5 out of 5

The third film I watched on the flight to Amsterdam was There's Something About Mary (1998,R) (ScreenIt! Review). From the Wikipedia entry:

An awkward and shy high-schooler, Ted (Ben Stiller) lands a prom date with his dream girl Mary (Cameron Diaz), just to have it cut short...Thirteen years later he's still in love-maybe even obsessed-with the one that got away, so he hires sleazy private detective Pat (Matt Dillon) to track her down.

I'd seen it before of course, and it was as good as I remembered it. Ben Stiller is one of my favorites. I give it 5 out of 5.

On Saturday night we watched Spanglish (2004, PG-13, ScreenIt! review). I really enjoyed it. It hit that same spot that reading The French Lieutenant's Woman and watching The Age of Innocence did. I give it 5 out of 5.

Continuing the theme of racial tension, the selection for grown-up movie night today was Crash (2005,R). From Wikipedia:

Crash is an Academy Award-winning drama film directed by Paul Haggis. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2004, and was released internationally in 2005. The film is a commentary on racial and social tensions in Los Angeles. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing of 2005 at the 78th Academy Awards. Crash (which opened in wide release on 6 May 2005) was a critical and box-office success in the early summer of 2005. The film's budget was $6.5 million (plus $1 million in financing). Because of the financial constraints, director Haggis filmed in his own house, borrowed a set from the TV show Monk, used his car in parts of the film, and even used cars from other staff members. It grossed $53.4 million domestically, making back more than three times its budget (roughly 60% of the box office takings of a movie do not return to the financiers but instead pay for distribution costs). Despite its success in relation to its cost, Crash was the least successful film, financially, to win Best Picture since "The Last Emperor" in 1988.

Lisa and I thought it was a great film. I give it 5 out of 5.

The Bobos and Moores went to a matinee of Curious George (2006, G). They (especially Lisa) loved it. She rushed home to order the soundtrack from Amazon.

Tonight we watched Serenity with the Lashlees. We enjoyed watching it a second time. Some browncoats on the internet recently started an effort to collect donations before deciding that maybe that isn't the most effective way to bring back Firefly. Serenity gets 5 out of 5.