Revolutionary Road (2008) D. Sam Mendes

On the outside, Frank and April Wheeler are the perfect couple. They have the American dream: a nice house that sits in a slanted hill on Revolutionary Road, two beautiful children, and friends. Frank commutes to the city every morning just like every other suburban husband in the 1950s and goes to sit at his desk trying to sell computers. April stays at home playing housewife. Life is good, right?

Wrong. On the inside, Frank and April Wheeler are suffocating. The once happy, adventurous couple is now full of emptiness and regret. They regret the path they have taken. What path? The getting married, having children, and moving to the suburbs path. They love their children, yes, but what is missing here? Contentment of lifestyle choice. The lingering feeling that things could have been different tears each of them up inside in their own way. Frank (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) followed in his fathers footsteps of selling computers, something he promised himself he would never do. April (played by Kate Winslet) sits at home every day thinking about how things used to be, and what else is out there besides playing housewife. They're desperate for something else besides what they have.

April decides that she wants something different so she brings the idea up to Frank about moving to Paris. He is hesitant at first responding to it condescendingly. But he yearns for what's out there just as she does. So they plan to move to Paris. But what happens? A promotion. Something Frank doesn't want to pass up something that April wants him to. This creates more tension, more fights, and more hatred.

The performances are more than phenomenal. Leo and Kate have a certain chemistry (as we've seen in Titanic) that draws us in and makes us forget we're even watching a movie. It's stripped down to raw conversation that makes your hair stand up. I was surprised they weren't nominated for any academy awards considering their solid acting. However, Michael Shannon who plays a man named John Givings was nominated for best supporting actor. He was in two scenes out of the whole movie. He's the one person who isn't afraid to say the truth in front of everyone. He sees behind all of the fake smiles and polite conversation. John is a key part of the movie, you will see.

This movie is based off of the book by Richard Yates. I think Sam Mendes wanted to viewers to see that there are things behind clichés and suburbia. There is something more to it than just what it seems like. He wanted you to see marriage stripped down to the core when a couple isn't content with their life. Things are hard. It's about how you handle a situation, and the choices that you make that shape your life. I love that it isn't sugar coated. Something about realistic movies draws me in closer. You see and feel everything that the characters are. You can always relate to realistic movies because the characters seem real.

I expected an intense movie about marriage and suburbia. I've seen this movie twice. This is the kind of movie where I almost don't want to watch it again because of how unsettling and devastating it is, but I can't help it. I love this movie. I love it because it doesn't hide anything.

This film is about hidden suburban desperation. You think you're going to get Jack and Rose on land? Not quite. You're in for something entirely different.

The Lost Weekend (1945 D. Billy Wilder)

The Lost Weekend gets as close as you can to the effects of alcoholism. Don Birnam, a writer who is left alone for the weekend by deceiving his girlfriend and his brother, does anything he can to get liquor in his system. Billy Wilder goes so deep into the pit that you personally feel the desperation that Don Birnam does as he downfalls.

The film doesn't start in the beginning of the story, but the middle. Birnam is already an alcoholic, but you have yet to see the worst of it. It draws you in because you know something terrible has already happened to the protagonist, yet you know there's a whole movie still to watch.

Birnam is surrounded by help and support by his girl and his brother but he fails to grasp that love and shuts them out. However, the enemy gets the best of him during this extremely long weekend and it eats away at him to the point where he feels like he can't go on any longer.

The Lost Weekend is a great drama filled with phenomenal acting and directing. It reels you in to get a look at what desperation really feels like when you get the the very bottom and don't know how to come back up from it. It is one of the most painfully honest films I have ever seen. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Moon (2009 D. Duncan Jones)

"I hope life on Earth is everything you remember it to be."

What does it really mean to be a human? This film had me really thinking about that question. Moon taps into the meaning of life, and the human emotion.

In this futuristic sci-fi film, Sam Bell (played by Sam Rockwell) is finishing up a 3 year contract on the moon. What is his job? He works for a company called Lunar Industries. Sam harvests and sends fuel that is used on earth.

Now, 3 years is a long time, wouldn't you agree? Sam would definitely agree with you. It has begun to get under his skin as he goes day-to-day feeling nothing but isolation. His only form of communication is a computer named GERTY (voice of Kevin Spacey). GERTY has become his friend in a way as he assists him with his needs and daily tasks. But even GERTY can't fill the hole of loneliness. Sam has a wife and a little girl waiting at home for him and he is itching to get to them. He misses that human interaction, that feeling of closeness that he may have took for granted in the past. Unfortunately for Sam, there is no live feed to and from Earth, so he only receives recorded video messages from his wife.

Just when he is only a few days away from his trip home, something happens. And, I'm sorry to say that if I said anything else, I'd be ruining the movie! If you watched the trailer, you may have an idea. Lets just say he has somewhat of a.. personal interaction.

Sam Rockwell did an amazing job with this film. The script was made specifically for him, so he did a really good job following through with it. He's really the only character you get to know, and so it takes a lot to keep the audience interested when they are constantly looking at one actor in one location. But, you really begin to relate to him, and connect deeply with his conflict and emotions.

This really is a thought provoking film. It taps into your brain as you begin to question if you are taking your life for granted, if you really appreciate that relationship with your sibling, or your lover. What do we see when we look deep into ourselves? Imagine how much time Sam had to think about his life, and himself.

I think most of us forget the fact that human life is so precious, and we should be grateful for everything that we have.