Film #28 of The December Project

It doesn't really matter that this film is incoherent and senseless. All that matters is that these lovable characters believe the bullshit coming out of their mouths, and they end up feeling a lot better because of all their talking and crazy antics. It's so much fun to watch the lightbulb go off for a character every now and then. When they get it, I let myself feel like I get it, too…. Even though I don't.

The film relies heavily on dialogue and monologues to get its ideas across. Without some excellent performances, this wouldn't have worked. Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin were cute with their over-the-top PDA. Mark Wahlberg is surprisingly endearing…

I've expressed in the past I am a big fan of philosophy. All these ideas within and about the world fascinate me. I thought that would make me an existentialist. Apparently I was wrong? Looking at this film, and correct me if I'm wrong...

Existentialists believe that everything is connected and everything is important; everything happens for a reason.

Nihilists believe that nothing is connected and nothing is important; everything happens for no reason.

At least that's the gist of it.

This is very interesting subject matter and also very dark and deep when you think about it. I'll admit, those philosophical ideas are some of the reasons why I loved this, but the main reason is how well it…

When thinking about the existence of god (or God), if one is so inclined to question these things, the following formula always comes up. If god does not exist, then life is random, and if life is random then life is meaningless. If life is meaningless...well, that just leads to snide, self-satisfied young adults in funny glasses and black clothing listening to Einstürzende Neubauten.

Huckabees addresses that issue--or more importantly, appears to address that issue. In reality, this movie is about as deep as a wading pool, but it's the perfect context for Russell to parody a huge swath of western culture.

The two points of the argument that Huckabees posits are:

1) Nihilism, or -- there is nothing at…

There is no denying David O. Russell is a skilled filmmaker. Three Kings is an enthralling war movie, The Fighter is packed with real power and Silver Linings Playbook, especially, shows his true abilities to portray emotions and depict devastating circumstances with his own, unique edge to them. The three films I've mentioned there made him the name he is today, and with the immense satisfaction I experienced from them, I've been intrigued to see what he’s helmed otherwise.

I Heart Huckabees, released in 2004, is a curious little film. It is a film with such vivid ideas and an endless amount of imagination and innovation, but O. Russell, despite his vast talent has no idea how to approach the…

Counter to the opinion of most, I thought this movie was daring and absurd and funny when I first saw it, and was curious to see it again after David O'Russell took another step away from his "Hollywood pariah" label with the success of Silver Linings Playbook. Perhaps it requires a (likely uncommon) co-appreciation of existential philosophy and hell-bent intellectual humor, but I liked it even more on second viewing. Mark Wahlberg's firefighter is hysterical in his brutally earnest anti-petrol search for meaning, and Schwartzman and the cast around him subtly nail the dry comic timing required to propel such a straight-faced exploration of the ridiculous but crucial human longing to make some sense of cosmic matters.

Jonah Hill (in…