As I sit here waiting for hurricane whatshisname to drench the area (just after tropical storm whatshername did the same), it really isn't worth it trying to get out to do something more interesting than watching movies at home. Therefore I present for your reading enjoyment...

Another movie review: Cold Mountain

Let me just start by saying I'm glad as hell I didn't live during the Civil War. I'm way too big a pansy to have survived that shit.

I really liked this movie on a lot of different levels. The acting is incredible. The battle scenes make you cringe with the pain the characters are feeling as they get stabbed, shot, or blowed up. There were a bunch of actors in it that I like, and that I wasn't expecting: Ethan Suplee, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Giovanni Ribisi. Portman in particular made it painfully obvious how bad of a job Lucas is doing to Star Wars. In this, her acting is great and totally believable. Completely opposite her Star Wars wooden-plank-in-a-funny-dress role. Good job George.

Being the father of daughter, I really appreciate movies with strong women fending for themselves. This movie shows that well.

The premise: Cute guy lives in backwoods NC town. Cute girl moves to backwoods town. Cute girl and guy start making googly eyes at each other, just in time for the Civil War to break out and cute guy to ship out. Cute girl is left at home to fend for herself.

Cute guy gets busted up in the war. Ends up in the hospital and walks out (of the hospital and the army) near the end of the war, tho not late enough to get out without being called a deserter. Southerners (looking for deserters) are trying to kill him. Northerners (looking for Southerners) are trying to kill him. He's trying to hike his ass all the way to backwoods town to find Cute girl. Throw in a bitter, power hungry townie (who has the job of local backwoods deserter-buster) and his creepy near-albino partner causing havoc and things waiting at home get complicated.

The only annoying part was more "I shall destroy you, but only after I have a conversation with you, giving you enough time to mount a defense and possibly defeat me". Which s totally against item 6 (and possibly 7) of the Evil Overlord's list.