Movie Review: Lars and the Real Girl

I am a huge fan of Ryan Gosling thanks in equal parts to Murder by Numbers and Half Nelson. Besides, anyone who can go from Young Hercules to an Oscar nomination in less than 10 years deserves attention. It doesn't hurt he's from Canada (which brought us Joshua Jackson...)

But on to Lars and the Real Girl. It had wide praise from film festivals alike, but could Gosling really bring it to this movie or would Half Nelson be his only big hit? It seems that the independent industry is a bulls eye for Gosling because I can't complain about anything in this movie (having Patricia Clarkson and Emily Mortimer in the cast was a major plus). I was so impressed that I gave this movie 5 out of 5 stars on my Netflix queue, which is few and far between.

The emotional depth of this movie is hard to explain if you haven't seen it. From Lars' apartment, to the location, to the facial expressions on each character truly made this a film to remember.

To see or not to see?
To see, right now. Get in your car (or on your queue) and rent this movie immediately, or you will die.

Movie Review: Little Manhattan

This is probably one of the best "first love" films I've seen. Set in (obviously) New York City it's the tale of first love between two very different 5th graders. Not since The Wonder Years' Kevin and Winny have I seen such true, innocent, love. A movie worth watching, you know if your into that kind of sappy romance.

To see or not to see?
To see.

Movie Review: Mamma Mia!

Oh Mamma Mia! how I love you!

I went and saw this movie with my momma mia and we laughed the whole time (much to the dismay of other movie go-ers, we are loud, obnoxious laughers). Meryl Streep was amazing! She played the part so well! She had such high energy I couldn't help but dance in my seat. And what a lovely cast of "fathers"! I was excited to see my Mr. Darcy (your Colin Firth), the hilariously singing-challenged Pierce Brosnan (nothing says fish out of water like former 007 tenderly singing) and yes, even that perverted old man played by Stellan Skarsgard. But for me, seeing Amanday Syefried took the cake. As a big fan of Veronica Mars (I have the facebook scores to prove it) I was glad to support any former VM character. All in all, to break the blockbuster melodrama Mamma Mia is the perfect choice.

To see or not to see?
To see!

Movie Review: WALL-E

I'm not the biggest fan of cartoon movies. I have nieces and nephews so I see a lot of them anyway. But Pixar has surprised me time and again with their ability to create movies that entertain children and interest adults. I wouldn't say that WALL-E was the best cartoon of the year, I'd say it contends for one of the best films of the year.

Three reasons why WALL-E rocks:

1. Hardly any dialogue and it is able to carry such a deep emotional message

2. WALL-E's expressions are so full of emotions he doesn't even need to talk for you to understand him.

3. A chilling portrayal of the world's future if we don't do something to stop it.

Go see this movie, kids in tow are not necessary.

To see or not to see?
To see!!