"SCOTT PILGRIM": A COOL MOVIE MY MOM DIDN'T WANT ME TO SEE

Editor's note: I saw the film Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away, as I mentioned in my comments as a part of the excellent series running at The Junior Varsity. I don't deny it has a very strong visual aesthetic, and I quite enjoy the work of director Edgar Wright, but I was a little ambivalent. I figured I might be too old to be in the target audience, so I arranged for my intrepid 9-year-old junior reporter Spencer to see the movie without his mother's knowledge. His unedited words are below. Enjoy.

SO I SAW SOME OF THE TRAILERS FOR SCOTT PILGRIM AND I WAS LIKE, WOW THAT LOOKS LIKE A REALLY COOL MOVIE BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE A VIDEO GAME AND JAPANAMATION AND I WANTED TO SEE IT BUT I WAS PRETTY SURE MY MOM WOULDN'T WANT ME TO SEE IT BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE AND FIGHTING AND ROCK MUSIC AND GUESS WHAT I WAS RIGHT. WHEN JOE CALLED AND SAID HE WOULD GIVE ME SOME MONEY TO SEE IT AND CALL THE THEATER TO PRETEND TO BE MY DAD SO I COULD SEE IT I WAS LIKE WOW I REALLY WANTED TO SEE IT SO PLEASE LET ME SEE IT AND HE SAID OKAY.

I WENT TO GO SEE IT ON A MONDAY NIGHT SO THERE WEREN'T ALOTS OF PEOPLE IN THE THEATER THERE WAS SOME HIGH SCHOOL KIDS IN FRONT OF ME ONE GUY AND LIKE FIVE GIRLS AND I WAS LIKE I HOPE I'M THAT COOL WHEN I GET TO BE IN HIGH SCHOOL BECAUSE HE HAS IT ALL FIGURED OUT. HE WAS SITTING AT THE END AND WAS WEARING A BEANIE AND BLAKC MUSCLE SHIRT AND FINGERLESS GLOVES AND HAD HIS ARM AROUND ONE OF THE GIRLS I THINK MAYBE I SHOULD GET CLOTHINGS LIKE THAT BECAUSE HE MADE IT WORK FOR HIM.

SO ANYWAYS THE MOVIE STARTED AND I LIKED IT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THE UNIVERSAL LOGO WAS LIKE A REALLY OLD VIDEOGAME JOE SAID IT WAS PROBABLY SUPPOSED TO BE A SEGA GENESIS HE SAID THOSE COST ALMOST AS MUCH AS A PLAY STATION DOES TODAY AND I LAUGHED ALOT AND SAID OLD PEOPLE WERE STUPID TO PAY SO MUCH MONEY FOR THOSE I HEARD JOE SIGH.

AFTER THE UNIVERSAL LOGO THE MOVIE ACTUALLY STARTED IT WAS ABOUT SCOTT PILGRIM WHO PLAYS IN A BAND HE DOESN'T HAVE A JOB THOUGH SO HE'S KIND OF A LOSER AND POOR BUT HE JUST STARTED DATING THIS GIRL KNIVES WHO IS GOOD AT DDR FIGHTING GAMES AND BEING CHINESE. SHE SEEMS REALLY COOL AND SCOTT SEEMS TO LIKE HER BUT THEN HE DREAMS ABOUT RAMONA AND MEETS RAMONA AND HE WANTS TO DATE RAMONA AND EVERYONE TELLS HIM HE SHOULD BREAK UP WITH KNIVES FIRST BUT HE PUTS IT OFF UNTIL AFTER HE HAS A DATE WITH RAMONA AND THEY MADE KISSY IN UNDERWEAR AND IT WAS SO AWESOME I HOPE I HAVE DATES LIKE THAT SOMEDAY.

SO ANYWAYS RAMONA HAS EVIL EX-BOYFRIENDS THAT SCOTT HAS TO FIGHT AND KILL IF HE WANTS TO DO MORE UNDERWEAR DATES WITH RAMONA AND THE REST OF THE MOVIE IS HIM FIGHTING EX-BOYFRIENDS AND ONE EXGIRLFRIEND (WHAT?) AND THEN AT THE END HE FINALLY GETS TO DATE RAMONA MORE. JOE WANTED TO KNOW IF I THOUGHT THE COMBINATION OF WINNINGS WITH FIGHTING AND SOMETIMES BEING SMARTER THAN THE EX WAS SOMETHING I LIKED OR DIDN'T LIKE BUT I LIKED ALL THE FIGHTS BECAUSE THERE WAS ALWAYS SOME KUGFU ACTION AND COLORS FLASHING SO IT DIDN'T REALLY BOTHER ME I GUESS.

I ALSO LIKED HOW SOMETIMES IT WOULD SEEM LIKE THEY WERE TALKING IN THE SAME PLACE THEY STARTED TALKING BUT THEN THEY WERE SOMEWHERE ELSE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THINGS THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS IS CALLED EDITING AND I LIKED IT BECAUSE IT WAS A SURPRISE. THERE WERE LOTS OF THINGS I NOTICED REALLY SMALL LIKE A SIGN WITH A FLICKERING LETTER SO IT SAID FIGHT IN A BACKGROUND OR HOW FUZZY STREETLIGHTS OUTSIDE LOOKED LIKE HEARTS WHILE SCOTT AND RAMONA WERE ON THE BUS I'LL BET I DIDN'T SEE ALL OF THEM.

SO ANYWAYS JOE ASKED ME A BUNCH MORE OF QUESTIONS ABOUT STUFF I LIKED AND DIDN'T LIKE AND I WAS LIKE YOU THINK ABOUT MOVIES TOO MUCH IT WAS REALLY COOL JUST ENJOY IT BUT ANYWAYS HERES SOME STUFF WE TALKED ABOUT. JOE WANTED TO KNOW IF I THOUGHT MICHAEL SERA WAS PLAYING THE SAME ROLE AND I WAS LIKE WHO IS MICHAEL SERA AND HE PLAYED SCOTT SO I SAID I LIKED HIM BECAUSE HE WAS FUNNY AND COOL. JOE SAID HE WAS IN YOUTH IN REVOLT AND I HADN'T HEARD OF IT AND PAPER HEART AND I HADN'T HEARD OF IT AND NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST AND I HADN'T HEARD OF IT. HE WAS IN JUNO THAT MY MOM WOULDN'T LET ME SEE BECAUSE IT GLORIFIED TEEN SEX AND IN SUPERBAD THAT MY MOM WOULDN'T LET ME SEE BECAUSE IT GLORIFIED TEEN SEX AND TEEN DRINKING AND ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT THAT MY MOM WOULDNT LET ME SEE BECAUSE IT GLORIFIED BEING SASSY. ALSO YEAR ONE.

HE ASKED ABOUT THE REST OF THE CAST AND LISTED OFF A BUNCH OF NAMES KEERUN CULKIN AS WALLACE WITH THE BOYFRIENDS AND MARK WEBBER AS STEPHEN FROM THE BAND AND ANNA KENDRICK AS STACEY THE SISTER AND AUBREY PLAZA AS JULIE WITH THE BLEEPS AND ALISON PILL AS KIM ON DRUMS AND MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD AS RAMONA WITH THE HAIR AND JOHNNY SIMMONS AS YOUNG NEIL ALSO ON BASS AND ELLEN WONG AS KNIVES AND CUTE AND JASON SCHWARTZMAN AS GIDEON THE BAD GUY AND I THOUGHT EVERYONE WAS REALLY GOOD. THERE WERE MORE NAMES HE SAID BUT I STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION.

I LIKED ALL THE MUSIC A LOT AND PLAYING AND HOW KIM COUNTED THEM OFF ONE TWO THREE FOUR ALL THE TIME THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE PUNK BANDS FROM THE 80S AND 90S BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THEM BECAUSE GUESS WHAT MY MOM DOESN'T LET ME LISTEN TO PUNK. JOE SAID THERE WAS STUFF THAT REFERENCED OTHER EDGAR WRIGHT MOVIES AND MATRIX TWO AND THE POWER UP REDO WAS LIKE RUN LOLA RUN BUT I DIDN'T SEE THOSE SO WHATEVER I STILL LIKED EVERYTHING PRETTY GOOD.

SO ANYWAYS I REALLY LIKED SCOTT PILGRIM AND IT WAS FUNNY AND REALLY COOL TO LOOK AT AND I LIKED ALL THE MUSIC AND FIGHTS WITH PEOPLE BURSTING INTO COINS AND STUFF AND SOUNDS SPELLED WITH LETTERS AND IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A REALLY AWESOME COMIC BOOK. I WAS SUPPOSED TO RATE IT FROM ONE TO FIVE SO I WOULD TOTALLY GIVE IT FIVE BECAUSE IT WAS SUPER AWESOME AND I LIKE MOVIES THAT WERE AWESOME. I WANT TO BE COOL LIKE SCOTT AND THAT GUY WITH THE FINGERLESS GLOVES AND PLAY THE BASS NOW BECAUSE SCOTT PILGRIM TAUGHT ME THE BASS IS THE COOLEST INSTRUMENT IN THE BAND.

IF YOU LIKE MOVIES THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH AND HAVE ACTION STUFF AND LOOK NEAT ALL THE TIME YOU SHOULD SEE SCOTT PILGRIM BECAUSE IT WAS COOL AND IT TEACHES YOU SOMETIMES YOUR BIGGEST ENEMY IS YOURSELF AND YOU CAN BEAT IT BY GOING TO LUNCH SO UNTIL NEXT TIME THANKS FOR READING MY REVIEW THIS IS SPENCER BYE.

"The Other Guys": Adam McKay's most conventional comedy to date

Adam McKay, an alum of Second City and Improv Olymipic, a founding member of the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and former SNL writer and the originator of the SNL Digital Short, had a bit of experience in comedy before his directorial debut feature, 2004's Anchorman.

McKay's regular partnering with Will Ferrell, combined with McKay's studies under improv legend Del Close, has often led to his films featuring frequent non-sequitur asides and running gags. All three of McKay's features, Will Ferrell vehicles Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers, contain constant improvisations and tangents unrelated to the plot at hand, which does manage to stock his films with laughs but also makes them feel incredibly disjointed and loose compared to most other mainstream comedies. This style is in part thanks to McKay's famous tendency to overshoot, hence the DVD special “Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie,” which is comprised almost entirely of alternate takes and deleted scenes from Anchorman.

On first seeing the trailer for The Other Guys several months ago, it seemed clear that McKay wasn't going to stray too far from his usual playbook. Ferrell and Wahlberg star as two NYC desk cops who struggle to fill the shoes of star officers Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, who are taken out of action. Their only way to shine above rivals Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr is to catch Steve Coogan, a ponzi-scheme financier. Bombshell Eva Mendes surprised me with her comic chops as Ferrell's unlikely wife, and Michael Keaton was perfectly cast as the department's moonlighting captain with curious musical allusions.

Much of the laughs come from parodying cop movie tropes, most amusingly when Ferrell and Wahlberg get knocked over by an explosion.

In fact, The Other Guys rarely drifts far from playing with the cop and detective thriller cliches viewers are constantly bombarded with* and as a result, it feels like a much more focused comedy than previous Ferrell/McKay collaborations. Even though we already know what's going to happen throughout the film, McKay's awareness of the genre he's working with manages to keep the comedic beats intelligently surprising, and most importantly, consistently funny.

TOO MUCH: The film feels pretty lean, even though it clocks in at just over 1:40. Anyone complaining about too-long chase scenes or comedic bits probably doesn't appreciate, or have the patience for, the genre satire at play.

COULD HAVE USED MORE: Dare I say it, a little more improv from Ferrell, who was surprisingly reserved throughout the film.

FILM SNOB NOTE: a running gag about driving to the right pump up music** echoes the 1999 almost-cult hit Three Kings, wherein Wahlberg's fellow soldiers drive into battle listening to Chicago's “If You Leave Me Now.” A mini-theatrical spot for The Other Guys featured Ferrell and Wahlberg suspended from wires in the pose from the poster; a similar bit promoting Step Brothers featured Ferrell and costar John C. Reilly in a "living poster."

IHYFM RATING: FOUR out of FIVE MEHS. Is it a timeless comedy? Certainly not. Did it deliver a consistent stream of unpredictable laughs? Sure did.

IF YOU SAID THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE, I'D THINK: I won't deny you when you tell me Gator needs his gat.

*Like the ones that could very well sink this fall's star-studded yet tragically titled thriller The Town.

**Ferrell claims the best is Little River Band.

"Dinner for Schmucks": serving up a buffet of lame puns for review slug lines

To paraphrase Zach Galifianakis in his recent interview with Steve Carell, Carell has proved himself to be above criticism. Despite several questionable comedies following his rise to stardom on The Daily Show and the American adaptation of The Office, Carell continues to enjoy the reputation of a down-to-earth star with a solid box-office draw. Likewise, Paul Rudd, who was for a while best known to my generation as the not-blood-relation love interest in Clueless, has carved a nice comedy niche for himself in the world of Adam McKay/Judd Apatow style comedies, some (the David Wain-directed Role Models) far better than others (last year's uneven I Love You, Man).

As I stated previously in my summer comedy preview, Dinner For Schmucks, based on the French film The Dinner Game, seemed as though it would be a hit-or-miss. I was right. Were it not for the charm of Carell and Rudd, the movie would have been a total dud.

Dinner for Schmucks, directed by helmer Jay Roach (Meet the Parents), follows Tim (Rudd), a financial advisor hoping to advance his career. The only catch is he has to bring an unsuspecting dolt to a “dinner for losers” hosted by his boss every month. A chance encounter with Barry (Carell), an IRS agent with a hobby that combines dioramas and taxidermy, seems to be the answer to Tim's promotional problem. Of course, Tim's almost-fiancée Julie (Stephanie Szostak) isn't on board, and seems to be the object of artist Kieran's affections (played by the scene-stealing Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords). The film builds predictably to a predictable climax and a predictable resolution where everything works out in the end.

Dinner for Schmucks is an innocuous comedy – it's not hysterical, but consistently amusing, thanks in part to the amazingly deep cast. Aside from Zach Galifianakis in a supporting role, the screen is shared by the likes of Kristen Schaal (Mel in Flight of the Conchords), Nick Kroll (Chupacabra on some season 6 episodes of Reno 911!), Ron Livingston (Peter in Office Space), puppeteer with mass appeal Jeff Dunham, Octavia Spencer (the prostitute in Bad Santa that “didn't shit right for a week”), and Daily Show correspondent Larry Whilmore, just to name a few. Most of the weight, though, is carried by Carell and his ability to play the likable loser. Unlike Will Ferrell or Seth Rogen, who often play similar roles, Carell can perform in a way that makes the character completely sympathetic, which although unrealistic, is necessary for such an absurd comedy as this to stay afloat.

It's not a laugh riot, it's not groundbreaking, but, this being the highest praise I can offer to Dinner for Schmucks, it's not a disaster.

TOO MUCH: Emotional story arc. Granted, the side plots with Tim and Barry's respective women are far from the focus of the film, there's enough in there to make it feel forced. There was almost too much Zach Galifianakis, whom I fear audiences are going to quickly tire of.

COULD HAVE USED MORE: Embracing the absurdity of the dinner antics – I daresay a few comedic punches were pulled back. When a movie is cast with the likes of Carell, Rudd, Clement, Galifianakis, Schaal, and Kroll, more improv is always welcome. I'd be surprised if the DVD release weren't chock full of alternate takes and extended scenes.

FILM SNOB NOTE: In the original French film, it was more of a dark social satire than screwball comedy, and the dinner in question didn't even occur. The word "schmuck" or phrase "dinner for schmucks" doesn't appear anywhere in the actual film, thankfully.

IHYFM RATING: THREE out of FIVE MEHS. It's an inoffensive and ultimately forgettable comedy that still manages to deliver a consistent stream of chuckles. If you wanted to see it after watching the trailer, you'll probably enjoy it. If you've grown accustomed to the raunchier and riskier R-rated comedies that have been in vogue as of late, you may be a little disappointed.

IF YOU SAID THIS WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE, I'D THINK: You have the taste of a shmendrik.