"Southern transplant Jo Lee-Haywood (a terrific Elyse Price) runs a successful small-town Michigan bar called Pickings with her daughter Scarlet. But when mobsters want in on Jo's business, a brutal war ensues between the two factions, with the haunted, hard-boiled Jo and her pistol-packing posse - brother Boone (Joel Bernard) and sisters Doris and May- proving formidable foes.The filmmaker is aided immeasurably by a superb tech and effects team and a vivid cast. Most especially, though, he's created a cool and crafty anti-heroine in the take-no-prisoners Jo, who would seem to have plenty of movie mileage left in her. Sequel, anyone?"-Gary Goldstein LA TIMES

When a short-tempered mobster and his gang of thugs try to shake down a neighborhood bar, they're soon confronted with the wrath of its owner - a mysterious southern mother with a dangerous past. Pickings is a low budget film that at times feels like a rip-off since there's an actual black and white character just like Marv from Sin City but also the storyline as a whole was confusing and tried way too hard to become a comic book for some reason. Overall a movie that was simply boring, not focused and definitely a waste of my time as a whole.

This movie looks and feels like a big budget Hollywood movie. The visuals, cinematography, effects, and sound mix are impressive as hell! The story-line and plot do "feel" indie, and you can tell that the movie was made by a first time director / screenwriter. But the editing makes the whole thing flow smoothly, the movie goes by very quickly and doesn't overstay its welcome. Some plot elements are a bit weak and some of the characters are cheesy, the one element in this film that screams "low budget" is its expositional animated sequence, I don't want to give anything away - but it was my least favorite part of this film, I think the movie would have been better had they found another medium to tell that part of the story. However, for a $350,000 price-tag - I'm amazed that they had the ability to produce 5% of what went on screen. This movie has gunfire, action, comedy, special effects and beautiful visuals that make it look like it came right out of the mind of Quentin Tarantino, especially their use of music. It's violent, but humorous, dark, but FUN! and overall - as a single piece, Pickings works! And it works well. It's not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it! Looking forward to seeing what Usher Morgan, Elyse Price and their rest of their team does next.

Refreshing off the beaten Hollywood path kind of movie with interesting characters and lots of action. Good acting and good music. It's like meeting your cousins from the country for a weekend of beating the crap out of the neighborhood bullies. Recommended.