Friends with Kids by Jennifer Westfeldt, 2011 (R)

with Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids), Chris O'Dowd (The Double, Bridesmaids), Kristen Wiig (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Bridesmaids, Date Night, How to train your dragon), Jon Hamm (Bridesmaids, The Town, Mad Men), Megan Fox, Edward Burns (Alex Cross), Lee Bryant, Kelly Bishop

Best friends Jason and Julie decide that the way to have kids without sacrificing their social lives or careers is to raise a child together platonically. But romance and other complications interfere with their perfect plan.

It starts off full of clichés, ends full of clichés, but the middle part is actually quite surprising, with relationships you feel are real and complex, and somehow it works to make you watch the whole movie. I wasn't big on the two main characters, but the rest of the cast is impeccable, Jon Hamm first in line with an explosive monologue.

watch trailer:

My Best Fiend, Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski by Werner Herzog, 1999 (NR)

with Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Mick Jagger, Justo González, Eva Mattes, Thomas Mauch

In the 1950s, a teenage Werner Herzog was transfixed by a film performance of the young Klaus Kinski. Years later, they would share an apartment where, in an unabated, 48 hour fit of rage, Kinski completely destroyed the bathroom. From this chaos, a violent, love-hate, profoundly creative partnership was born. In 1972, Herzog cast Kinski in Aguirre, Wrath of God. Four more films would follow. In this personal documentary, Herzog traces the often violent ups and downs of their relationship, revisiting the various locations of their films and talking to the people they worked with.

What a man Klaus Kinski. So much energy and wildness. The portrayal of Herzog is an interesting one, it feels like he had this beast that sometimes he knew how to control, sometimes left him to himself, but with that responsibility that he had to direct a whole crew, it seems that the most difficult part was actually to get the most out of the genius. He sometimes tells things with such an indifference that it is as if he was accustomed, blasé. There are little moments where you can see also how much they loved one another, knowing that they were getting the best out of each others. Beautiful moments of sensitivity, carnage and danger, chaos of emotions, this documentary allows to see very closely how infinite was the energy of Klaus Kinski, a fascinating man...

Watch Trailer:

A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) by Asghar Farhadi, 2011 (PG-13)

with Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Babak Karimi (Le Passé - The Past), Ali-Asghar Shahbaz, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh, Kimia Hosseini, Merila Zarei
From the director of Le Passé - The Past

An Iranian husband and wife split up over his decision to stay and care for his aging father instead of leaving the country with his family. But his fateful choice to hire a stranger to do most of the caretaking breeds unexpected consequences.

A separation is a very interesting movie. It is Iranian, when lately, when coming out in the US, Iranian themed movie are usually giving an openly negative vision of Iran. A separation is not only about a divorce, it is about a split of mentality, a split in generation, a split is society. While using the conventions of Iran, without trying to shock or criticize, the movie in an innocent way shows a fracture in the system. In the system that in a way can be similar in the US, or Europe. It doesn't matter that much. The characters are very human, trying to deal with the present situation with as much dignity as it is possible, lying to protect themselves, pushing away when being pushed, and trying to live as happy as one can be with an imperfect life.