What the Flick

Before I get back into the fall theater-going, I have to pass along a few DVD tips. Two to catch if you missed them in theaters are 16 BLOCKS, starring Bruce Willis and Mos Def, and INSIDE MAN, starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster.

I thought 16 BLOCKS was the more compelling drama. It revolves around a crew of NYC cops and detectives, one of whom (Bruce Willis) is for the most part a broken down alcoholic who commands no respect from his colleagues...

Okay, that title is as awkward a wordplay as I hope you're likely to get from me. This week. But for those of you who haven't been on the bandwagon of SciFi Channel's very, very 21st-century re-do of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, it's time to take the Kool-Aid. Aside from being one of the best-reviewed shows on any channel (see this entry from Slate, or any of the links in the Television Without Pity forum), this show will take you in directions...

I'm telling you, if Helen Mirren does not get an Oscar nomination and then actually win an Oscar (I think it's just scandalous that she's never gone home with that little gold man) for THE QUEEN, there is no divine justice in this world. She is amazing here portraying Queen Elizabeth II during the days after Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris, letting loose on the world one of current society's least appealing spectacles, the public grief fest. QE2, good WASP that she is, believes that grief is...

Oh, yes, it's the saddest weekend of the year, when we have to turn back the clocks and night falls sooo early. Though blessedly a bit later here in Southern California than in more northern latitudes. So what to do on this darkest of October weekends?

First, try to see MARIE ANTOINETTE. I must confess up front that I am a Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola 'shipper, so I was inclined to like this. But I went with a friend who is extremely knowledgeable about the whole French thing, and she enjoyed it, too. Despite the well-known, very dark ending to poor little Austrian Marie's fairy tale...