Everyone loves an underdog, and 2009 seemed to be the year for them. Several movies with lesser-known stars and/or low budgets held their own against their Goliath-sized counterparts, winning the hearts of fans and critics alike. Time will only tell if they can pull off a dark horse upset in awards season, but I'm willing to wager that a couple of these will at least earn mentions. Tell me, which is your favorite?
Don't forget to vote on all of my Best of 2009 polls!
All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. Besides the movies below, you can also find the Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal soccer charmer Rudo y Cursi, as well as TV shows Californication: Season 2 and House: Season 5.
Adventureland
This nostalgic coming-of-age comedy stars Jesse Eisenberg and angsty starlet-du-jour Kristen Stewart as co-workers and romantic prospects in an '80s-era theme park.
I loved director Greg Mottola's tender depiction of a frustrating but hopeful time in one guy's life. It's got more heart than the director's previous effort, Superbad, but just as many laughs.
The DVD extras include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, cast commentary, and a feature music selection that lets you select scenes by picking the soundtrack song.
Check out two other comedies out on DVD today when you read more
Critics may draw comparisons between this year's Sunshine Cleaning and 2007 Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine. Both were Sundance darlings, both star the wonderful Alan Arkin, and both have optimistic-sounding titles. And despite each film's light-bright disposition, both skew closer to comedy of the darker sort. This intriguing juxtaposition worked quite well for Little Miss Sunshine, and, to a slightly lesser extent, it works for Sunshine Cleaning, too.
The off-kilter premise is what first drew me to the movie when I previewed it for last year's Sundance Film Festival. I loved that the film focuses on the dirty and demeaning task of cleaning up crime scenes, yet didn't seem as gloomy as the description suggested. By the time I saw the trailer, it was clear: No CSI confusion here. Luckily the film delighted me as much as I had hoped, mostly because the two lead actresses, Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, are so compelling to watch.
To hear a little bit more about the plot and what else I liked, read more
"Turns out it's against the law to throw biohazards in the dumpster. Who knew?"
Emily Blunt's character, Norah, dryly says this in the preview for Sunshine Cleaning, a little indie movie from this year's Sundance that finds two sisters starting up a "biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service." One of the sisters (Amy Adams) is a single mom who needs to earn money to send her son to a new school. From the trailer, the movie seems strange, dark and funny, a little like Six Feet Under but with the innocent sweetness of Amy Adams.
There's still no actual release date for the film, though apparently it'll open sometime this year. To check out the trailer, read more
I am so thrilled to go to Sundance this year, and I can't wait to see as many movies as possible while I'm out there! For the next few days I'll be highlighting some of the films I'm most curious to see. Today's spotlight: Sunshine Cleaning.
Wait a minute — is this the award-nominated Amy Adams and Emily Blunt? Why, yes, yes it is! Sunshine Cleaning stars these two talented ladies, along with Steve Zhan, Alan Arkin and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe from 24). To see what the story's about, read more
