Why do people from my generation love this garbage?

Rating: 3/10 (25 March 2010)

I am tired of self-referential, "clever", witty, quirky films; films where characters are straight off of the Judd Apatow assembly line. You know, the obnoxiously talkative, obsessive-compulsive, love-lorn nerdy Jew, the sassy yet droll, wise-beyond-her-years teenage girl, the big- mouthed outrageous hillbilly.
This is a slickly-produced but very hackneyed retread of every teen comedy released in the last several years. There is not a single part of this movie that shows even the least bit of original thought. Simply put, this movie is an embarrassing exercise in fan service; jam-packed with tons of Hollywood references, gratuitous (but pointless) zombie carnage, and the timely popping-up of cutesy text...all of it there to remind us just how *cool* and *smart* the filmmakers are.
How can people in their 20s/30s not see through this ruse? When movies make an effort to try to tell you how clever they are they cease to be clever. I suspect that many of those who are (idiotic) enough to give this movie more than a 4 rating are probably Kevin Smith/Joss Whedon fans who have difficulty discerning between a film and a tapestry of scenes of "witty" dialog sewn together.
Compare this to Robert Rodriguez' superior "Planet Terror". It's full of colorful characters we haven't seen before played STRAIGHT. The tone of the movie is serious and that's what makes the film so much more entertaining (and funny). And most importantly, we're spared the constant reminder of just how precocious the filmmaker is.
I give this movie 3 stars instead of zero due to an inspired title sequence.