. . . Because he's a rabbi.

I have recently seen a couple of movies that deserve mention.

Lucky Number Slevin
I had no expectations for this crime caper starring Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsely, but I was very pleasantly surprised by it. It is not a movie that will change lives or the world, but it is enormously entertaining. I loved the clever dialogue, the silly plot twists, and the all-around feel of the film. The set design is one of the most intriguing parts of the movie, and I have never seen a movie where wallpaper was so important.

Lucky Number Slevin is a fun--and funny--ride, and I recommend it for a good time at the theater.


Art School Confidential
I was excited to see this new movie from director Terry Zwigoff, who made the highly entertaining movies Ghost World and Bad Santa. Art School Confidential tells the story of a young art student named Jerome, played by Max Minghella, as he negotiates his first year at art school, trying to win the love of the beautiful girl. Art School Confidential feels like two separate movies, though. The first 2/3 of the film is hilarious and dark, satirizing the art world and the stereotypical characters in that world. The humor is biting, cynical, clever, vicious, and crude. I absolutely loved it. But the film kind of falls apart as it gets into a weird serial killer subplot, and I did not like the end. It started becoming goofy and unfunny. But overall, I liked the movie, and I was very impressed by Max Minghella's performance. (He's the son of director Anthomy Minghella.) John Malkovich was excellent, as he always is, and Jim Broadbent plays a foul-mouth slob very well. I loved most of the film, so it balances out to a pretty enjoyable experience overall.