The Wrestler

I so appreciated that this movie didn't do anything it wasn't meant to do. It was just the right amounts of funny and sweet and weird and gross. Nothing drastic or shocking happens, it doesn't wrap things in a pretty bow, but it was touching and realistic. Micky Roarke is pretty incredible, albeit pretty horrific to look at. I think the surprise here is Marisa Tomei, who delivers an amazing performance for which she is nominated for an Oscar. (I CANNOT believe she is 43!)

Milk

I knew a little bit about Harvey Milk from my Queer Studies class at UC Santa Cruz. It certainly wasn't necessary to know anything about him to thoroughly enjoy this sad, inspiring biopic. Sean Penn, who does very little that I enjoy (except this and this) (and I didn't realize he did this, but I liked it a lot too), was phenomenal. Completely great. I loved the 70's vibe that Van Sant captured and I feel like Van Sant's approach to this movie was so much more accessible than most of his other movies, many of which I really enjoy, but I respect that he wanted this to reach more people. Nicely done.