EW's List of the 50 Best Movies You've Never Seen

Entertainment Weekly published a list of the 50 best movies released in the last 20 years. Check it out here.  I've seen about half of the movies on the list.  It helps that the EW writers seem to like Sam Rockwell almost as much as I do.  Below are my favorites from their list:

Fish Tank (2009).  15-year-old Mia lives in the Essex projects with her single-mom and sister.  Mia has a tough life, her mother pretty much ignores her and the only person who seems to take an interest in her is her mom's boyfriend Connor. Media Corner favorite Michael Fassbender is in it!

George Washington (2000).  If you are only familiar with director David Gordon Green's recent work, including Your Highness and Pineapple Express, this movie will definitely surprise you.  This is Green in his arty, serious, Malickian mode. George Washington is also Paul Schneider's film debut. 

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999).  Jim Jarmusch's film about a professional killer (played by Forest Whitaker) who follows a strict samurai code of ethics. RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan did the score fore the movie and even makes a brief cameo!

Moon (2009).  Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of his time of a solo three-year stint on a lunar mine.  However, he starting to have health problems and strange hallucinations.  After a bad accident, Sam discovers something unnerving about his mission on the moon. 

My Summer of Love (2004). This film shows how the friendship between two girls, working class Mona (Nathalie Press) and wealthy Tasmin (Emily Blunt), evolves over the course of one summer. 

Safe Men (1998).  An outrageous comedy that has one of the best casts ever: Paul Giamatti, Steve Zahn, Sam Rockwell and Mark Ruffalo are all in it!

The Assassination of Yogi Bear by the Coward Boo-boo

Animator Edmund Earle created an "alternate ending" parody video for the new Yogi Bear movie that is coming out this week.  I'm probably outside of the target demographic for the Yogi movie, but I did enjoy Andrew Dominik's 2007 revisionist western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (it has Paul Schneider AND Sam Rockwell in it!), which this parody also references.  It's a pretty funny video clip and probably more enjoyable to most adults than the actual Yogi Bear film, but I definitely missed Sam Rockwell acting as moral conscience in this version of the scene. (via BoingBoing).
Note: In case you can't tell by the title, there is bear-on-bear violence in this clip.



Check out the original:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).
Find it in the catalog!

Crushworthy Men of TV

Runner-up:   

Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider).
From: Parks and Recreation (2009-).
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Mark isn't the most interesting character on the show, but he's the dreamiest.  He's got a good job (city planner) and he's played by one of the handsomest (in my opinion) actors around.

10). Henry Pollard (Adam Scott).
From: Party Down (2009-2010).
Find it in the catalog!  
Seasons: One and Two.

Henry is mid-thirties, works as a caterer and occasionally toys with the idea of moving back in with his parents.  Yeah, doesn't say much for my taste in men, does it?  Or maybe it just speaks to the power of his witty banter on the show.

9).   Mark McKinney, various characters.
From: Kids in the Hall (1988-1995).
Find it in the catalog!
Seasons: One, Two, Three, Four, and Five.

Just being a part of the hilarious Canadian comedy troupe is enough to make you crush-able in my book.  But McKinney is the only one who doesn't look better as a woman. 

8). Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel).
From: Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000). 
Find it in the catalog!

Tall and friendly, Nick is probably the kindest of the freaks.  I thought he was super cute up until the point he started to smother Lindsay with affection. 

7).  Eric Gotts (Tyron Leitso).

From: Wonderfalls (2004).   

Find it in the catalog!

Sweet, charming, and oh-so-cute, Eric is every girl's dream bartender.

6). Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).
From: True Blood (2008-).  
Find it in the catalog!
Seasons: One, Two.

Eric is pretty much the tall, Swedish vampire version of Logan from Veronica Mars.  And what's not to like about that? 

Cinematic Aphrodisiacs: A Guide to Good Date Movies

Choosing the perfect movie for a date can be a delicate art, especially if you and your date have mismatched taste.  You don't want to bring a Guy Maddin film to a date with a person whose all time favorite movie is Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous or the Scorpion King (though you might question why you are going out with them in the first place).  You also want something that sets the mood properly-  light, fun, slightly offbeat, and romantic but not setting the bar too high.  Compiled below are movies that I would proudly take to a date. Not all titles will appeal to everyone, but would you really want to date someone who didn't like The Apartment?  I'm just doing you a favor! 

All the Real Girls (2003).  It's risky to watch a movie that is, in part, about love gone wrong.  But All the Real Girls also shows the fun of falling in love.  And it stars two of cinemas most crush worthy actors: Paul Schneider and Zooey Deschanel.  Plus you'll get major indie cred for a choosing a movie directed by David Gordon Greene. Oh, and the love scenes are pretty hot too. 
Find it in the catalog! 

Annie Hall (1977). If you and your date are just the slight bit neurotic or bookish, odds are you will relate immensely to this movie.  This is Woody Allen at his most charming; you almost understand why the ditsy but beautiful Annie (Diane Keaton) would fall for him.  Annie Hall is full of relationship foibles, but still optimistic and funny.
Find it in the catalog!  

The Apartment (1960).  You can't really go wrong with Billy Wilder and this is my favorite of his films.  A romantic comedy about poor lovelorn C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemon), who lets the higher ups in his office use his apartment to carry out their extramarital affairs. This helps him get ahead at work, but he starts to question the morality of his actions when he sees how infidelity affects the elevator operator of his dreams (Shirley MacLaine).
Find it in the catalog!  

Paul Schneider

Handsome in a laid-back, scruffy sort of way, Paul Schneider has played his share of lady-killers in film (All the Real Girls, the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and on TV (Parks and Recreation). Based partly on his real life, his role in David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls was his break-out performance and the reason I'll always be just a little bit in love with him.  He plays the town Lothario who decides to take it slow with his best friend's sister.  Paul's performance is sweet, tender, and occasionally swoon-worthy, but he doesn't shy away from his character's angry and insensitive tendencies either.  If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it.  It's one of the best dramas about young people in love.  Look for before-they-were-famous performances by Danny McBride and Zooey Deschanel too.

He has also given several interesting performances in supporting roles.  In Lars and the Real Girl, he played Lars's brother, Gus, who is the only character in the movie that seems disturbed by Lars's relationship with the Real Girl doll.  Gus is sort of a stand in for the audience with his skepticism towards the relationship and Paul gives a funny and realistic performance.  Director Jane Campion was so impressed with his performance in the western epic Assassination of Jesse James that she cast him as the Scottish poet Charles Brown in Bright Star.   Brown was a close friend to poet John Keats, who tries to sabotage Keats relationship with neighbor Fanny Brawne.  His performance as Brown earned him a National Society of Film Critics award for best supporting actor. 

Paul Schneider's star is definitely on the rise.  Recently he decided to leave Parks and Recreation after this season so he can act in more movie roles. Check him out in one of the DVDs we have available at the library:

Parks and Recreation: Season 1.
Find it in the Catalog.

Away We Go.
Find it in the Catalog.

Bright Star.
Find it in the Catalog.

Drunk History: Episode 4.
Find it on the Web.

Lars and the Real Girl.
Find it in the Catalog.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Find it in the Catalog.

The Family Stone.
Find it in the Catalog.

Elizabethtown.
Find it in the Catalog.

All the Real Girls.
Find it in the Catalog.

George Washington.
Find it in the Catalog.