This Is 40 (2012)

Starring: Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, Maud Apatow, Iris Apatow

Director:  Judd Apatow

Genre: Comedy

Rating: B

Pete (Rudd) and Debbie (Mann) are a married couple who are both about to celebrate their 40th birthday; Debbie is extremely distressed about this, Pete less so.   Deciding that they need to improve their lives, Debbie sets out to change things: they need to exercise more and eat better; furthermore, Debbie wants them to change their relationships with their fathers: Pete needs to stop lending money to his dad, Larry (Brooks) and Debbie needs to reconnect with her dad, Oliver (Lithgow).  Their problems are exacerbated by the fact that Pete's record company is failing, although he's not told his wife, and someone's stealing money from Debbie's business.

There isn't really a plot to this movie, in a lot of ways it's more just a series of events that sometimes build upon each other, and in a way this film kind of feels more like real life than most movies.  The problems that Pete and Debbie face have a very unscripted feel to them - with few exceptions - and thus feel very real.  Their fights are about stupid things that blow up out of proportion - I love the major fight that happens midway through and leaves them both questioning why they ever got married and why they're still together.  At first I wasn't as big of a fan of the way that each of them interacted with their fathers - both seemed a bit stereotypical and played out - but as the movie continued and the fights continued, I really got into both of them.

I also really love the kids.  The two children in this movie, Sadie and Charlotte (Maude and Iris Apatow) are actually the children of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, and as such the dynamic between them really feels like a sibling dynamic, the lines that they say really feel like something that they would say, and so on.  I loved Sadie's obsession with Lost and, having seen the show, I was waiting for her to watch the end of it all and have a meltdown - and thought that the way they did that was absolutely perfect.

Finally, the thing that really made this movie was the secondary characters.  From the other Knocked Up cast members - Jason Segel, Charlyne Yi, and Tim Bagley all reprise their roles - to the new additions - Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Lena Dunham, and Chris O'Dowd.  It was all great.   None of them necessarily had to be in this movie, but they each brought something great and were hilarious.  I really enjoyed this movie.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

Director: Andrew Stanton

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Rating: A

"P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! You asked me where I'm going? OK, I'll tell you: P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! That's where I'm going!" 

Oh, my God, I love this movie.  It's definitely my favourite Pixar film and one of my favourite animated films of all time.  It's cute, it's funny, it's sad... it's really the whole package.  While I'm not sure if I would say that it's everything I want from a film it's definitely got so much going on that the entire time I'm watching it I'm completely submerged in it, and when I'm done watching it I'm still quoting from it.  It's the kind of movie that makes me excited about watching movies.

On the Great Barrier Reef lives a clownfish, Marlin (Brooks), and his son, Nemo (Gould).  Marlin is horribly overprotective as the result of the death of Nemo's mother, some years earlier, and thinks that Nemo isn't as capable because of a bad fin.  Nemo responds exactly as you would expect - and rebels, which leads to him being abducted by a scuba diving human.  In his journey to find his son, Marlin meets Dory (DeGeneres), a fish with a severe memory issue who helps him find his son.

The thing that really makes this movie great is Dory.  The role was written for Ellen DeGeneres and it's one that I really can't imagine anyone else playing - which is saying a lot, given as it's voice acting.  Someone else could have easily done any and every other role in Nemo as well as the actors cast, but DeGeneres really steals the show.  After seeing this movie I'm always left quoting her lines, or singing "just keep swimming" - and I even have a friend who can often be heard trying to speak whale, regardless of the presence of actual whales.  Dory just makes this movie awesome.

Dory, however, isn't the full movie.  There's also this insanely amount of detail put into it.  I love the shots of the Reef and the way that the fish in and out of water looked different - although, I did think that they didn't do much to differentiate between in and out of water when not dealing with fish, which does kind of take away from the fish thing a bit.  The supporting characters are also amazing.  I love the sharks and the turtles and the seagulls - God, I love the seagulls.  The way the seagulls are portrayed is just so perfectly and exactly what you think a seagull is saying.  This movie is like those seagulls - pretty much perfect.

Drive (2011)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller, Neo Noir
Rating: A+

This is definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.  There are a few key elements of it that make it so epic-ly awesome: it's awesomely and subtly acted, it's unpredictable, and it blows your mind.  The first time that I saw it was in theatres and there were a few key points during which I actually jumped out of my seat (fortunately, I was at Station Square and there wasn't really anyone else there).

Drive follows an unnamed man, the Driver (Gosling) through a life changing journey.  At the start of the film he's a man with... questionable morals; by day he works as a stuntman and a mechanic, and by night he works as a getaway driver.  When he's working as a getaway driver the Driver has a set of rules; he only works anonymously, he never works for the same people twice, and he only allows them five minutes to get their business done.  It is implied, although not confirmed, that the Driver has not been caught at his night job.  The Driver's daytime boss and night time connection is Shannon (Cranston), a man with a mixed past and many ties to the mob.  Shannon is hoping to get mobster Bernie Ross (Brooks) to buy a stock car for the Driver to race; Bernie's partner Nino (Perlman), thinks the idea is ridiculous and doesn't trust Shannon - whose pelvis he once had broken because of Shannon's habit to overcharge.  While the Driver's business life is becoming a bit more shady his personal life is becoming a bit more involved; one day he meets his neighbour Irene (Mulligan) and her son Benicio (Kaden Leos), and becomes close to the two.  Despite having clear romantic feelings for Irene things are complicated when her husband Standard (Isaac) is released from jail, and complicated further when it becomes clear that Standard owes money and needs the Driver's help - help that, if it isn't procured threatens Irene and Benicio.

Ryan Gosling's performance in this is amazing.  The thing that really makes it a powerful performance is the fact that Driver is a largely silent man; there are entire scenes that go by with him barely saying a word.  He really has to show the audience what he's thinking and feeling, rather than simply tell them, and he's extremely successful in doing so.  Driver has questionable morals, but it's very clear to see just what he values and what he takes pride in.  His feelings for Irene are never really spoken but from the beginning it's clear how he feels, and the chemistry between the two is very convincing.  The other actors all seem to kind of fall in around Gosling's performance; none of them are over the top, none of them fail to be convincing.  The scenes between Cranston and Gosling especially are intriguing as they have rather clashing personalities; Cranston's Shannon being a very talkative, morally deviant, and rather weak willed man, while the Driver is strong and silent, even if his actions aren't always right.  That's the other thing that I like about this film - there are so many shades of grey here.  The villains are clearly established, but even some of them are somewhat likeable. The good guys are also clearly established, but they're not always that likeable either, and they operate on the same shades of grey that the villains operate under.  Asides from Benicio, who as a child is an innocent, the purest character in this film is Irene - who has feelings for the Driver, despite being married, and really is married to a convict, giving one just reason to question her own morals.  I could say more, but I fear doing so and spoiling the movie.  Instead, I'll leave this off with a bit of a warning: this is a very gritty and dark movie; it's smarter than the average crime, car chase type film, but it's also a lot more gruesome and violent.