More Good Movies

I saw two more movies this week. Both of them were quite good.

Atonement
Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's (Keira Knightley) lover (James McAvoy) of a crime he did not commit. Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan.

With a little romance and a little war, this movie has something for everyone! I hadn't heard of the book, but it was very popular and the story is great.

But I have a hard team understanding spoken British in movies, so if you're like me, you may want to wait for the DVD so you can turn on the English subtitles.


Charlie Wilson's War
A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects. Starring Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is in pretty much every movie these days, but he's a terrific actor and is great in this film. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts pretty much play the same role they play in all movies - themselves (but this time with Texas accents)!

But the story is what makes this film good and it's an interesting 'true' story that I hadn't heard in this way before. There are many parallels to the war we are currently fighting in Afghanistan, which I'm sure was one of the producers main points.

There's even a reference in the movie to the killing of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan, which seemed very eerie to me because his daughter Benazir Bhutto was killed in Pakistan a few days before I watched this film.