2003 - New Girl: season three

I can think of few shows that have ever made me laugh out loud as much as New Girl.  It's a show that has such a natural and spontaneous energy that's lacking in the majority of television and comedy in general.  It's big, broad, and silly at times by my oh my does it work.  And it's not without it's heart - the beauty of this show is just how fucked up and flawed each of it's characters are.  Every single one of them is damaged and looking for something to make them whole, and that's the secret of great television.
This season dealt largely with Nick and Jess trying to have a relationship and (SPOILER ALERT) ultimately failing at it.  I was a bit surprised that they short-changed that storyline, but at the same time any fan of the show knows that that's a door that isn't closed by any means, and this is the way extending it and keeping it fresh.  I dig it, and I have absolute faith in the talent of the creative team.  Sign me up, coach.  AND SPEAKING OF COACH!  Damon Wayans Jr makes a much welcomed return as Coach, who we haven't seen since the pilot.  I was so happy to see them extend his stay past his initial four episode arc, and even to the point of making him a regular for next season: yes please!
If you've never seen this show and you're a fan of smart comedy, you deserve it to yourself to give it a shot.  It's one of my favorites - and probably the best network comedy series going at the moment.

1838 - New Girl: season two

This is a series that more-or-less had me from the very start and hasn't let go.  I'm not a huge fan of things that are overtly quirky, but for some reason it works here and it does so again and again.  Week after week we're introduced to what feels like a never ending well of character ticks that each of our heroes have, which ultimately exist to serve the story-of-the-week, but I always let it slide because the characters are solid and I believe these ticks exists within their world, and also the writing is so goddamn good, 
I'm going to get into minor SPOILER territory here, so proceed with caution.  From the very beginning you'd have to be an idiot not to figure out that at some point the writers were going to play with the idea of Nick and Jess as a couple - the question was how long would they drag that out and how would they sustain it once they do.  We're not partly into that.  I have to say that the execution under which they became a couple was pretty fantastic.  The entire cast is fantastic, and that's how you get a sitcom that sustains (or any show for that matter) people that you want to keep coming back to.
I felt like the end of this season got a tinge repetitive with Jess and Nick's push and pull, but I also bought the hesitation - it's a big move for them and the show.  I love where Max Greenfeld's character was left off, and now we just need something exciting for Winston!
If you're not watching this show you're making a big mistake.  It's easily my favourite sitcom currently on air.  I still argue that it has a terrible name for an ongoing series, but I can let that slide.  Please - check it out!

1790 - Elf

This is the last of the absolutely essential Christmas films I watch each year (or try to) - there's always a few more that I try to get around to, but this is one of the must-sees.  It's amazing to think it's a decade old at this point, and I absolutely forgot that Zooey Deschanel was a blonde in this film.  I adored her when I first saw this and still do today - it's nice to see things work out for people like this who really deserve it - the film is chock full of great characters but she's an absolute delight through and through.
This film is more gags per minute than most films, but it never feels like it's forcing it or trying too hard.  One liners, visual gags, it's a unique magical thing. 
This film has been out for about a decade so if you haven't seen it then you really really owe it to yourself - it's on Netflix currently so many sure you get around to it over the holiday season - whether you're new to this film or it's an old favorite - I always discover new gems in this one.  Hopefully you do too!

1728 - New Girl: season one

Before the beginning of this new television season I had a bit of a crush on both Zooey Deschanel and Kat Dennings.  I'm not officially in love with Zoie from this show, and really have no interest in following Kat after the shit-show that is 2 Broke Girls polluted the air-waves with it's awkward desperateness.  But that's not what I'm here about.
New Girl was my favorite pilot of the year - it jumped out and announced what it was and I liked it from the get-go.  A lot of people have said that it's the show that got strongest and better as it went, but I always always a fan - however I agree that the show continued to get better the more it embraced the amazing ensemble cast that it had.  Zooey is lovely on her own, but throw the rest of this ensemble into the mix and you're kicking with gas.  The jokes are fast, furious, and smart.  I was impressed by how much ground they covered this season and never seemed to be lacking for material.  It makes me excited for future seasons.  It would be easy to label this show as being quirky, and perhaps it is, but the way it uses it's quirks are a helluva lot of fun.  It's a show that will poke the hell out of it's characters, but it's also a show that's willing to show how much they care for and need one another.  I'm a big fan of serial television, but New Girl could easily be my favorite episodic that's lightly serialized. 
If you avoided this show please give it a shot.  Jump in mid-season and you'll be just fine. 

1717 - (500) Days of Summer

Another film I wanted to check out for a visual reference for my upcoming film.  Decided to watch it with the commentary on (which wasn't anything really special, sadly). 
Zooey and Joseph are two of the most adorable actors of their generation and they continue to be so here.  What's interesting about this film visually is that, well clearly they had a decent enough budget, however you can see where they really put the money up on the screen, and then other areas wherein they kept it simple.  What I do like about this is the blend of lighting as reality, and that things are allowed to be a little dark and reflective of the characters mind sets. 
Now I want to watch the film again with the commentary off (and I might just do so in the near future...).  If you like rom-coms with a dash of coming-of-age that aren't scared to go with an honest emotion, there's a lot to like in this film.  Give it a go.  I believe it's still on Netflix...

1632 - Our Idiot Brother

Paul Rudd can pretty much do no harm in my eyes.  I think that the guy is just hands down pretty fantastic, and this is a great role for him.  He plays a slacker brother to three girls whom are all at a cross-roads in their lives, and when their idiot brother gets involved all their stuff starts going to hell, of course it's not his fault, but of course he's the one to blame.  It's one of those stories where it's those around our lovable idiot that need to learn the real lessons.
This film has a great packed cast and is full of a lot of fun and lovely little moments.  Slightly unbalanced and not perfect, it's a cute little film and those who love Rudd, like I, will greatly enjoy it!

1512 - Flakes

 

Felt like watching a random film while doing laundry tonight, so I left it up to the fates of Netflix recommendation's, decided that I'd watch the first film I ran into that was in and around the hour and a half mark  voila - Flakes!

It's an intentionally quirky comedy where in the central question comes when a girlfriend asks her boyfriend, "Are you a musician that happens to work at a cereal bar, or a are you the manager of a cereal bar that happens to do a little music on the side?"  It's a film about goals and responsibilities, lead off by Aaron Stanford in the lead of said musician, and the always delightful Zooey Deschanel as said girlfriend - and rounding out the cast is one of my favorites, Christopher Lloyd.  In terms of light entertainment it's an entertaining enough little flick.  It's fun, and I think that's all it's really aiming for - and thus it succeeds.  Much like a bowl of your favorite cereal it'll satisfy you while you partake, but you'll find yourself hungry again for something substantial within a few hours.

Flakes

1372 - All The Real Girls

This is probably one of the most uniquely honest films about young love, about the idea of thinking that someone else can save you, putting that kind of responsibility onto them. It's not fair. The only person that can save yourself, in a relationship or not, is yourself. Zooey was amazing here. I went from falling in absolute love with her, to her making me feel ill, to coming back around to her again - and I was convinced that there was no way in hell that I was going to come back to adoring her. But she pulled it off in spades. I've had this relationship, and some of it is eerily familiar. So kudos for making me feel like I was in this.

It's simply shot, and it feels real. Paul Schneider is a force here as a womanizer who wants to be a better person, and who desperately needs to get a taste of his own medicine. I want to see 'George Washington' now. This film is pretty non-traditional. One could call it slow, but I just think that it takes it's time and it builds well. It's not in a rush and that's why it works the way it does. It doesn't supply easy answers and that's not the point. If you like honest, brutal love stories - this one is probably right up your alley.

1298 - (500) Days of Summer

I really wanted to love this film. I really enjoyed the script when I'd read it a long time ago, but fleshed out… I don't know… it worked in very small moments here and there. And the worst part is that I'm a fan of the actors involved. But here… they just didn't work. They were cast properly I'm sure. I just don't know what it was. It's almost as if the production team was more focused on getting the quirky bits right and completely missed the point of the emotion. I wanted to FEEL what Tom was feeling. The excitement, the anger, the roller coaster of emotions that comes along with falling for the wrong person. But instead I was just brought along to watch. It was okay. I didn't hate it like I know some people did, but I didn't love it. And I'm not sure I can recommend it. If you had planned to see it anyway, go for it, but if you're looking for an indie-gem - I'm not sure that this is it for you. Really wish I'd felt differently.

1098 - Eulogy

I wanted to see this film because it's close to a project that I had in mind. It's got a really great cast and some really funny moments. I have a crush on Zooey Deschanel so I'm sure that helps. She has a lovely simple and understated quality to herself. I think this film could have worked better with fewer family members to deal with. It has a great twist at the end, and it's enjoyable throughout. I like it.