Last week I had a chance to go to a screening of Mel Gibson's new movie "The Beaver".  Like most people I was curious to see the train wreck that is Mel Gibson, but I have to say the movie was better than I expected.

Mel Gibson plays Walter Black, a man suffering from severe depression.  After many attempts of traditional and nontraditional depression therapies (including a failed suicide attempt), Walter is at his wits end.  As a last resort Walter creates an alter ego through an old puppet.  The Beaver helps Walter get his life back on track, but at a cost.

I found that this movie took a real look at depression, and desperation.  Since the premise of this movie was about a man talking to a puppet it had the potential to be insensitive, and even campy.  However, it found it to be very sensitive, and respectful of a disease.  Mel Gibson does an excellent job as a man who has lost everything.  You sympathize with him and hope that his life comes together.

This is such a wonderful movie that serves as a reminder of the fragility of life and human emotions.  This is definitely a movie that shouldn't be missed.  The Beaver hits theaters May 6th.    

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame, who made the transformation to Oscar-winning composer with the score for last year’s The Social Network, is in talks to join Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox confirms a report from Badass Digest that the studio is currently negotiating to lure Reznor aboard, not only to supply the film’s music, but to play Jack Barts, the vampire who kills Lincoln’s mother and sets the hero on his path of righteous vengeance.

Others reported to be cast include Benjamin Walker, who is best-known for playing Andrew Jackson in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Hurt Locker’s Anthony Mackie is in talks to join the Tim Burton-produced feature as Will, Lincoln’s best friend, while Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!, Tamara Drewe) will likely play Honest Abe’s mentor, Henry, who, in the source material, is also the individual that reveals Lincoln’s true, vampire-staking story to the book’s narrator.  Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) has been tapped to play Mary Todd Lincoln.