Conspicere est Illustrari

I'm not one to claim any talent in reviewing things. I.E., books, bands, movies, etc. That being said, I've already shared books I've been reading or movies I've seen recently, without any comment concerning my enjoyment of them. Not even a good old-fashioned thumbs up or down (very old-fashioned, those Romans). So rather than attempting to sound all knowledgeable about what makes a good movie or book, I'll just tell you flat our in very simple sentences what I think.

So I recently joined Netflix, and these were my first 3 movies:

Matchpoint. My first Woody Allen movie. Very Hitchcockian. Erotic, but not in an uncomfortable way. Intriguing. I hadn't really seen Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in any other movie other than this very obscure TV movie called "Gormenghast" that appeared on TV when I was in 8th grade (our family took a particular fancy to it), and I thought he was excellent. You don't even realize you're watching a Suspense until the end. Recommended.

Thank You For Smoking. Oh, Aaron Eckhart. He's pretty great in this movie. Unfortunately, and I'm sorry to admit this, I was distracted almost the entire movie, and therefore am positive I missed about half of the snarkiness (probably not a word). It was very entertaining and smart. Katie Holmes was dumb (but is anyone shocked?). Not what I was expecting, and pleasantly surprising.

Everything is Illuminated. I knew nothing about this movie going into it except that every time I passed it in the movie store it caught my eye. Probably because of the sunflowers. And who knew Ukraine was so beautiful? Anyway, at first this movie charmed me because of its Little Miss Sunshine-esque road trip. Elijah Wood was almost uncomfortably awkward the entire movie. But as it progressed, the tone became sadder, more unsettling. By the end I was a little choked up, but not as much as during, say, Homeward Bound. No comparison? You're right. Is this worth seeing? I think so.

Aaaaaaanyway. I'd tell you what's up next, but I purposely don't check my queue so it's a surprise every time. Boy do I live a life of adventure....

P.S. "Conspicere est Illustrari" - "To watch/view is to be enlightened/illuminated"