It's a little late, but here is my latest round-up of recently seen movies. Youth In Revolt - Michael Cera builds on his teenage virgin persona with a slightly darker turn.  It's not exactly a giant leap forward for him, but you can see some maturity here.  It's got a nice cast and does a good job of expressing the feeling of being young and wanting more out of your life. 500 Days of Summer - I'm so late to the game on this one, but I really enjoyed it.  Zooey Deschanel is so freaking lovable here, despite her flaws.  It's a good story (especially for people who get bored with a typical love story), and the leads have a lot of charm. Terminator Salvation - After months of hearing bad things about this movie, I had to give it a chance myself.  I didn't love it.  While the dark, apocolyptic tone was fitting, all of the characters were a bunch of super soldiers who lost their humanity and were difficult to care about.  In addition to this, the rapid paced MTV style editing was distracting and took me out of the story. The Fire Within - Another classic by Louis Malle.  The film tells the story of a recovering alcoholic who spends a day visiting various old friends in Paris in an attempt to find a reason to continue living.  Not one of my favorites by Malle, but it's strong and engaging. More film reviews

For those who are unfamiliar with the Criterion Collection, it's a company that distributes "important classic and contemporary films" to cinema aficionados. When I saw a recent 50% off sale on Criterions, I had to jump on their release of one of my favorite films: Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart (Le Souffle Au Coeur). I saw this film for the first time this year, and it's hard to say exactly why I was so drawn to it. From the way France in the early 70's was depicted onscreen, to the depth of every character, I was enthralled in every element of this film. I'm happy to add this film to my collection, and continue to look forward to future releases from Criterion.