50/50 (2011)

Cancer patient Joseph Gordon-Levitt leans on best friend Seth Rogen (producing his second cancer comedy), girlfriend Bryce Dallas Howard, therapist Anna Kendrick and mother Angelica Huston with varying results in a sweet, funny, winning comedy.

d: Jonathan Levine | imdb.com | trailer | The best odds | Haircut
Skeletor | Doogie | I’m moving in. | That’s your hook. | Blanket

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Edgar Wright directs a mash-up of ideas — comic books, video games, Michael Cera’s deadpan comedy — into something just-right. Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, who crushes on Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who carries the baggage of seven evil ex-boyfriends.

d: Edgar Wright | imdb.com | trailer

Up in the Air (2009)

Director Jason Reitman captures the current zeitgeist of unemployment, and George Clooney (a corporate downsizer) delivers the bad news. Clooney is at his best — charming, perfectly dressed and engaged by smart, sexy Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

d: Jason Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
Bar club cards | I’m not a tour guide. | Miles | Something real