Jesus Movies!

Kim and I did not celebrate Jesus' second birthday in a traditional way (though we did eat candy and dye eggs) - we went to the theaters and watched movies! We haven't seen many movies in the theaters lately, so we were both fairly excited.

First we saw V is for Vendetta. Given its [R] rating and the penchant for gore and disturb-your-audience-oneupmanship that seems to run around Hollywood these days, I was prepared for a movie I would have to cover my eyes through, but not at all. I was also prepared for something more explicitly anti-Administration, but I should have known better - where there is the smell of smoke, only rarely is there a bonfire. I thought it was good movie, with an interesting plot, engrossing action and dialogue, and persuasive acting. It was visually stimulating. Trickles of the Phantom of the Opera mythos served it well. I recommend it, and I think Kim would, too.

We also watched Thank you for Smoking, which I perhaps enjoyed even more, and Kim did not seem to enjoy at all. I thought it was funny, witty, and didn't hit me over the head with any kind of message, though I was sitting beneath Damocles' sword until the end. Kim didn't like it because there wasn't a moral, and the ending wasn't particularly bright and cheery and didn't wrap everything up. So maybe I'm giving extra credit to movies that I wanted to like and that didn't disappoint me in a way I expected to. But I would recommend Smoking as well, though there's no reason not to wait for the DVD.