NakedJen was in town, and of course as always we went to a bunch of movies. Two of them were pretty awful, and both of them were NYT critics choice movies. The other movie, Our Brand is Chaos, got a shitty review from the Times, and it deserved it, but it was actually a really fun movie. I'll try to explain the paradox.

1. Truth, starring Robert Redford as Dan Rather and Cate Blanchett as 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes started with a great story, how Rather and Mapes lost their jobs at CBS News for reporting a true story with some questionable documents. They really lost to Republican bloggers. I remember at the time being split, I was very much against Bush for President, and hated the way they were campaigning against Kerry, who I voted for, but I also didn't like the way the established news media dismissed the bloggers, and refused to get in the online discussion. I think in the end this is why they lost. They failed to mobilize their friends in the blogosphere. Yes it's partisan. That's life. But the movie really dumbed the whole thing down, which is my problem with the other highly-reviewed movie. We watched Redford be Redford talking a little like Rather, but the story wasn't engaging. It was a good story, but the story-telling wasn't good. No suspension of disbelief.
2. Bridge of Spies was another all-star production, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Hanks, and written by the Coen Brothers (!). But it was also a dumbed-down straight-line movie that didn't engage. Later Jen and I watched the first couple of episodes of Season 1 of the FX show Fargo, that was just inspired by the Coens, not written by them, and it was a perfect illustration of what was missing in Bridge and in Truth -- anything interesting for the viewer with a mind. This might be a good movie for kids, about what the Cold War was like in the US and in Berlin (assuming it was accurate about Berlin). That and a few interesting lines here and there was all the entertainment this movie had to offer. How the Coen Brothers participated is a mystery. I can't imagine why they let them put their name on it.
3. Our Brand is Crisis is non-stop Sandra Bullock, who we love, and will always command our attention. Sure there was a gaping huge flaw in the movie that the Times pointed out, and for that it deserves a bad review, but if they would have chopped off the last 10 minutes of the movie it would have stood up fine as a tale of American pollution of the global political process. Billy Bob Thornton and Bullock have a fantastic relationship of nasty tricks, back and forth, and some wild scenes, not all of which make total sense, but who cares since Bullock is so captivating! Lovely movie and entertaining, and a very interesting contrast to the other two. 
4. We also watched a DVD movie The Gift, which we both recommend. You can't really write about it without spoiling it. It's suspenseful and has a thriller element to it, but that's not the actual story. I loved this movie.