Over the past few days I've had an unusual amount of free time, so I've been spending it watching movies.  In total I watched three films I've never seen before and re-watched one that I saw a few years back.

Pan's Labyrinth - Trailer - I remember wanting to see this movie during its original wide release in the US but ended up seeing "Children of Men" instead (which was also a fantastic film).  "Pan's Labyrinth" was easily my favorite movie out of the four flicks I saw this weekend.  I loved how childhood fantasy mixed with the brutalities of war and the acting of the main character Ofelia was phenomenal.  I definitely am looking forward to watching this one again soon.

The Departed - Trailer - I think "The Departed" fits into my favorite genre of films: the action-crime-thriller-suspense-wit category.  I thought premise of the movie was a little cliché (the 'good' guy really being the bad guy and vice versa) but it was really well done.  While watching I kept re-thinking how I thought it would end and once it did I was very satisfied with the result.

Crash - Trailer - This film won lots of awards and received rave reviews from practically everyone.  I didn't like it though.  It had its moments but overall I didn't see what all the fuss was about.  It seems like everything was exaggerated in order just to prove a point, which is something I didn't like or think was necessary.  Oh well, I guess I'm the odd one out on this one.

American Beauty - Trailer - I originally saw this film sometime in my early teenage years.  I remember having enjoyed it, but on this second viewing I feel like I understood and appreciated it more.  I'm sure I'll watch this again in a few years, and with more maturity and life experiences behind me I'm willing to bet I'll appreciate it even more.

    And that's it! I plan on watching "Amélie" tonight, another film that I've been meaning to see for a while.  In other news you may have noticed that I gave the website a slight redesign and new color scheme to get it away from the original template look.  Hopefully I'll continue to modify it to suite my needs over the coming months.