Grade A "Milk"

Usually a Netflix movie only comes to my mailbox once. I watch it, and if I really like it, I end up buying it. If I don't like it, then back in the mailbox it goes, never to be seen again. "Milk" (2008) is the one exception to this rule. As I was preparing for my cross-country move and the emotions were running deep, "Milk" found its way to my home. I kept it for a whole month, thinking that one day I would feel up for watching it; up for the emotional investment I would have to put in. However, after that much time a friend convinced me to just return it and get a comedy instead. He insisted I keep away from dramas until my real-life drama had passed. Six months later, settled in my new home, I was finally ready to invite "Milk" back.

Don't get me wrong, I was very excited about this movie. That's why I kept it so long - because I really wanted to see it. Sometimes I wish I were a little less high maintenance when it comes to movies...

The movie details the latter part of Harvey Milk's life, as he goes from partly-closeted corporate drone, to proud gay businessman, to his eventual election as San Francisco City Supervisor in 1977. Why is his life important? Because he was a gay rights activist and California's first openly gay elected official. (Note: Though some media shorthanded this to mean the "United States' first openly gay elected official," that title actually belongs to a woman named Kathy Kozachenko who was elected to the Ann Arbor City Council in 1974.)

"Milk" is inspirational on many levels. The first is a basic human level. This is a story of a man who didn't achieve, or even begin pursuing, his dreams until his forties. That he was able to change his life and accomplish so much at that point in his life should calm anyone's fears about having to know exactly what you want out of life from a very young age. The second level is his political activism. He led protests and fought for gay rights in San Francisco and nationwide. This level may be harder for those viewers who disagree with these politics - you know, that radical idea of equal rights for all people. That's another blog entirely though. Suffice it to say, I was totally inspired.

Sean Penn won an Oscar for this role and it was well-deserved. He completely disappears in the character of Harvey Milk. From his appearance to his voice and mannerisms, there is no sign of the actor here. In fact, most of the supporting cast, including James Franco and Emile Hirsch, accomplishes the same thing, making this a completely immersive movie experience.

A little history, a little Oscar, and a little emotional pull...that's a pretty big bang for your buck. Plus, having watched it makes me feel a little less guilty about watching some of my lighter favorites. Here's looking at you, "27 Dresses."

"Shutter Island": Sequel to "Couples Retreat?"

When I first saw the "Shutter Island" trailer in the fall of 2009, I remember turning to my movie companion and rolling my eyes. It's funny how superior you feel during movie previews, easily scoffing at what may have been someone's life's work. I rolled my eyes mostly because the movie looked scary and I'm not really a fan of scary. Turns out, the movie wasn't marketed quite right. "Paranormal Activity," this is not.

When a film is continually delayed as this one was, it makes me skeptical. Just what is so wrong with the movie that it can't be released? I mean, they throw movies like the entire "Saw" franchise into the theaters almost immediately after wrapping shooting (it seems) and things turn out just fine. What happened to "Shutter Island" then? Maybe that's the real question we should be pondering instead of the plot-supplied mysteries.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are 1950s U.S. Marshals (We ARE Marshal(l)...) assigned to investigate an escaped patient on Shutter Island, the home of a government-run mental hospital. As the investigation goes on, we flash back to DiCaprio's past in the military and into his mind. To me, these are some of the best parts of the movie. They are visually stunning and don't obey any laws of physics or common sense; they're dreamlike. From these glimpses into his mind, we discover that DiCaprio has something else to solve besides the case of the escaped patient. The rest of the movie plays on the audience's ideas about what's really going on and quickly changes course once you think you understand.

While DiCaprio's performance is of course moving and effective, Michelle Williams' performance as his wife stands out for me. It's hauntingly beautiful and works exactly as a supporting role should; her performance motivates DiCaprio's actions and gives his performance its emotional weight.

For all its beauty and great performances, "Shutter Island" feels stunningly...average. I feel like I've seen variations of this story many times before which, is true, can be said of many movie plots. There just wasn't much that stood out to make this movie all that memorable. Call me crazy.

A journey down "Revolutionary Road" is depressing, but worthwhile

Are things going too well in your life? Do you feel you're in a good mood far too much during the day? Are you looking to turn that smile upside down? Luckily, nothing has to go wrong in your real life to achieve these results. Simply rent "Revolutionary Road" and wait for the depression to wash over you.

I waited forever and a day to finally watch this movie. Oh sure it tempted me with its crisp white posters and 1950s setting, but I resisted because I knew that this was not a happy movie. Instead, because I was so interested in the story, I read the book. And it ripped my heart out, chapter by chapter. So I knew what I was getting into when, a year later, I finally let "Road" get to the top spot of my Netflix queue.

I would call "Road" a reunion movie in that it brings Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet back together on screen for the first time since "Titanic." I love the idea of reunion movies ("You've Got Mail") but not always the results (you heard me, "Runaway Bride"). Leo and Kate have great chemistry and are completely believable as a young couple in 1950s Connecticut.

This believability is what makes this movie so affecting to the viewer. The domestic drama concerns the day-to-day life of April and Frank Wheeler, a seemingly perfect young suburban couple. Through brief flashbacks we piece together how these people ended up together and, more importantly, how they ended up keeping up with the Joneses. No matter what your feelings are on suburbs, the scene in which the Wheelers first see their new home feels so foreboding that you might not be able to drive down a tree-lined street without shuddering after you see it.

And that's what this movie is good at: turning innocent-looking, everyday scenes into haunting portrayals of a marriage (and lives) in crisis. The sparse, sterile sets help to create this mood, but the silent suffering of the actors is what makes the mood so enveloping. The Wheelers feel stuck in the lives they fell into while trying to do what was expected. The characters move back and forth between silent loathing and yelling the most awful things at each other. You won't believe people can be so mean to one another.

"Revolutionary Road" is visually beautiful and emotionally draining. If you can't let go of Rose and Jack from "Titanic," just imagine that this is what their lives would have been like had they both survived the shipwreck. On second thought, it's probably better that Jack just had to freeze to death. That's like a walk in the park compared to what these people go through.

A Celebration of "Along Came Polly"

"Along Came Polly" is on my short list of movies that I will always watch when they play on TV. It took me a couple of viewings to warm up to this movie, but now I could probably recite the script on command.

The movie follows the classic formula of uptight guy (Ben Stiller) meets free-spirit girl (Jennifer Aniston) and learns to be less uptight-ish. It has Debra Messing and Aniston, two primetime TV darlings, in one movie! It has Hank Azaria in a speedo, speaking in a French accent, talking about the "appy eepo!" (Carlos Ponce owes any compliment he gets on his speedo-sporting role in "Couples Retreat" to Azaria.) It has Philip Seymour Hoffman, before he started acting like a douc- I mean serious ac-tor, introducing the audience to the term "sharting."

True, you know what's going to happen, but "Polly" throws in so many scenes that you could never anticipate. How about a pick-up basketball game involving the nastiest guy ever to play for the "Skins" team? Or how about Stiller sweating bullets while eating Middle Eastern food because of his IBS? The over-the-top physical comedy, unrealistic visual effects, and real heart unexpectedly combine to make a fun movie.

The absolute highlight of this movie for me is the following quote by Stiller in his climactic attempt to win back his girl Aniston, "Since we have been together I have felt more uncomfortable, out of place, embarrassed, and just physically sick than I have in my entire life. But I couldn't have gone through that, I couldn't have thrown up 19 times in 48 days if I wasn't in love with you." Aww, swoon.

"Polly" is true cinematic comfort food. A night involving this movie, mac 'n' cheese, and maybe even a Snuggie would be a true winner. This movie consistently makes me happy and, in a world where you can't count on a lot of things, that's more than enough for me.

"New York"...It's Complicated

As I sit here in the coffee shop, the pressure is on to churn out a blog with a mere 50 minutes remaining on my computer's battery and not an electrical outlet in sight. So, let's jump on in.

I saw "New York, I Love You" which was the first movie I had been genuinely excited about during this cinematically dismal fall. My excitement was based mostly on the first movie in this new "series" of sorts, "Paris, Je T'aime" (released 2007) and not on my actual love for New York, which is love/hate at best. "Paris" was a collection of several short films, each representing an arrondissement, or quarter, of Paris. Each film was helmed by a different director and many were very very good (see: the final short with the American tourist in Paris) and some were just strange (see: Elijah Wood's section). As a whole, though, the movie is now a part of my all-time favorites.

So maybe it was all this self-made hype or perhaps this golden child, older sibling of "Paris" that made "New York" a bit underwhelming. Maybe it was the fact that it was (understandably) in English and not French like its predecessor. Whatever it was, I'm having trouble deciding how I feel about the movie.

I love that this series of movies has made short films accessible in mainstream movie theaters. I really enjoy being able to sample all sorts of directors without committing to 90 minutes or more of their work. I also love the inherent quirkiness of each short.

A big surprise for me was how much I enjoyed Ethan Hawke's performance. That little guy was so charming in his role that I almost forgot about the fact that he broke his real-life ex-wife, Uma Thurman's, heart a couple years ago. Let's see you redeem yourself like THAT, Ryan Phillippe.

By far, the best segment was directed by Brett Ratner. It involves a prom and a wheelchair and a scene that will have you thinking, "Am I really seeing this?!"

Two of the segments, one with Shia LaBeouf and the other set in Chinatown, seemed to drag on forever to the point where I just wanted them to end. That's the kind of feeling I expect in a trip to the DMV or a dental cleaning, but not in movies. That's not ok, "New York."

As a whole, this movie, which is made up of stories involving love, didn't elicit a real emotional reaction from me. It was interesting, beautiful at times, but I didn't feel a strong connection. In the world of love and relationships, I think this movie and I should just be friends.

"Funny" "Ugly" "Days of" "Julia"

As it turns out, having as much free time as I have had recently equals becoming an avid movie theater-goer. In the past two weeks, I have seen four movies and my little blogging brain has been going crazy trying to figure out what to write about each one. The pressure is almost unbearable so I've decided to cover all of them in one blog. Here they are in order of when I saw them.

Funny People
Oh Judd Apatow how I love you and what you've done for raunchy comedies. That being said, I was not crazy about this movie. I had a feeling from the previews that I would feel a little differently about this one than his past summer hits, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." "Funny People" has a different look than those movies and a more serious story line. There are plenty of laughs, some boobs, and lots of dick jokes, but not as many as usual. Since I love Apatow and all of the people in this movie so much, I think it's worth another try once it comes out on DVD. A good movie, but not as solid, or quote-worthy, as his previous efforts.

The Ugly Truth
At first, it seems like your basic chick flick, but any guy who gets dragged to this one on a date night will be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps knowing that "Funny People" wouldn't adequately fill this particular void in our lives this summer, this movie brings the raunch. I laughed out loud more during this movie than any in recent memory. Katherine Heigl plays an uptight single TV producer who takes dating advice from a real guy's guy, the ruggedly handsome Gerard Butler. As usual in chick flicks, most of the jokes are based on the inherent differences between Mars and Venus. What sets it apart are moments like a dinner scene involving Heigl and a pair of "special" panties that rivals a certain "When Harry Met Sally..." scene. Ultimately predictable or not, the movie is a winner.

(500) Days of Summer
Finally. A movie I can rate as 5 stars on Netflix. Yes, maybe I just gave away my review, but in the spirit of "(500) Days of Summer" I guess I'll do things a little out of order.

This adorable movie tells yet another story of "boy meets girl," but in a way all its own. It doesn't bother with chronological order, but instead jumps around, for example, from day 290 back to day 1 of the relationship between Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel). It's like "Memento" with brighter colors and more smiles.

What makes the story special is that it makes you really care about the characters and feel what they're feeling. At one point in the movie, I thought I might be in love with Summer because of all the beauty shots sprinkled in the movie. You feel as enamored with her as Tom, even though you know a little more about the future than he does.

Speaking of Tom - who knew that "3rd Rock From the Sun" would grow up to be so...dreamy? I would have lost that bet, but I probably would have been a good sport about it once I saw him. Get this guy some more work.

Creative, quirky, adorable, sad, a great soundtrack, and set in my future home of L.A. - what more could I ask for? See this movie.

Julie & Julia
Amy Adams? Love. Meryl Streep? Love. This movie? Like. The movie goes back and forth between the story of how Julia Child became a great chef and the story of how, 40 years later, New Yorker Julie Powell finds a calling. Julie is an office drone who goes to work every day with no sense of fulfillment. She decides to cook her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and blog about it. While I certainly understand and identify with Julie's twentysomething disillusionment with her non-career, watching her cook and blog isn't really that interesting.

Julia's story, which of course is set up to mirror Julie's, on the other hand, is actually pretty interesting. Streep is Julia Child - no question. From the way she carries herself to the accent; she's completely believable. The only thing I had trouble believing was Stanley Tucci as her husband. Tucci played her fabulously gay co-worker in "The Devil Wears Prada" and here it was hard to believe in his heterosexuality.

In the end, if the movie had been called "Julia," I think I would have enjoyed it more. Great actresses and beautiful food don't make for a bad night, just not a great night.

I'm in love!

I feel anxious, unsettled, buzzing with energy. Did I just wake up from a nightmare, you wonder? No, I just watched the trailer for "(500) Days of Summer" and it looks like the cutest movie I've never seen. And yet, I must wait a long 2 weeks to finally see this cinematic gem. 2 weeks! *Sigh* To be young and in love...with a movie.