2053 - The One I Love

The trailer for this intrigued the hell out of me.  Combined with the fact that I adore Elisabeth Moss and really dig the Duplass brother’s stuff it had me at hello.  

Part of the fun of the film is the mystery element, and I don’t want to say too much.  It’s about a husband and wife who are at their wit’s end of what to do with each other, and then at the advice of their therapist they go to a retreat-esque cabin where all goes really well… too well… and they start to question that. 

The best part of the film is how the “element” (as I’ll call it in a non-spoilery way) does a really beautiful job of dissecting relationship issues in a fun, fresh, and really really smart way.  I LOVED that about the film.  The worst part is how the “element” closer to the end tries to explain itself in a realistic way, and almost destroys what came before by doing so.  I HATED that about the film.  So this is a tough one for me.  I think it’s worth seeing for sure, but by the end I didn’t love it as much as I did at about the half-way mark.  The performances are fantastic and the ideas are interesting - so based on that alone I can recommend it.  It’s definitely a conversation piece.  I’d say give it a go if you’re a fan of the cast and like messed up loved stories and think pieces.

2002 - Bad Milo

We were catching up on episodes of Jim Henson's Creature Workshop, and so I felt like watching something puppet oriented and remembered that I had this in my netflix que.  It's the story of a man who has a creature living in his ass, and when people/life stresses him out, the little guy crawls out and attacks those who are causing him the stress.  It's a perfect and beautiful metaphor for human interactions (seriously).  This also calls back to some of the fun shlocky horror films of the 80's and early 90's that I watched in my youth.  Lots of great little creature moments.  Gillian Jacobs is the love interest here and I adore the hell out of her as per usual.  The creature is adorable and fantastically creepy all at the same design to kudos to whoever did the work here.
Story wise it's a pretty fun ride, there's a nice little twist at the end, more of an additional element that made me grin a lot.  This is a film full of great ideas and smart execution.  If you want to watch a really fun horror-comedy with just enough of social commentary then this is a must watch.

1874 - Safety Not Guaranteed

I've been trying to think about how to start talking about this film, but it's difficult - there's so much to like.  The premise is really charming and lovely.  The film is heartfelt and charming.  And the cast is delightful.  I fell in love with Aubrey Plaza in this film whereas I'd always just enjoyed her in the past.  She was so fantastic.  Duplass was enjoyable as always as is Jake Johnson - who some might say just does the same schtick in every film, but it works damn well for me :)  And I also don't agree with that - he's not trying to be a character actor by any means, but there's a nice dimension amongst the roles he's played.  I dig him.
If you don't know anything about it, it's about a magazine assignment to do a piece on a guy who claims he can go back in time.  I don't want to give anything away because it's such a great story, and a really fantastic ending.  If you like heartfelt comedy, this is a perfect fit for you.  Really really lovely film.

1829 - Your Sister's Sister

This film was a lovely little surprise.  I'm a fan of Lynn Shelton, so I was happy to see that this was on Netflix.  I'm a fan of Mark Duplass as well as Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt.  It's a pretty simple premise - two best friends of the opposite sex are mourning the loss of his brother/her ex, and when he ends up sleeping with her sister they have to deal with their true feelings for one another.  There's a lot more than that going on, but that's the gist.  It's a simple little love story, but with some fantastic acting and really wonderfully honest moments.  I love that Shelton has created this career where she goes and works on series as a director and then comes back and does these wonderfully intimate little pieces.  Well done, her!
See this film - it's a beautiful little character piece and well worth your time!