Let's take a break from work, stress, and the non-stop political season to indulge ourselves. After all, how else can we stay level-headed in such tense, action-packed times?

For me, pure distraction is very simple. Give me either a pulpy, social-commentary-laden zombie/horror movie or some exotic story of a foreign land. The former appeals to my grindhouse/egalitarian movie sensibility, while the latter allows a mental vacation alongside education.

So, what are some examples of these for me and why do they work? Follow me beneath the fold and I'll show you.

Zombie Movies!

I love zombie movies. The genre comes from such humble beginnings, and has blossomed in modern cinema. The stories are psychological, visceral, dystopian, and allow emotion to be rubbed raw and bare. Often the effects are cheesy or gory, sure, but that used to be half the point: shock the audience into a realization or simply shock them. My favorite examples are George Romero's Dead four-pack, Sam Raimi's ostentatious Evil Dead trilogy, and Peter Jackson's downright disgusting Dead Alive.

But zombie movies didn't used to be blockbuster; in fact, they were the anti-blockbuster, as the zombie was the cheapest shock/thriller vehicle out there for producers and directors with no budget. This was blue collar film-making, and it was terrible and hilarious.

In that vein, here's a spoof-trailer done by Edgar Wright, which was released with last year's Grindhouse double-feature. It captures the bare-bones thrills and unintentional humor these sorts of films ginned up, and is one of the funniest things I've seen in quite some time:

Wouldn't you just love to be in that audience?

Exotic lands & tasty foods: or, how Anthony Bourdain is awesome.

Not to steal too much of Alison Hallett's thunder, but I love me some Anthony Bourdain. He's gritty, but writes and presents his material so eloquently. His blog and television show, "No Reservations," are no exception. He's just good. And he travels to exotic lands (and some not-so-exotic, but what can you do). And he eats food. And he describes how it's prepared. And he gets into the history of the food, the people who make it, and the locations. And he's just so damn snarky all the while. He's a foodie historian's best friend, and he's just damn hilarious.

So, what are your guilty pleasures, to help relieve stress in election time or in general? Reading is always nice, too.