The reviews are in

I finally finished watching this film:
I saw half of it 'On Demand' one night and had planned to finish it the next night but it turned out the night I saw half of it was the last night it was on. So one day I bought the DVD for $3 and I finally got around to watching the whole thing over the past few nights.

My impressions of this film are:

• holy hell it's long.
• it's very good.
• the term 'atmospheric' was invented for movies like this.
• Jake Gyllenhaal is one damn fine film actor.

I recommend this one highly, although I'm warning you, it's looooooooooooooong.

I saw this film a few weeks ago:
It's a stunning visual feast of a film. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a cartoon, it's a very violent odd film that's meant for adults. People get hurt and die in this film. It's not kids stuff, it's for grown ups. It's was a bit on the long side for my taste, they could have cut out 30 minutes and it would not have harmed the film a bit.

I recommend this one if you're into sci fi or anime in general. It can be a bit obtuse if you're not into either of those genres though.

I'm not the target audience for this film:
But that didn't stop me from liking it. It's a cute hip little comedy about some quirky teens who are on the cusp of adulthood. Everything is life and death to them, music, members of the opposite sex, members of the same sex, etc. It's a boy who is pining for slutty ex girlfriend meets new girl and they go through an ordeal before they realize they are meant for one another movie. I'm a huge Michael Cera fan, he's like the everyman we all thought we were in high school, and I'm becoming more of a Kat Dennings fan as the days go by.

The music was cool and the performances rocked, so I highly recommend this one. It may however put you off chewing gum for life though, don't say I didn't warn you.

And finally we watched both parts of Small Island on Masterpiece Theatre.
Small Island tells the story of some Jamaicans who emigrate to England during WW2 and what becomes of them after the war. Their lives intersect with those of a lily white British couple who have their problems. It's all very 'stiff upper lip' stuff that has been done before but it all manages to be very great and very watchable. Every one in this production turns in very good performances, especially Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, and David Oyelowo. Special kudos go to Karl Johnson as the shell shocked father in law of Ruth Wilson's character. Johnson had the tough assignment to convey joy, pain, misery, and war induced anguish all without the benefit of dialogue.

Catch this one if they run it on PBS again or pick it up on DVD. You'll be glad you did.