I recently purchased some DVDs... what else is new?

Where the Truth Lies - starring Colin Firth, Kevin Bacon, Rachel Blanchard and Alison Lohman, directed by Atom Egoyan. I first saw the unrated/NC-17 version of this film at an ArcLight AFI director's series event, followed by a Q&A with all of the above, minus Mr. Firth, unfortunately. It's filmed quite beautifully, going back and forth between a young reporter working on a book about a washed-up comedy duo in the 1970s, and their heyday, when she was a young fan, in the 1950s. She tries to piece together what really happened to make the pair break up amid interviews, travel, scandal, sex, and the rest of the good stuff. The R-rated version is on DVD. It originally got an NC-17 (I think it just deserved a hard "R" rating) for full frontal female nudity and girl/girl sex.

The Chronicles of Narnia - self-explanatory. You've all seen this, if you wanted. I saw it at the El Capitan, actually. I'm a huge fan of the books, and this is a great adaptation.

Separate Lies - starring Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson and Rupert Everett, directed by Julian Fellowes. This is one of the most overlooked and underrated movies of 2005. It's perhaps the second best movie I saw last year. I saw it twice in one week at ArcLight. The story isn't spectacular. There are a few twists and turns. And the formula - a comfortably middle or upper-middle-class, and seemingly happy couple who's marriage is slowly deteriorating from the inside - has definitely been done before. This adds an accidental homicide, and a different ending. But the acting is phenomenal. The characters are extremely real. It's also shot very well.

Munich Ok, this IS the best movie I saw last year. And I don't even like Spielberg. Like, ever. It's a little long (almost 3 hours, I think), but Eric Bana is 1) sexy, and 2) an excellent actor. He really conveys the sense of mixed emotion required to do his job as a special secret agent on behalf of the Israeli government as he and his fellow spies track down and assassinate members of Black September. Hell, even in Troy Eric Bana got kudos for his acting, and look who he was working with! I cried at several times throughout this film, not the least of which is when he is on the phone with his baby daughter. The sex scene at the end is hauting, which is appropriate, as the character himself is being haunted during the scene. And yes, although most of the movie is seen from the POV of the Israeli special ops team, you DO see palestinians portrayed as people. I espeically like the recreation of the events in Munich at the beginning. While the rest of the world is mourning the athletes, the film also cuts to the cries of the families of the palestinians who died. I think I like it because it echos the theme of one of my favorite books (and the movie is good too), The English Patient. Amidst politics and intrigue, borders, nationalities, and ethnicities - it's all just the story of people. Everything can be taken down to a personal level. Borders change, leaders change. It's your own journey that counts.

Elizabethtown - This movie was also quite underrated. It's not as good as Almost Famous, that's for sure, but there is an excellent use of music, like in most Cameron Crowe films (helped by Nancy Wilson, of course). It's a much more personal story. The quirky characters (long-lost relatives of Orlando Bloom's character, who returns to Kentucky, where his father unexpectedly dies while visiting his family) border on charachatures. But it's good fun all around. The relationship between Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom can't quite be desribed as innocent, but has a sweetness nonetheless. And no one can forget the Freebird scene. My roommate also said this is one of the first movies she liked Kirsten Dunst in. She's like Adam Sandler in a way. She has a specific character she can play. She just needs to find the right movie and director to make said character (the semi-ditzy, popular blonde girl) seem multi-dementional and sympathetic.