Paper Heart

unique, but not too interesting

charlyne yi (actress/comedian/musician) is the star of this 'documentary' about love and how she doesn't believe in it. the characters are thinly veiled versions of themselves as this is kinda a mix of documentary and behind the scenes footage, but a lot of it is scripted. the interesting/touching parts involve real people talking about love. that's the documentary part of it. things change when yi develops a relationship with michael cera (her real life boyfriend at the time) and the "filmmakers" think she's falling in love. yi is likeable to be sure, but she's not feminine at all, and the fact that she doesn't believe in love gets annoying. i don't see what cera sees in her, other than she's quirky and funny.

Miss March

dumb raunchy comedy that has some great moments

i've never seen 'the whitest kids y'know' or whatever the show is that launched these guys, but they have talent. the 2 main dudes in this film were unknown to me, but they are pretty damn funny. zach cregger plays eugene, a straight laced virgin in high school. his best friend tucker (trevor moore) is a playboy obsessed sexaholic. the 2 play off eachother well like any other comedy duo. basically eugene goes into a coma on prom night right before he's about to have sex with his long time girlfriend for the first time. 4 years later he comes out of the coma and discovers his woman is now a playboy centerfold, so he and tucker go on a roadtrip to find her at the mansion. hilarity and grossout moments ensue. plenty of win, but also plenty of gagworthy moments (including explosive diarrhea).

North Face (Nordwand)

amazing action, incredible true story

north face is the true story of a german mountain climbing team trying to be the first ones to clmb the north face of the auger mountain during world war II. friends toni and andreas are extremely skilled alpinists who decide to make the attempt, along with other climbers from other countries. their childhood friend luise is a journalist assigned to cover the story. her role was kinda over-emphasized, but not too damning. the real treat in this film is the action and intense edge of your seat thriller moments. the film is intense and gripping, and it's a story i wasn't even aware of. great stuff all around.

Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo)

cute, but beautiful anime film

once again i am amazed by the films of hayao miyazaki. his films (and plenty of other anime features) are so much more impressive than the pixar/dreamworks crap they keep churning out. i was once again reminded why i love traditional animation. ponyo is a young goldfish in the ocean who wants to be human like her new friend sosuke. she tastes his blood while healing his cut, and she begins to transform into a mermaid/girl. she and sosuke have an adventure trying to get to his mother during a major flood caused by the father of the sea. it's a little too childish for my tastes, but it's a fun heartfelt film by a unique master.