With the deluge of rain and freezing wind masquerading as a Springtime in fair Portland, I’ve been doing a lot of DVD watching. The Men Who Stare At Goats was a comedy I had been looking forward to. It was funny, though not as funny as I had hoped…the premise of the film being the time, money and development of psychic and intuitive powers being supported and developed by a branch of the army in an attempt to learn to destroy with the powers of the mind. I liked Clooney’s character a lot, as well as Jeff Bridges…the strange fact the director chose was getting Ewan MacGregor to narrate his tale as a journalist unfolding the story with an obviously pained American accent. Why not get an American to do that, or better yet, no narration at all?

Additionally, I just rented Up In The Air, a tale in which George Clooney’s job is flying around the nation and firing people, freelance. He feels at home on airplanes, in hotel rooms, removed, isolated and alone. He feels comforted in the knowledge that that he’s off to the next destination with no one to worry about but himself. Suddenly he meets the sexy, free-spirited and equally jet-set Alex, and the sparks truly fly. A visit home for his sister’s wedding brings out some surprising emotions and later, a twist.

This is a still from ‘The Invention of Lying.” The basic plot is that Ricky Gervais’ character is the only one capable of lying in his community, and presumably the world. Everything he says is believed to be true because lying doesn’t exist. He uses this oddity to benefit himself in a few ways, struggles with explaining the way the world was creating in self-serving terms, and perserveres to date the beautiful Jennifer, much to Rob [Lowe's] chagrin. I didn’t expect to like this movie, but I did.  

Cold Souls was a really brilliant and thought-provoking movie about soul storage in those weighty and painful times. Paul Giamatti stars as himself in this role, the beloved Emily Watson as his wife. Paul struggles with the ability to star in a play, having difficulty separating the character from himself. Enter a young Russian woman who trafficks souls inside of herself to and from Russia, and you’ve got a fascinating idea. Moving in the way that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was, this film is worth watching.

Here is a shot of Johnny Depp playing real-life bank robber John Dillinger. The film shows Dillinger’s early life as one of the most successful bank robbers of all time.  Also starring Christian Bale as the cop after Dillinger’s head, and Marion Cottilard as John’s love, Billie, this film is suspenseful and satisfying, informative, and let’s face it: REALLY easy on the eyes.
A beautiful shot of “Billie. I’d continue but I don’t want to give away too much…