Round two: More movies....

In the Realms of the Unreal: This documentary of Henry Darger takes it's title from the 15,000 page novel Darger wrote detailing the history of a parallel universe that was far more real to Darger than this one. He was extremely reclusive and, by all indications, just as extremely misunderstood. The extent and breadth of his collection of writing and artwork is all the more impressive in that he was entirely self taught. It is also a story of intense loneliness and personal isolation. I wish there had been more - 81 minutes seemed to only scratch the surface of a fascinating soul.

Jumper: This was purely an escapist fantasy. One I'm sure almost all little boys (and I'm sure many girls as well) have had about being able to teleport. Oh, the adventures you could have! Oh, how easily greed/selfishness would pervert that ability. Oh, the moral dilemmas one could get into. Throw in Paladins, whose singular purpose is to hunt you down and exterminate you since you are an abomination in the eyes of God, turmoil in your family regarding abandonment issues, and what is supposed to pass for a love story, and you have the basis for this film. The first user review on IMDB pretty much sums up my experience.

Raising Victor Vargas: A young Latino 'stud-in-his-own-mind' gets called out after being caught romancing "Fat Donna" and has to find a way to get his street cred back. The object of his attention and hope of redemption as a ladies man is a young JLo lookalike. He must also deal with issues with a younger brother and sister and their grandmother at home. A reviewer on IMDB said it was the type of film you could watch and do a crossword puzzle at the same time. I found this a very accurate description and actually wrote a couple checks while watching it myself. There was something lacking, something that made it difficult to connect with Victor. Another reviewer on IMDB, Mike Palomino, was able to put into much more eloquent words, what kept me from fully engaging the characters here.

I Stand Alone (Seul contre tous): A French film by director Gaspar Noe (who did Irreversible, which I mentioned in round one) that once again shows him to be an incredibly talented filmmaker, but also again with a story of intense despair, violence, and depravity. Think of a darker more intense version of TAXI DRIVER, which has many similarities. The tension is very high throughout as transitions between and within scenes are marked by a gunshot. You keep waiting for the pot to boil over and the unthinkable to happen (and the mind can think of a LOT of unthinkable things this man would be capable of). I would hope that if I got to the Butcher's state of mind, someone would have the courtesy to have me committed or kill me to put an end to my misery and the danger to everyone around me. Both of these two films by Noe are works of cinematic art, if you can get past the grisly outlook on life and depression inducing subject matter. Worth seeing, but be prepared to confront the worst of the world (which is becoming more and more common unfortunately).

Russian Dolls (Les Poupees russes) UPDATE: I tried again and did get to watch the last 40 minutes. The disk did have a glitch which prevented me from watching two chapters in the middle, but I felt I had enough context to move on without them. And like I said before, this has all the little bits that made me enjoy the earlier film, L'Auberge Espagnol, or a film like Amelie. And that is not just because Audrey Tautou is in all three. It is the type of film that I'll suddenly notice I've been smiling for the past 15 minutes. I like that feeling.

Next round will be books....