Double Feature

Because I have gotten oh-so-behind with my moviegoing, I treated myself to a duet today. I even almost snuck in to the second one....but sadly, I am just too nerdy.
300 is an absolute visual treat. Certainly it's a tale of heroism, idealism and morality, but spending 2 hours' time with Gerard Butler's King Leonidas is time well spent. From the cinematography to the action sequences to the costuming to the nearly tangible love story expressed between the King and his Queen - it all serves to offer an amazing experience. Be aware that there's lots and lots and lots of blood (and sometimes it seems you can touch it), but there's also lots and lots and lots of abs (which you wish you could).
There's also some blood in The Lookout, a contemporary tale of victimization and independence. I had to double-check Joseph Gordon-Levitt's date of birth or else some of the things I thought while watching this film could've been kinda pervy. Luckily, he's 26, so I'm only like a creepy aunt.
I wasn't a 3rd Rock From The Sun watcher, but JGL has taken on some very challenging characters since then. In this film, he's cast as a young man - Chris Pratt - 4 years out from a terrifically tragic car accident, who is living with a frontal lobe head injury. He has a wealthy family, was a local hockey hero; yet the ties that bind him to his hometown, are the same ones that allow him to suffer in grief every day. The center for independent living from where he learns life skills has paired him in an apartment with Jeff Daniels, a middle aged man blinded as a young adult from cooking meth.
The story that evolves doesn't really hold any surprises; bad guys find a mark in the disabled guy, indoctrinate him into their plot by playing on his insecurities, disabled guy wants to prove he's no sucker, disabled guy prevails. But Joe is able to portray Chris in such a way that, as an audience member, you think "geez...there's something about that guy...he reminds me of someone I know." He becomes familiar to you. Which makes you care. Which, in the end, is really the point of most stories, right? Oh. And he has the most kissable-looking lips. Those kind of made me care a little too.