ONCE

Allow me to briefly recommend the wonderful indie music-infused romance Once. Starring Glen Hansard, now of Irish band The Frames and previously the ginger-haired guitarist in Alan Parker's great The Commitments, and real-life musical collaborator Marketa Irglova, it's a simple film about a hoover repairman and part-time musician who meets a pretty Czech immigrant on the streets of an Irish city.

What happens next I won't spoil, but it's far better done than most of its genre, and while not a musical, key scenes and emotions are conveyed through song. The soundtrack is outstanding, and one of the tunes, Falling Slowly, amazingly won an Academy Award for Best Song. I say amazingly not because it doesn't deserve it (it does), but because it was astounding that anyone who voted in the Academy had even heard of this great little film. Once is an inspiring, feel-good film without an ounce of forced emotion or overwrought Hollywood-sized sentimentality, and is utterly convincing in the emotional detailing of its characters. It's available on DVD and I strongly suggest you seek it out and buy the soundtrack. 

Highly, highly recommended.