Movies and Other Meanderings

Yesterday I went to see "Atonement". I had read Ian McEwen's book and was interested to see how it could be made into a film. The book is written as a novel within a novel, so I figured it would be a difficult process to put on screen. However it was very well done, a terrific movie. If you have read Anthony Lane's review in the New Yorker, ignore it. Somtimes I wonder about that man. When he reviewed "Moulin Rouge" he complained that the love duets were badly done because they never finished the songs. Duh! This time he complains about the scenes at Dunkirk, missing the point entirely that they are presented as the protagonist's hallucinatory impressions.I can't really trust his opinions since he raved about "Titanic", thus causing me to sit through what seemed like several agonizing months waiting for the damned ship to sink and kill those annoying people. Same with "The Aviator", one of the worst films ever to be nominated for an award. I am too cheap to walk out of a theater - and it's fun to bitch.
John and I went to see "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" under the mistaken impression that is was funny. Oy! It is very good, but very depressing. You know what's going to happen almost from the very beginning, but the acting it excellent. I really admire Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but in this movie,in close-ups you can see his dirty, grimy fingernails. He plays a sleazy sort of person, but he has a job as a manager in a financial business. I mean, it's not the sort of place where you'd expect dirty fingernails. I have a feeling that, in real life, he probably smells bad, and I feel sorry for his fellow cast members, especially Marisa Tomei who has to get really close to him, if you know what I mean.
I realize this doesn't fit with the picture of our manger appearing above. I add it as an antidote to the current glut of unwed mothers proliferating throughout the media. I doubt that any of them will be giving birth to a future Messiah. Of course you never know.