1851 - The Girl Next Door

It's been a long time since I've seen this film and I'm happy to say it stands up almost ten years later as well as it did when I first say it.  It's the story of an unpopular high-school student who falls for the girl next door, and she's into him as well - and then he discovers she's a former porn star.
It's a super solid sex comedy, but it's a little bit more than that.  Elisha Cuthbert is something special here.  She's gorgeous, sure, there's that.  But she has this amazing vulnerability that comes across here in a really interesting way.  It would have been so easy for her character to be one note, but she's got a strength and a sadness and it comes across beautifully.  Emile Hirsh is perfect, you buy that he could be with this girl, but also that he's had a bit of arrested development himself.  Timothy Olyphant really is the stand-out here - he's the buddy, he's the villain, he's dynamic as shit here. 
If you haven't seen this you really need to check it out.  It's delightful, it's funny, it's sweet.  It's a ride.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

1514 - Taking Woodstock

 

I had a geography teacher who made us watch the film Woodstock over and over and over again.  I can't remember if he'd been there - I'm sure that he wanted to be if he didn't.  Either way, because of that man, I've always had at least a minor interest in this festival.  

This is an interesting film in terms of the people that have come together to be a part of it.  Ang Lee is a bit of a surprise - although if you look at the man's filmography there is no rhyme or reason to it - he's all over the map in terms of the kinds of films and subjects that he gets involved in.

There's a wonderful supporting cast here: Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano, Eugene Levy, Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirschto name a few.  I can't imagine that they got involved with the film because the script gave them an amazing role to play - they were all good, but none of them are playing career making performances - they got involved because of what the project was about.

I'm a bit neutral on this film.  I enjoyed it, but it's not something I'm going to find myself raving about as a 'must see'.  It's what it is, a small document of a person who got involved in something extraordinary.  Take that for what you will.  The one irony is that, for a film about one of the greatest musical festivals of all time, I can't say that the soundtrack particularly stood out.

Taking Woodstock   Taking Woodstock [Blu-ray]