Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

Mike Leigh's latest is a demanding experience - it demands from its audience to shed every movie-watching instinct it has developed over countless amounts of dull films and take this film, which is completely devoid of any irony, to heart. Happy-Go-Lucky is just that - a film stripped off any expected maneuverings  in the plot department and just goes on its way with the freest of spirits.

The film is a magnificent triumph of acting and film-making. Sally Hawkins' Poppy is an infectious character. Her incredibly optimistic point-of-view of everything, surprisingly, manages to be anything but jarring. Leigh conjures up situations that test Poppy's worldview, but they never succumb to petty tragedy, gratuitous violence, or self-sacrifice. Poppy remains unchanged and unfazed after what happens to her - especially at the finale - but her attitude is actually given an extra momentum. We know by the end of it she will keep on living her life the way she wants to. And along the way she will embrace what adulthood will bring: relationships, children, sickness, and death.

I can't find enough superlatives to praise this film. 

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Kevin Smith's once-undisputed reign as the King of Gross-out Comedies has been recently challenged by the Apatow and company. However, he proves everyone that when it comes to making comedies chock-full of popular culture references, likable losers, and un-PC comedy he is still the undisputed King. It is unfortunate, then, that he has to prove his worth with a film starring the star alumnus of the Apatow school of laughter.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno does everything it says on the tin. The titular Zack and Miri are platonic friends, who are in financial dire straits. In order to pay their overdue monthly bills, they decide (more like Zack decides then persuades Miri) to make a home-made porno. Cue auditions, endless brainstorming sessions for a viable porn title, and the little issue of them not having slept before.

The cast - especially Craig Robinson as Zack's unhappy-at-home co-worker and Jason Mewes' slow loser - are in top form. However, the winning formula is the titular couple. As improbable as it may look on the surface, Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks have great chemistry. And that shows itself in the inevitable scene, which involves Live's never-before-released outtake, "Hold Me up".

It is a sweet movie that falls for the inevitable - that word again! - at the end, but now that Apatow-style comedy is growing old, it is refreshing to see Smith at his best again. In what has been a very disappointing year in terms of movies, Zack and Miri Makes a Porno is one of the better offerings so far.