I had the rare opportunity to see two movies in the theatres in less than a week (the little guy slows us down a little).

Our first flick was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The entire cast is brilliant. Some people are saying that it doesn’t live up to the Wes Anderson standard. It was great. How can you not love Seu Jorge’s renditions of David Bowie tunes in Portuguese?

The second flick was Primer. This is the indie sci-fi film that got some buzz from Wired:

The year’s most effective science fiction film was also the cheapest to produce. With a $10,000 budget – a mere blink of Gollum’s eye – director Shane Carruth tells the tale of two inventors who build a get-rich-quick gadget in a garage. They’re not mad scientists, they’re levelheaded yuppies – at least until their time machine proves too powerful to handle. With its twisted narrative, the f/x-free Primer is a reminder that the best sci-fi action requires you to think. – Jason Silverman

The movie is a little over an hour and we think we need to see it two more times before we are going to get the whole thing. We have been talking about it since Saturday. My wife has diagrams on the chalkboard in the kitchen to try and keep the whole thing straight. Did I mention it was only an hour long?

I highly recommend both films. I think I am just going to give up on the mainstream stuff. The great storytelling is happening in the small films.