Unlikely Movie Picks

Although we tend to gravitate towards movies with heroes, villains, explosions, super powers, and the like, we occasionally take out the time to watch touching movies lacking any of the aforementioned.

Of the ones we’ve recently watched (we’re Netflix junkies and all titles are available there), here a few stand out’s:

It’s Such a Beautiful Day

Short Synopsis: “Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche, in this new feature film version of Don Hertzfeldt’s animated short film trilogy.”

Basically, it’s an animated movie about a stick figure. The imagery is stark but powerful. Thought-provoking. When I first turned it on, I thought I would let it play a few minutes, turn it off, and give it one-star.

I was wrong.

I was captivated by the struggle and storyline of a man falling into his own darkness, punctuated by brief flashes of color and sound. This film was superbly done and worth watching.

Mary and Max

Short Synopsis: “A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.”

This is another animated film but the style is completely different. The scenes aren’t done with stick figures but are gray tone, helping give it a darker incantation.

When Mary, the pudgy, lonely Australian girl asked Max if he’d ever been picked on, tears prickled in my eyes. But poor Max. All of Mary’s letters send him into a panicked tailspin that he has to pull himself out of. Unfortunately, he has Asperger’s and difficulty relating to other people.

Their story is sad but beautiful. And has the happiest ending one can hope for. (It’s based on a true story.) 

Frank

Short Synopsis: “Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.”

Frank is a musician that wears a Paper Mache head over his own. All day, every day. He eats with it on. Showers. Sings. It’s… cathartic. It’s the only way he can deal with the world around him.

Jon is a young musician that joins Frank’s band. He chronicles the band’s journey, posting videos that slowly go viral.

Unfortunately, these videos and the possibility of success tear the band apart. The tenuous hold on reality is stretched.

K-Pax

Short Synopsis: “Prot is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a faraway Planet. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.”

This is one that’s hard to describe without giving away too much of the plotline, but I will say that I was enthralled.

Prot made for a convincing alien. He had advanced mathematical knowledge and was able to assist the other patients at the mental hospital overcome some of their unique “quirks.” There were moments when my chest hurt for both Prot and his psychiatrist. What a sad, lonely existence.

It is another movie worth watching.

And because those are some pretty heavy pics, I’m going to add a movie that’s completely nonsensical: Zombeavers. Yes, you read that correctly. Zombeavers.

Beavers turned zombie.

If you decide to watch it, think of it like Snakes on a Plane – which means, you already know what you’re getting into based on the name. It’s a parody of sorts. Slightly entertaining, silly, and ridiculous. (I’d give you the synopsis, but I think the title tells you all you need to know.)

But we managed to watch the entire move. Go figure.

We couldn’t even make it through that horrible Nicolas Cage movie, Left Behind.

These are some of our unlikely movie picks. What are yours?

Synopsis’s courtesy of imDb.com