Movie #169 - Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko
2001 - Rated R - 1 hr 53 min
Director: Richard Kelly
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Duval, Patrick Swayze

This movie is messed up.  But also awesome.

After all, "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" Right?

So here's itty bitty Jake Gyllenhaal (and Maggie too!) in the 80's and all sorts of crazy, seeing man-sized rabbits and whacking bronze statues with an axe.  This is probably the best cinematic teenage angst ever made, but it's also so much more than that.  Is Donnie Darko schizophrenic, is he just in-tune to what we don't know? How does he predict the things he does? And how the help did he get up high enough to put the axe in the dog's head?  What kind of name is Donnie Darko, anyway? These are the questions this movie makes me ask. 

Then you get to the end and you wonder, how much was real? Is there a time loop? Alternative universes, parallel timelines? And if the jet engine still falls, is the plane still going to crash? Yikes.

Anyway, it took me a couple of watches to really get what's happening here.  And it's possible I still don't completely get it... hence all the questions.  But it took this watch for me to notice Seth Rogen has a bit part. Watch it and see if you can find him. I love this game.

If you haven't seen this one and you don't like dark, psychological (not scary, but definitely twisted) movies, you should probably pass.  If you like that kind of stuff and you want something to think about, put this in your Netflix queue.

Movie #146 - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight
Warner Bros Pictures
2008 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 32 min
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy

If you haven't seen this movie yet.... oh man. Do you live in a cave? How are you reading this post? Honestly, I'm concerned about you. This is a MUST see. MUST. So get out of your cave and go find a rental store... oh wait a minute. You have the internet. Get a Netflix account and download the movie already, for crying out loud.  Watch it in your cave, I don't care. 

There. Much better now.  Now you understand. This movie, from beginning to end and all the way through the middle, is awesome.  Sure, Christian Bale's Batman voice is a little weird. And yeah, the Two-Face plot at the end feels like an afterthought.  But, my God, is Heath Ledger brilliant or what?  Some have said that we only love this movie so much because it was his *last* film (technically, that's not true... ahem, Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but we're not on I yet.) But if he were still alive (oh....now I'm sad), I'd still think this movie and his performance were frickin' fabulous.

If you're not an action or comic-book-based movie fan, that's fine. You don't have to be to appreciate the artistry of this movie. The tone is perfect, the plotline engaging, and the performances top-notch.  I'm gushing, I know. But I give credit where it's due and - after watching all those 90's Batman movies last month - I'm really glad they decided to give this franchise a re-boot.  And while Heath Ledger will be sorely missed for a long, long time, I'm glad we got this parting gift from him.

Movie #138 - Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2009 - Rated R - 1 hr 52 min
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell

This was my first viewing of Crazy Heart which we received as a gift, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was basically in the same tone as those musician biopics that started coming out with Ray and Walk the Line, but this one isn't as bleak and dark.  It could have been, if it wanted to, but something about Jeff Bridges's performance lets you see the 'realness' without getting bogged down by it.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is my favorite part of this movie - and I feel like she won a Golden Globe or something last year for this role.  If that's true, then it's well deserved. If that's not true, she was robbed.  Her character, a writer and single mom who gets tangled up in Bad Blake's (Bridges) insanity, is realistic, guarded, and protective of her only son. When she finally draws a line in the sand, you know she's not kidding.

As "life" movies go, this is a good one.  It's not a favorite, but I definitely enjoyed it.