Double Feature!

My quest to see as many Oscar-nominated films as possible continues: I saw TWO movies on Sunday. I don't really recommend an in-theater double feature, but more on that later.
I started with Volver, starring Penelope Cruz. This movie was straight-up awesome. It's not often you see a film with so many women in leading roles - or if you do, they're not women, they're girls (Travelling Pants, anyone?). But Volver is comprised almost entirely of women, and they're all fabulous. Penelope Cruz is a vision, and the supporting cast is wonderful, too. This film is touted as a "tragi-dramedy." So yes, it's tragic, but also dramatic and funny. I think all the ladies out there should rush to see this. Men, not so much, but the ladies'll love it! Just about the time I thought it was getting a little long, and I started to get bored, it was over. Nice job, Volver. PS - does anyone know if that's actaully Penelope singing?
Then I saw Notes on a Scandal. This movie was awesome, too, but in a totally different way. It was not funny. Sure, I laughed a few times, but not because a scene was particularly funny. Rather, it was because it was uncomfortable, and the only escape from the uncomfortableness was laughter. My friend Erika Stephanie said "I don't know who was more creepy, Cate, Judi, or the boy." Well, let me tell you - they're all creepy. Everything about this movie is effed up. Judi Dench is a spinster stalker with lesbian tendencies, Cate Blanchett is a privileged teacher trying to "make a difference" but really trying to keep from being bored, and the gorgeous Andrew Simpson plays the young man who throws the whole story out of his control when he begins a naughty affair with Miss Cate. It was fabulous. I was really uncomfortable for pretty much the whole movie, which I think was the point. Oh, Philip Glass wrote the score, and his music always makes me uncomfortable.

About the double feature: I sat through Volver and only thought it was too long right at the end... but the first time I thought "Is this almost over?" during Notes on a Scandal was five minutes into the movie. And the movie was great! I think I was just tired of sitting in a theater. No more double features.

Volver - B+
Notes on a Scandal - A-