Milk

Saw Milk tonight, and found it to be a wonderfully made film, with a lead performance that is the best of year. Give that Oscar to Sean Penn--do it now, and save a little time during the Oscar telecast. Just when I think he can't surprise me anymore, he creates this living breathing character, who wasn't for one second Sean Penn. He completely inhabits the role, and unlike a few previous performances, such as his grieving father in Mystic River, I didn't see the acting. He covered the cracks.

Rather enjoyed the coming attractions before the movie. They try to tailor them to the audience--if you're there to watch an action picture, you are gonna get three or four action picture trailers. If you are watching an art film, those are the kinds of trailers you'll see. Given that the distributers probably figured a generous portion of the audiences for Milk would be gay, it was a little funny to me that the trailers were two ads for the Metropolitan Opera, and back to back Clive Owen pictures, with lingering emphasis on those baby blues of his.