It’s amazing how many movies you can get through when all you do is sleep, go to the doctor, and watch movies. I would describe my current status as somewhat better, but not as well as I’d hoped for.

Bride and Prejudice: The Bollywood version of Pride & Prejudice, set in modern India. Okay, I was dubious about this one, but pleasantly surprised. It was lots of fun, and I loved the music and bright costumes. What I really liked was how they used the Austen story as direct inspiration, but didn’t follow it dogmatically. So I knew approximately how the story would go, but there were a few surprises (most pleasantly, the fate of the youngest sister). I’ll be watching this one again sometime.

Casanova: Famous Italian lover attempts sexual escapades in historical Venice. I liked the setting and costuming here, but it didn’t quite work for me as a comedy. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it at the time. I did like the sexually ravenous “virgin” (or so her father claimed she was…)

Best in Show: A mockumentary about a dog show. I didn’t like it at first, but it definitely grew on me, and by the end I was laughing hysterically. The characters were all so funny–just walking the line between plausible and implausible. My favorites were the Starbucks couple (the “catalog people”) who were convinced their dog was a problem when clearly they were the dysfunctional ones.

Saved!: A born-again Christian high-school girl tries to “save” her boyfriend from homosexuality by sleeping with him. When she becomes pregnant, she finds out who her real friends are. This was a really terrific movie. I thought it was going to be a light comedy, but it got surprisingly serious. It did a nice job differentiating real Christians from control-freaks who use Christianity as an excuse. (I’m not Christian myself, but seriously–if I were, I would completely annoyed by people co-opting my religion to claim that Jesus hates “bad” people.) Well worth watching, especially for anyone who’s cynical about organized religion.

Waking Ned Devine: Two men in small-town Ireland try to claim the lottery winnings of their dead friend. Completely wonderful movie, and satisfying on every level. Lots of tiny little details about small-town life, including the way that everyone knows everyone else. I really don’t want to give the ending away, but let’s just say that it’s completely surprising and completely perfect. That’s hard to do. Highly recommended.

Hairspray: A teenager in the 60’s competes for the title of Miss Auto Show. Along the way, there’s singing, dancing, and race riots. Yeah, this movie was very strange. It was a farce that became strikingly serious at some points, making me wonder if I was supposed to be taking the whole thing more seriously than I was. But it’s hard to be too serious about a movie where someone hides a bomb inside a giant blonde beehive hairdo. The movie was fun, but a little disconcerting.

How To Steal a Million: An heiress and a detective conspire to steal a statue that they know is fake. Another Audrey Hepburn movie (Shannon’s coworker must love her work). I liked watching the heist and especially admired the way they escaped the locked closet. Not to mention the delightfully incompetent burglary scene in the beginning. Good film.

More movies to come.