Reviews

There have been a few recent romantic comedies that take a unique, almost sci-fi premise to make a low budget romantic comedy. Wristcutters falls into this category and does it pretty well (another one is TiMER, which was also quirky and fun). Set in a purgatory reserved especially for suicides, it's a romantic comedy that takes a fun look at the afterlife.

Available on Netflix watch instantly, this one is worth the time if you're looking for something quirky.

Somewhat Coen brothers-esque Election is a comedy about a high school teacher and the school's SGA presidential campaign. The movie has much more adult humor than I expected. This may seem minor but it contrasted with the theme of the movie to make it amusingly confusing what genre the movie was supposed to be. Good dialog and acting and an entertaining story.

This is the touching story of a young Latina girl trying to find her place in her culture. Overweight but confident, Ana (Ferrera) has just finished high school and is trying to figure out what to do with her life. She has the grades to go to college and get scholarships, but her parents think that she should do the traditional thing and stay home and work and raise a family. The relationship between Ana and her mother is a fiery one, struggling between Ana's laziness, her mother's stubbornness, and both of their strong wills is magnificently protrayed. A beautiful look at real families and real life, this is an excellent movie.

An Australian movie, The Sum of Us is the touching story of a twenty-something gay man (Crowe) and his understanding father (Thompson) with whom he lives. Excellent writing, great story, and terrific acting make this one a must see... if you can find it.

A so-so look at the middle-aged New York singles scene through the eyes of a teenager, Rodger Dodger lacks in several areas. You never get to know the characters well enough to connect with them, the dialog is simply drawn out and overdone at times, and the filmmaking style can only be described as "trendy". Except for a few good lines and some decent acting, this one can be passed over without guilt.

Spike Jonze does it again. With a very simliar stylistic feel to Being John Malkovich, Adaptation is another winner. Superb acting (especially from Chris Cooper), great writing and dialog, and good directing all come together in this weird movie-within-a-movie (which I always tend to enjoy). Just trust me and see this one, you won't regret it.