Latest movies

I saw a couple of terrific movies this weekend.

Friends with Benefits - not a perfect movie (I was actually a bit embarrassed by the explicit sex scenes), but I laughed a lot - so much of the comedy in rom-coms is stupid and even insulting, this movie was actually quite witty, so refreshing; and the couple were adorable (the sine qua non of rom-com is that you root for the couple to end up together!) I hope this raises the bar for the genre!!

Agora - this movie apparently wasn't marketed in the US, because I had never heard of it; I actually watched a bit on cable and liked it enough to get the video (guilty confession - I was most interested in seeing Max Minghella, who I adore, though Rachel Weisz almost carries the movie on the force of her wonderful performance); I really enjoyed everything about the movie - it's so intelligent and interesting, and everyone in it is terrific; set in Alexandria Egypt during the rise of Christianity, and fall of paganism (and scientific inquiry), around 370 A.D.; the movie focuses on a wonderful (real life) character, Hypatia, a famed mathematician who was murdered by Christian fanatics; in the Making Of video, the writer/director talks about wanting to do a story set during that time, and while doing research, found the story of Hypatia and realized that it covered everything they wanted to say; I'm a little obsessed now, and I read a bunch of stuff online about Hypatia and that era; I've enjoyed several movies set during this time period, very historically based, including the new King Arthur (2004) and Centurion (2010); it's a fascinating time (the fall of the Roman empire).