Movie #287 - Human Nature

Human Nature
2001 - Rated R - 1 hr 36 min
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Hilary Duff, Peter Dinklage, Rosie Perez, Miranda Otto

This movie's so bizarre.  I don't know why I liked it so much the first time, or how it ended up on the shelf, but this revisit wasn't all bad.  Actually, it's kinda funny.  It's an excuse to "study" human relationships and dynamics, but it's really just a messed up love square.  Yes, a square.

So one girl's been super hairy her whole life, gets outcast by other people and ends up living in the forest, writing nature books.  She winds up with a doctor trying to teach table manners to lab mice.  Who has an assistant that worships him and speaks with a fake French accent.  When they find a man in the woods who was raised by his father to be an ape, all hell breaks loose.

Yes, it's super weird.  But it's kinda fun to watch this complicated story unfold.  And the ending is just twisted enough to be worth watching the whole movie.  I'm sure most people won't, but I like it.

Movie #178 - Elf

Elf
2003 - Rated PG - 1 hr 37 min
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Will Ferrell, Edward Asner, Bob Newhart, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Zooey Deschanel, Peter Dinklage

Smiling may be my favorite, but this movie comes close.  It could so easily have been too much, but it's a perfect balance of real and fiction, belief and skepticism, with a side of maple syrup.

What makes this movie work, though, is Will Ferrell's utter committment to the role.  He buys into it completely, which makes it easier for us to get lost in the story of Buddy the Elf and his journey to New York City.  A half-assed performance wouldn't do the trick, and would have made the whole movie fall flat.  Thankfully, he's so excellent at this kind of thing, you half expect to be able to talk to narwals.

So even though Christmas is over, I still took much joy in being able to watch this one again.  Of all the elves in all the movies out there, Buddy is my favorite, hands down.

Movie #153 - Death at a Funeral

Death at a Funeral
2007 - Rated R - 1 hr 30 min
Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage, Ewen Bremner, Alan Tudyk

Oh, I love this movie.  Another Brit comedy, this original version (recently remade with Tracy Morgan and Chris Rock) is both witty and poignant, and filled with perfectly timed and appropriately awkward comedic moments.

Alan Tudyk accidentally high on drugs, naked on a rooftop? Priceless.  A sexually promiscuous, gay dwarf with a naughty secret, tied up in the corner of a study? Awesome.  And an unexpected viewing of the corpse (several times)? Totally necessary.

Just watch this one and enjoy.  It's a celebration of life, death, the stuff in between, and dysfunctional families all rolled into one.