Theremin

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1994) tells the story of Russian inventor Leon Theremin. He created the musical instrument of the same name, before being kidnapped in the mid-thirties and put to work by the KGB. He went on to invent many devices including the "bug." In the film we see images of the young Theremin, as well as his protege Clara Rockmore, playing music. And later on we see the 2 reunited as the film is being made. If you haven't seen someone play a Theremin before, you should definitely give this a look. There's also some good footage from 50's Sci-Fi movies with Theremin based soundtracks. As a documentary the film is pretty good, but as a story Theremin is strange and beautiful.

Stranger Than Fiction

This movie is worth watching for the set design alone. OK, maybe not alone, but it is cool design. Since the Will Ferrel character is a character in a book, everything in his world has a certain plainness. The filing room at the IRS is entirely white, the file boxes, the walls, the floors... But that plainness ends up looking like high end contemporary interior design. Plus the story is much better than I was expecting. And with good players too. Dustin Hoffman plays another quirky character similar to his role in I Heart Huckabees, and Emma Thompson and Maggie Gyllenhaal are also entertaining. Over all, this is a perfect DVD rental. Oh, and I liked the music too.