I agree with the SurlyGirl's assessment of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' Lush and beautiful it was, indeed. I also found it very interesting that the female characters had such a central role in the story and were such powerful characters. This, of course, is in sharp contrast to our own homegrown good ol' USA cinema:

American Film:

MAN: I'm gonna go beat up the bad guys.

WOMAN: I'm coming with you!

MAN: No, it's too dangerous!

WOMAN: I love you. Don't get killed.

We clear on the concept thus far? Think that's too cliched to be real? Sorry, kids, it's pretty close to actual dialogue found in 'The Matrix' and about 94,000 other movies.

Chinese Film:

WOMAN: (as she lays waste to about two dozen well-armed brutes) I am the Invincible Sword Goddess!

Now thats 'Girl Power,' Ginger Spice.

Another interesting tidbit: The choreographer of the fight scenes in 'CTHD' also choreographed the fight scenes in 'The Matrix.' Except, in 'CTHD,' all of the spectacular visuals were accomplished with wires. No computers. Even the fights that take place in the tree tops, as well as all the running up the sides of walls business.

See this film.

O'er the weekend, I also managed to see 'O, Brother, Where Art Thou?' I'm very glad that people who actually buy movie soundtracks exist, because there is a song in this movie that made me dust off my old copy of Macster (the iMac version of Napster) and spend about half an hour downloading this old traditional song from the film that is insanely enjoyable.

The Coen brothers were inspired to make this movie, which is loosely based on Homer's 'The Odyssey' after hearing that the late-great Preston Sturges wanted to write a film with the same concept, but died before he could. A lot of people are going to tell you that this is the worst Coen brothers film yet (and, next to the twin greatness of 'Fargo' and 'The Big Lebowski,' the newest movie looks pale, I agree) but I still really enjoyed it. 'O, Brother' is bizarre, absurd, and funny. Perfect for me.

And even after all the movies we saw this weekend, my girlfriend liked 'Center Stage' most of all.

I still love her.