Netflix’ing the Night away…

Like most new toys, one plays with them pretty incessantly upon arrival.  Christmas morning growing up, I think once all the presents were opened, the rest of the day was battle between parent and child, over getting ready for the family dinner and playing with the new toys.  Well shit, folks, you gave me the damned things to play with.  It’s pretty cruel to just say, “Here you go, now put them away and don’t play with them.”  Christ… kick me, too, while you’re at it.

Uh, anyway, Netflix I’ve had for a while now (the new toy), and lately I’ve sort of gotten into a cool cycle here on the graveyard shift at work, where it’s really quiet during the night.  I have DVDs I take with me into work and listen to them in the background while I’m taking care of business.  Recently, I’ve cycled through a couple of gems that I wanted to bring to your attention…

The first is Cashback, a British film starring Bionic Woman’s Michelle Ryan and Harry Potter’s Sean Biggerstaff.  It’s about an art student who suffers from insomnia following the break-up of his relationship and ends up taking a night job at a local supermarket, where he meets a group of varied personalities and an attractive girl named Sharon who’s caught his attention.  I picked it up at a Netflix suggestion, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a chance on it, but hey… what the hell, right?  I wasn’t disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The second is the Academy Award-winning Juno, starring X-Men 3’s Ellen Page as the eponymous protagonist.  A girl has sex with her best friend and it results in her pregnancy.  Since the abortion clinic scared the shit out of her, she decides to keep it and put it up for adoption.  She meets a couple that suits her unborn child’s needs (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) and befriends them, all the while having to suffer the social inequities of high school life as a pregnant student.  In spite of all that potential morose drama, it was smartly written and the performance of Page as Juno was amazing.  I was laughing my ass off at this movie, because the character of Juno is nothing short of an amalgam of most of the women in my life.  Sharp wit, acerbic sense of humor and blunt force trauma when asking questions.  Not to say that you all are bad, but there were times when Juno spoke that I remarked to myself that she reminded me of Tap or Julia or one of my sisters…  It made the movie more enjoyable, although the ending was a little out there.  Plus, it was an Arrested Development reunion, pretty much, with Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, although they never had a scene together.  And surprise, Allison Janney and Rainn Wilson’s in it, too!  Highly recommended, if you haven’t already seen it.

What’s next on my list?  Since I’m now an Ellen Page fan, next up is Hard Candy.  Check my queue on the sidebar for more information about my list.

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