Director – Taika Cohen

Writer – Taika Cohen

Director of Photography – Adam Clark

Editor – Jonathan Woodford-Robinson

Music – Chris Gough

Producers – Cliff Curtis & Ainsley Gardiner

Miramax Films. 88 minutes. Rated R for language, some sexuality, and brief animated violence.

STARRING: Jemaine Clement (Jarrod), Loren Horsley (Lily), Joel Tobeck (Damien), Taika Cohen (Gordon), Aaron Cortesi (Duncan) and Cohen Holloway (Mason).

Eagle vs Shark, a witty and endearing gem of a film from New Zealand, takes viewers on an epic journey as the main character searches to find love and acceptance. The epic nature of this film is found more in what it doesn’t show than anything on screen. In fact, despite using some beautiful natural scenery, there is very little to the plot or dialog.

But what it lacks in filler the film makes up for in spirit. Comparisons to Napoleon Dynamite are obvious, as are those to Jemaine Clement’s deadpan HBO comedy series with fellow Kiwi Bret McKenzie, The Flight of the Conchords. But the not-so-obvious comparison might be made to Mike Nichols’ The Graduate or many of Godard’s New Wave contributions to cinema.

There is an element to Eagle vs Shark that evokes the spirit of some of these pioneering films. There is a strange detachment in the characters from the world that surrounds them, and in this space a sort of richness fills in, leaving the viewer to contemplate much more than is merely onscreen. In this case, Clement’s slacker-hero Jarrod longs for acceptance and validation from his father so much he is willing to make a complete idiot out of himself to accomplish his goal. Lily (Loren Horsley), an former fast-food chain employee is along for the ride as Jarrod trains for his quest, reunites with his family and attempts to free himself from the ghost of his dead brother.

Eagle vs Shark creates characters that many Gen-Y’ers can likely relate to even if they cannot see themselves as. The world has become so big and competitive it’s easy for most people to just get lost. Jarrod and Lily vie at one point for video game dominance – what else can two retail employees hope for?

There are plenty of humorous moments, although none side-splitting, the humor, much like the rest of the film is dry and tempered. The film boasts an impressive soundtrack with songs from The Phoenix Foundation and indie-rock star Devandra Banhart.

Many just won’t understand the enjoyment of this film, but anyone who nodded their heads at the end of Milos Foreman’s Amadeus when the defamed composer Salieri absolves the priest and his fellow patients of mediocrity should have a good starting point.

Director – Michael Davis

Writer – Michael Davis

Director of Photography – Peter Pau

Editor – Peter Amundson

Music – Paul Haslinger

Producers – Susan Montford & Don Murphy

New Line Cinema. 86 minutes. Rated R for pervasive strong bloody violence, sexuality and some language.

STARRING: Clive Owen (Smith), Paul Giamatti (Hertz), Monica Bellucci (Donna Quintano), Stephen McHattie (Hammerson), Daniel Pilon (Senator Rutledge) and Ramona Pringle (Baby Oliver’s Mother).

Shoot ‘Em Up is an unbelievable action film – which is exactly what writer/director Michael Davis (100 Girls, Monster Man) made it to be. There is no pretext of a believable story line – just action, more action and over-the-top action. For fans of the genre, Shoot ‘Em Up is like a wet dream.

Clive Own stars as Smith, a vagabond sitting at a bus stop when a fleeing pregnant woman runs by followed moments later by a hitman. Smith takes a few chomps on his carrot (this film might have been an action film crossed with a Looney Tunes short) before grudgingly going off top her rescue.

Smith manages to save the woman from the initial attacker, but after she gives birth, more hitmen arrive on the scene. At this point I realized any sense of reality the filmmakers might have given us was to be blasted, not merely thrown, out the window. 30 men to kill one pregnant woman? Obviously, they should have sent more, as Owen’s Smith kills every last one without breaking a sweat.

Paul Giamatti arrives as the leader of the villains, Hertz, a former “forensic behavior consultant” to the FBI and proceeds to chew up the scenery as the psychopathic antagonist, nagged throughout the film by his wife on the phone.

Smith doesn’t succeed in saving the baby’s mother, but does escape with the child who he names Oliver. A brief montage follows as Smith attempts to care for the baby by watching other parents on the streets that is as likely to be insulting as it is humorous to new parents.

The rest of the film consists of Smith trying to protect baby Oliver from Hertz’s literal legions of henchman with the assistance of a wet nurse, Italian bombshell Monica Bellucci (Malena, The Matrix Reloaded, The Brothers Grimm), who happens to be a prostitute.

One-liners fly almost as fast as bullets as each action sequence tries to upstage the previous (and, for that matter all other action film set pieces). Ultimately, Shoot ‘Em Up is exactly what you would expect from a film with that title. It revels in it’s B-Movie sequences and storyline with an A-Movie budget. It’s an enjoyable action film, that goes way over the top, likely to become a cult favorite for years to come.

Director – Doug Lefler

Writers – Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth, Carlo Carlei, Peter Rader & Valerio Manfredi

Director of Photography – Marco Pontecorvo

Editor – Simon Cozens

Music – Patrick Doyle

Producers – Tarak Ben Ammar, Dino De Laurentiis, Martha De Laurentiis & Rafaella De Laurentiis

The Weinstein Company. 102 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.

STARRING: Colin Firth (Aurelious), Ben Kingsley (Ambrosinus), Aishwarya Rai (Mira), Peter Mullan (Odoacer), Kevin McKidd (Wulfila), John Hannah (Nestor) and Thomas Sangster (Romulous Augustus).

In the first act of The Last Legion, young Romulous Augustus wanders the streets of Rome as a pauper, is crowned Caesar, watches his parents’ murders as Rome is overrun by the invading Visigoths, is saved from execution by his tutor Ambrosinus, taken into captivity, discovers the legendary sword Excalibur and is rescued by the few remaining Roman soldiers loyal to the kingdom led by Colin Firth’s Aurelious.

The Last Legion, like many of the recent wave of historic films (Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur, Troy) is revisionist and epic. Unfortunately, the film manages to insult the historically minded viewer without at least delivering on it’s epic scale as the other recent films have succeeded upon to various degrees. Clocking in at a brisk 102 minutes, The Last Legion finds itself introducing us to new characters, both allies and foes in it’s last 30 minutes.

The filmmakers have left the audience with no room to breathe, cutting across continents, time and in between characters so quickly it is hard to keep track of what was going on throughout a large portion of the movie.

The cast manages to deliver some entertaining performances despite the material they were given to work with. Colin Firth and Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai (Bride & Prejudice) manage to create a light-hearted on-screen chemistry. And although Firth is somewhat less-than-believable as a Roman warrior, he remains likeable. Ben Kingsley plays a crafty and wise advisor to both young Romulous Augustus and Firth’s Aurelious. John Hannah (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns) plays a seedy Roman Senator with a distinctive English accent.

Unfortunately, Thomas Sangster scrowls throughout most of the film as Romulous Augustus – enough to almost make you wish the Visigoth leader had just killed him when he had the chance. The film is full of other characters who don’t get enough screen time to make any impression, and this is disappointing because there are many hints at deeper and more complex relationships than we actually get to see.

Had The Last Legion been an hour longer with a tighter script it may have made an enjoyable alternate history epic. As it is, the movie can be enjoyed for a few laughs, both intentional and non-, and for what it could have been.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Director – Greg Mottola

Writers – Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

Director of Photography – Russ T. Alsobrook

Editor – William Kerr

Music – Lyle Workman

Producers – Judd Apatow & Shauna Robertson

Columbia Pictures. 114 minutes. Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.

STARRING: Jonah Hill (Seth), Michael Cera (Evan), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fogell), Martha MacIsaac (Becca), Emma Stone (Jules), Bill Hader (Officer Slater) and Seth Rogen (Officer Michaels).

John Hughes defined a generation on screen in the 80s with films like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Over the past few years Judd Apatow and frequent collaborator Seth Rogen have been generating a similar body of work for the current generation.

TV’s Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, and films The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and now Superbad clearly have their pulse on the misfits and dreamers of today’s suburban-American world while maintaining mass appeal. And it’s all very funny to watch.

Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are wrapping up their senior year in high school and have one last chance to make an impression on some girls and get laid thanks to their pal Fogell’s (Christopher Mintz-Plasse in a role that might have gone to DJ Qualls a few years ago) new fake ID. But of course, nothing goes as planned as the liquor store is robbed and Fogell is assaulted as he is purchasing the alchohol the group has promised to bring to the party they’ve been invited to attend.

Hijinks ensue as Seth and Evan set about trying to devise a new plan to acquire the alchohol through some other means while Fogell makes friends with the pair of inept police officers who arrive to investigate the liquor store robbery (Seth Rogen and Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader who make a side-splitting on-screen pair). Eventually the storylines converge at the party and relationships work themselves out.

Superbad contains a heavy dose of lowbrow humor that will no doubt offend the sensibilities of the more conservative crowd, but the film acts as a super-concentrated slice of young adult life, packing everything into the events of one evening. Diluted, the film is more or less accurate in its portrayal of its subject matter in a goofy, over-the-top way. If there are objections to its material, the objections should be aimed at current American culture, not necessarily it’s projected reflection.

On the horizon for Apatow and Rogen includes Drillbit Taylor, starring Owen Wilson in the story of two kids who hire a bodyguard for the school playground (wish I had had one). Apatow is producing and Rogen writing the screenplay based off a story from John Hughes.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Directors – Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini

Writers – Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini

Director of Photography – Terry Stacey

Editor – Robert Pulcini

Music – Mark Suozzo

Producers – Richard N. Gladstein & Dany Wolf

The Weinstein Company. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13 for language.

STARRING: Scarlett Johansson (Annie Braddock), Chris Evans (Harvard Hottie), Laura Linney (Mrs. X), Alicia Keys (Lynette), Donna Murphy (Judy Braddock), Nicholas Art (Grayer) and Paul Giamatti (Mr. X).

Co-Directors and Screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini bring Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus’ best-selling novel to the big screen with mixed results.

The film begins with a lot of promise using a visually creative, if slightly less-than-original exploration of late 20th/early 21st century New York through the lens of an anthropologist in a natural history museum. Berman and Pulcini, the duo behind the 2003 Harvey Pekar biopic American Splendor, are no strangers to unusual visuals. Unfortunately, not much is done with this interesting setup and consequently, the occasional divergence throughout the film into the visual metaphor seems shoehorned into the movie instead of being a natural fit.

Scarlett Johansson stars in this straightforward tale of a recent college graduate who just doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. Feeling desperate to look good to her hard-working mother, Johansson’s Annie takes a job as a nanny for Laura Linney’s Mrs. X, a upper-class Manhattanite mom of one.

At first, the job seems like the perfect opportunity to make some good money while she takes some time to plan her future, Annie quickly discovers life as a nanny is no walk in the park. Mrs. X constantly needs her to take care of her son Grayer, who in turn wishes nothing more than to spend some time with his mother.

By the time Mr. X (Paul Giamatti, as a cut-throat in business and family affairs) arrives in the story with his office mistress, Annie is already caught in between the fractures and friction of this elite family and she has already broken the cardinal rule of the nanny trade: falling in love with her ward.

From there nothing happens in this film that any regular moviegoer hasn’t seen before or will take them by surprise. A few subplots including an attractive neighbor (Chris Evans), Annie’s best friend (Pop/R&B singer Alicia Keys) and Annie’s mom (Donna Murphy) round out the proceedings and add variety.

A few unnecessary big nods to Mary Poppins do nothing other than serve to remind the viewer that better films covering similar themes exist and a few sloppy edits take the viewer right out of the story.

The Nanny Diaries is not a complete waste of time, but neither is it a step forward for the filmmakers who shined so brightly with American Splendor. If you must, read the book, but don’t feel bad topass on the movie.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Director – Adrienne Shelly

Writer – Adrienne Shelly

Director of Photography – Matthew Irving

Editor – Anette Davey

Music – Andrew Hollander

Producer – Michael Roiff

Fox Searchlight Pictures. 108 minutes. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and thematic elements.

STARRING: Keri Russell (Jenna), Nathan Fillion (Dr. Pomatter), Cheryl Hines (Becky), Jeremy Sisto (Earl), Adrienne Shelly (Dawn), Eddie Jemison (Ogie) and Andy Griffith (Old Joe).

Waitress is a charming little film about second chances and pies. A little sweet, a little tart, the film juggles multiple ingredients, tying everything together for a fruitful ending.

Jenna (Keri Russell) is a waitress in a small-town diner who has an uncanny ability to make pies and a husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who makes her life hell. Earl isn’t without his redeeming qualities, but since they were married he just hasn’t seen the need to present them. He takes her money, makes her take care of all the housework, and refuses to let her participate in an upcoming pie-making contest.

When Jenna learns of her pregnancy she decides to keep the baby, but feels no warmth toward the child of her husband. On her first prenatal visit she refuses to be congratulated by the town’s new physician, Dr. Pomatter, played with charismatic charm by Nathan Fillion (TV’s Firefly, Serenity, Slither). Eventually Jenna and Dr. Pomatter develop a romantic relationship that many would consider unethical and morally wrong, including Jenna herself, who chastises a co-worker Becky (Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines) for having an extramarital affair.

Still, Dr. Pomatter is everything as a man Earl is not. Jenna even considers the possibility of running away with him when her plans of winning the pie-making contest and using the money to get away from Earl fails. But Dr. Pomatter is no knight in shining armor; he is married himself.

Jenna struggles through her pregnancy continuing her relationship with Dr. Pomatter, all the while continuing to make her fantastic pies and serve customers at her diner including the cantankerous Old Joe, played with pitch-perfect ease by Andy Griffith.

Finally, after giving birth Jenna finds the strength and grace to make some life-changing decisions for both herself and her newborn baby with some help coming from an unexpected source.

Waitress stumbles over itself in a couple places and at times the editing creates odd pacing, but it does a wonderful job of capturing the small-town atmosphere it’s set in. In the end, this charming little film manages to be entertaining and deliver a powerful message that no matter where you are in life, you can still make your dreams come true, without being schmaltzy. That’s a sweet treat!

Sadly, writer, director and co-star of this film, Adrienne Shelly was murdered not long after the completion of this film in her New York apartment. The Adrienne Shelly Foundation assists women filmmakers with school scholarships, production grants, finishing funds, and other invaluable resources. More information can be found at adrienneshellyfoundation.org.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Director – Luc Besson

Writer – Luc Besson

Director of Photography – Thierry Arbogast

Editor – Frédéric Thoraval

Music – Anja Garbarek

Producer – Luc Besson

Sony Pictures Classics. 91 minutes. Rated R for language and some sexual content.

STARRING: Jamel Debbouze (André), Rie Rasmussen (Angel-A), Gilbert Melki (Franck), and Serge Riaboukine (Pedro).

French Writer/Producer/Director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon, The Fifth Element) returns to the director’s chair after a 6 year break with Angel-A, a love story between a small-time con-artist and the angel sent to guide him back to following his heart.

The film begins with André (comedic actor Jamel Debbouze) delivering a misdirecting narrative to the audience concerning his state of affairs. We quickly realize that this “businessman” is an inept con-artist whose misfires are quickly catching up to him. He owes multiple bosses much more money than he can possibly hope to generate in the scant 24 hours they give him to pay them back.

André wanders around the city of Paris exhausting his options and coming to grasp with his bleak existence. Finally, he decides to take his life by jumping off a bridge. But just as he is about to take the leap, he notices a beautiful woman on the same bridge who jumps before him. He dives into the water below, not to drown, but to save her.

George Bailey should have been so lucky.

Rie Rasmussen is luminous as Angela, but she goes about her mission to save André’s lost soul with the most unusual means. Clarence would have traded in his wings if he had had to use half as much violence as Angela does. The violence, coupled with the way Angela uses her body to make enough money for André, could leave one to assume she is no angel at all. By the time the film wraps up with André literally wrestling with God for Angela, I was no longer sure what the difference is Besson’s version of Heaven and Hell.

Wim Wenders made a couple of films that also involve fallen angels (Wings of Desire and Faraway, So Close!) that are much more engaging and thought provoking. Besson has made funnier and more stylish films. And while this is a step up from Besson’s recent string of substance-less produced films, it doesn’t really come close to many of his earlier works.

The two leads deliver excellent performances given their confusing characters, and Jamel Debbouze in particular does a wonderful job of being tragic, funny and sympathetic, but the performances and fine black and white cinematography by Thierry Arbogast fail to save the film.

This film, along with Besson’s other recent directorial effort, Arthur and the Minimoys, leaves me wondering if he’s lost a few steps.

Director – Michael Moore

Writer – Michael Moore

Director of Photography – Thaddeus Wadleigh

Editors – Geoffrey Richman, Chris Seward & Dan Swietlik

Music – Erin O’Hara

Producers – Michael Moore & Meghan O’Hara

The Weinstein Company. 123 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief strong lnaguage.

STARRING: Michael Moore (Himself), Reggie Cervantes (Herself), John Graham (Himself), William Maher (Himself), George W. Bush (Himself) and Richard Nixon (Himself).

After his extraordinarily polarizing Fahrenheit 9/11, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore returns with a movie about a subject every American can agree needs reform – healthcare.

But while being quite possibly Moore’s most entertaining film to date, Sicko wanders somewhat aimlessly all across the globe by spending large chunks of time in Canada, France, England and in its stunning climax, Cuba.

Moore places the blame of America’s modern healthcare environment squarely on the shoulders of none other than ill-famed former President Richard Nixon. But whatever the origin of the modern healthcare system, the continued gouging of the American public by insurance and pharmaceutical companies is nothing more than greed by high-paid executives as demonstrated briefly in the film. Moore speaks to a few of the “casualties” of the system as well as a few former insurance company employees.

If he had continued to explore the labyrinthine organizations that manage our healthcare and expose more of their “Greed is good” philosophical approach to caring for their customers, he may have exacted a more poignant response from the audience.

As the film stands, however, just as Moore begins the moral and ethical investigation, he veers off on a grass-is-greener tangent exploring the government run healthcare systems of other nations.

Canadians can purchase health coverage when traveling abroad so they don’t get stuck with astronomical medical bills should they injure themselves abroad. English doctors, although employed by the government, can afford million dollar homes. Even Cubans have a medical center or pharmacy on every street corner.

But it is the French that Moore focuses on as the paramount purveyors of modern medical coverage. Not only does the government provide free healthcare to all citizens, it enforces 35-hour work weeks, 5 week minimum vacations to even part-time employees and will send a government worker to assist with housework upon child delivery.

There are many who contradict Moore’s claims about the ease of use for government run healthcare, an interesting double feature with this film might be Denys Arcand’s fictional tale of a man doomed to a painful death of cancer in the Canadian healthcare system, The Barbarian Invasions.

While always entertaining and occasionally emotionally engaging, Sicko fails by being a movie more concerned with it’s own wanderlust than the subject it begins covering.

Moore ends his film walking up the steps to the White House saying, “In the mean time, I’m going to get the government to do my laundry.” Call me what you want but I, for one, don’t want the government in my house even if they’re just cleaning my laundry.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Director – Timur Bekmambetov

Writers – Alexander Talal & Timur Bekmambetov

Director of Photography – Sergei Trofimov

Editor – Dmitri Kiselev

Music – Yuri Poteyenko

Producers – Konstantin Ernst & Anatoli Maksimov

Fox Searchlight Pictures. 132 minutes. Rated R.

STARRING: Konstantin Khabensky (Anton), Mariya Poroshina (Svetlana), Galina Tyunina (Olga), Viktor Verzhbitsky (Zavulon), Aleksei Chadov (Kostya) and Dmitry Martynov (Yegor).

The Holy Grail, The Fountain of Youth, The Ring of Power: they all lend gravitas to a quest. Of course they are only (as Hitchcock called them) MacGuffins serving to propel the story forward, but such objects are imbued with a rich history (real or imagined) of intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, honor and duty.

In Day Watch, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov’s sequel to the crossover success Night Watch, the constantly down-on-his-luck hero Anton Gorodensky must locate the Chalk of Destiny to rewrite his fate.

This is a fantasy story, so the lines of believability are inherently being stretched from the outset. But with such a cornball quest item, it’s hard to take this film entirely seriously. Fortunately, there was a prequel, so the audience can recognize that the Chalk of Destiny is nothing more than a plot device and move on.

Director Bekmambetov tackles Day Watch, the middle film in his on-going sci-fi/fantasy trilogy, with all the tricks in his bag: fast-cuts, slow motion, CG effects, close-ups, zooms, explosions, etc., etc. With all of the visual stimulation, it’s no surprise that even given the cultural hurdle for North American audiences viewing this very Russian film, it’s still hard to follow.

Part of the problem is that the action sequences, and even the larger plot as a whole, don’t follow logically. In one cut we see Anton in a crowded room full of warriors and literally in the next cut we see him making his way down an abandoned hallway without another soul in sight. But this incongruous sequencing actually lends itself to viewing the film not as a strict narrative, but as more of an abstract film. Instead of comparing this to the Matrix films, as is popular, it might be more apt to compare this to a David Lynch film or an early-to-mid Cronenberg.

For all of the cutting edge sci-fi elements and cheesy plot points, the film still manages a wry, quirky sense of humor, highlighted among other places at the beginning of the end credits as the filmmakers names appear on billboards and other city signage. It also features some solid performances from it’s cast, most notably Valeri Zolotukhin as a vampire butcher who goes to great lengths to protect his son.

If you enjoyed Night Watch, you’ll definitely want to follow the adventures of Anton Gorodensky here, but for the large portion of viewers, this film is as likely to induce a headache as anything else.

The third film in the trilogy, Twilight Watch, is currently in production and is set to be shot in English.

Darryl A. Armstrong

Director – Andrew Currie

Writers – Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie & Dennis Heaton

Director of Photography – Jan Kiesser

Editor – Roger Mattiussi

Music – Don McDonald

Producers – Blake Corbet & Mary Anne Waterhouse

Lions Gate Films. 91 minutes. Rated R for zombie-related violence.

STARRING: Carrie-Anne Moss (Helen Robinson), Billy Connolly (Fido), Dylan Baker (Bill Robinson), K’Sun Ray (Timmy Robinson), Tim Blake Nelson (Mr. Theopolis) and Henry Czerny (Mr. Bottoms).

Unless you’ve been holed up in an underground bomb shelter since 1968, you know the story. But just to make sure everyone is on the same page, Fido begins with an informative newsreel, at once setting the time and tone for this fetchingly off-beat film.

Due to the required unexplainable astronomical anomaly, the corpses of the recently dead have been re-animated, seeking to feed on human flesh. Fortunately, Zomcon has discovered the means in which to fight back: destroying the head of the zombie, erecting large barriers between the “wild” and still-civilized communities, and finally, developing “zombie collars” which effectively “tame” the flesh-consuming monsters allowing them to be used for manual labor.

When Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss; Matrix Trilogy, Disturbia) decides to bring home a zombie servant so she doesn’t have to be part of the only family in the neighborhood without one, the story begins.

Part Night of the Living Dead, part Lassie, this movie manages to cover material that would have fit just as well in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil or more recently, Oscar-winner American Beauty.

Timmy Robinson (K’Sun Ray, in an impressive debut) takes a special interest in the new family “pet” and names him the titular Fido (Billy Connelly, in a role that didn’t require much memorization). After a few adventures it is clear that the two share a special bond, and as Fido becomes more important to both Timmy and his mother, complications arise from both within the family and with the larger world around them.

Dylan Baker (Spiderman trilogy, Happiness) absolutely shines as Bill Robinson, a troubled husband and parent whose only kill during the “Zombie Wars” was his own father. Baker has made a career out of playing similar roles, but in Fido he is allowed to bring life to a character whose detailed arc could only take place in this movie’s universe. In fact, all of the leads, including Tim Blake Nelson as a neighbor with a peculiar appetite and Henry Czerny as Zomcon Chief of Security bring a surprising amount of depth to roles in what can only be described as a cult film.

But jamming all these characters and a healthy serving of plot twists into a short 91 minutes meant something else had to take second stage. In this case, there are a few questions that the movie raises that never feel resolved by the film’s end, including the can of worms opened by a decision Fido makes at one point that contradicts everything the viewer knows about zombies.

However, some loose ends serve to enhance the depth of the film. One unresolved exchange between Timmy and his parents sticks out as he asks questions about God and the zombie filled world around him. While his father doesn’t want his son to dwell on questions that don’t have easy answers, his mother thinks it’s good that their son is asking about the world he lives in.

The interesting thing about most zombie movies is that the zombie can act as a cipher for whatever agenda the filmmaker or viewer happens to be focused upon. Fido is interesting because it asks, “What if the zombie is us?” That’s a deep question for a comedy about flesh-eating monsters, we’re lucky to have filmmaker Andrew Currie asking it.

Darryl A. Armstrong