Run Lola Run - Awesome stuff. Somewhat unique storytelling, and a solid techno score, to boot! =) It basically takes a scenario and plays through it three times, with minor differences that result in very different outcomes. A solid blend of humor, action, and drama make this very watchable. Highly recommended, especially to those who like foreign films.

Memento - I’d heard so much about this film and absolutely loved Chris Nolan’s work in Batman Begins, so I thought I’d check this out. Really trippy stuff, and I still don’t think I’ll even come close to understanding everything even if I watch it a couple more times. Still, it’s masterfully edited, acted, and directed considering such an insane script. Definitely good for those who are into alternative methods of filmmaking.

Since I never update here anyway, I figure writing comments on the movies I’ve watched via Netflix would be useful to both myself for future reference and for anyone interested. I’ll be posting this in segments since I have a lot to cover from January:

Ghost World: Surprisingly good. As everyone knows, I have a serious thing for Scarlett Johannson, which is probably the primary reason I checked this out. I also do generally like independent films, and this one did not disappoint. Kinda like another of Scarlett’s movies, Lost In Translation, the writing and the directing managed to really nail interpersonal relationships and discourse. Solid ending too, that left much to interpretation. Highly recommended.

Philadelphia: Overrated. I was expecting a lot more out of this movie than Hollywood fluff, but that’s about all I got. Another movie I checked out for one person’s work (in this case, cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, who has shot Silence of the Lambs and Signs among many other popular films). He has a very unique style that can really change your perception of a story. Anyway, I don’t think this film has held up well. It came out over ten years ago, and perhaps it was a better film for its time then than it is now. It’s just so fluffy and the message that “everyone hates gays” is so thinly-veiled. It’s either that the screenplay was written by people who had no real concept of male gay society, or it was written by gays who didn’t know what they were doing. Frankly, I was kind of offended by how this film portrays homosexuals as hornballs, running around trying to get some action.

That’s it for now, more to come.