Drunken Angel

Kurosawa crime flick set in the slums of post-war Tokyo. Volcanic performance by Toshiro Mifune as a doomed gangster. Fucking great.

Ponyo

A lot of people couldn't stomach the saccharine cuteness and I get that. Also off-putting are the anime cliches, the incoherent plot, and the painfully pollyanna-ish ending. But along the way are moments as beautiful as anything you will ever see in any movie ever made. If Miyazaki is drunk on his own art, who can blame him?

Idiocracy

About thirty people told me, "It's not that great but you should see it." And that turned out to be exactly right. For all its silliness, the future world it depicts feels unexpectedly real. Would have been so much better without a stale, stupid recurring joke about a vengeful pimp.

Vodka Lemon

"Fellini in Armenia" is the back-of-the-box summary. Whimsical and bleak--who knew that combination was even possible?