come to think of it...zombie movies...and zombies...well, you know.

So when I saw that "Zombieland" was coming, I thought it looked entertaining enough but didn't expect to see anything terribly new from it. This is a good mindset to have going into "Zombieland." Ruben Fleischer's film doesn't show us much we haven't seen before (namely in "Shaun" and the little seen but hilarious "Fido"), but it sure is fun.

Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is a nerdy college student who has managed to survive in a land of zombies, not out of toughness but by being smart, learning to use a shotgun, and by obeying his own rules. Rules like "double-tap" (always fire one more bullet into the head), "beware of bathrooms," and, "Don't be a hero."

There are no names in the United States of Zombieland. No one wants to get to close to anyone new. This is especially true for Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a cantankerous tough guy who reluctantly hooks up with Columbus in hopes of staying alive long enough to reach a place on the east coast that is allegedly zombie-free. What Tallahassee wants more than anything is a Hostess Twinkie. He'll even risk life and limb for it, something Columbus isn't too comfortable with, but he's not really comfortable with anything. Their trust issues are only exacerbated when they meet a couple of con artist sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone, "Superbad") and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). But it won't be long before these four have to find a way to make it work by sticking together.

For the majority of its running time, "Zombieland" is an entertaining and light-on-its-feet gory comedy. But for about 10 or 15 minutes at around the halfway point it achieves the kind of comic brilliance that few films do. It features a cameo appearance by, well, pretty much the coolest man alive. I won't ruin it for you, but you'll know it when you see it.

So in spite of there being far too many zombie films in the world today, "Zombieland" sets itself apart, not by being original, but just by being a heck of a lot of fun. Sometimes that's all I ask. 8/10.

Also New to DVD and Blu-Ray

Now Available:
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Surrogates (R)
Bright Star (PG)
Whip It (PG-13)
The Whitest Kids U' Know: Season 2

Feb. 2:
Love Happens (PG-13)
Amelia (PG)