4th & Short: 1/10/10

Not much in the way of movies came out last week, in fact nothing came out last week. This weekend saw the introduction of Daybreakers, Leap Year, and Youth in Revolt, one of which will be expounded upon further in a minute...

3. A Single Man

With the Golden Globes coming up next week and the Oscars right around the corner, I want people to start paying attention to the film's garnering the most buzz. Tom Ford's haunting tale of a homosexual man in the 1960s, barely making it one day at a time after the death of his partner is one such film, garnering Best Actor heat for it's star, Colin Firth.

2. Up in the Air

Probably the most critically acclaimed film of the year, Jason Reitman's third insightful comedy(Thank You for Smoking, Juno) is sharp, witty, incredibly penetrating in it's look at today's post bailout society. Not to mention it's George Clooney's defining role of his career. I took it of the list last week because I've talked about it so much. It's good enough to sit here for weeks longer.

1. Youth in Revolt

Sick of seeing Michael Cera play the same awkward role every movie? Yeah? Well so is Francois. Who in the blue hell is Francois? He's Cera's more aggressive, manipulative, womanizing alter ego in Youth in Revolt, the funniest movie in theatres right now and Cera's best since Superbad. A coming of age story with a cartoonishly violent edge, blended together with a dose of 80's style sex comedy. A perfectly selected supporting cast featuring Jean Smart, Ray Liotta, and Steve Buscemi keep the jokes coming fast and furious.

DVD Pick: Lorna's Silence (2009)

Nobody ever comes away unscathed in the worlds created by the famed Belgian directors, The Dardenne Brothers. Well intentioned plans often go awry, and people often end up dead. In that, the Dardenne's bear a resemblance to the Coen Brothers, but their films are much darker. In Lorna's Silence, a young woman agrees to be part of sham marriage to a drug addict in order for her to gain citizenship quickly. Unfortunately, the man who arranged the marriage has deadly designs on her fake husband, and Lorna is forced to decide whether or not to see it through or pull the plug. A bleak, colorless film no doubt, but equally gripping and captivating.