Into the Wild

I've been lucky to see some amazing films lately. The perks of living in LA I guess. Anyways, Into the Wild (directed by Sean Penn) is one of the best movies I've seen lately. It's the true story of Chris McCandless, a college graduate who gave his life savings to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in a van in the wilderness.

Things I liked about this movie:
-Being almost 2 and half hours long and with only one main character, it had the potential to be very boring. However, it wasn't at all.
-Emile Hirsch makes McCandless so likeable. By the end, you are so connected to his character that it makes the ending that much harder to watch.
-The Alaskan wilderness cinematography is phenomenally beautiful.

Things I didn't like about this movie:
-Naked, middle-aged hippies. Yuck.

I usually can tell if I really liked a movie if it sticks in my head for days afterwards. This movie did just that. In fact, it is still in my head and I saw it a month ago.

Lars and the Real Girl

Okay, so I loved this movie. Ryan Gosling is amazing as usual. Lars is a guy who is lonely. So he orders a life-like doll off the internet to be his girlfriend, Bianca. Of course his family and everyone else thinks he's insane. But this movie actually has heart. It's funny, but sad at the same time when you find out more about why Lars has such intimacy issues.

What did I like about this movie?
-Ryan Gosling. He is always amazing, but he fit this role so well.
-For it being about a sex doll, it wasn't full of sleazy jokes and innuendo, which I feel would have taken away from the heart of the story.
-I love when actors can convey so much through simple facial expressions. The expressions on the faces of people and his family members when he brings Bianca around are priceless.

What didn't I like about this movie?
-That more people haven't seen it!

Seriously, it's a great movie. Go see it.