Greenberg, Rhys Ifans and Sleep

First, watch "Greenberg" because the characters are familiar. Very familiar. Greta Gerwig's character in the opening shot was me, basically. Wearing exactly the same things I wear, wandering around alone in Los Angeles. Ben Stiller is wonderful at being funny while also being absolutely horrible. It's bittersweet and pathetic. Everyone in the film is someone you've met. It's so good to watch alone on a Tuesday evening.

But, second, the best thing about Greenberg is Rhys Ifans. His character is such an honest balance of reality and apology. That perfectly rotten combination of loyalty and contempt, which is the product of many a friendship.

If you don't want to see Greenberg, you can watch pretty well anything Ifans has done. It occurred to me that he is one of the most versatile actors I've ever seen. It's great! He can do fucked up: see Human Nature, a Charlie Kaufman/ Michel Gondry underrated, Kafka-derived weirdo-fest with Tim Robbins and Patricia Arquette. See also Enduring Love, a movie about obsession with Daniel Craig eating a lot of food. I like the Ian McEwan book better, but a movie is faster to take in.

Anyway, looking over his IMDB, I realize Rhys hasn't been in as many big pictures as I thought. You can't miss him in Notting Hill, looking loveable and revolting all at once. Contrast that with what he looks like in The Five-Year Engagement, where he's smoking hot in sexy professor glasses. Both of those movies are decent if you're looking to feel self-indulgent on the couch with a romantic comedy, though of course 90s era Hugh Grant in Notting Hill is the better version.

But you really ought to see Rhys kill it in Anonymous. I guess I have a thing for brooding, well-decorated historical movies. SO SUE ME. This one is full of all the over-the-top Elizabethan era dirt and shenanigans you could hope for. It's a trip, you'd like it. Shakespeare conspiracy!!!

AND FINALLY because I've been sleeping about 9-10 hours a night for the last two weeks, watch The Science of Sleep. Another weirdo Michel Gondry film that is sad and pretty and you'll hate it if you don't like dreamy stuff. It's literally half a dream. But it's also about a broken guy, a dude who can't really cope with reality, played by the ever attractive Gael Bernal Garcia. His girlfriend is Charlotte Gainsbourg. It's the kind of film to watch in a sad mood (all of the above kind of are, actually). I read a Vanity Fair interview with Penelope Cruz many years ago, where she talked about sleeping 12 hours a night to deal with her depression. She'd been sleeping half her life away for years. I get it. I do that. It's not a good method, because your dreams take over. You go farther under, etc. Eventually things need to get done. Maybe start with a movie, though.