Gangster Squad

I'm a simple guy when it comes to movie. Entertain me, and I'll be pleased. Not every movie needs to be some groundbreaking, never before seen story that rewrites how films are made. Take 2013's Gangster Squad. It has taken a ridiculous amount of heat because.....I have NO IDEA. It is familiar in a way, but it's stylish, entertaining and action-packed with a ridiculous, loaded cast. Screw all the Debbie Downers. I loved this movie.

It's 1949 in Los Angeles and former boxer turned gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is taking over the city bit by bit. Gambling, prostitution, drugs, Cohen is buying up cops, judges and politicians left and right as fast as he can. One of seemingly few clean cops, Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) is fed up with what he's seeing in a city he wants his family to grow up in. He's approached by the similarly clean police chief, Parker (Nick Nolte), with an offer; assemble a small crew of officers and take the war to Cohen. O'Mara's squad will work as their own separate unit, completely removed from the laws and rules that would typically limit officers. He puts his crew together, including roguish Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), and goes to work, attacking casinos, bars and clubs all over the L.A. area. They immediately find success, but it's only a matter of time before Cohen figures out who's gunning for him. Can O'Mara's Gangster Squad take Cohen's illegal businesses out before he gets to them?

There is little to nothing I didn't like about this movie. Playing like a modern film noir, it's a gem of a flick. It plays like a mix of L.A. Confidential, The Untouchables and The Magnificent Seven. If you put those three movies together and can't get a winner, then you're doing something wrong. Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) is at the helm of a damn entertaining movie. It feels like a throwback film to the Hollywood glory days with a huge cast -- much, much more on that later -- to go with a well-written script, exciting, well-choreographed action and a story that never really slows down. More than anything, it is just F-U-N. That's all. There are good guys and bad guys, cops and gangsters, a femme fatale and not a damsel in distress. Is it so wrong for a movie to just be entertaining? I read a surprising amount of reviews that were highly critical of this movie. Maybe I missed something, but I loved it from beginning to end.

Watching the trailer for the first time last year, I have no doubt my eyes were as big as dinner plates. A movie about cops and gangsters in post-WWII L.A. already drew me in, but with this cast?!? It's a ridiculously deep, very talented cast. Because there is so much talent assembled, we're not talking in-depth character studies, but there isn't a weak part in the bunch. For starters, Josh Brolin as the hard-headed, stubborn O'Mara is a hero cop gem. A WWII veteran, he's sick of Cohen and his antics so given a chance to take him down a whole lot of notches, he jumps at the chance. He has a pregnant wife (Mireille Enos) weighing on his mind, but he wants to get the job done, on principle alone. Brolin is aided by Ryan Gosling as Wooters, the cop who sees what L.A. has become and just doesn't care too much, but he's given a reason to care while also getting the love interest, Grace (Emma Stone), Cohen's girl. Uh-oh, more issues!

The names already mentioned would be enough for most movies, but not this one. Penn gets to ham it up as real-life boxer turned gangster Mickey Cohen, sneering and intimidating his way into the part. This is an out-and-out villain, a bad guy you just love to hate and can't wait to see get taken down. Nolte makes the most of his smallish but effective part as Chief Parker, the chief of police who sends O'Mara on his dangerous, illegal mission. Also look for Sullivan Stapleton as Jack Whalen, a bookie and friend of Wooter's working in Cohen's organization (a supporting but excellent part), Holt McCallany as Lockwood, Cohen's bodyguard and enforcer, and Troy Garity as Wrevock, a hired killer working for Cohen.

Not surprisingly, a certain part of the cast caught my eye....O'Mara's Gangster Squad! Uh-oh, it's another men-on-a-mission movie! Assemble a crew of misfits and specialists and let them go to work. How can you lose? Brolin and Gosling are the stars, showing off that hero-sidekick chemistry that every group of specialists needs. But wait, there's more! Rounding out the crew/squad are Harris (Anthony Mackie), a specialist with gun or knife looking to clean up the streets of drugs, Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), a WWII intelligence officer and expert in radio technology, Kennard (Robert Patrick), the veteran cop and part-Wild West lawman who favors a six-shooter, and Ramirez (Michael Pena), a young Mexican officer who's looked down upon by much of the rest of the force. It's a good group of some really solid actors, all comfortable and willing to take a supporting part to flesh out an impressive cast.

Originally supposed to be released in summer/fall 2012, 'Gangster' was pushed back for re-shoots following the Aurora shooting at a movie theater. What remains is still an action-packed movie that will appease most moviegoer's needs for some shoot 'em up action. The script never goes long without a gunfight or shoot out of some sort. A couple different sequences stand out, including a failed ambush in a busy street in Chinatown and the finale at Park Plaza Hotel especially leaving their mark. It's pistols and machine guns to aid the throwback feel with some pretty cool uses of slow-motion without going overboard. Bloody but not overly graphic, the action sequences are just another selling point.

It's hard to describe this movie without describing the style. The late 1940s (and heading into the 1950s) were an inherently cool time looking back on them. Cops and police officers wore a suit, tie and a hat. The cars were ridiculously cool, the streets even more so, and Fleischer and Co. took that to heart. Part of the appeal here is the look of the movie, like we were transported to 1949 Los Angeles. Just like a scene where O'Mara and crew walk away from the L.A. City Hall, there's a cool factor that's hard to touch or classify. It's stylish and cool....because it is. How about a montage of the Squad doing their work to big band music? It works. There is style on display in every scene whether it be the clothes and sets or the quick, speedily delivered dialogue. I liked everything about this movie and look forward to future and repeat viewings.

Gangster Squad (2013): ****/****  

Friends With Benefits

Hollywood, you sure are innovative, unique and always looking for something new, right? Haha, nah, just kidding. In January 2011, No Strings Attached was released, the story of two friends who hook up with....no strings attached. Six months later in July, 2011's Friends With Benefits hit theaters, the story of....friends with benefits. So yeah, we're talking basically the same movie.

Pursued by GQ Magazine to update their website, Dylan Harper (Justin Timberlake) visits New York City on an interview and is "handled" by executive recruiter Jamie Rellis (Mila Kunis). Dylan takes the job, leaving Los Angeles for the new job in NYC. He takes to the job immediately as a fast friendship starts with Jamie. Both 20-somethings are coming off bad breakups, and soon enough the conversation comes up. Why don't they just have sex? No dating, no relationship, no feelings, just sex. It seems simple enough, right? Can these two crazy kids pull off the craziest of no-dating, just sex schemes?

Is there a more unnecessary thing than typing up a plot synopsis for a movie 'Friends With Benefits'? If you have two functioning brain cells and have seen at least one other romantic comedy in your lifetime, I feel safe saying you can predict the ending of the movie. Go ahead.....try it. Playing on the notion that you know this movie before it even begins, director Will Gluck has some fun with the formula. A key ingredient of the two friends deciding to have sex sans relationship is that part of their agreement involves avoiding all the stereotypes of romantic comedies. They literally talk about avoiding all the cliches and stereotypes. It provides some fun moments, even if in the end, 'Benefits' basically throws out all those preconceptions and becomes the romantic comedy it's trying not to be. Go figure. Surprising, right?

So with all that said, I liked this movie. I liked it a lot. I think much of the enjoyment comes from the script. Yes, it's a non-romantic comedy that is just the opposite....a romantic comedy. But in getting to the point where you don't want to murder the characters, it's a lot of fun. The dialogue between Timberlake's Dylan (kinda a tool-ly name, huh?) and Kunis' Jamie feels real and smart without being too real, too smart and a tad bit condescending. It's cute without being ridiculously cute. The conversations about the sexing are funny without being filthy, and the script does a fine job creating little niches for these characters, especially Dylan. We learn plenty of little touches about him that are surprisingly funny -- his trouble with simple math, his talent for sneezing at a certain time, his love for Harry Potter (It's not gay!) -- and help 'Benefits' avoid being one big, cardboard cutout.

Now comparing 'Benefits' with 'Strings' is simple for me. I like Timberlake and Kunis. I like Natalie Portman and....yeah, Ashton Kutcher, not a fan. Your enjoyment (even a little bit) will come from how much you like or dislike these characters. I'll say again about Timberlake. When he was with NSync, I never thought I'd like the guy, but he continues to create a name for himself as a reliable, likable character. Kunis is, well, Kunis, gorgeous, pretty, attractive, and a good actress to boot. There is an easygoing chemistry between the two that carries the whole story and helps it rise above the painful and familiar trappings of a romantic comedy. If you like Timberlake and/or Kunis, you'll like this movie, simple as that.

The rest of the supporting cast ain't too shabby either. Patricia Clarkson has some fun as Jamie's quirky, goofy and kinda slutty Mom who's done her best to raise her daughter as a single mom. Richards Jenkins plays Dylan's dad suffering through the early stages of Alzheimer's with Jenna Elfman playing Dylan's brother in an interesting subplot about Dylan's past. Woody Harrelson is very funny in a less than subtle role as Tommy, Dylan's co-worker, the gay sports editor at GQ. Also look for quick appearances by Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Emma Stone and Andy Samberg. Professional snowboarder and Flying Tomato himself, Shaun White makes a funny two-scene appearance as himself.

As far as romantic comedies go, I liked this one a lot. No matter what it tries to do, 'Benefits' is just that; a romantic comedy. It does things the right way though. It's funny without pandering, and it has Mila Kunis in various stages of undress and skimpy outfits. That's never, ever a bad thing. For the ladies in the audience, Justin Timberlake is also nude his fair share of the time so if you'd like to see his butt, this is your movie.

Friends With Benefits (2011): ***/****

The Help

By no means did I avoid 2011's The Help, but I never actively sought it out either. A success at the box office and during awards season, I just wasn't dying to see it regardless of all the positive reviews. I'm stubborn that way apparently. So here we sit, a year later, and I caught up with it. Definitely worth the wait, and another lesson I shouldn't be so stubborn when it comes to movies.

Having just gotten her college degree, Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) heads home to Jackson, Mississippi hoping to get a job writing for a local newspaper. She gets that job, ghostwriting a column about cleaning advice. Skeeter seeks the help of Aibileen (Viola Davis), a maid who works for one of the richer, well-to-do families in town. Having grown up in Jackson, Skeeter has seen the inner workings of the town; white families served hand and foot by their African-American servants with no regard for feelings. Talking to Aibileen, Skeeter thinks it would be a great idea to write a book written from the perspective of "the help." Aibileen and her friend and fellow maid, Minny (Octavia Spencer), agree, but they're scared to death of the possible consequences.

From director Tate Taylor, this is an interesting movie to watch, digest and review. While it is a highly enjoyable film to watch, it is also intensely uncomfortable to watch because of.....well, it's honesty. Set in early 1960s Mississippi, the focus is clearly on the racism and segregation that ran rampant in the South and around much of the U.S. for years (and still does in different ways). It is a difficult movie to watch, difficult to comprehend people treat others like this. The help are treated like dirt with some believing they carry "different diseases" to the point their own bathrooms are built in garages.

Credit to Taylor and his crew though for making the movie. Set just 50 years ago from the present, it feels like we're traveling as viewers in a time machine. You watch this movie and feel like you've been transported to 1960s Jackson. Everything from the wardrobe to the sets to the big boats of cars gives 'Help' an air of authenticity. We see people smoking anywhere and everywhere, we see the violence that erupts from the developing Civil Rights movement, and the way the maids and help are treated like second-class citizens. I especially liked Thomas Newman's score as well, an underplayed score that moves the story along nicely.

By far though, the best thing going for Taylor's film is the cast. It's a deep cast. Very deep. Up until this point in her career, Emma Stone had done mostly comedic work, even some light drama. In a major starring role, Stone doesn't disappoint. It isn't a performance that requires her to carry the movie, but that's the beauty of such a strong ensemble. She develops quite the interesting character, and one that ends up being a means to an end to introduce the deeper, more dramatic parts. Also look for Allison Janney as Skeeter's mother, Charlotte, Ahna O'Reilly as Elizabeth, a young married woman who has Aibileen as a maid, Sissy Spacek as an aging Southern belle and the mother of another character (more on Hilly later), and Cicely Tyson as Constantine, the Phelan's maid who was a key figure in Skeeter's childhood.

 All those performances are solid, but four other performances end up being what many viewers took away from the film. Octavia Spencer won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part as Minny, the fiery, opinionated maid who ends up butting heads with Bryce Dallas Howard's Hilly, the -- pardon my language -- Queen Bitch in Jackson. Spencer is the showier part while Viola Davis gets the more understated and underplayed part that provides the perfect counter to Spencer's Minny. It is an epically appropriate duo, two genuine friends who have also bonded through their similar trials. Davis was also nominated for an Oscar but lost to Meryl Streep from The Iron Lady. Her motherly relationship with Elizabeth's daughter is the crux of the movie. Howard is a despicably unlikable villain in a great performance. The third nominated part goes to Jessica Chastain as Celia, an outsider in Jackson because Hilly hates her. Her relationship with Spencer's Minny ends up being a key part of the movie, a highly effective emotional relationship. Four great performances though.

If there is a complaint I had, it's that at 146 minutes, 'Help' is a tad on the long side. It's never boring and always interesting to watch, but in certain parts of the second half it felt like I had been watching the movie for quite a long time. The ending makes up for any draggy portions with a kick right in the crotch in the emotion department. It's a heartbreakingly real ending, one that while appropriate is depressing nonetheless. A very good movie overall that deserves all the kudos and accolades it's earned. Glad I caught up with it.

The Help (2011): ***/****

The Amazing Spider-Man

Really? This is what we've come to? Between 2002 and 2007, three different Spiderman movies hit theaters -- all highly successful regardless of quality, I'm looking at you Spiderman 3 -- with Tobey Maguire as the arachnid superhero. Maguire wanted out though, but Hollywood wanted more. So just five years since the last movie and 10 since the start of the franchise, we get a reboot already? Enter 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man.

Living with his aunt and uncle for years after his parents disappeared, nerdy teenager Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has long struggled with who he is and what he should be as he grows up. One day in search of answers about his father, Peter stumbles across some of his paperwork, some of it about cross-breeding DNA brands. He follows the information and meets Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's old partner. It is at Connors' office that Peter is bit on the neck by a genetically mutated spider, and almost immediately he feels the effects. With a power that he can at first barely harness, much less believe, Peter becomes Spiderman. But as his name becomes known, some look to him as a hero, other as a cowardly masked vigilante.

I'll get part of this rant out early. A line in the recent 21 Jump Street rings truer and truer with each new movie. It goes "The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice." Yes, I realize that fans go out to see these movies, but seriously. Is there no original idea at all out there? We're already doing a reboot of a franchise that was started exactly 10 years ago. From director Marc Webb, 'Amazing' tweaks the Spiderman universe back toward the more accurate, but is that enough reasoning to justify starting a franchise over again? We JUST saw Spiderman in 2002 explain how Peter becomes the superhero.Strike while the iron is hot I suppose, but still. Originality is so overrated anyways I suppose.

Onto the actual movie though. The rant wouldn't have been as severe if this movie wasn't....well....dull. With a movie that runs 136 minutes, I was bored and bored quickly. The origin story of a superhero is fine. Seeing that character background is almost always interesting. But here? I never felt like I was brought into the movie. The story has the been-there, done-that quality which is unfortunate because in quick snippets, little glimpses in certain scenes, there is energy and potential for an interesting, worthwhile story. Instead we get a teen angst riddled Peter struggling with being a teenager like something out of an after school special. There are no truly memorable set pieces, nothing that stands out from the rest, and the lack of a great villain certainly handicaps the story even if Ifans is a big positive in the cast. A little on the side, 'Amazing' could have been more memorable with just a little energy.

Through four movies -- three with Maguire and one with Garfield -- I think a key issue is casting Spiderman. What's so hard about it? Christian Bale is an ideal Batman. Robert Downey Jr. the same for Iron Man. Why not Spiderman? Is it the teen aspect? A 28-year old, Garfield certainly looks the part of a somewhat nerdy but highly intelligent high school student. As an actor though, I wasn't impressed. Yes, he's Spiderman. He's cool, but I wasn't interested in the character at all. Garfield uses a series of awkward glances, twitches and flinching to develop(?) the character of Spiderman. Making it worse, when he becomes the superhero, he becomes cocky and spits out one-liners left and right, making a dull character tough to watch on-screen. He is a better choice than Maguire was (just never seemed like an ideal choice), but if there's little interest in the story or him, that's kind of a major problem.

Not surprisingly, some of the supporting parts help make the slow-moving story worthwhile at different points. I'm noticing that more and more in certain superhero movies. Emma Stone is Gwen Stacy, the smart, beautiful and funny teenager that just about every high school boy dreams of dating. Ifans is the best supporting part as Dr. Connors who eventually turns into the Lizard after a specimen reacts in an unforeseen way. A villain who's motives are pure, but how he intends to do it ends up vilifying him. Denis Leary too has some fun as Capt. Stacy, a NYPD officer and Gwen's father who butts heads with Peter. Martin Sheen and Sally Field are underused but make the most of their screentime as Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Peter's long-time guardians who've looked after him since his parents disappeared years earlier.

As 'Amazing' nears the two-hour mark, it is saved to a point by the finale; Spiderman trying to prevent the Lizard's means of creating a 'super race' of men by unleashing a toxin all over New York City. The action up to that point felt repetitious to me, but this final showdown has that energy that so much of the rest of the movie was missing. There's also a small but solid part for C. Thomas Howell in the finale, a link to an earlier scene when he meets Spiderman. As a moderate fan of the original Spiderman movies, I didn't have high expectations for this 2012 reboot. Still, I came away empty. It's not an awful movie, but it never rises above even average unfortunately.

The Amazing Spider Man <---trailer (2012): **/**** 

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

There are romantic comedies, and there are dramas. It seems it's one or the other when it comes to stories about love, marriage, relationships, but without any real middle ground. When movies with some laughs produced from dramatic situations come along, scoop them up, like 2011's Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Married to his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), for over 20 years with three kids and leading a supposedly happy life, Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), is dealt a shocker when Emily asks him for a divorce. Cal doesn't know what to do other than to agree, especially when Emily says she slept with a co-worker. In his mid 40s, Cal now finds himself basically starting life over, discovering everything isn't so easy as a single guy. One night in a bar he meets Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), a successful 20-something who is quite the ladies man. Quick enough, Jacob has Cal acting like the confident guy he can and should be, but even then Cal feels like he's missing something. Jacob meanwhile has a problem of his own, he's fallen hard for Hannah (Emma Stone), and has no idea how to handle this new situation.

Finding a middle ground between raunchy sex comedy and hardcore, depressing drama, 'Crazy' in terms of quality is better than most of either of those two extremes. It finds a nice balance in between the two. It tries to take an honest look at the world of love, from Cal and Emily's 13-year old son, Robbie (Jonah Bobo), who's fallen in love with their 17-year old babysitter, Jessie (Analeigh Tipton), to the younger audience of Jacob and Hannah, and then capping it with the married couple in their 40s. In taking a fairly honest approach, the risk is that we won't like the characters, and at different points, that's true. These people are not likable in a lot of instances. There were times I wasn't rooting for anybody. But it is honest, and it shows people for what they are, human, just people looking for some sort of happiness whatever that may be.

With an ensemble cast working together in a movie that's 115 minutes long, there are times where it feels certain stories and characters get the short end of the stick. Still, it's a talented ensemble so it's not a major issue. Similar to his performance in 2007's Dan in Real Life, Carell shows he's capable again of comedy and drama. He plays that John Everyman as well as anybody, and his chemistry with Moore -- even through the trials and tribulations -- is real and believable. Gosling gets a showy performance as Jacob, a smooth ladies man (womanizer comes to mind) who effortlessly gets women, Stone's Hannah presenting a bit of a challenge and a change of pace. Also look for Marissa Tomei as Kate, one of the women Cal meets as he tries to jump-start his single life. Like What Women Want, Tomei plays slightly crazy, and I'm thinking...why can't she get better roles? Kevin Bacon plays David, the co-worker Emily sleeps with, making the character more than just a stereotype. He's got genuine feelings for Emily, it just happens to be a bad situation.

My issue with this story comes from any number of little things. Cliched comes to mind more than a few times, and some "twists" that are thrown at us don't really work. Check that, one toward the end really works. I didn't see that one coming at all. The story though has things happen for the sake of moving the story along. Sitting in a bar, Gosling's Jacob hears Carell's Cal giving a sob story about his situation and instantly steps to the plate, helping him become an older, stylish version of himself. Yes, Jacob says Cal reminds him of his father, but we're supposed to believe he's going to help a complete stranger because of that resemblance? Jacob is charming and smooth, but his character bugged me. 'Man-whore' comes to mind describing him, but oh, he's cute! Let's ignore that.

Then there's the last 30 minutes or so as the story takes a route I really wished they hadn't. Babysitter Jessie loves Cal, takes naked pictures of herself, her parents (Beth Littleford and John Carroll Lynch) find them with 'Cal' written on an envelope, and the fireworks start. Basically the whole cast comes together for a kooky, hair-brained, off the wall "fight" that is in itself, pretty funny. But it is so far removed from the tone of the rest of the movie, it ends up feeling out of place. And the ending, more characters doing things they would only do in a movie. Cal takes the microphone from Robbie at his 8th grade graduation and proceeds to tell the audience about his love life. Oh, and Jessie later gives Robbie the naked pictures of herself. Another oddity if you ask me, and kind of creepy.

This is a good movie. It is. The cast is very good, the script for the most part is well written, and on-screen chemistry helps make up for a lot of the movie's flaws. But they're there. No doubt about that. Hopefully you can look past them and enjoy the movie for what it is.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. <---trailer (2011): ** 1/2 /****

Easy A

Comedies about teenagers are so hit or miss it can be hard to tell what one's are worth looking into and which ones you should just skip by on the street.  Even raunchier comedies like American Pie (or at least the original) had a heart to it.  Teen sex comedies typically go for that lowest common denominator of lots of partying, boozing, and sex. Exaggerated to such a ridiculous point that the movies don't even resemble any actual high school experience, they can be the guiltiest of pleasures.

Then there's 2010's Easy A, a comedy about teenagers and about sex but not specifically a teen sex comedy...if that makes any sense at all. The ads late last summer really did their best to shove this movie down audience's throats, and I remember thinking that if I hadn't been overloaded with ads, I might have been interested in seeing this critically well-received comedy.  This is one of those rare comedies with a heart that also tries to deliver a message to its teenage audience, and to its older audience members a look at the life of a high schooler (albeit a movie teen).  Now it is still a movie portrayal of what someone must think high school is like, but compared to most, this one is moderately realistic, and that's something.

Your typical high school student, Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) is like a lot of the kids in her high school.  She's more than content to hang out with her friends and just blend in with the crowd as opposed to standing out.  But one day she tells her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) that she lost her virginity to a college freshman and the news spreads like wildfire. People look at Olive differently, and her reputation grows for the better.  'She's the girl who had sex!' The reputation grows to the point where a gay student (Dan Byrd) asks Olive to pretend she had sex with him to help build his own reputation as a ladies man while avoiding the beatings and mocking for being gay. Olive goes along with it trying to help a friend, but she could never imagine what happens next as a result of her choice.

A recurring problem with movies based in a high school is that some combination of writers/studios/producers/directors clearly never went to any sort of a realistic high school.  Or on the other hand, they did and decide to make a movie about what they think high school should have been like. Thankfully here director Will Gluck finds a nice middle ground in between. The cliques among the students, the ever-moving rumor mill, the cool teacher, the stiff faculty, these all feel authentic.  Add in some modern elements like Twitter, webcams, Facebook and all sorts of other technology, and you get a movie that if nothing else feels authentic.  Is it?  Not at all times, but for the most part Easy A tries to represent at least a somewhat realistic view of high school.

From the time I saw her in Superbad a few years back, I've had a crush on Emma Stone so I'll say that early and get it out of the way.  I'm a sucker for redheads so when an actress is a genuinely funny one -- and a redhead at that -- I'm dead meat.  Besides not looking like your typical high school student, Stone puts off this very cool, smart appeal.  Physical humor or just a subtle delivery of a line, she can do it both equally well.  She plays off her cast nicely, giving everyone else a chance to shine while still making sure the camera's focus is on her.  In her first part where it's truly HER movie, Stone nails it.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come as she continues her climb to stardom.

Stone does her fair share of heavy lifting as Olive, but Gluck assembles quite a cast around her.  Penn Badgley (of Gossip Girl) is Todd, Olive's big crush since the 8th grade who seems oblivious to all the rumors that start to fly around her. Amanda Bynes is the requisite bitchy character, an all-around good student and firm believer of Catholicism, looking down on anyone and everyone around when given the chance. Michalka is also good in the smaller part as Olive's best friend, Rhi.  The real supporting stars are the more established adult actors, some playing parts that amount to extended cameos.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are hilarious together as Olive's honest, intelligent parents who just want what's best for her. Thomas Haden Church steals every scene he is in as Mr. Griffith, Olive's favorite teacher, with Lisa Kudrow playing his wife, a guidance counselor at the school. Also can't forget Malcolm McDowell as the principal always worried about what all his students are up to.

You know what surprised me most about this movie? It's a comedy that's genuinely funny.  It feels real and rarely tries too hard, making the movie funnier because it isn't force feeding you the laughs.  Easy A is well-written with some biting humor and criticism of the current state of high schools and students everywhere.  Comparisons to the classic John Hughes comedies of the 1980s are not far off base in this comedy that is funny from beginning to end...and a happy one at that.

Easy A <---trailer (2010): ***/****           

Zombieland

Horror movies, even the serial killer thrillers, have never been my thing.  The same thing applies to torture porn.  But zombie movies?  Count me in.  I've yet to see one I can't recommend at least something about them.  And the best thing to happen to zombies is easily someone deciding they could run and run fast.  All those old George Romero zombie movies, they were walking around, stumbling slowly as people got to safety.  But a sprinting zombie?  That qualifies as scary.

In the same vein of Shaun of the Dead, 2009's Zombieland has some fun with the zombie movie.  First-time director Ruben Fleischer puts his own spin on the genre with a comedy that is surprisingly smart while leaving most of the slapstick out.  Of course, there are countless zombies to be shot, stabbed, beaten and run over so it's not exactly high class humor.  It's the type of small-scale comedy that is almost completely self-contained where characters aren't addressed by names, but by the location they're trying to get to in a zombie-ridden U.S.

It's been several months since a man ate a contaminated hamburger that started a huge chain reaction of people turning into zombies.  Very few humans are left, but one of them, a college student, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), is trying to make it back to his home in Ohio to see his parents who he's not even sure are still alive.  Columbus has developed a detailed list of rules that have helped him survive on his own, but nothing can really prepare him for when he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) on the road.  His new road-trip buddy is a bit of an eccentric.  They meet two sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone of Superbad) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine), and join them as they try to get to Pacific Playland, an amusement park supposedly free of the zombies.

When it comes to humor, I'm not saying this is straight laced or subtle, but most of the time it doesn't go for easy laughs...well, other than all the zombie killing.  It's more of a road movie with this eclectic group of people traveling across a post-apocalyptic America.  Ha, bet you didn't think you'd get something like that dropped on your head reading a Zombieland review, did you?  As Fleischer brings up on the DVD, it's only a couple months since the virus started so there aren't a ton of zombies yet.  Most of them are saved for the finale, but more on that later.  It's a funny movie in a way that I didn't think it would be.  Part of the laughs do come from the ridiculousness of the situation -- it'd be hard not to laugh -- but it can be a surprisingly sweet comedy at times too.

Sometimes, a movie just gets the casting right.  With just four main characters, Zombieland goes 4-for-4 at the casting plate.  Eisenberg does what he does best, awkward, subtle humor, but he does get a chance to do some physical humor and pulls it off well.  His narration is hilarious, including his ever-growing list of "How to Survive the Zombies" list that advises you on what to do and what not to do.  Watch the movie's opening with Columbus' rules HERE.  Emma Stone is femme fatale Wichita, a really smart, really hot girl trying to protect herself and her sister.  Columbus of course falls hard for her because let's face it, there aren't too many girls left.  Breslin continues to expand her horizons and is really funny as a 12-year old forced to grow up pretty quickly.

This ensemble works together about as well as can be expected, but the glue here is Harrelson's Tallahassee, a gun-toting, Nascar-loving, smart ass redneck who loves nothing more than killing zombies and a good Twinkie (it's never explained and it's funnier because of it).  He has an emotional scene describing why he loves killing zombies that could have been out of place in this story, but it works.  Tallahassee is the great breakout character here, providing the movie's funniest lines.  And really, it's great to see Harrelson in these mainstream movies again.  One more cast member who should be nominated for best cameo ever is Bill Murray playing Bill Murray.  He's onscreen for about 4 minutes and steals each one of those minutes.

This one definitely surprised me in how much I liked it.  I figured I'd enjoy it, but not this much.  Really funny, very quotable, and lots of gratuitous zombie killing, especially in the end as an army of zombies descend on the fab four.  The four main cast members all have different styles, but those styles click together.  The best news to come out of this 2009 sleeper hit is that a sequel is in the works.  I can't wait to see where they go with these characters and story.

Zombieland <----(2009): ***/****