Julie & Julia

Louis: ***, Angela *** 1/2

The story of Julia Child's start in the cooking profession intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all of Child's recipes from her first book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

I apparently fell in love with Julia Child after countless childhood sick days, forced to choose between soap opera's, stock prices or a crazy lady cooking food on PBS. We both fell in love with Meryl Streep through all her wonderful films. Put them together and how can you go wrong?

Nothing too serious here. It was interesting to learn more about Julia Child's personal life and inspiring to hear her story as well as the story of Julie Powell's cooking challenge.

Tyson

Louis: ***, Angela : ***
Netflix Instant Download

A fascinating, emotional, and frank confessional from Iron Mike that sheds a sympathetic light on one of boxing's most controversial icons. We were both surprised by this film - it wasn't quite what we were expecting. We felt it was interesting to hear his life story in his own words.

The Invention of Lying

Louis: ***, Angela: ***
Netflix

A cute story which takes place in a world where everyone tells the truth. The main character comes up with the notion of "telling things not as they are" and everyone perceives his lies as reality.

We thought the description of the world (where people say everything they're thinking) was very funny. For example when the main character visits his mother in the old folks home, the sign on the building reads "A Sad Place For Hopeless Old People".

Revolutionary Road

Louis: *** 1/2, Angela: *** 1/2
Netflix

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are together again, this time directed by Sam Mendes (Winslet's husband). A story of a young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggling to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.

Great acting, dialog, and art direction / costume design, but ultimately a tragic story.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Larry ****

I finally bought my own copy. Just love this movie. Great music, great drag.

Six Feet Under

Louis: **** Angela:****

We've continued to focus our Netflix on television series rather than movies (with the two little ones, it easier for us to find 50 minutes at the end of the day for a TV show rather than two + hours for a movie). We first started watching this series on DVD back in March of this year. The series originally aired on HBO (which we still don't have) from January 2001 to September 2004, spanning five seasons and 63 episodes.

The series was created, written and directed by Alan Ball, best known for the film American Beauty, which he also wrote and directed. Six Feet Under takes a darkly comical look at the members of a dysfunctional Pasadena family that happens to run an independent funeral home. Focusing primarily on the lives and relationships of the the five main characters (a husband and wife and their three adult children) the episodes are at times happy, sad, shocking, absurd, scary, funny, hopeful, and hopeless.

This is by far the most thought-provoking television series we've ever experienced. Time and again, it inspired us to reflect on our own lives, relationships and struggles, to recognize the fragility of life and our ultimate mortality.