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Lars and the Real Girl (2007) is a totally predictable movie. It does not offer us anything new. It does not break record budgets nor does it tout many fine outstanding actors with egos bigger than their budgets. All it does is take you on a simple journey with a simple story of a troubled young man. This, it does better than most movies you will see all year.

Ryan Gosling plays Lars, a shy young man who from the outset has social interaction problems and quietly but spectacularly spirals into a delusional state when he introduces his brother and sister-in-law to his new girlfriend, a blow up doll called Bianca. The story is set in a smallish town whose citizens all know each other and are very accepting of Bianca. She befriends the town folk, secures a part-time job, volunteers at the local hospital and even goes to church. Predictably Bianca comes between Lars and his real life love interest. The title with its double meaning makes sense right about here. The plot is simple, the journey unforgettable.

I don’t want to spoil the movie any more than I have so I’ll leave it at that. It’s such a delightful watch and I urge you to take some time out from your life and join Lars and Bianca for an hour and fourty minutes.

The Online Photographer: Great Photographers on the Internet

Possibly the most entertaining thing I’ve seen as a photographer. We all know that there are many experts on the internet and now we have the proof. Please try to crop properly, get the attention of your subjects by shouting just before you take the picture, do not let your AF choose point of focus, keep your horizons straight, select better subjects and always always take sharp photos!

Cloverfield (2008) presents a simple story via a video tape found in what used to be Central Park in Ney York post an alien attack. Right from the opening scene you expect to see some torn down wasteland occupied by an army with a no tolerance attitude. Or maybe that was just me? What you do see for the rest of the movie though is the very same video tape as it’s being watched by someone we don’t know and never will meet.

The movie is shot with a handheld style giving us extremely weird angles and often falling, spinning, climbing and jumping with our characters. This might get annoying to some, especially when you realise that the whole movie will be like this, but it does work. It puts you in the scene with our characters and via some timely editing tells us a love story. It is Hollywood after all. I’m just surprised we didn’t see a sex scene somewhere in the middle. I’m sure they tried to fit it in but failed and gave up. I did find it annoying that all the characters and even the filler crowd at the party were perfect twenty somethings. C’mon America. Where are the fat people running away from the aliens with a gallon of Coke in their hands?

I must admit I did enjoy this movie. It might have something to do with my good mood at the time but I won’t take away from the ok acting and somewhat unique format. The use of a video tape found post an alien attack to tell a story and leave your imagination running wild and hoping for more was… fun.