I just saw Last King of Scotland. Good stuff. I was suprised though--I have heard so much about Forest Whitaker's performance and I was much more impressed with the work of James McAvoy. It wasn't as showy as the Amin role, which allows Whitaker to charm and growl and menace and do all the stuff Oscar loves, but it was nuanced and layered and totally real. Aside from a couple of lame montages that brought out the @@, I really liked the film a lot.

I think you'd like it Nutty. It stuck to its own narrative logic in a very clean way. You'd like it too, Cor, if you haven't seen it. Definitely belongs with the classic late period western revisionist films of that era.

I have a vague suspicion that I've seen part of this, or else it bleeds into Zulu Dawn too well (in the sense that they're both massive white-man exegeses of post-colonial anxiety and rage).

And, that was always the weird question of Firefly metaphors, wasn't it? If the good guys are the cowboys, and there definitionally aren't any indians, what kind of conflict are we really talking about?

I've never seen Harold and Kumar or Super Troopers. I find most movies in the "THIS IS A COMEDY!" vein to just be obnoxious. They tend to have way too many watch from the hall moments for me.

Though I do recall reading something from the creators of Super Troopers where after the movie they had discussions with Comedy Central about making it into a TV series, but CC ultimately passed. Sometime later Reno 911 premiered. (Which I also don't watch.)

Remembering that article made me raise an eyebrow when I saw previews for the Reno 911 movie the other day.

In case anyone was planning to see Amazing Grace, don't, unless you're writing a dissertation on boredrom and need research material. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that was so completely dull on every level. The performances are bland, the dialogue is stilted and awful, and the narrative is mind-numblingly episodic - no arc at all, just "and then this happened...and then this happened...and then nothing happened for ten years or so and then the movie ends." The most exciting thing about this movie is the giant hats everyone wears, but DH and I spent most of the time we were watching (at home, not in a screening room) talking about how we'd rather be watching Blackadder III. (Not entirely random -- Blackadder's version of William Pitt is vastly more entertaining than the one in this film.)

Sometime later Reno 911 premiered. (Which I also don't watch.)

While I didn't find Super Troopers funny, I find Reno 911 pretty hilarious.

Eh. Considering The State and Viva Variety I wouldn't characterize the creators and writers of Reno 911 as idea-stealing hacks. Super Troopers (and Club Dread, for that matter) had their moments but Reno 911 is much better on the whole.

I find most movies in the "THIS IS A COMEDY!" vein to just be obnoxious.

It actually has surprising subtleties. While I blame PMM for making me watch it, I also laughed my ass off.

watched Blood Diamond earlier. those kind of movies really make me realize how easy i have it and how i should be using my time to actually do something productive. also made me feel really guilty for the tiny diamond ring my mom gave me. i don't even like diamonds. i think they're overrated, but it's sort of a family heirloom at this point. it was my mom's great aunt's and it used to be an earring. it was made into a ring when the aunt lost the other one.

anyway...tangent. Blood Diamond was fantastic if you enjoy extremely realistic and subsequently depressing movies.

I'm watching Charade now so I can see at least one good movie this weekend. Twenty minutes in and it's already made me laugh way more than Super Troopers.

Viva Variety

Oh HMOG I miss this for just the sheer randomness.

He looks like DeNiro! He looks like DeNiro! He looks like DeNiro! He looks...

You talkin' to me?