I've been seeing a lot of good movies lately. Well, I've been seeing a lot of bad ones too. I saw The Ugly Truth on the plane on the way back home from L.A. And then the other night, I saw 2012. They're all right, I guess, for when you you have no choice but to kill time. Or, as a friend says, for knowing how to appreciate good movies by watching bad ones. Actually, you know what, just read a damn book.

So about the good ones, there was Moon last weekend. And I forgot to mention that I was able to catch Inglorious Basterds last month. It was a one-night screening for the opening of Cinemanila, and it was, actually, the only movie I caught during that festival. I hate admitting this to my friends (God, like that time I said I didn't get Radiohead), but I'm not a big Tarantino fan. I enjoy his stuff a lot, but he's not hugely influential in my, er, life. But of all his films, possibly even over Pulp Fiction, I like Inglorious Basterds the most. That's just me. Please don't hit me.

I get what they mean when this is the grown up Tarantino we're seeing in Basterds. Without completely forsaking his visual and dialogue style, Tarantino, in this film, shows that he's got the maturity and guts to let scenes play themselves out. I know that Tarantion films aren't usually considered quiet films, but I see Basterds as one of those quiet films where the tension is as thick as the hot and sour soup at my favorite Chinese restaurant.

Also, props to Tarantino, for liking There Will Be Blood and acknowledging how that movie sort of made him up his game.

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I saw Funny People last night. After sexually naive teens in a 40-year old's body, and meandering twenty-year olds who man up and start families, Judd Apatow deals with mortality and the very adult reality of living with your choices. After seeing the trailer, Funny People was a movie that I wanted to like. But I had my hopes tempered by mixed reviews. So I saw it, and yeah, it was a bit of a mess. But it had me laughing through out, and tearing up in some parts. If it just didn't have too many acts that brought you all over the place.