This is probably the most gentle-hearted, adorable movie I’ve seen all year, at the very least. It never gets sappy or manipulative, thank God, thanks to a sterling script from Six Feet Under writer Nancy Oliver, and a great acting ensemble. The show is of course, all about one man, Ryan Gosling, giving what is probably his best performance to date. There’s a scene where he dances by himself that is possibly the single most heartbreaking scene I’ve seen all year.

Gosling, referring to flowers given to his missionary-made-of-plastic girlfriend Bianca, says “They’re not real, they’ll never die, they’ll just live forever”. I paraphrased that a little. But regardless, I think this throw away line is the key to the whole movie, and the moral and themes it’s discussing in a very subtle way. Lars doesn’t need Bianca for some perverted reason, for those who fear that, and I won’t give away anything other than that.

A simple joy of a movie, equal parts hysterical and emotional, another powerhouse performance by Gosling, how can you say no?

Also, where did Kelli Garner come from? She plays Margo, and I’m completely in love with her, just like I am with this movie.

In celebration of this, the greatest of holidays, let’s talk about horror. I’ve been curling up in my very few minutes of spare time reading Stephen King’s “Skeleton Crew,” primarily “The Mist”. King has his flaws, to be sure, but when he’s on, ooooh boy is he head and shoulders above everyone else. I’ve been a fan of his since I was 12, but I haven’t read a lot of his stuff, mostly because there’s just SO MUCH. He’s arguably the most prolific writer working. And this is considering he’s semi-retired now. And considering his biggest flaw is that he over-writes.

Which leads me to my favorite Stephen King adaptation, and my favorite horror movie, The Shining. It’s so deliciously freaky and unnerving, I never stop getting scared from it.

What are some of your favorite scary movies?

It starts off strong, but slowly begins to deteriorate due to a) highly implausible choices and acts in the film’s second half, and b) exceeding repetitiveness.

There are good points: this is probably Steve Carrel’s best performance yet, and he’s easy to sympathize with. Messiah vet Sondre Lerche performs the soundtrack (and even performs on screen during the credits), and his work is suitably lovely. Dane Cook isn’t entirely wretched, and Juliette Binoche is equally lovely and frustrating as the woman Dan wants but can’t have.

But it all adds up to naught in the end, which is a shame. There’s little worse than a movie with a great first half and a bad second. It’s like watching a magician promise to show you a great trick, and then running away before he does it.

-Brian

Well, the premier of The Office, was a big success (or so I think). I promised that this picture would be up weeks ago, but I slacked off a bit. So Enjoy!

Fall Fest is this weekend, so come out and carve up some pumpkins with us

-Lauryn
Special Activities

If you had told me, or anyone, two years ago that Ben Affleck would make one of the best movies of the year, I would’ve laughed. Even a year ago, after his brilliant, Oscar-worthy work in Hollywoodland, I would have been a little skeptical. But needless to say, as the film’s amazing 92% on Rotten Tomatoes indicates, Affleck has done just that with Gone Baby Gone.

I’m skeptical about the film’s chances of being shown at Parmer: it’s language is incredibly profane, with several uses of words even I’m not comfortable saying (and if you know me, you know that’s quite the statement, I’m ashamed to admit). Also, there’s some violent content, but mostly the subject matter (which includes child abduction, rape, murder, etc..) is simply nauseating. It’s not gratuituous at all, but it’s incredibly disturbing and upsetting.

The film’s biggest strength is it’s casting-notably the use of real Bostonians as extras, these are people we rarely see in American movies. The lead cast is just as strong, notably Casey Affleck, who owns the whole show as the young, scrawny but incredibly brave and moral detective searching for an abdcuted child. It’s a performance miles different from his Robert Ford in my last post, and it’s just as good. In the space of a month, Casey Affleck has gone from reliable supporting player to one of the flat out best actors of his generation and I can only hope he’ll continue on the path he’s started out on.

Big brother Ben proves a surprisingly confident director. There are flaws to be sure, notable the fact that the film feels like it’s ending several times, including one puzzling moment about 45 minutes into the film. But that said, Affleck pretty much erases all the mockery he brought upon himself for J-Lo, Gigli and Daredevil with his work here. I’d love to see more directing from Affleck, who I think could just get better and better.

If you’re made of tough stuff, I urge you to check out Gone Baby Gone. It opened this Friday, and trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

-Brian