Movie Mon. - They're Filming Midgets!

Not only did I finally get around to watch several of the Netflix which have been sitting on our coffee table for weeks, I actually enjoyed all four of them quite a lot.

Persepolis: Excellent animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical comic book about growing up in Iran following the overthrow of The Shah in the 70s. Alternately funny and heart-breaking, I can definitely see why this one won so many awards. I watched a little of the English dub, and I thought it was better than most, but for my money this should be watched in the original French with subtitles . . . then again, I always vote for subtitles, even though not being in the mood for subtitles is the main reason this sat around the house for several weeks before I finally popped it into the VCR. I also recommend watching the making of features, which not only give an entertaining look at the real-life Marjane, but also has a nice sequence showing a Foley artist at work, which is always fun to watch.



Drillbit Taylor: Surprisingly funny comedy about a group of geeky kids who try to hire a bodyguard to protect them from a bully and wind up with Drillbit, a homeless bum trying to fleece the kids out of money so he can head to Canada. I was afraid the comedy was going to be too broad and stupid for me, but it turned out to be just broad and stupid enough. About the only thing that annoyed me was how easily the bully was able to pull the wool over the eyes of the parents, but that's a small quibble for a movie that gives us the kid from The Ring as the geekiest of geeks





Definitely, Maybe: Cute love story which centers around a just-divorced father (Ryan Reynolds) telling the story of how he met his estranged wife to his daughter, but with the names changed to see if she can guess which of the three romantic possibilities is her mom: the college sweet-heart (Elizabeth Banks), the passionate writer (Rachel Weisz), or the carefree best friend (Isla Fisher). This one was worth watching for the cast alone, but also boasts a funny and touching script that doesn't become too maudlin or saccharine. A bit predictable, to be sure, but well worth a viewing.

In Bruges: Dark comedy about two hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who are directed by their boss (Ralph Fiennes) to leave London and hide out in the picture postcard Belgium town of Bruges after a hit goes bad, a move that just about drives the younger hitman insane until he makes a discovery:



Midgets and beautiful women; guess Bruges can't be all bad after all. Then again, midgets are people too:



This was the Odd Squodd movie of the week; it's very dark and extremely twisty sense of humor had Li'l Random and I laughing our butts off through the whole thing. Think this one would appeal to fans of Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; might not be as fast paced as those, but the tone and humor fits pretty well, and there is a touch of the old ultra-violence thrown in towards the end to keep things interesting. My favorite movie of the week.