President's Day Movie-thon 2008

Over the past few years, I have developed a personal tradition of attending as many Oscar nominated films as opssible on President's Day.

It all started under a previous employer who insisted we all take the day off - even though it was in the middle of sweeps.

By far the most interesting edition was the year I saw SIDEWAYS, MILLION DOLLAR BABY and THE AVIATOR in succession and learned that broken noses appeared prominently in all three films.

But I digress.

This year's marathon consisted of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, ENCHANTED and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD was underwhelming for me. Didn't care for it - and I usually like Important Films. More on Daniel Day Lewis' performance at the end...

ENCHANTED was sweet. It was surprising to see Disney poking fun at itself. Nicely done, but I don't see the nomination for Amy Adams. It wasn't a very complicated role. Loved her, but wouldn't have nominated her for it.

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR was fun. Anyone who was born after 1980 should probably see this film - just to get a taste of the Cold War. I liked it a lot - even though it was written by Aaron Sorkin. the 'true events' nature of the story prevented Sorkin from preaching too hard, allowing his crisp dialog to shine.

Tom Hanks was great as usual, but the actor of the day for me was Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His CIA operative was a dead pan marvel. Loved it.

Meanwhile, was it just me, or was Daniel Day Lewis channeling SMALLVILLE's Lionel Luthor in THERE WILL BE BLOOD? I'd bet a meteor rock enhanced milkshake on it.