Two more movies to report.

• Sometime over the lazy long weekend we watched The Clearing (imdb | rotten tomatoes), which was maybe a little better than I expected. RT had rated it pretty low, but I’m a big fan of Robert Redford so I had hope. The actual result was somewhere in between my hopes and fears (which sounds dramatic, but really people, it’s just a DVD). I’m glad they didn’t go where most Hollywood writers/directors would’ve taken it, but I’m also disappointed that it didn’t live up to the potential that it created in the first 3/4 of the film. It could have gone in some very interesting directions, but the end felt…I don’t know, almost apologetic. It’s a little disappointing, but it’s still better than fucking Underclassman.
• The Constant Gardener (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was the only film released this weekend that didn’t look hideous. Indeed, it looked pretty decent, so after picking up our TIFF tickets with CBGB we decided to go see it. It turned out to be even better than I thought; I half assumed it would slide downhill into a typical chase / shooter / clichefest, but it stuck with being a political film. I’ve read other reviews claiming it was too slow, but I think that so long as you’re a grownup and can actually sit through a documentary or episode of 60 Minutes you shouldn’t have any trouble. Highly recommended.