In the future, when you go to the movies, I imagine that the theater will instantly download your memories, dreams, and tastes to a centralized database and adjust the plot, actors, and soundtrack accordingly, providing you with an experience that eerily reflects your inner life. Well, if someone showed me a copy of The Squid and the Whale and said that it was the result of my customized brainscan, I'd believe it. It's almost unfair. This movie was shot down the street from where I live, incorporates cheeky references to Blue Velvet and The Wall, and even stars my cat, as well as my friend T.S., who is allegedly visible somewhere in the background during a scene in a high school gym. Either director Noah Baumbach set out to wow me in particular, or it's synchronicity. Either way, I'm pleased.