At the movies

Julie and I like to take in movies, but it seems like we never see as many as we would like. And they seem to come in waves of varying quality. There will be weeks when there is nothing showing that we are particularly interested in. And tehn there will be tomes - like now - when it seems like there is a pplethera of good films out there. We have recently seen The Queen and Little Miss Sunshine, both of which we liked. Though I liked Sunshine more than Julie did. And I would like to see Volver, The Last King of Scotland, Music and Lyrics, Wild Hogs, Reno 911, Amazing Grace and others out now. It seems to be a good time forr movies.

Last night we went to see Notes on a Scandal. It had been on our list for a while, and e finally made it. It is a powerful, sometimes disturbing movie that we thought was first class. All of the acting was good, but Judi Dench was superb beyond words. Just amazing. We liked her before, but this performance was just wonderful. She does mean and evil as well as anyone I have ever seen. We loved Helen Mirren in The Queen, and she had a very different kind of role to play, but it would be very hard for me not to give an Oscar to Judi Dench.

The plot revolves around an affair a married school teacher has with one of her students. But I think the movie is really about the deep human need to be in relatonship with other humans, and the desperate, tragic actions we sometimes take when we are overcome by lonliness and isolation. Both the main female characters struggled to find ways to deal with their lonliness, and in both cases it played out tragically. Much to think about in terms of how we were created to be
in relationship with one another, and the need to find healthy ways to fulfill that need. Excellent movie.

Jimmy