2. "Ten Inch Hero" and "The Lifeguard"
Why "Ten Inch Hero"? Jensen Ackles with a multicolored mohawk, for a start. No, really. Ten Inch Hero is a story about being 20-something...and finally figuring out what it might mean to grow up. Sometimes too fast. The movie is pretty light, sure, but it's also a nice pick-me-up from the fear and confusion that comes standard with being a 20-odd college graduate wondering if you have a future. The ensemble cast is a blast, the writing is often hilarious, and the whole thing is equally fun, sweet, and sexy.
Why "The Lifeguard"? Another indie that flew mostly under the radar after its release late last year, The Lifeguard stars Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell as a 30 year old news reporter having what amounts to an early midlife crisis that causes her to move back home, seek out her old friends, and find some new (young) ones. Offbeat for sure, and featuring a borderline-underage affair, Lifeguard might at first look like a cheap attempt to get people to buy DVDs with Kristen Bell in a bathing suit on the cover. But in truth, The Lifeguard is a remarkably touching and sensitive film about trying to recapture the feelings that made us feel safe and comfortable when we were kids - and the reasons why we can't.
Why Double Up? In the end, both of these movies are about a funny kind of hope, and finding the beauty in the ordinary (and often inevitable) way that life works and progresses.