We’ve been to see two movies this weekend: Million Dollar Baby and Closer.

• Million Dollar Baby (imdb | rotten tomatoes) deserves all the hype it’s getting. Typically Clint Eastwood in style and pacing, we grab on while these difficult people slog through difficult lives, hoping that their lives or personalities get easier. There should be a rule that once a year Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman make a movie with one other Oscar-caliber actor (Gene Hackman, Hilary Swank, etc.), just to set the bar for everyone else. By the way, Geddy Lee sat right in front of us.
• Closer (imdb | rotten tomatoes) annoyed some of the people in the audience, but that’s not surprising. Some people just can’t bear a whole movie without explosions or pratfalls or cliches or fart jokes (Gerry was the ultimate example fo this). This was a dialogue movie about unpleasant people acting cruelly and/or pathetically. To me, discomfort and dislike for characters is as valid an response to provoke in your audience as any other, so I liked the movie. Or rather, I appreciated it; there was nothing likeable about it. Recommended for any serious movie fan.

24 and The Shield starts again tonight, bringing one of my few appointment shows back to TV.