Latest Movie Rental: Once

It’s 10:45 PM on Friday night, but I’m staying up to write this blog post because I liked the movie I just saw that much.  The movie is entitled Once and stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.  You may recognize the name because it won an Oscar the other night for best original song, beating out three songs from that stupid Enchanted movie (thank goodness).  When Marketa’s acceptance speech was cut off by the “Oscar music”, John Stewart had her come back out after the commercial break and do her speech.  It was a nice moment.

Frankly the likability of the two stars in their acceptance speeches is what drove me to see the movie.  In this day and age, I’ve grown incredibly tired of the same old Hollywood bull crap.  It was nice to see two humble people up on that stage.  It was nice to see something different.  So tonight at Blockbuster, my wife picked up Once, and I wholeheartedly agreed on the rental choice, a rare occasion.

Once is the story of a struggling Dublin street musician and a poor Czech immigrant that make a connection through their music.  In some ways it was reminiscent of Lost in Translation in that it was a story of two people that find something in each other that they’re missing alone.  In contrast to Lost in Translation, however, the main characters in Once have much more in common than did Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson.  On the other hand, the two movies ended in a very similar fashion.

The movie is one of the best films I’ve seen in awhile.  I suggest you get your butt over to Blockbuster and rent it if you haven’t already.

Technorati Tags: once, marketa, hansard, oscar, film, movie

Latest Movie Rental: Black Book

Of many films made about World War II over the past 15 years or so, there are a few that have stood out above the rest.  The first is Schindler’s List, which is probably one of the most gut-wrenching movies I’ve ever seen.  Couple that with the technical details of how the film was shot and written, and you can understand why it garnered so much praise when released.  The next is The Pianist.  For some reason, that film struck a chord with me.  It gave a different perspective on the war, and showed in detail the transformation of daily life from before the Polish occupation to the height of Nazi power in Europe.  Finally, Band of Brothers is in my opinion the finest film about WWII ever made.  Now, I know it was an HBO miniseries, but that format allowed such deep character development that you actually felt like you were part of the group by the end.  I’m a firm believer that every American should see it to have an appreciation for the sacrifices others have made to ensure our freedoms in this country.

Ok, let’s get off my soapbox.

Black Book looks at the war from a perspective I hadn’t see before.  It examines the latter days of the war in early 1945, and details the Dutch Resistance movement against Nazi occupation through the liberation of the country.  It’s a film that’s not as disturbing or “in your face” as the previous three I mentioned, but I still fee that it’s definitely worth seeing.  It’s always interesting to see a European production of the goings on of the war.  The entire film is shot in Dutch, but as with many other fine foreign films, you shouldn’t let that scare you away.Check it out!