Tonight’s Arthouse Film Festival movie was Laggies, starring Kiera Knightley. Kiera plays Megan, a woman having the ‘what am I going to do with my life’ crisis of her late 20s. Her friends are all growing up, and her boyfriend proposes at her friend Allison’s wedding. Ellie Kemper plays Allison, Jeff Garlin plays Megan’s father, and there are other notable casting choices, as well. It’s all too much for Megan, and she hides with her newfound, underage friend and her father, played by Chloe Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell, respectively.

Typical RomCom movie that takes place over a week in the Seattle area, which is surprisingly rain-free. Passable movie, and Kiera has an acceptable ‘Murrican accent.

Saw Skeleton Twins last night. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play siblings who reunite after 10 years apart, after the brother attempts suicide. The sister’s life is pretty awful, too. Wiig and Hader have great chemistry on screen. You really get a sense of the anguish both of them are feeling. Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson, and Joanna Gleason round out the cast. There’s a lot of snarkiness in this movie, but there’s also really meaningful drama. Great Indy movie.

Definitely recommended!

Saw This is Where I Leave You today. Meh. A father’s last request is to have his wife and four children (and their families) sit shiva upon his death. A stellar cast, that includes Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Jason Bateman, and others, cannot overcome the script. Everyone has a story, everyone has an agenda, and there’s just too much to cover in the time allotted. Maybe, with an additional 45 minutes, they might’ve been able to let it play out better, but they didn’t. Most everyone makes “progress” and nothing is resolved, but the implication is that things are improving. I can only imagine it would have been a lot better in the hands of someone like Robert Altman. There are some good moments in the movie, but if you really want to see it, wait for cable, NetFlix, etc.

Just came back from seeing The Hundred Foot Journey, a film exec produced by Spielberg and Oprah. An Indian family leaves Mumbai, and winds up in a village in France, where they open an Indian restaurant right across the road from a highbrow French restaurant, run by a forceful woman, played by Helen Mirren. The patriarch of the family is played by Om Puri, who is one of those actors you know you’ve seen before, somewhere.

This is a romantic film, with a leaning towards comedy, but the main star of the film is the food. This movie is the latest one to tackle the subject of food porn, in terms of preparation, presentation and consumption. Film critics see parallels to other such movies, but I’m willing to overlook that. It’s well written, and passionate in its own way. I recommend it.