Movies -- A Recap -- Part XXV -- The Wanderlust Edition

Hector and the Search for Happiness is totally adorable and simultaneously made me completely jealous.  The titular Hector, a psychiatrist, quits his job in favor of traveling the world searching for the key to happiness.  It's a movie with morals.  Hector goes to some pretty neat places, and this movie gave me the travel bug something fierce.  I swear, I'm just one or two nasty clients away from doing the same thing! 

Before I saw Roma, I heard it described as "a love letter to Mexico City."  The movie is beautifully shot, and there is basically no musical score, so you hear the noises of the people and the houses and the city.  I thought it was overly long, but I also feel like I have a good sense for a certain type of life that existed there in the 1970s.  I've never been to Mexico City; actually, I've never been to Mexico at all.  It seems like a bit of an oversight since I have Mexican connections in my family.

The Devil's Own is set mostly in Boston, but it made me want to go to Ireland.  I could listen to just about anyone speak all day about anything if they do it in an Irish accent.  In this particular circumstance, the whole experience is bolstered by the presence of Brad Pitt's visage, back when he was young and adorable and before he got all Angelina-Jolie-weird.

Did you know there's still a Blockbuster store out there?  I didn't, until I saw The Last Blockbuster. It's a true story about the last surviving Blockbuster store, which is still open and going strong in Bend, Oregon.  The movie was peopled by the usual suspects (manager, employees, folks from Bend), but also a weird collection of actors and musicians who were commenting on its existence (and other things).  The movie was fine, but I 100% want to make the trip out to Bend to pay a visit to this unicorn.

A Room with a View is a lot of movie in which only a little happens.  It's clear from the outset what the dramatic conflict in the plot will be, and beyond that there isn't much to worry about except who will win the lawn tennis match.  There are some well known actors much earlier in their careers: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, and Daniel Day-Lewis, to name a few.  It's basically an earlier version of Downton Abbey, where the girl falls for the wrong boy and Maggie Smith doesn't approve.  But what it did do for sure was make me want to visit Florence and a lavish English country cottage.  The lush gardens and views of the Arno made me want to head back to Europe in the worst way!