Recent movie reviews. - I bet you think this blog is about you.

Or, Back That Thang Up, Judi Dench.

Milk: John and I went to see this at the Carolina Theater on Wednesday, with a respectable pre-Christmas movie-going crowd. I was impressed with the frank telling of Harvey Milk's story here, though I did feel a bit like I was being clubbed over the head with exact chronological order. Yeesh. Anyway, San Francisco is also one of my very favorite places and I was so glad to see this part of its history retold, with Sean Penn and lots of very tight clothing to help us out. I hope that the timeliness of this release will also spur folks to realize that although a lot about the struggle for gay rights is different thirty years later, a lot of it actually isn't, and that's not okay. Finally, there needed to be more Dianne Feinstein in that movie. Just sayin'.

Notes on a Scandal was my most recent Netflix, and I curled up in bed on Thursday with it, only to be jolted into flailing and screaming like a girl (in good ways) at the madness of 1) Cate Blanchett's character (Sheba) sleeping with her 15-year old student in various sketchy outdoor locations and 2) Judi Dench's character (Barbara) using her knowledge of #1 to her own advantage in ways I could never have predicted. I liked the use of Barbara's very teacherly diary as a narrative for the story (it even had gold stars in it!), as well as how Sheba flipped out and went Rock Star once she discovered them. And can someone tell me why Brits wear colorful paper crowns while eating Christmas dinner?

Burn After Reading, which John and I watched at his house Saturday night, was a completely zany Coen Brothers movie, set in DC to use the CIA and other assorted g-men as a sinister backdrop, but just nutty otherwise. I applaud the casting director because every role, from Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt all the way down to the boss that demoted John Malkovich at the CIA, every actor made sense where they were. And Tilda Swinton was a ferocious bitch! If you have expectations from the Coens based on the fact that their last film before this was No Country for Old Men, leave them at the door before watching.