For What it's worth....

So I realized recently that between working a job you hate, eating, sleeping, and trucking through the heavy-hitting political debates (tongue very much in cheek at this point), there are actually hours of entertainment one can sift one's way through (God bless you Netflix. And no this is not a paid advertisement). So if you are idly pacing the floor of your house/apartment/bungalow/communal living type quarters day in and day out feverishly stewing over the impending doom of the economy, why not try a little escapism? If you are looking for something new to rent, this is where I tell you (as if you care) what I have seen lately in hopes that, if nothing else your attention might be turned to possible entertainemnt choices. My hope is that this post will include a little something for everyone. So....here goes..

The Fall - A grownup fantasy movie from the same mysterious writer/director who brought you The Cell back in 2000. For those of you who don't remember that movie, it's the best of Jennifer Lopez' work ever devoted to celluloid. I realize that's not saying much about the movie, but it is saying something about her career. The plot of The Fall goes roughly as follows. A little girl in a hollywood hospital stumbles across a man recently injured in an accident who has become a paraplegic. The suicidal man pursuades the little girl into swiping meds from the cabinents by telling her an elaborate fairy tale that takes place in several continents. A couple reasons to see the movie:
1. Catinca Untaru - Plays the little girl Alexandria, and delivers one of the best child performances I have ever seen.
2. The movie is visually stunning - shot on location in 18 countries, and apparently contains no CGI shots.
3.5/5

La Vie En Rose - Really interesting biopic of singer Edith Piaf. The film is spetacularly lit and shot. It's the kind of tragic epic in which you know that the heroine is absolutely doomed from the moment you meet her. This is the film for which the best actress award was given to Marion Cotilliard last year at the Academy Awards, and what a performance it is. I have the feeling though, that knowing virtually nothing about this character before seeing the film helped me find her much more intriguing. Special thanks to my friend Luc for finally getting me to see this movie.
4/5

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Occasionally I let my wife choose what DVD moves to the top of the netflix queue and thankfully I married someone with good taste. For those guys out there who have to sacrifice a movie watching night of her choosing, you can't really go wrong with this one. Frances McDormand and Amy Adams star, and these are two actresses that I can honestly say I would be willing to watch in almost anything. Frances Mcdormand plays an English nanny who finds herself in the company of an American movie star (Adams) for a day. The exploits and love affairs ensue and the two women soon find themselves trying to (what else?) empower one another.
3/5

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Just when you thought team Apatow couldn't manage to cram more foul mouthed twenty-somethings, gross-out humor, and plenty of male frontal nudity into one film, Jason Siegel goes and pushes the censors to the limits. Seriously. They really pushed the envelope with this one in about the first 10 minutes of the movie. Peter Bretter goes to Hawaii to try to get over his recent break-up with TV star girlfriend Sarah Marshall only to find (you can pretty much see this one coming) his ex is vacationing at the same resort, on the same island with her new beau. Mila Kunis of that 70's show (and my personal fav. the voice of Meg on Family Guy) is excellent here. For me though, most of the really long laughs came on the DVD bonus features.
3/5

Snow Angels - This film from David Gordon Green is worth seeing for a few reasons:
1. Kate Beckinsale gives a really strong performance
2. Sam Rockwell (who solidified himself as one of my favorite character actors some time ago) gives an absolute knock-out performance.
3. Cinematography and editing are amazing, both elements of the film really push the story-telling aspect a lot.
4. The fact that this film is so gritty and depressing, Makes the fact that David Gordon Green directed The Pineapple Express for his next project really intriguing.

This movie is an interesting case study in the fragility in human relationships. It also underscores the fact that sometimes the difference between the middle-class and the poor may be close in reality, but drastically affect the outcome of different people's social struggles. It's got the mosaic-like aspect we have come to see in dramas in the past few years where there's a lot of different character plots that intersect and collide by the end of the film. Not easy to watch, but fairly well crafted.
4/5