A few movie reviews

Saw Memoirs of a Geisha on Friday night and was very disappointed in it. The preview made it look alot better than it really was. And that's because visually it's a beautiful film (aren't all movies using Japan or China as a setting beautiful?), but very hollow on the story front. It left alot of questions unanswered and assumed that the viewer was either familiar with the whole story or had actually read the book. Which was not true of me on either front. And the whole relationship between the Chairman and the main character was creepy on so many levels.

-Finally saw Closer after avoiding it for the last year or so. The movie itself isn't anything special, but the scene between Natalie Portman and Clive Owen in the strip club was excellent (for multiple reasons). It still shocks me how good Portman can be when you compare it to the crap she did in the Star Wars prequels. Speaking of crap, Julia Roberts really sucks in this flick. I mean we're talking wretchedly bad acting.

-Lastly, caught "Festival Express" on Showtime yesterday. It's a documentary about a week long train propelled music tour through Canada during 1970 and it features the Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band and others. Some really great footage from the shows, as well as the train ride, which was like a moving party. The inclusion of interview clips from various musicians is a nice added bonus. Certainly not the most noteworthy film, but a great watch for Deadheads and fans of rock films in general.

Just renewed my NetFlix membership, so I anticipate doing alot more of these quick reviews in the coming weeks.