movie picks

This week, we enjoyed a rare treat--a trip to the movie theater. The closest movie theater is a 2-hr drive, and our favorite one to go to is in the Solo Grand Mall. We've seen three movies there: "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "Narnia," and, most recently "Pirates of the Caribbean 3." Pirates was a huge disappointment, for unnecessary brutality and difficult-to-follow plot. In fact, it's getting more and more rare that I watch a movie that I really enjoy. Our other movie options are a rental place in town, where we can get many of the new releases, or borrowing from friends--although sometimes this involves very sketchy, pirated versions. We were once at a friend's house watching Batman, when suddenly the movie skipped ahead 20 minutes, and Batman started speaking Russian.

Still, I sometimes come across movies I would recommend. Here are mine from this year (at least, I saw them for the first time this year. I don't keep up with the box office, so I'm not sure of their actual releases):

1. "Stranger than Fiction" with Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman. This story appealed to the writer in me, and my own strange journey with my characters.

2. "Finding Neverland" with Johnny Depp as author J.M. Barrie. Considering I spent several years of my childhood waiting for Peter Pan to show up at my window. . . . That fairy bit gets me weeping every time.

3. "SIMONE" Very funny, and an interesting commentary on our society's worship of superstars.

4. "Keeping Mum" with Rowan Atkinson. A bit more questionble in content, but also very funny.

Honorable Mention: "Ella Enchanted" not brilliant, but got me dancin'!

I'm interested to hear your picks.