I was surprised at how much I disliked Mike Leigh's Naked but that was a while ago. (It falls into a category of movie which I can't abide, but which I think of as Actor Indulgences. Like, most Cassavetes or Last Tango In Paris. Whenever actors think they are being So Real, I think they are being So Actorly.)

I can't think of anything recent. I remember a number of comedies which looked generic on the outside, but had surprising quirks or intelligence or performance upon actual viewing: Housesitter (Steve Martin & Goldie Hawn) and Miami Rhapsody (Sarah Jessica Parker being a perfect female Woody Allen) come to mind.

Thirteen going on 30 was my last one, too. JohnSw. JG was great in it.

I liked 13 Going On 30, too.

I also kind of enjoyed Dirty Dancing 2, despite the fact that it's kind of stupid, Patrick Swayze was embarrassing, and the dancing was nowhere near up to par. I expected to hate it, and I just ended up not minding it, and kind of liking some of the clothes.

I was surprised at how unfunny Mr 3000 was, but I probably shouldn't have been.

I laughed my ass off at Harold and Kumar Go To Whitecastle, but I was expecting that.

Oh! I was surprised at how crappy most of the singing in Phantom was, and also at how bad the ADR was. Films that cost that much money should be able to afford both voice doubles and booth time.

I expected Harold and Kumar to suck mightily, but instead spent half the movie gasping for breath.

This isn't exactly a surprise, more like a bemusement.

We have the 3-disc Region 2? I think? set of Le Pacte des loups, and we have always watched the French version with subtitles. Just for giggles last evening, we watched the Brotherhood of the Wolf version, and I could swear it was recut, with some additional illustrative or illuminary footage for the American market. Does anyone know for sure?

The dubbing was, for the most part, quite well done. But the voices for Marianne and Gregoire were wrong, wrong, wronger than a wrong thing. All and completely wrong.

I saw Brotherhood of the Wolf in the theatre, and as I recall it was in French with English subs. I'll take the subbed version with the original voices over the dubbed, almost without exception.

Speaking of which, On Demand is showing Once Upon a Time in China, in Cantonese with English subs! This sort of thing usually turns up dubbed on Starz. Even on IFC.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed I, Robot. (Also, Club Dread made me laugh so hard I almost peed. Didn't see that one coming. I've been meaning to see Super Troopers for months.)

When I was at the store picking up Angel S5, I just grabbed Empire Records and That Thing You Do- they were two of my college favorites and when I made the jump to DVD I somehow missed getting them. All is now as it should be.

I heart "That thing You Do!" not least because neither I nor my dad came out of it kvetching.