I don't watch many movies, and have probably been to the theatre on average once a year for the last five years. I'm one of those people who tend to watch a movie I've already seen and know that I like over and over again. I'd rather not take a risk of wasting a couple hours of my life on a bad film. Part of it is, too, I have trouble sitting still through an entire movie. On the rare occasion we venture into the theatre, I'll usually sneak an oversized vodka tonic to have on hand to sip throughout, and if we're at home, I tend to read a book until the movie captures my attention enough to get into it.

December, however, I saw more movies than usual, in part because of having more vacation time. When I made what I thought would be my annual theatre trek, it was to see The Secret Life of Bees. I knew the plot would be semi-decent, since I'd read the book and it was fairly good. (My husband took one look at the film poster for it and was ready to walk out the door of the cinema. Pacified with popcorn, nachos, and Reese's Pieces, he agreed to watch it, and admitted afterwards that the film was actually quite good).

We took a mini-vacation in the beginning of the month and had some time on our hands, so we rented Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett, and the 1990 version of Lord of the Flies. Elizabeth was entertaining and strange in a Hollywoodized, historical fiction kind of way. From what I've seen lately, whenever Hollywood makes a historical fiction piece, they tend to be strong on scenery and wardrobe, heavy-handed on violence and sensuality, and a little substandard in dialogue and acting, with a meandering, thin plot holding it all together. Such was the case even more so with Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes in The Duchess, which we saw Sunday night and which left me with the impression that I really should have gone to bed two hours earlier. Lord of the Flies was interesting; I was familiar with the premise of it before we watched it, although still I wish that I had read the book first. Anyone know if the book ended as abruptly as the film?

During the same vacation, we saw the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace in the theater. It was pretty much a string of homicides on the part of Bond, interwoven with some impressive stunts. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a Blond Bond, but what is strange is the evolution of Bond from his Connery era and even his Brosnan days. The new James Bond is an anti-hero, and in contrast to his lighter complexion, is much darker and more sinister, seemingly closer in nature to his villains.

Speaking of reinvented action heroes, I suppose I am the last person on earth to do so, but I finally saw Dark Knight. Hm-m...I didn't dislike it, but I wouldn't sit through it again. Perhaps it got so much hype that I found it overrated - kind of like when I finally saw Titanic (the difference being, I thought Titanic outright sank [pardon the pun]. I saw it on a plane from Frankfurt to Philadelphia and after 45 minutes couldn't take another second and closed my eyes for a nap - woke up and had to resist a "hurrah" when DiCaprio croaked because I knew they'd have to put something else in soon). Anyway, pros of The Dark Knight were that it was suspenseful and generally entertaining. For any modern movie to keep my interest is a plus. The cons were a big believability factor in several areas: the Joker seemed not only to be psychotic, but also omniscient and omnipresent as well. However, I am not a Batman aficionado so perhaps his character is supposed to be capable of orchestrating everything - everywhere - at once. My husband, who actually enjoyed the movie enough to suggest we buy it, used the word "diabolical" to describe it at one point, and that's the sense that I got. I'm sensitive to graphic brutality. I prefer murder in moderation, ya know? The ending was just strange and nonsensical, and Batman falling for the Joker's bluff before being suddenly scorned into obscurity was also a let-down. Plus, overall I found the movie would have benefited by being shortened a good thirty minutes.

Happy New Year everyone...have a good time hopefully relaxing and watching tv, sports, and movies tonight and tomorrow.