Limacher Low Down: Source Code is a well told story full of WHAT THE F^!K moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out not only what happens next, but also what just happened! I rarely find myself sitting in a movie not questioning the reality of what is going on, but also to be so drawn into what is going on that makes every scene more intense and fulfilling than the last. Rest assured that this movie packs more punch in a PG-13 rating than many of its R Rated counterparts in this day. If you want to go for a ride that as soon as the credits roll, you’re ready to go again; then I suggest you enter the Source Code.

Source Code is an intriguing story which takes a soldier and uses him to enter the mind of someone else. Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the first person to test a unique and new system of doing this very science called “the Source Code”. He is asked to have his mind “transported” into the body of a passenger on a train that has been blown up outside of Chicago, which is an apparent terrorist attack. Colter has eight minutes to seek and find the person or persons responsible for the attack, and do what he can to thwart the attempt.

Colter has distorted visual and audio contact with the people overseeing the project, Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) and Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright). These two are the only contact he has to give him the greater understanding of his mission, and to also fill him in on any possible background information. He observes everything that happens around him and starts looking for suspicious people any way he can. The only person who knows the person he is in the body of on the train is Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), whom Colter starts to feel closer to each time he enters the train once again.

Colter has multiple attempts to figure out who might be the terrorist or terrorists and has difficulty pin-pointing the culprit. The only fortunate thing for him is that people don’t remember what he did the last time before his time “ended”. Colter, working against the clock, and with the help of Colleen and Dr. Rutledge, starts to get more information about how to make the mission successful. While trying to figure out who may be behind the attack, he also attempts to figure out why he was chosen to be the first person to attempt this new science. This doesn’t skew away from the plot, in fact it adds a whole new dimension of holy shit!

The closer Colter comes at times, the further he gets away from something else which makes this more than just a mission for him, but a set of missions that he only has eight minutes at a time to piece together. Every piece of the puzzle that is this movie fits together nicely, and right when you think you may know what is going on, you realize DAMMIT I was wrong AGAIN! The movie does an excellent job of telling a unique story of vision and heroics, while also having something for everyone to enjoy. Well timed humor, drama, and more explosions than Michael Bay would employ makes Source Code not only a movie, but an unforgettable experience!

Unlike Halloween and Christmas, there aren’t many movies about Easter.  Well hold on to your bunny ears ladies and gentlemen, because here comes “Hop”!!

The Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Laurie) is about to retire.  His son E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) is set to take over.  However, E.B. has no desire to take over for his father.  See, E.B. has a dream…he wants to be a drummer!!  He practices drumming in his room on Easter Island, which is where Easter treats are made (think of it like Santa’s toy shop, only instead of toys, there is candy, and instead of elves, there are chicks.  They even have a flying sleigh, pulled by chicks!!).

To follow his dream, E.B. runs away from Easter Island and straight to Hollywood.  His first stop??  After consulting his Map to the Stars and Crime Scenes, he heads for the Playboy Mansion (bunnies, get it??).  Unfortunately, he’s not allowed past the gates, and he begins to get a little discouraged.

Now, let’s meet Fred O’Hare (James Marsden).  Fred is unemployed and living back at his family’s house.  His parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins) and sisters Sam (Kaley Cuoco) and Alex (Tiffany Espensen) (who claims that she was adopted by Fred’s parents because Fred was such a disappointment) stage an intervention, where they tell Fred he has to get a job and his own apartment.  Fred is depressed and leaves to go sleep in his car.  Sam takes pity on him, and offers him the keys to the house where she is supposed to house-sit, because she is afraid of the big dogs that live there.  She also gives him a lead on a possible job.  So Fred heads to the house, oh excuse me, ginormous mansion.  Once he gets on the property though, he accidentally hits a bunny with his car.  Guess who that might be??  Yes, E.B.!!

After the unfortunate bunny-hitting incident, Fred flashes back to when he was younger, when he saw the Easter Bunny delivering Easter baskets and chocolates to his house.  That’s when he realizes, the Easter Bunny is real, and this is him!!  Once E.B. shares his dream with Fred, Fred agrees to help E.B. audition for a talent show.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Carlos (voiced by Hank Azaria) is the Easter Bunny’s most trusted advisor.  However, he is tired of bunnies ruling Easter.  He plots to overthrow the Easter Bunny and hopes that E.B. never comes back.  Then the world will meet The Easter Chick!!  Unaware of the treachery, the Easter Bunny has dispatched the Pink Berets, a trio of fierce (mostly, two were fierce, one was a little slow) female bunnies tasked with finding E.B..  They have lots of fancy gadgets and mad ninja skills.

Will Easter be saved??  Will E.B. return to Easter Island??  Will Fred ever make his parents proud??  Go see “Hop” and find out!!!

One thing I did notice that I found strange was that nobody (except for Fred) found a talking bunny unusual.  But hey, they WERE in Hollywood.
I was pleased that not all of the funny parts of “Hop” were in the previews.  I was also glad that it escaped the dreaded current “Everything Must Be in 3-D” fad.  The animation was seamlessly blended with the live-action, and the story was well-written and flowed well.  For the “Despicable Me” fans, minions do make a brief appearance.  Also, don’t leave when the credits begin to roll because there is a scene after the credits.
“Hop” is a great family flick, appropriate for the kids with enough humor, pop culture references and cameo appearances for the grown-ups (or those masquerading as grown-ups).  A very funny, egg-cellent movie.

It’s no “Raging Bull”, but it does pack a punch.

The H-Bomb: After watching “The Fighter”, I can now proudly say that I have seen five of this past year’s Best Picture Nominees, the other four being “127 Hours”, “Black Swan”, “The Social Network”, and “Inception” (still haven’t checked out the big winner, “The King’s Speech” yet, sorry). And out of those five, I believe that every single one most definitely deserved to be on that list, with “The Fighter” deserving a spot high up on the list.

The story revolves around Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund (Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale), two half-brothers in Lowell, Massachusetts. Dicky is a washed up, has been boxer turned crackhead who’s big claim to fame is that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard, though whether or not it was a legit knock down is up for debate. In the early parts of the film, he’s being followed around by a documentary crew from HBO as they make what he believes is a film about his comeback, when in reality what they’re making is an up close and personal portrait of a drug addict.

Dicky also ostensibly works as trainer for his younger brother, struggling up and comer Micky. However, when it comes time to train, Dicky is usually too busy getting his fix at the friendly neighborhood crack-house. Micky’s career has stalled lately, as he’s gained a reputation for being a “stepping stone,” a chump fighter who other boxers take on because they figure he’s an easy win and a way to move on to bigger and better fights. Matters are not helped when Micky lets his brother and mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), a domineering, hard-as-nails broad who acts as his manager, talk him into taking a fight at the last minute with a guy who’s twenty pounds heavier than him.

Goes without saying that Micky’s career is shaping up to be even less impressive than Dicky’s. Then Micky meets a woman, a tough bartender named Charlene (Amy Adams), who helps convince Micky that his family (mother and brother, specifically), aren’t necessarily the best ones to manage his career. When Dicky is sent away to do a stretch in prison, Micky comes under new management and actually starts to win a few fights. He then gets his shot at a title bout in London, but he runs the risk of alienating his family forever. He does care about them, but he recognizes that they’ve done his career more harm than good.

“The Fighter” is a few genres in one. It’s part boxing movie, part family drama, and part underdog film, and it succeeds with flying colors as all three. It, being based on a true story (the most over-used words in Hollywood), is authentic, moving, and inspiring. It’s the kind of film that’s been made before, but much like “The Blind Side”, I thought it worked so well that it didn’t really matter to me. Yeah, it’s no big surprise who’s going to win the climatic title fight, but it’s so satisfying when the inevitable conclusion does happen, that I didn’t mind.

What makes this movie a cut above others of its ilk is the authenticity of its look and feel, as well as the actors. Everybody gives it their all and then some in front of the camera. Wahlberg is as good as he’s ever been as a boxer who dreams of winning a title, but who also loves and wants to do right by his family. He’s a stellar lead, but regrettably he is out shined by Bale, who is simply incredible in the much showier role of Dicky. Once again drastically altering his physicality and his voice, Bale plays that kind of almost hopelessly deluded, broken down substance abuser who only lives through drugs and past glories to perfection. He really puts everything he’s got into this role, making Dicky equally pathetic and sympathetic, and delivers what in my humble opinion is his best performance to date, which is saying a lot.

The other standout is Leo, who makes the mother of these two fighters one of the fiercest matriarch’s ever put on film. Not only is she practically unrecognizable, her Alice is fiery, ferocious, and could shout down (and possibly beat down) just about anyone who would be stupid enough to try and get in her face. She’s iron willed and self-serving to a fault, but the film remembers that she too is human, and ultimately wants what’s best for her sons. Leo and Bale both took home Oscars for their work, and both awards are richly deserved. Their turns alone make the movie worth watching.

Adams is also strong as Micky’s love interest, Charlene, who is the only character with the testicles to effectively stand up to Alice, and to motivate Micky to rethink his career strategy. She offers the perfect balance of strength, brains, and warmth, and she can add this to her long list of stellar performances (this officially erases her annoying, crybaby turn in “Julie & Julia”).

Director David O. Russell, who in the past gave us the stylized war film “Three Kings” and the off-puttingly odd “I (heart) Huckabee’s”, brings us his most straightforward and sincere film to date. He sidesteps his usual visual tricks and quirkiness in order to just let the story tell itself. The character relationships and the drama are believable, and Russell’s handling of the boxing scenes are masterful. I could almost feel those killer punches to the liver that Micky socks his opponents with throughout the film.

Sadly, I do have to deduct a point from this fighter for playing out in such a foreseeable way at the end, but, predictability aside, I give it half a point back for delivering an emotionally satisfying conclusion without feeling forced or turning sappy on our asses. Though I hear that Russell and Wahlberg are already mapping out a sequel… erm… yeah, don’t know how I feel about that, yet.

In terms of boxing movies, “The Fighter” doesn’t quite contend with “Raging Bull” (Greatest… Boxing Film… Ever!) or the original “Rocky”, but it is far superior to that nauseatingly over-rated pile of fertilizer, “Million Dollar Baby”. It most certainly is one of the best films to come out last year, and if you missed it in theaters, then now is the time for you to right that wrong.

We’d like to thank guest writer, Alyn Darnay of Chaos Films for sharing this review for our readers. -Swift

Directed by: Mike Leigh (‘Happy-Go-Lucky,’ ‘Secrets & Lies,’‘Vera Drake’)
Starring: Jim Broadbent (Tom), Ruth Sheen (Gerri), Lesley Manville (Mary)

Something there is about the English and their gardens, how they tend them, take their time with them, care for them, cherish them, bring warmth and joy to them, even staying with them when the weather turns nasty. And so to is it with Mike Leigh’s latest ensemble piece “Another Year.” Here the talented 67-year old director again brings us a statement about the human condition in the form of a happily married 60something couple who act as protective gardeners for a variety of their world tortured friends. As a film, “Another Year” is a slow paced slice of life, slightly ironic, very sweet, with thoroughly engaging characters, a strangely realistic story, and exceptional acting performances by all.

Over the course of one year, introduced through seasonal gardening as our guide to time passage, we meet an easygoing London couple (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) who are enjoying their fifth decade together. He’s a working geologist and she’s a therapist for the National Health. They live a quiet life on a quiet street somewhere in a quiet London suburb. They’re still very happy together and enjoy many shared interests, none the least of which is to socialize with friends and family, mostly over lunch, dinner or the frequent bottle of wine at the kitchen table.

Basically, the story is about the problems raging around the friends of this loving couple and how they are unaffected by it as they provide comfort and support to all these lost and lonely souls who’ve entered their life. I was however left wondering if they were really as warm as they appeared, or if they actually drew satisfaction about their own lives through the trials and tribulations of those around them. That’s the beauty of this movie; it’s so close to reality that you as an audience are left with decisions about the characters in the same way you are in life.

The standout performance, in an ensemble of standout performances, is that of Lesley Manville, a 54 year old veteran of Leigh’s films and the British Theatre, who jumps to center stage with an award worthy performance. Her character, Mary, is an attractive but desperately neurotic female, constantly conjuring up romances in her head and then drowning herself in copious amounts of wine when they fail to present themselves. It’s Manville’s brilliant performance that raises the bar in this film, she literally takes over the screen and turns Mary into a true tragic character that we as an audience just want to shake and say,  “Come to your senses girl!”

The film’s screenplay has received an Oscar nomination for Leigh’s compelling script, and deservedly so, it tells a universal story in a most unique way. Granted, the film could be a little shorter, but “Another Year” will slowly grow on you, that’s Leigh’s style, well mannered and English, but the journey is worth your time. I liked the film very much.

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Justice finds all men, eventually.

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Swift shot:  “The Dude” is not “The Duke”, but apart from a few scenes where Bridges invokes Billy Bob Thornton’s “Karl”, from Sling Blade – his performance as Cogburn is commendable.  Neophyte Hailee Steinfeld owns the Mattie role and is going to be a star to watch, and you may just see her adorned with awards this year.  With a decent supporting actor performance out of Matt Damon as Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf, True Grit is definitely worth seeing.  Still, Westerns are best viewed on a lazy Saturday at home, so rushing out to see this in theaters isn’t mandatory.

The story on the surface is your basic Wild-West justice plot, Mattie’s pa gets gunned down over an argument, so she seeks justice in a lawless territory where any manner of cretin, varmint and ne’er-do-well pose her with a lethal threat. What isn’t typical is Mattie is merely 14 but has the brain and gumption of a well-seasoned frontiersman.  In fact, the movie’s title probably more aptly suits this “little girl”, because she refuses to give up searching for her father’s killer – even when others do decide to quit.  Her determination is unbelievable, albeit brave and foolish.  (Bravery and stupidity are often close bed fellows).

Mattie is bound to see her father’s killer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) hanged in Arkansas for his crimes.  Thing is, Chaney also killed a Texas Senator (and his little dog too), so Ranger LaBouef wants to bring him to Texas to hang.  Here is where Mattie’s stubbornness becomes laughable; she wants him to hang for killing her father, but to LaBouef and Cogburn, justice is justice, and dead is dead – plus the Texas bounty is more.  Chaney is running with the Pepper gang, led by Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper), and they are a ruthlessly pragmatic bunch of thieves and murderers who Cogburn is familiar with.  As the manhunt ensues, we learn more about each character as their pursuit closes in on the gang.  Incidentally, Pepper has a small amount of screen time, but does a hell of a job in each scene.

This isn’t an action flick, so the pacing is a bit slow at times,  but this film could serve to populate a resurgence of Westerns out of Hollyweird.  The Coen brothers style fits nicely into a Western, because they like to implore the use of grime and reality in all their films, the dirt under the nails that can’t be brushed away, dust cakes everything and reminds us that all humans come out of the box with flaws.  True Grit is no exception to this formula;  the heroes are hard to like, but you can’t help admire them despite their faults.

The Coen brothers deserve an award for authentic dialog too, accurately portraying the pattern of speech used in Arkansas after the War Between the States (That’s the Civil War to you Yankee sunsabitches).  You will notice that almost no one speaks with contractions, and at times it will come across as silly, but as with Fargo, the accents, pace and dialect serve to immerse the audience and enhance the enjoyment of the film.

True Grit is a grimy, dirty, chaotic, stoic, tall-tale that most likely would make John Wayne himself happy to see.  This was a remake of a 1969 film of the same name, starring Wayne, and it must be said that it is far easier to improve upon something that exists rather than to create a pure concept.  So, to that end, I say Bridges did a fine job as Cogburn, but there can be no doubt, the role belongs to The Duke, even if The Dude can’t abide the truth.

We’d like to thank guest writer, Alyn Darnay of Chaos Films for sharing this review for our readers.  -Swift

Check out Chaos Films, here!

Written & Directed by: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Starring: Jim Carrey (Yes Man), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars), Leslie Mann (Funny People), and Rodrigo Santoro (Che).

There’s something oddly compelling about watching a doomed love affair on screen. Most of the time however, the filmmakers don’t get it right, only creating the mock appearance of a loving couple. Showing true love on screen with all its muddled and messy confusion is probably the hardest thing to do, especially when every love story is different. And, that is what “I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS” is all about, different. It’s improbable, funny, touching, unbelievable, and frantic, and it’s based on true events, “This really happened.”

“I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS” is the true story of charismatic conman Steven Jay Russell (Carrey) and his transformation from a mild-mannered, married, small-town businessman into a successful gay white-collar criminal madly in love with his life-partner, who continually finds himself in trouble with the law. So brilliant is he at what he does, he even manages to escape the Texas Penal System on four separate occasions, while always finding ways to care for his soft spoken life-partner Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor).

At its heart this film is about a conman who never quits. A funny, clever, enjoyable film with lots of great twists and turns that will make you wonder how this man just isn’t running our government. His one downfall is Love. Happens to many of us. In this case though, it’s the love of one man for another.

In recent years there have been a slew of films depicting gay based themes, but none as engaging, warm, humorous and loving as this film. The bond between these two men is evident and as strong as any relationship ever depicted in film. It’s frank and it manages to avoid all the standard clichés of the genre. Coming from writer-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who gave us “Bad Santa”, this film arrives as a surprise. They’ve managed to create a stranger-than-fiction comedy that’s really funny and at the same time touching.

The team of Carrey and McGregor make it all fun to watch, because it seems so real to them. They throw themselves into their roles and the relationship unreservedly. That means there are scenes depicting kissing, hugging, and sexual repartee, including one steamy sex scene, but if you chose not to see the film for these reasons, you’ll deny yourself the pleasure of seeing a great film.

Yes, Carry does do some of his standard mugging, but his performance here has true heart in it and deserves recognition, as does McGregor who is just wonderful and absolutely believable in a tough gender-bending role.
“I Love You Phillip Morris”, is one of the year’s most enjoyable films.

“Machete don’t text”

Swift shot: You like action?  You like people getting hacked, shot, stabbed and eviscerated?  Yeah?  You do?  Well, cabron – ya gonna love this mojon!  Machete is grindhouse-ethnic exploitation madness at its best, with level headed story-telling and just enough cheese to keep you chuckling throughout.  Some choices were just a little too campy to merit a full five star rating, like the random bionic man foley effects when the head honcho repeatedly draws his katana – still a fun film not afraid to take some risks.

Truth be told, this is one I would normally rent, but I would recommend you shell out some pesos to see it with your vatos at the local drive-in to get the full effect.

Machete starts with brutal violence and ends the same, like you would expect anything less?  This film had what I thought was lacking in The Expendables, an action flop for me, personally.  Machete is raw and ugly, but the action was more believable and grotesque.

The prelude, shot with deliberate film “artifacts” intact (dust, hair, emulsion scratches, with 1970s style) exposes Machete (Danny Trejo) as a vulnerably naive Mexican Federale who is confronted with brutal betrayal.  When the film really starts, after the awesome credits, the artifacts are removed and you are flashed forward three years later.  Machete is now an illegal alien in Texas, struggling just to get a meal.  The long gap never gets accounted for in the film, but the mystery adds to the story.

While Machete is trying to go about his life, he happens to gain the attention of the sinister Booth (Jeff Fahey) who hires him to kill a US Senator, McLaughlin (De Niro).  If he refuses to do the job, Booth will have him killed – naturally.  Jessica Alba holds her own playing the straight-laced ICE agent, Sartana (wasn’t that Zartan’s sister?) who enforces the law with a blind devotion – but faces a challenge of judicial faith when she crosses paths with Machete.

Combined with all of this political assassination intrigue, there exists an illegal organization known as “The Network” that may have something to do with the plot.  The network is headed by a mysterious female leader, known only as “SHE”.  (According to Amadarwin, SHE is a direct homage to CHE – nice catch, slanty).  Lucky for Machete, he attracts the attention of the lovely Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) who runs a taco truck in the city and is rumored to be SHE.

As with all great grindhouse films, hell breaks loose, shit goes wrong and Machete finds out there is more to Booth than initially feared. There are some choice cameos with Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan, and even Don Johnson plays a sadistic vigilante, aka “Minuteman” IRL, that relishes his job, murdering illegals to keep his grand-daddy’s land Texas and not Mexico.

While there are overtly, non-subtle points made about the current hot-topic, illegal immigration, throughout director Rodriguez’ film . . . it is extreme farce.  The characters are so vibrantly silly that you can’t help but laugh at most of them, especially Seagal as Torrez, the Mexican heffe that is pulling all the strings.

To all of those of you thinking, I don’t want to waste money just because De Niro is in it, note, his role is more than a mere cameo.  Even little miss fucked-up, Lohan, gets to fill a few cylinders, firing off multiple guns in the grand stand-off climax that is sure to please everyone.  And, yes, she uses stunt boobs during one scene, but she sheds her shyness later on.

This film is designed to be over-the-top insanity, clever dialog and pragmatic characters help drive a lot of the story, and the action is awesome.  The kills in this film will be talked about for quite some time, in fact one kill is foreshadowed quite brilliantly.  I won’t give it away, because it was brilliant – and if you aren’t paying attention, you’ll miss it!

I set my expectations pretty low for this flick, and I gotta say, I was impressed.  Not only was it a visually fun film, the message was contemporary and done tongue in cheek, so even right wing, gun-totin’ loons like me could sit back and laugh a bit.  You will enjoy this film if you take it for what it is.  If you are a film snob who looks at anything mainstream as pure popcorn crap, how miserable are you?  Just enjoy this flick for everything it is – fun, gory, madness!

Get out your tokens!

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Swift shot:  It’s a movie, no, it’s a graphic novel, no, it’s a video game?  Wait, what the hell is this thing?  Really, who cares, you want a label – get some duct tape and stick it to your forehead – now put a Sharpie to it “Old”.  Yea, that’s you, so, anyway, like I was saying, this film, err whatever, was just awesome!  It has this low-class, Canadian – in your face – attitude.  It’s like Degrassi Junior High meets Crank!  The acting is solid, the direction is stellar, the fun is non-stop, and you’ll have a great time – I know the cast did.

Scott Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler!  Enter Player 1, Scott Pilgrim, whose latest antics unfold for the audience as he toys around with dating a seventeen year old Chinese girl, named . . . wait for it, Knives Chau!  Right away I knew I was going to freakin’ LOVE this film.  One of the major love interests is named after a weapon.  (I bet Action Flick Chick knows every female lead named after weapons, if not, she’ll have it up soon).  Ellen Wong owns the character, she’ll be Knives eternally, and she stole every scene with her commitment and impeccable comedic timing – to say nothing of her ability to kick major ass.

Anyway, Pilgrim is sorta dating this high-schooler, and she is a fire-ball of hyper active geekiness, but she is really young and his band, Sex Bob-Omb (1 -2 -3 -4) think maybe he is a bit of a creep for dating a high schooler.  Couple that with the fact that Pilgrim is some kind of dorky version of Cassanova or something, and you instantly find yourself suspended in disbelief. But, the whole film, err whatever, is like this, so it’s just fun.  It’s not as zany as Airplane, but it teeters on the edge of ridiculous.  Still, people were eating the shit up at the screening, laughing hysterically at the dry deliveries and odd subtitles, akin to Zombieland (Don’t worry, Madison, you don’t have to read this movie).

As mentioned above, Scott Pilgrim is in a band, Sex Bob-Omb (1-2-3-4), and he plays guitar, and they suck.  He lives with a gay dude who owns everything and basically lets Scott crash indefinetely, the gay dude is played by the better Culkin.  So, his life is pretty interesting, he’s a twenty-something slacker whose only ambition is to get over his broken heart, courtesy of one Envy Adams (Brie Larson) who used to play in the shitty band, Sex Bob-Omb (1-2-3-4) but found fame and left Scott and the others behind without a care.

So, Scott is pretty jaded about relationships, plus, he has a phobia about his hair.  But, when this American girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) appears at a friend’s party, Scott is instantly attracted to her.  She is different than the normal Toronto herd, she has purple hair, and oh yea, he saw her in a dream the night before – so he is pretty sure she is the one – or was it just bad gas?

As he works up the nerve to ask her out, using his coveted Pac-Man pick up line, he gets what he assumes is junk mail from someone claiming they must fight to the death now that Scott is dating Ramona. This is where shit starts to get all Nintendo 64!

Scott is ruthlessly pursued by Ramona’s evil exes throughout the film, err whatever, and he must vanquish each in unique, challenging ways.  Calling on skills he picked up from playing something that looks like Dance Dance Revolution with Ninjas (Hey, I am old, I don’t know what the hell that was) Scott must defeat each to truly start “dating” Ramona.  Ramona’s evilist (it’s not a word, neither is douchebaggery) ex, Gideon (Jason Schwartzman) has founded the League of Evil Exes to vanquish Scott, because he is a threat to the strange hold Gideon possesses over Ramona.

The cameos in this film were perfect, when you realize at one point, Scott has to defeat both Superman AND Human Torch, he’s boned!  Luckily he has an amazing cast of supporting characters and actors who really flesh out the film beautifully.  The gay dude, Young Neil, Linda Blair (no, she REALLY looks like the demon with that makeup – check it out), and two surprise un-credited cameos who swoop in to save the day.  The film’s pace is amazing, I never found myself bored or fidgety.  One nod to Bollywood caused me pause, but the rest of the audience wanted more curry with their Canada I guess – cause they loved it all!

You will love this film if you ever played Nintendo, if not, save yourself some tokens and stay home.  The only thing I didn’t like was, one, I am not a huge Cera fan, I prefer the poor man’s version, Eisenberg (Zombieland).  Two, Ramona and Scott were not my favorite characters, I think you know who I was pulling for the whole film, err whatever, give you a hint, her name rhymes with chives.  Yea, this is one of those rare films where the title character doesn’t interest me as much as his band of merry idiots and geeks galore. Still, the film is too much fun to get all worked up over crap like that, just see this one – and, hell, if you want to, see it twice,  just need to find that extra life!!

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Get Low is the AMAZING story of a man who has become a hermit in his old age and is misunderstood by everyone in the small town.  He lives just outside the town, in a time period that wasn’t clearly defined, but my guess is late 20’s early 30’s. Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) has lived alone for 40 years and doesn’t like to be disturbed, in fact he posts a sign that reads “No DAMN Trespassing! Beware of Mule”, because recently kids came and threw rocks through his window. Felix goes into town to attempt to set up a funeral for himself and is politely turned away by the local reverend – despite his large wad of cash in hand. But, just outside the reverend’s door, a young resident, Buddy (Lucas Black) was listening to the strange request.

Buddy works for the local funeral parlor, run by Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), who is a quick talking man willing to do anything to save his struggling funeral parlor. Buddy and Frank go to Felix’s house to see if they can accommodate Felix’s wishes. Felix explains he wants to have a “Living Funeral” where everyone in town comes and tells a story about him. Quinn is eager to oblige . . . he needs the cash. On the way out, Felix runs into Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek), an old friend from his past.

Felix, Buddy, and Frank are going to town to get posters ready and clean Felix up for his “Living Funeral”, when they ask how Felix knows Mattie in which Duvall delivers a sure to be CLASSIC line.  (The facial reactions from Bill Murray and Lucas Black here are priceless and just added more to the scene). Mattie happens upon Felix’s place and they end up going for a walk and spending some time together, but she gets offended and leaves after seeing a picture on the wall, with no real explanation why for the audience.

Felix goes to a local radio station w/ Frank and Buddy to hype the “Living Funeral” when Felix drops the bombshell that they’re going to offer raffle tickets for $5 and the winner will win Felix’s property after he passes. Felix next tells Buddy that they’re going for a drive, and for Buddy to not stop till he tells him. Here we learn more about Felix and some unfinished business.

Felix decides that he’s going to tell his own story at his funeral and get the burden that’s been with him for 40 years off of his chest. Everything is set up for the “Living Funeral”, which was like Woodstock of its time. Felix reveals all the final pieces to the puzzle of his life – in a wonderful moment of clarity, all the questions that had been brought up beforehand are answered.

This movie was just a WONDERFUL story that was very well told, and very well acted. The interaction between Robert Duvall and Bill Murray was magical, and the acting from everyone was very well done. This movie had comedy, drama, and a story that pulled the viewer in to enjoy it. I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who likes movies that are funny, yet have a heart without being Romantic check this movie out. I can honestly say this is my FAVORITE movie I’ve seen this year, and it’s a film that gives me a greater understanding of why I LOVE movies.