THE DOUBLE [2013]

I was in film-nerd hog heaven with Richard Ayoade's sophomore effort, The Double, a modernized adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's doppelgänger novella of the same name.
Engulfed in suffocating moody shadows and minimal color scheme, the film seems like it could very well be Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Eraserhead with it's wickedly dark oddball sense of humor and timing.  Jesse Eisenberg is superb as he bounces back between skittish and suave while maintaining a steady balance of menacing tragedy that the source material gives off.
It will remind many of the works of Welles, Gilliam, Lynch and more but it never comes off as a wannabe copy with it's imagination, wit and uniquely hilarious & disturbing aesthetic.

4 dead pigeons out of 5

SUBMARINE [2010]

Submarine is a cynical coming-of-age British dramedy from first time feature length director Richard Ayoade based on the novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne.
Ayoade's filmmaking is ripe with confidence and strong storytelling that never tries too hard to be smarter than it really is, which too many films in it's genre tend to do these days.  The performances from each actor involved help hold everything together when things get a bit dry and drawn-out.  All in all, it's a delightful little film that promises we'll be seeing more of Ayoade's work in the future.

3 awkward mixtapes from your dad out of 5