I initially passed on this movie because I read a couple of bad reviews.  Well, there’s one sure cure for being overwhelmed a few days before Christmas – go see a movie with lots of zombies!

And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The reviewers I read complained that the action stopped midway and there was too much talk.  While I’ve heard that may be the case with the "director’s cut," it’s not true in the version out in theatres.  I was scared witless by "Omega Man" in the 1970s, so it was a pleasure to repeat the experience with Will Smith.

And for the entire length of the film, I didn’t consider my career development strategy, my finances, simmering family issues, nada, nothing, rien, nychyvo – just a weed-overgrown NYC and my rising adrenalin levels.

Highly recommended for the stout of heart (and obviously not suitable for children, unless you want to stay up with them all the time for several nights).

While I watch lots of movies, most of them aren’t worth mentioning.  However, there was an exception last week.

"The Lives of Others" is a remarkable film about life in 1980’s East Berlin.  In the almost 20 years since the Wall came down, we’ve forgotten how dreadful life was when the state held everything in its hands – your life, your dreams, your relationships, everything was the state’s to bestow or snatch away.

Rent or borrow this film – and remember how much so many suffered.  And how tenuous a thing freedom can be.

Well, I enjoyed it.  I know all sorts of people have all sorts of theological and cinematic objections to it.  Maybe my expectations were lower.  I just watched it.  And it will probably inform my meditations with a new set of images – of a desperately poor people waiting for salvation, of what it must have been like to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not to mention what the neighbors must have thought. 

And besides, it’s a movie – nothing more or less.

—and I enjoyed them both.  The first was "Nacho Libre," a comedy with some truly surrealistic moments.  If you don’t like seeing people thrown around in wrestling matches, you might give it a pass.  Otherwise, Jack Black and company give a fundamentally good-hearted time.  One of my friends was afraid it might be offensive to the church.  It wasn’t to me – but it depends on where your "offense-o-meter" is set to go off.  BTW, the orphans were adorable.

Last night was "The Devil Wears Prada."  Meryl Streep is fantastic.  Sitting in our miserable tiny-plex in St. Augustine, I was madly homesick for Manhattan for several minutes.  Then I remembered how absolutely frazzled I was when I lived there and what the streets smelled like on a hot day.  At the same time, I do miss the high energy and the sense of being where things were always happening. 

Some people think the fashion industry is a crock.  Well, if you live in NYC, you know it’s about lots of money and lots of jobs.  And having spent several years among librarians (in whose midst I was a comparative fashion plate), I think looking good is terrific.  Looking like you’re stuck in grad school for the rest of your life is not my idea of "cool."  Yes, I was thrifty and knew where the good stuff from the rich school moms showed up on resale.  But I think better when I’m better dressed.

Of course, in St. Augustine we don’t have a lot of energy and my black suits went away several years ago.  And I love the opportunities I found here and the pleasant folks.  But sometimes, I just wish …

The cure for this is simply a trip back up to New York twice a year.  So I better stop wasting time on this nonsense and get back to work.

Happy Independence Day to all – fashion-conscious or fashion-challenged!

The Hedge, that is!  Seeing this bit of animation today is actually not that great a burden for me because I’m a sucker for cartoons.  I’ve also grown tired of the mandatory sex scenes (MSS) in many other movies that might otherwise be interesting.  One "mob movie" I saw years ago felt compelled to plug in a girl friend so the hero could hop around in bed with her.  She added nothing to the plot, was completely unbelievable – but hey, they hopped around.

Consequently, I end up at animation, an occasional action film where they just can’t find a place for the MSS, or at home watching oddball things I get from Netflix.  And it’s really a shame because I love sitting in a large dark room with folks I don’t know and eating popcorn which had a 5000% markup.  It’s part of the American experience.  And they are days I truly miss John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, and Cary Grant.

Sophie Scholl – Go here to learn more about this great film!  And be reminded that there are movies that aren’t dreck out there.  The website for the film is beautifully done – and for those of us who live outside the big metro areas, it’s probably all we’ll see until there’s a DVD.

My apologies for not doing anything for the last several days.  I’ve found myself with way too many projects in process.