Weekend at the Movies

Took in a couple of the current Oscar-buzz flicks this weekend--"Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon." In "Doubt," Philip Seymour Hoffman turns in his standard well crafted performance as Father Flynn, the priest that secular libs have in mind when the occasional fleeting good thoughts of Catholicism or Christianity come to mind. He's intelligent, thoughtful, has progressive ideas, and acts compassionately toward those deemed deserving of compassion by the social justice crowd. I'm being a bit of a smartass here, but not by much. His antagonist, Sister Aloysius (an impossible Catholic name), is played by Meryl Streep who will win the Oscar for the role unless she is exposed prior to the vote as a closet Republican with a fondness for stir fried puppies. I won't bore you with the plot, etc.--you can read that anywhere--but essentially, Father Flynn is accused of inappropriate behavior with a young black boy and is ultimately forced to leave the parish via the hectoring of the determined Sister Aloysius. The point that the playwright/screenwriter/director/blue state voter wishes to make, however, is the tyranny of someone convinced that they are right without the proof or evidence to substantiate the claim--read Bush, George W. and Iraq. I say, bullshit but libs on a roll will believe what they want to believe without the evidence to support it--did I just say that? Anyway, despite the filtering (if you're not a true believer--in the political sense, you do a lot of that when reading or watching the news, or movies) I liked the film, the performances, and enjoyed the foray into the look and feel of a northeastern Catholic parish from that time period. The movie doesn't drag, either. Worth the time.

"Frost/Nixon" is the telling of the conception and filming of the famous David Frost interviews of Nixon in 1977. Frank Langella is damn fascinating in his portrayal--he nails the mannerisms and speech patterns of Nixon and assumes an uncanny dead-on body posture. That alone makes the movie effective. Michael Sheen plays Frost as a sweet guy with a winning personality who when he has to, turns into a bulldog to nail that mean ol' Nixon guy that did mean things and made people cry and had bombs and things that hurt people and was mean and didn't like flowers and can't we all just get along? Also cast is Sam Rockwell who plays humorless liberal scold, James Reston, Jr. like the humorless liberal scold that James Reston is. Ron Howard, who discovered somewhere along the way that he doesn't like Republicans and has a small penis, directs. The movie drags a little. I sensed from the uber-leftist crowd in the theater that the film doesn't deliver the goods the way they would like--Nixon isn't forced to grovel and be pilloried in the Berkeley (sp? ah, who gives a shit) public square, and whatever the left thinks of him, Tricky Dick wasn't a lightweight when it came to intellect or achievement: both were considerable.

Also, took in "Tropical Thunder" on pay per view. Funny as hell in parts and no one is left un-offended. Tom Cruise turns in the best performance of his career and he's not even billed.