Once

Sarah and I signed up for Blockbuster's DVDs through the mail program ($3.99/mo. - not bad) and once in a while I even let Sarah choose the movie. On a recommendation from my brother Nate and his fiancee Emily, we gave Once a shot. It's a low budget film set in Dublin and is probably classified as a musical, but the songs feel natural. A street musician/vacuum repair guy meets a piano playing flower seller and they assemble a rag tag band to lay down some tracks so the musician/vacuum repair guy can go to London to pursue his dreams. All the actors are professional musicians and I think all the songs were written by the actors. I really liked it (4* out of 5, if you noticed my little list on the right). One reviewer called it a valentine to music, but it's also about romantic relationships, friendship, and the whole process of the singer/songwriter.