2009 - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

I love this film, and welcome any chance to revisit it.  It's funny, a conversation about this film has come up a few times over the last week or so so I really wanted to check it out.  Also, anything Kaufman related is worth spending time in.  I love any kind of film that has an element of mystery to it with an unreliable narrator, and this is one of the tops.  For those who don't know it's a bio pic about Chuck Barris who was a television game show producer who wrote an autobiography about having been an assassin for the CIA - in reality no one knows if it's true or not, and this film is an adaptation of that book.  It's so fucking good.  Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors, and he's surrounded by pure talent in this film.  If you haven't ever seen this it's a shame and should be rectified.  I love it so hard.

1997 - Adaptation

I was in film school when this came out, and at the height of my screenwriting neediness - so the meta-ness of this film was always it’s strong point for me.  I’m curious how it’s viewed outside of industry circles.  This might be the first time that I really took to heart the additional layer of us being in constant adaptation - our inner change.  It’s beautiful.  This film is packed with amazing actors in roles large and small and Nicholas Cage gives one of his career best performances.  This was part of an amazing run from Charlie Kaufman that has come to a, kind of, depressing halt.  I shouldn’t say that he hasn’t lived up to his promise - because if he never made another film he’d still be responsible for some of the most interesting and innovative films of my lifetime - but I guess I was just hoping for more by now… 

If you’ve never seen this film and you’re a film nerd in any way, it’s a must see.  

1755 - The Dark Knight

I'm in the midst of putting together the final pieces of my geek-office and so I thought I'd throw this on in the background while I worked.  This is not a background kind of film.  It's the kind of film that just absolutely consumes you and draws you in, in no small part to the man in the photo above.  There isn't much here that I can say about Heath's performance in this film that hasn't been said already.  It's truly magnificent and it's the large reason why this film is the strongest of the Nolan-Batman trilogy. 
The plotting of the story in this one is quite masterful.  The theme of chaos and order, what's fair and what just happens because the world can be a shitty place.  It doesn't feel like the stuff of comic books so much as it feels like the stuff of real life.
I can't wait till one day down the line when I can sit down and marathon this entire trilogy.  Probably won't be until my kid(s) are old enough to watch. 
If you haven't seen it, it's your loss.  Not only is it one of the best comic book films of all time - it's just a great goddamn movie as well.

1698 - Away We Go

I've seen this a few times now and it's still enjoyable.  Maya Rudolph and Jim Krasinski are a perfect couple here.  They have their quirks, they have their faults, but it's hard not to fall in love with them pretty quickly and pretty hard. 
This film tells the story of a couple who finds themselves pregnant, and with family and friends scattered throughout the country they decide to embark on a trip to figure out where they should raise their child.  It's a funny, touching, and poignant film that's treated with both simplicity and care.  It's an interesting film visually (might revisit it again soon just to study that aspect).  I don't think the camera moves the entire film and it's all shot on simple tripod shots with simple pans and tilts - but even inside of that it's a really pretty film. 
It's on netflix if you haven't seen it yet, but if you happen to snag the DVD it's got a really nice making-of feature about how they tried to make the film as 'green' as possible.

1488 - Crazy Heart

I had wanted to see this film last year when it first came out and getting lots of buzz, but now thanks to the wonders of netflix I've finally seen it.
Jeff Bridges is pretty goddamn fantastic here. It's no small wonder that he won an oscar for this role. First off, he's effortless in the part of a country singer - you buy it - in fact I'd be surprised if he wasn't approached to do an album at some point. But as a singer, he's a mess. And while we already like him, we grow to love him as we see him interact with Jean and her son.
I love Maggie Gyllenhaal, I think that she's fearless and she does wonders with whatever she's given. She excels at strong women that are flawed. Here she plays a woman who is consumed by feelings for Bad (Bridges), but yet knows that she has to be a mother first.
There is no shortage of films about people on their way to hitting rock bottom, but it's a hard type of film to do without resorting to the cliched or melodramatic. Here, it's pretty damn near perfect. You believe that these two people are falling for one another, and you know that the choice she makes is the right one - for both of them. I won't say too much to save on the spoilers.
Colin Farrell shows up briefly in a role that could have easily been the cliche protege who forgets where he's come from, but they make a real character out of him - he loves and respects Bad - he doesn't forget that he owes the man everything.
This was a lovely little film full of great performances, wonderful honest storytelling, and some pretty damn fine music by genius T Bone Burnett.
If you like films about real people with flaws and all - and if you like country music (which I myself are not particularly fond of), well then you can't go wrong with this one. It's a gem.