While I was out in Los Angeles this past week I had a couple of beers with Mr. Beaks, late of Aint It Cool, now of Collider. The topic of Noah Baumbach’s new film, The Squid and the Whale, came up, and while it turns out I liked it more than Beaks (who had problems with the end that I could forgive), we both agreed that it’s one of the best written movies in recent memory. As of now it has a spot in my top ten for the year.
The film is set in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in the middle of the 80s. Jeff Daniels is Bernard Berkman, a writer, who is breaking up with his wife, played by Laura Linney. In the middle is their two children, Walt, who is 16, and Frank, who is 12. Baumbach has crafted something amazing here, and he gets a career best performance out of Daniels. This is a movie that, in a fairer universe, would be the Oscar frontrunner.
Since I love this film so much I am proud to offer you the chance to win some amazing goodies from it. Here’s what we have:
Multiple scripts signed by the cast
Multiple posters signed by Noah Baumbach
T-shirts
Soundtracks
Vouchers to see the film in ANY theater where it is playing
I am going to eschew prize packs this time in favor of giving more people chances to win stuff. So send me your name, your mailing address and your t-shirt size (just in case you win that prize) to devin@chud.com with SQUID in the subject line. That’s it!
The Squid and the Whale opens October 5th.