After watching Thumbsucker I asked Joanna how she’d rate it. “Ben would like it,” she responded. And I agree, Ben would like it. It’s entertaining and suitably serious without being depressing. It will probably appeal more to a younger audience as ostensibly about a teenage search for truth. Much of the movie tends to focus on age, investigating at what sort of activities are appropriate for a given age and position: all the characters tend to violate our preconceived notion of “normal” parameters. A-.

Happy Endings is worth watching simply because its style is unique. It too is entertaining, and takes an almost comedic look at situations which any other movie would overbearingly treat as hopelessly dramatic. B.

Mona Lisa Smile wasn’t as aimless and hollywoody as I suspected it would be, but it hardly stood out as a great movie. I got it mostly because, well, my queue was empty and I like Julia Roberts. Plus I teased Jonah that it would have lesbian sex scenes, and she insisted that there was no way. No lesbian sex scenes, but the subject was certainly addressed, the movie being about an all girls school. Jonah said simply, “Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” C+.

Same Time Next Year, from 1978, is a bit older than our average Netflix selection, but is well worth watching. It’s adapted from a play, and very much feels like a play. It was quite well made, and despite being about adultery, Jonah enjoyed it as well. I picked it because I was on something of an Alan Alda kick. The premise (a couple meets once a year for 25 years to carry on an affair despite both of them being happily married to other people) certainly has potential and the movie did a reasonable job of telling an entertaining tale of two lives and the changes they go through. B+

I liked Same Time Next Year despite the fact that it showed two people undergoing continuous, dramatic exterior evolution, but still seemed to hold true to my basic understanding of human behavior: After a certain relatively young age, say 16 years or so, people are incapable of a substantial change in basic behavior. Something’s Gotta Give both challenges and simultaneously affirms that idea. Jack Nicholson is suitably entertaining as usual. Furthermore his character made me wish I could be a crazy old dude whose behavior could be simply discounted due to age. B+.

No Direction Home is a two-disc documentary about Bob Dylan. I watched the first disc, and while I didn’t dislike it, I found it less than informative about who Bob Dylan really is. I haven’t rented the second disc yet, but also haven’t decided I’m not going to rent it. C.

I added Proof to our queue because Jonah told me to. I suspect she told me to simply because she thinks Gwenyth Paltrow is hot. It wasn’t a bad movie, but lacked a worthwhile premise or plot. The characters weren’t boring, but lacked suitable intruigue and seemed to be over-acted in order to make up for the lack of a decent script. C.