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The back of the Netflix envelope I received "Short Cuts" in describes it as a "mosaic masterpiece." And indeed it is. "Short Cuts" is a plot-less film with an ensemble cast; many different stories woven into one. The legendary underdog Robert Altman, who directed and co-wrote here, based this off of Raymond Carver's short stories, but really turned it into his own unique peek into the lives of these southern Californians. We see a doctor, a painter, a motorcycle cop, a baker, a news broadcaster, a lounge singer and her cellist daughter, a diner waitress, a makeup artist, a pool cleaner, a phone sex operator, and other interesting characters' stories, and how they interconnect in different ways. One of the most remarkable aspects of "Short Cuts" is how it's so much like real life with all its randomness and interruptions, about as close as any movie can come. Altman includes such early '90s pop-culture aspects as the cartoon "Captain Planet," and a child's love of this show. The blaring television in the background serves as but one reoccurring theme, just a tool that helps make this an authentic story of American life.

I was reminded of certain other films while watching this, such as Richard Linklater's plot-less low-budget cult hit "Slacker" from 1991, a movie about eccentric characters in Austin, TX and their criss-crossing lives, shifting from one little story to the next. I also see how highly influential this must have been towards P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia," another mosaic of everyday life in southern California.

It's rare that a film comes along like this, chock full of unexpectedness just like us, just like real people. I urge most anyone to see this movie, an essential flick from the early '90s.

This is Noah Baumbach's semi-autobiographical story of upper middle class Brooklyn parents divorcing in the 1980s, as seen more from the perspective of their two sons. Walt, the older son, idolizes his father and takes after his pretentious English Professor lingo. The younger son Frank sides more with the mother and stays dedicated to playing tennis, insisting to his father that he's a "philistine" while his father tries to convince him otherwise. Jeff Daniels, one of the most underrated actors out there now, is at the top of his game here as the father- his best role yet. Baumbach takes painful subject matter and applies a great sense of humor to it, showing how ridiculous everyone looks. A very heartfelt movie with a soundtrack I'm dying to buy.

While not nearly as good as the book, I commend Sean Penn's efforts as it must have been very difficult to adapt this tale of Chris McCandless's fatal Alaskan odyssey. Also worth mentioning is Eddie Vedder's superb acoustically-driven score, his first ever.

As one might expect from a Penn movie, he casts many notable names, including William Hurt as the stereotypical cold father, Catherine Keener as a nomadic hippie, Vince Vaughn, and a surprisingly energetic Hal Holbrook. Emile Hirsch plays Chris decently enough, showing noticeable dedication (he must have really lost weight towards the end) but still does not stand out as much as the more veteran-like supporting cast.

Penn includes some nice subtle touches, such as actual black and white footage of apartheid and other social and political crises of Africa as Chris's sister names out his final courses and grades from Emory University. At times he goes overboard though, indulging in clichés like an overhead shot of Chris swimming naked on his back with his arms stretched out like Jesus on the cross. I found the most powerful scene to be but a close-up photograph of the real Chris McCandless as he sat scruffy-bearded and grinning outside of the vacant bus he made his home, an enlarged and color version of the same photograph from inside the book.

As I was finishing the book I thought this would make for a fascinating Werner Herzog documentary in the tradition of "Grizzly Man." McCandless falls into that same kind of iconoclastic realm as any one of Herzog's protagonists. Penn gives us the romanticized Hollywood version.