Movies!

Since it seems like I have unfortunately passed on my cold to Matt, we've spent most of the weekend catching up on movies. (OK, so that's kind of how we spend most weekends, regardless.) Anyway, yesterday we went out to see Juno. It's always good to see Jason Bateman and Michael Cera (both from Arrested Development), and we loved Ellen Page as the title character, a pregnant high-school junior. What can I say, I'm a sucker for smart-mouthed pregnant girls who dress ultra-casually. (Speaking of which, it warmed my heart yesterday when we were out running errands and Matt remarked, "It's good to see so many women out running errands in sweatpants." One of the many great reasons I married this man.) Anyway, while there were a few faltering moments in the script, overall the writing and the acting were really enjoyable. I thought they struck an excellent balance between avoiding predictability with a few twists and turns, while still managing a pretty happy ending. We'd definitely recommend seeing it.

Shaun of the Dead, on the other hand...I don't know. I've come to appreciate British cinema lots more than I used to (see Children of Men for a stunning example), but I can't say that I thought this was an especially good specimen. I can appreciate an extended wind-up in an action or drama, but when it comes to a spoof, it seems like it should actually take off at some point. There were bits of humor throughout, but I thought that they were incidental--if the main thrust of the movie had been something more substantial it would have been one thing, but I didn't think it was funny enough to really stand alone as a comedy. However, I think Matt liked it more than I did, and 72,000 IMDB members gave it an average of 8 stars out of 10, so who knows. Maybe I missed something.

This weekend we also watched Sin City, which I'd seen before but Matt hadn't. While it's pretty gory and freaky in its own right, and there are moments of wooden-sounding dialogue that probably result from its being adapted from a comic book, it's fast-paced and entertaining. Interestingly enough, I would have to point to Alexis Bledel, whom I adore in Gilmore Girls, as the weakest piece of acting in the whole movie. Surprising, but probably the only major disappointment. If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend it.

Lastly, Children of Men is one we watched about a week ago, and it was wonderful. I was especially impressed that, since it's a British movie, the person attending the last pregnant woman on Earth is a midwife. Unfortunately, I can't imagine the US trusting one with the responsibility (or much at all). The movie is full of really dark, disturbing images, mostly background; I love how much attention they've paid to creating an atmosphere, as opposed to focusing their efforts on a bunch of flashy explosions. In the special features, they go into great detail about the time and technology dedicated to orchestrating the computer- generated vaginal birth scene (as opposed to just smearing a 3-month-old with cream cheese and holding it up between a woman's knees, like you see so often in other movies) and various other behind-the-scenes techniques that make it a rich, if upsetting, experience. Definitely see this one!