February 6

Carol Frank, Florrie and Betty correctly identified "Today you are the law. You are the law. Not some book. Not the lawyers. Not a marble statue, or the trappings of the court. See, those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are, in fact, a prayer. A fervent and a frightened prayer." coming from The Verdict.

Try this one:

"Mr. Prosecutor, the road to genius is paved with fumble-footing and bumbling. Anyone who falls flat on his face is at least moving in the right direction: forward. And the fellow who makes the most mistakes may be the one to save the neck of the whole world someday."

In Theaters:

The Artist - I needed to see this homage to the silent screen era before the Academy Awards came out and to see what all the hubbub was about. I am struggling with if I liked it or not. The acting is superb. Without saying a word the characters convey the emotions and carry the story along with only their movements and facial expressions. For this reason alone, I believe the two main characters, Jean Dugardin and Berenice Bejo, rightly deserve being nominated if not win the Academy Award for acting. The actual story was has been done before - how it was for actors at the beginning of the talkie movie era. See it for yourself and decide.

On Netflix:

Fair Game - This film based on the Valerie Plame story has been sitting in my house for a few weeks and finally we got around to seeing it. I didn't think I would like it, but it was quite compelling. This is a real interesting and unsettling part of our history. Plame status as a covert CIA agent is leaked by administration in retaliation to her husband's op-ed piece accusing the Bush administration of misleading the public to justify invading Iraq. It is uncanny as much Watts looks like Plame and Sean Penn turns in a powerful performance as her husband, Joe Wilson. If you like political movies, put this one on your list.

On Netflix and Instant Viewing:

Billy Elliot - This was the second showing in my class of "Not Quite Musicals." As previously reported, we did see the show of Billy Elliot at the Kennedy Center. An interesting fact is that Billy Elliot started as a screenplay, then a novel and finally a live musical production. It was interesting to see this film after the show. I found it more emotional. The story was better developed than the show. The final 30 seconds are indescribable. It takes your breathe away! The only actor I knew was Julie Walters who played the dance teacher. It was a lovely film and one worth seeing.

Still some good movies out there to catch, so enjoy the movies.

Roberta