Suzi, I really like the Dream Cast (which, I think is what Hil and Sophia were talking about) Not least because it has the entire show, not just selections from.

I bought the Broadway soundtrack. And saw the movie again last night. The stage show is coming to Denver in a few months. I'm hoping I can get tickets (have to wait until I buy my new washer and dryer first).

Just got back from seeing El Hobbit: Un Viaje Inesperado. I kind of understand the reviews; it was basically LOTR Part 4. I mean, I liked it, but it felt extremely familiar. There were a few things that were better than I was expecting (the dwarves) and some discordant notes. Also the elvish, orcish, and dwarvish lines were subtitled only in Spanish, which was educational.

Hobbit tonight in 3D! Can't wait!

I find I'm just not interested in seeing any of the remaining movies at the local cinema (zero interest in the film of Les Misérables, as I recall being bored by the stage version). I hope something good comes out soon.

Tim always takes his nieces and nephews to the movies around Christmas (last year we saw Sherlock Holmes), and this year there's nothing out that they haven't already seen, so tomorrow we're going to see Monsters, Inc. in 3D. (This batch of nieces and nephews are aged 21, 16, and 14. So the choice of movie isn't an age issue.)

I'm cool with that, although I'd be happy to see The Hobbit, but they already saw it.

So I ended up not going to see The Hobbit, and I was sad, because instead I got suckered into seeing that Cirque du Soleil movie in 3D. The 3D was terrible, the performances were mostly meh, James Cameron is a hack, and there was nothing cinematic about something that was filmed explicitly to be seen as a movie. There were several wow moments, and the Beatles skits and Elivs scene were great, but otherwise it was underwhelming, and bordering on annoying (really, we have to watch a behind-the-scenes short/trailer of the movie we are about to watch before the movie? How full of yourselves are you?

It had the same filming quality of any other CdS performance recorded and aired on TV, but with worse editing choices, crap lighting (some of the shots were gloomy and nigh invisible, and others shadows were falling in odd spots, like a head silhouetted on someones butt), and 3D that was blurry more often than not.

For those interested, Silent Running is on "free" on-demand on Comcast/xfinity. IMO it has the strongest hippie sensibility of any mainstream science fiction film ever made - complete with Joan Baez performing two songs on the sound track.

Unlike other films thought of as hippy it is neither pretentious nor arch and deliberately self-mocking. It does not even think of itself as hippie. It is the film equivalent of the working class kids who ran away Haight-Ashbury. (Not saying it is not *mockable* . That is a different issue. One of the key plot points involves the main character overlooking something that means that both he and the writers were very very stoned - which if you think of it adds to the whole hippie thing.) Anyway, I would not suggest this to someone who hates Joan Baez's music or hippies, but I think everyone else will enjoy it.

Just to clarify - not the only plot hole, but a whole different level of WTF than the others. Nonetheless, really good story telling and emotionally true to the time in which it was made.

The other key to enjoying Silent Running is taking Very Very Seriously the plight of the three little robots that look like window air conditioning units.