Baby kicks are strange, and they can hurt!

Maggie has discovered that she can kick or punch me in the back. I'm not thrilled with this discovery. It's so cool to feel her moving all day though, I have to say. I really love it. I guess at night she decides it's time to stretch out a bit more and whack my back. Last night she stayed awake longer than I did - this is the first time that happened. I woke up at 3AM with pain in my stomach (not from her) - just weird, sparkling pains across my belly. But they went away as quickly as they came. I've stopped taking my antibiotics. They're too strong I think. I got through them all but the one for the final day. So that's not too bad.

What have I seen recently...Hmmm...

Inside Man (in the theater). New Spike Lee movie. Liked it a whole lot. Really surprised too. I really like Spike alot, and I adore Denzel, but I hated "25th Hour" so much that I wasn't sure I'd do a theater trip for a Spike joint ever again. Glad I did. Very interesting, well directed and acted. Even by Clive Owen, whom I could live without.

Limbo - (dvd) - a John Sayles film I'd never seen from beginning to end before. Interesting, but too slow. I liked the way it ended. Not for everyone, that's for sure.

Everything Is Illuminated - (dvd) - my husband has been dying to see this, and I really think it was because of the artwork. See above - I think that's where this will end up.

Very peculiar, sad, funny, different film. Directed by Liev Schrieber. I loved Alex. He stole the flick.

Shampoo - I finally got around to renting this and seeing it, and wasn't impressed.

In Cold Blood - (DVD) Kind of a shocking film for 1967. Very chilling, but way too long. Hard to believe what a great actor Robert Blake is.

The Prize Winner Of Defiance Ohio - I liked this a whole lot more than I thought I would. I was afraid it was going to be another weak woman character by Julianne Moore, and it really wasn't. It was a really interesting story of a family (10 kids!), and the woman who really kept them together and alive with her writing talent. Woody Harrelson was really quite good in this too. Very well written and acted.

Prime - (DVD) - I have a problem sometimes with films. I saw the preview of this in the movies, and was immediately kind of disgusted. It's Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman. It looked like a dumb comedy. I avoided it. BUT when I rented it on DVD, I found that, at least to me, it wasn't such a comedy, it was more of a drama, and it wasn't bad at all. I can't stand Uma. I don't really know why that is, but something about her bothers me. That's a terrible thing for a Buddhist inspired person to say, since her dad is responsible for so much great Buddhist culture being taught here in NYC. But she was really very good in this film and I have a feeling it wasn't very easy for her. Meryl was really not in it all that much, but she was, as usual, very good as a sort of traditional Jewish mother who wants to protect her son. I'd say it's worth seeing on cable. I liked the way it ended.

Keane - (DVD) - This is a strange, disturbing film about a man who suffers from schizophrenia and who lost his daughter in a bus terminal prior to where the film starts. He can barely keep it together, yet drinks and does drugs and searches for his little girl. He ends up befriending a woman with a child...and it gets very tense and uncomfortable. Excellent performance by Damian Lewis - you have compassion for him and fear of him at the same time. Tough to watch, but worth it.

I think I told you about Derailed, so I'll quit here.

Talk to you later!