Movie time

* Standard Operating Procedure: Another excellent documetary from Errol Morris. It covers the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the total breakdown in, well, everything there. As depressing as one would expect, particularly when you see why the documentary is named Standard Operating Procedure. But, you also wonder, what would I do in the same situation? Would I have reported it? Would I have taken part? Given the conditions there, and given the fact that "enhanced interrogation" was given a green light from what was taking place at Guantanamo Bay, it's tough to say.

I particularly liked the comments from the young African-American soldier who said that if there had been no pictures, nothing would have happened, and that there were no pictures of the actual torture taking place in the interrogation rooms. I also liked his comments on the best music to use to annoy prisoners.

* Bolt: In a lot of ways this is very similar to Standard Operating Procedure. OK, not really. I wasn't expecting much from this, so I was pleasantly surprised. Even though this wasn't a Pixar flick per-se, their imprint was all over it. The CG animation was top-notch, and with John Lasseter as executive producer it definitely felt like a Pixar movie. Actually, in that sense, it maybe felt a little too much like a mix of past Pixar movies, particularly Toy Story 2 (unwanted toy vs unwanted cat) and The Incredibles (all the Bolt action sequences). Nevertheless, it's pretty good, and actually got some applause at the end, something you rarely hear any more at a movie.

* A Christmas Story: Had never seen this movie, but needed to watch something that everyone could watch--kids and grandparents alike. Maria wasn't so interested, but I think everyone else liked it a lot, myself included. A little uneven, but man the funny spots were pretty darn funny. Laughed until I cried when the mom convinces Ralphie's brother to eat his dinner. A good movie.