I spent today in Memphis watching indie films. The Girl Most Likely is sad but pretty good, occasionally funny, and Darren Criss is hot like the sun in it. really, just getting me to enjoy Kristen Wiig after having what I thought was my lifetime fill of her on SNL a year ago was a victory.

I don't know exactly how to describe The Way Way Back, but it's easily the best quality movie I've seen at the theater since The Artist right around last year's Academy Awards, and immensely enjoyable/emotionally satisfying to boot. I've been really entertained by all the summer action movies this year, but it's nice to see some smaller films that make me feel good about the artistry as well as the showmanship.

I was just going to come in and post about The Way Way Back! I loved it. A very well done film, with lots of wonderfully true moments. Excellent performances, too.

For anyone who's going to wait and watch it at home, I feel I should note that it took me a while to warm up to it, and then I also loved it.

And while I haven't seen it yet, it was co-written and -directed by Dean Pelton (aka Jim Rash), for those who didn't know.

He plays a supporting character in it, actually, as does Nat Faxon.

Hilariously, as we were walking out, I realized I didn't know what Nat Faxon looks like, and was wondering who he played. Until I realized... Right, he played the one who I didn't know the actor's name already. That one. Those two sure look like an odd couple!

That Pacific Rim video was gorgeous!

One thing I wondered about the movie: How did they expect the wall thing to work? The kaiju seemed pretty mobile. Wouldn't they have been able to just go around them? Or did they plan to put walls all around every inhabited continent on the planet? And wouldn't that have done a number on food, trade, etc? It seems like an impractical plan on several levels.

No shit, right? About the time I started thinking about it, there was an action sequence and the thought left my head.

My interpretation is that the walls are there to protect the coastal cities only. If the kaiju move inland then they would be out in the open, and more vulnerable to conventional arms. The film mentioned something about people who are able to moving at least 300 miles inland.

Hmmm. OK. I think my understanding of current warfare tech is tripping me up. I'm having trouble picturing things that land- and air-based forces could do that some well equipped submarines and battleships couldn't. But most of my battle tech info comes from WWII and Iron Man/Avengers movies, which probably aren't the best resources.