Movie Overload

i don't think i've ever watched so many movies in my life. It's too easy. Work often leaves me and Heza a touch braindead, so we've acquired quite the stash of $1.40 flicks gently whispering to us, "watch me, watch me, watch me you f'ing couch potato whom i love so well."

Anyhow, for lack of anything better to write, here's the quick and nasty list of reviews. (note: the availability of media in China is largely inexplicable. Lots makes it over, and lots doesn't)

1. North Country: an amazing flick that got me and H all pissed off at the awful male characters in it.
   
2. Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith and his kid show that a big heart and determination will make you a rich mofo.
3. Lost in Translation. What? you haven't seen it yet? You're joking.
4. La Haine: gritty movie about life in the Paris ghetto. Good flick, but no characters to care about.
5. No End In Sight: great doc about the excruciatingly badly planned Iraq occupation.
6. Hairspraty (2007): pretty good, but i wish i'd just seen the orig John Waters flick.
7. The Kid: Charlie Chaplin classic. Pretty universally entertaining, but admittedly not as good as i'd hoped.
   
8. Nanking: a rather depressing and rather touching doc about the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking during WWII. i chose not to mention it to my dad after all, since he'd likely get all mad and racist towards the Japanese.
9. Sideways: intelligent romantic comedy (far and few between) w/ a sympathetic protagonist, even if he's a jerk.
10. Yi Yi: An awesome Taiwanese movie that broke the int'l scene bigtime. Very intelligent, and totally captivating.
11. Destricted: wtf? I can't believe that an art flick about porn and sex, with moneyshots et al, somehow slipped across the border. "oh it's Art, is it? Well alright then."
12. Cashback: Just because it gets lots of int'l film fest attention doesn't mean the plot or characters are interesting.
13. Hot Fuzz: UK cops go from comedy to comic ultra-violence, in the good way.
14. Singing in the Rain: Some very impressive production in this 1952 movie, but sorry i'm just not into that dance style. And the story? weaakkkkk.
15. Life is Beautiful: a romantic comedy about the holocaust. I liked it a lot better this 2nd time.
    
16. Casablanca: Holy shit, this movie is HOT. i wish i'd seen it earlier since every hard-nosed cop/detective today seems to be influenced by Bogart. I was so inspired i taught a film study unit on it. One 12 yr old (who's a frighteningly sincere fellow) wrote "Casablanca is one of the best movies ever made".
    

That's about it. And the In Box is still plenty full.