Puccini for Beginners - 3 stars

This is a cute straight-gay-bi love triangle which does a good job of getting into issues of sexual orientation and finding your adult self in your 20s. Starring Justin Kirk, whom I love in Weeds, this small film has a lot of entertaining characters who walk dangerously close to being stereotypes without crossing the line.

Set in NYC with a down-to-earth script, the movie has a realistic feel, even though there is some dense dialogue.

It is very similar to movies with this theme like Kissing Jessica Stein and Three of Hearts which makes me think there is a gay movie producer who is trying to introduce LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, trans) culture to the straight world. Even though it's formulaic, the writer does a good job of keeping the dialogue fresh and the actors are real pros. I especially love the angry lesbian philosopher who bitterly judges everyone. Also nice is the surprise ending.

Tyson - 3.5 stars

If someone told me that this movie was a documentary of Mike Tyson talking to the camera for an hour and a half, there is no way that I would have watched this. I'm glad that I had no idea what I was getting or I would have missed it. I heard about Tyson while listening to NPR. NPR, by the way, continues to surprise me. You'd think they are just about news and cooking and old guys talking about cars, but they also have great music and entertainment programming. Anyway, they were doing their annual entertainment list of best movies, songs, etc. The top 10 movies of 2009 consists of 13 films (why not?), including Tyson.

These year in review lists are one of my favorite ways to build my Netflix queue, so I added all 13 to the list. Jim & I were looking for something to watch tonight, and it was available on the instant queue, so we started it. I need to pose a question here to the masses of people who read this blog - why does Netflix only allow you to watch certain films/shows instantly? Why not let you watch anything streaming instead of having it mailed to you? Is it so they can charge different rates for different services? Then why not offer an all-online subscription? Let me know if you have any insights.

Back to our topic at hand... Mike Tyson is a fascinating creature. Everyone has an impression of the fighter known for his police rap sheet and for biting Evander Holyfield's ear. He's crazy, right? He went to jail for 3 years for rape, was accused of beating his then-wife Robin Givens, and regularly flew off the handle in front of the media. Then you start watching this very calm and oddly articulated man. He's very complex. I was fascinated by the way he talked, which isn't the language of his generation. Here's my conclusion: (which you may not want to read until you watch the film, but it isn't exactly a spoiler) he doesn't have a personality of his own. His speech is stolen from his mentor, who was 60 years his senior. That's why he keeps getting into trouble even though he's reasonably smart and knows that his actions are frequently crazy. I was also struck by how candid he is. He readily admits weakness and mistake, which is contradictory to so much in his personality. It's like he has no impulse control. Or, maybe he is a new person. You'll have to watch and judge for yourself.

I give it 3.5 stars because it is so revealing and well made, but it was still about 5 minutes too long and I don't expect to watch it again.

Phoebe in Wonderland - 4 stars

Usually the first film element that I notice about and comment on is the acting. In my opinion a good cast typically makes for a good film. It seems to me that the cast is the #1 element that makes or breaks a film. I don't know if that's because good actors have good taste in film or if the acting can cover up a mediocre script.

Phoebe in Wonderland has a fantastic cast filled with some of my favorite lesser-known actors, but its whole is greater than the sum of its parts because of the amazing script and flawless directing.

Let's start with the cast. Bill Pullman -this guy has done some diverse work that doesn't really get him noticed. I absolutely loved him in Malice, one of my favorite psycho-thrillers of all time. It's hard not to be outshone by Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, but he holds his own in this movie. I've watched it repeatedly and still love it. He can rock comedy just as well, starring in Spaceballs as his second feature film. Second is Patricia Clarkson. I first saw her in the 1998 come-back movie for Ally Sheedy, High Art. Clarkson plays a drug addicted German lesbian. She was so believable that I didn't expect her to be good in other roles, which she continues to be. Felicity Huffman is known best for Desperate Housewives, but I loved her most in TransAmercia, a transsexual road movie. Phenomenal! Finally, Elle Fanning, younger sister to child-star Dakota Fanning, proves to be as good an actress as her sibling.

The synopis on IMDB is actually really good, so I'm going to quote it here:

Felicity Huffman, Elle Fanning, and Patricia Clarkson star in director/screenwriter Daniel Barnz's illuminating tale of parenting and growth concerning an exceptional young girl whose troubling retreat into fantasy draws the concern of both her dejected mother and her unusually perceptive drama teacher. Phoebe (Fanning) is a talented young student who longs to take part in the school production of Alice in Wonderland, but whose bizarre behavior sets her well apart from her carefree classmates. Her mother (Huffman) is an aspiring academic who is beginning to feel like she has not only failed in her professional career, but as a parent as well. Though Phoebe's gifted drama teacher (Clarkson) has no doubts about the young girl's talent and capacity for learning, the frustration of seeing such a promising student slowly slip ever further away from reality soon becomes a growing concern both at home and at school.

It's a coming of age/slice of life film that makes you feel one with the characters, whether or not they are in power or powerless, adult or child, mainstream or eccentric.

The final thing to note is that I watched this movie because Netflix thought that "Jim" would enjoy it. Poor Jim... I keep rating movies on his account and it recommends films that it thinks I'll like. They picked a winner with this one!