movies. [favorites of Jan/Feb '12]

Picking 5 favorites out of the 24 movies I watched in January and February was really hard.  I didn't want to post movies that everyone has probably already seen (eg The Help, Midnight in Paris etc) but those were probably the only ones I'd really recommend.  Long story short:  I watched a lot of duds the past two months.  But here are five movies I thought were pretty good other than the ones you've most likely viewed.

 Hanna  This movie came out a while ago I believe but I rented it from redbox one night.  I wanted to see it mainly because I had remembered from watching the trailers forever ago that I just wanted to know why this young girl was a trained killer with Eric Bana as a papa.  I started the movie with very low expectations and ended up pleasantly surprised when I didn't regret spending the $1/night on it.  We watched this movie just when we were really starting our exercise routine regularly and it motivated me to work out a lot -- because what if one day I'm running for my life and have to beat up bad guys and stuff?  Thinking of escape situations I will most likely never be in is probably the number one motivator for me to workout every single day.  (In this vein, reading The Hunger Games will do the trick too!)  Also, the movie's soundtrack is by The Chemical Brothers and it is perfect workout music - we downloaded a few songs because we loved them so much!

IMDB info found here
Official site found here

 Restless  I'm definitely a fan of Gus Van Sant movies and this little number did not disappoint.  For one thing, it stars Mia Wasikowska and she is just so cute & delightful to watch on film.  The movie is kind of a downer, though -- obviously when you have a terminal cancer patient as the lead role, but it is incredibly endearing and wonderful.  I loved Enoch's ghost friend, Hiroshi. I also loved seeing Schuyler Fisk in a movie again.  It's a lovely movie to check out!


IMDB info found here
Official site found here

 The Invention of Lying What a clever movie, Ricky Gervais!  A movie starring basically all the "it" funny people of the day (... and Jennifer Garner) about the man that told the first lie ever -- and thus religion came to be!  Known Atheist Ricky shows the need humans have for answers and religion while also showing what the world would be like if everyone said exactly what they were thinking all of the time.  Is ignorance really bliss?  The movie sheds some light on that question.

IMDB info found here
Official site found here

 Red State  I'll start off by saying this:  on my list this has the notation of "never watch this again."  Ha!  That being said, you should probably watch this movie.  This movie is very violent and I do not like to watch extremely violent things so I made that note.  But other than the violence, I found the message of this film to be inspired.  Kevin Smith's story about the dangers and corruption of fundamentalist Christians AND the US Government is eye-opening.  I was also super surprised this was a Kevin Smith movie... I loved that he went in a totally different direction for this film. If you can handle a lot of violence (I looked away during a lot of this movie) then I suggest you watch it.  If you can't handle seeing those things, just read the wikipedia entry for it or something. ;)

IMDB info found here
Wikipedia page found here

Troll 2  If you read my entry on favorite documentaries of January & February then you know that this is the movie that pairs with the doc Best Worst Movie.  Voted "the worst movie ever made" and for good reason.  I'll be completely honest here, I haven't watched the entire movie.  It was a movie I put on to be background noise as I cleaned the house and did laundry so I caught bits and pieces of it ... and that was quite enough.  This is a really bad movie, but in a very funny way.  If you want a good laugh or enjoy feeling awkward and embarrassed then you should watch this film.  Or if you watched the documentary Best Worst Movie and wanted to see the film it was about you should watch it.  If you are looking for a scary horror movie, this is not for you.

IMDB info found here
Wikipedia page found here