Hipster Phase.

I feel as though I have to warn you. I'm going through a hipster phase. Listening to unknown music, wearing weird clothes, and dropping showers in priority on the to-do list. This will no doubt affect my movie choices. Consider yourself warned.

Holy Rollers
A little known movie with everyone's favorite emotional flatline Jesse Eisenberg and Doug. Wait, I mean Justin Bartha. The plot line is that both of them are Hasidic Jews, who get caught up in a drug smuggling ring. Apparently it is based on a true story (see the story here: http://articles.nydailynews.com/1999-08-01/news/18111101_1_couriers-sean-erez-ecstasy)
and either way it was genius and extremely interesting. Jesse Eisenberg was surprisingly convincing, and it was really interesting to watch a super conservative Jewish reaction to the drug world. Justin Bartha was awesome, and his character progression throughout the movie was stellar. I would definitely recommend it, but wouldn't make it a priority.

Micmacs
This is a French film that came out last year, and I ventured into it without knowing much. There is a sad little boy who's father is killed by an IED, and through a series of unfortunate events he gets shot in the head and survives. He becomes homeless and is taken in by a group of misfits. They launch a plan to get back at the people who created the bullet in his brain and the device that killed his father. The plan that ensues is actually really funny and quirky, you just have to pay attention to the subtitles. The characters are hilarious and original, and very very strange. Micmacs, in french, is like slang for carrying-on and cavorting. Its supposedly derogatory, which makes it even funnier. A very tounge-in-cheek comedy that relies on an understanding of what Europeans think is funny. Its on Cinemax or HBO on demand, which makes it much easier to watch. Do it, if you want to be awesome, hip, cultured, and trendy like me.

Beginners
Big thanks to my friend for Shelbie for going to this with me. It was a Saturday night and very crowded, which could lead to mad awkwardness; only thing was that it was a predominately gay crowd, so we looked like "really good" friends. hah.
Beginners is Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer's new indie flick about McGregor's newly out gay dad, his death, and his failed relationships. It was extremely dry, and rather slow moving. I really didn't like it that much. Other people seemed to really like it, which is awesome for them. I thought the little dog was the best character, which is rather concerning. Plummer did a great job, and I enjoyed his performance. Ewan McGregor was just a bit too angst-y and psychologically defunct for my taste. Just a bit too much dry emotion and tortured souls. And I didn't buy that he was some moody illustrator and managed to pick up a hottie foreign model who managed to have the exact same issues as he did.

Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Films

Nerd Out. No one is going to read this anyways, and even if they did I doubt they would go see the short films anyway. From myself, for myself.
I was really impressed with the Live Action short films. I've never given the category much thought, or seen any of them, so I didn't really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the ability to tell a pretty complex story in 30 minutes or less, and how heavily these films relied on the writing and artistic direction to tell their story.
1. The Confession-UK
This was by far the darkest of the shorts, and a very complex story. Two boys are preparing for their first confession, and one is more morally upright than the other. I almost cried at the end, and that is pretty impressive considering it was only 26 minutes long.
2. Wish 143-UK
Funny but also heartfelt little story about a teenage boy with Cancer. I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek British humor mixed with emotion and a cool priest. Very good story, original.
3. Na Wewe-Belgium
Set in Berundi, focusing on the continued conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi people. I took the subtitles and context as a little short comedy poking at the ridiculousness of the people still championing the cause, but I may have been off base. It was cute, and I loved the ending.
4. The Crush-Ireland
A precious Irish boy named Arnad loves his teacher. It was a very short little film, but it was so funny and cute. An original idea and story.
5. God of Love-USA
Yuck. I'm sorry, but yuck. Made by hipsters at the Tisch academy, I'm embarassed that this is from the United States against all these other great little foreign nuggets. Whatever.

Winner is.......a tie!!! Between "The Crush" and "The Confession" regardless they were all wonderful, except that American crap.