(500) Days of Summer

April 24.

"(500) Days of Summer" was one of my favorite movies of 2009. I bought the DVD as soon as I could and have seen it more times than I care to count. It's now one of those movies I can pop in when I just want something on. It always makes me happy, especially the lone musical number set to the upbeat Hall and Oates-classic, "You Make My Dreams."

I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and the music, and how the movies shows LA. All the scenes were filmed in downtown LA. I didn't even know people lived there, but the movie makes it look like a place I really should explore.

L.A. Without a Map

February 27.

The second bad movie I saw this weekend was "L.A. Without a Map." I saw it because a few weeks ago on a classic Howard Stern show he interviewed Vincent Gallo, who I hadn't heard of before. He was weird and funny and interesting, so, I added some of his movies to my Netflix queue. I got this one first and thought it was something I'd like.

American girl meets British writer while on vacation in England. He falls in, well he likes her, and follows her back to L.A. Sounds OK? It's not. The whole story moves so quickly it's completely unrealistic. The scenes would start in, what seemed like, mid sentence and I always felt like I was missing something. The American girl was played, poorly, by Vinessa Shaw, who although started her career in the kids soccer flick "Ladybugs," has gone on to be a pretty good actress.

I did like the Johnny Depp cameo. For most of his scenes he played a poster of himself in some Western and never spoke. I always read he took no money for his part. I also liked Vincent Gallo and Julie Delpy as the doomed couples best friends.

A Single Man

January 15.

Even if I hadn't seen the name Tom Ford scroll across the screen before the first image appeared I would have known he made "A Single Man." Every gorgeous frame looked like a glossy spread in a fashion magazine.

The fashion icon wrote, produced, and directed the movie, which takes place during one November day in 1962 Los Angeles. Each scene is another game with color. Whenever we see George's (Colin Firth) reality the colors are muted and grainy, but when he fantasizes or thinks about the past the colors grow bright and pop.

The story is about George and his struggle with day-to-day life after his long-time partner dies. The British, English professor spends his day going to the bank, visiting his best friend, Charley (Julianne Moore), getting picked up by a hot, Spanish prostitute, and making a connection with one of his students. Nicholas Hoult plays the confused but confident teenager brilliantly and gives George some much needed hope.

This is a good place to thank the movie gods for answering my movie prayers and bring more Matthew Goode to the big screen. He's more than just eye candy in the flash back scenes as George's lost-love, Jim. So, thank you, movie gods.