Recent Netflix rentals

Although I have noted my love of Netflix at least once or twice on this blog, a couple of months ago my queue started getting pretty thin as I had seen most of the movies that I had originally intended to rent (that happens when you don't have cable). So, I started looking at some lists on Netflix and started adding movies, that, for one reason or another, I had never gotten around to seeing. I pretty much considered these the "bottom of the barrel" choices and figured I would just wade through those movies until some new DVDs came out. I must say, however, that the past five rentals I have gotten on Netflix have been fantastic. For your reading pleasure, I will give my thoughts on them below:

American Gangster- I never saw this movie when it first came out due to a bad review from a classmate who, in fact, walked out of the movie because he thought it was so bad. Over time, I began to only hear good things about this movie so I decided to check it out for myself. This really was a great gangster/cop movie, maybe not quite in the same league as the Godfather or The Departed, but definitely well done. My only issue was with the ending; I won't give away what it was, but the last 15 minutes really just didn't seem to match the feeling of the rest of the film.

As Good as it Gets- Although I suppose this movie is technically a romantic comedy, I thought it was really a good movie in general. I thought that the characters were really interesting and complex. I would also like to add that I had been intrigued by this movie ever since hearing Chris Thile's song "Locking Doors" at a Nickel Creek concert probably five years ago. During the concert Chris gave background on the song and said that it was written about Jack Nicholson's character in the movie Melvin.

V for Vendetta- I think I originally avoided this movie when it first came out because reviews seemed to indicate that it was basically a George Bush-bashing movie, and while I have generally become quite disillusioned with Bush, movies and music that bash him are something that I generally try to avoid. However, after watching this movie, I must say that I thought that the political theme of the movie ("People shouldn't fear their government; the government should fear its people") was pretty good, and that as an action movie goes, it was pretty entertaining. It also stars Natalie Portman, and it is hard not to like her.

The Blair Witch Project- I remember being really intrigued and excited about this movie when it first came out, but never saw it for some reason. Over the years, it came to be spoofed so many times that I assumed that it really wasn't that good of a movie. I was quite wrong. This movie really was scary, and the fact that I actually thought it was scary makes me really respect it. I think it is a perfect example of the fact that the scariest movies are the ones where you never see what it is that's "out there."

Crash- I never saw this movie because, when it came out during college, I remember so many people talking about how incredible it was and how it "changed their lives." Being as cynical as I am, I generally try to avoid "life changing" stuff like the plague. However, I decided to finally break down and rent it. While I wouldn't say that it changed my life, it certainly was thought-provoking and entertaining. Maybe that's just because I'm a sucker for movies with one-word titles where they have multiple-divergent plots that all eventually prove to be interrelated (i.e.- Traffic, Babel).

Next up on the list is Munich, and I am anticipating good things.

*Warning: None of these movies are guaranteed to change your life