smoldering firth and singing triplets

I used the long weekend to get caught up on some movie viewing. I saw Girl With a Pearl Earring, and was impressed with Colin Firth’s ability to smolder with repression. Really, I wonder if there is any role that he plays that doesn’t require him to smolder? The movie was beautifully shot. I kept thinking to myself, “That’s some great cinematography there!”

The other movie I saw was the Triplets of Belleville, every so often a movie like this comes along that confirms how cool and innovative hand drawn animation can be, even when some large companies seem wedded to only producing animated movies with a computer. It was also refreshing to watch a movie that didn’t really need any dialog to tell a story, just visuals and a good soundtrack. There was a little kid sitting behind me who seemed to laugh every other minute. The director did a fantastic job with the character designs, with bicyclists having distorted overdeveloped leg muscles and gangster characters appearing as neckless looming rectangles.