So, what have I been doing over the last few days instead of writing? On Christmas Eve, we had eight people over for a gathering. On Christmas Day, my brother Darren, who had slept over, stayed until 3:00. On Boxing Day, my wife's sister and her family spent most of the day. Yesterday, I recovered from the previous three days. Today, I mostly lazed around and read, but I am nonetheless back behind the keyboard.

True to my intentions, I have used the break to try and catch up, at least a little, with some older movies. On the 25th, Darren and I watched "Something's Gotta Give", which was never quite bad enough to give up on nor good enough to enjoy. Sadly, Jack Nicholson has become such a caricature of himself that I can no longer tell when he is giving a performance or recounting an event from his life (the most recent exception being 1996's "Blood and Wine"). On the 26th, it was the lesbian spy comedy/thriller "D.E.B.S.", which I enjoyed quite a bit, especially the performances of Jordana Brewster, as crime queen Lucy Diamond, and Jimmi Simpson, channeling Paul Giamatti as her #2, Scud. The 27th was Pedro Almodovar's "Bad Education", which was magnificent. It certainly isn't a film for everyone, with discrete but unvarnished portrayals of gay male relations, and I have to admit being a little uncomfortable with the subject matter at times. But the story is a doozy, with twists galore, every one unexpected but perfectly reasonable, and all the elements of a first-rate film are evident, from the performances of Gael Garcia Bernal and Fela Martinez to the music and camera work. This is my first Almodovar film - frankly, inexcusable for someone who so enjoys movies - but it will certainly not be my last.

Today, I watched "Alexander", which was pure Oliver Stone bombast. Stone has long been more of a propagandist than a filmmaker, and "Alexander" is no exception. Even at his best, his reach for greatness has more often than not been corrupted by a crass sensibility. There is little subtlety in a Stone film, everything painted in bright colours with symbolism so blatant that my seven-year-old couldn't miss the point. Yet, this film is compulsively watchable, even when the story becomes muddled, when the language is unbearably trite and on-the-nose. Colin Farrell makes up for the last film I saw him in (the hideously stupid and predictable "S.W.A.T." - you know you are in an epically bad film when even Samuel L. Jackson can't redeem it even a little) with an often nuanced performance as the young king of the world, and Val Kilmer continues his underrated career as Alexander's father Philip. Gary Stretch also stands out as Cleitus, and any time Rosario Dawson wants to take her clothes off in front of the camera, she need only let me know and I will gladly buy a ticket. Next on my list (if I wake up early enough tomorrow): "Kinsey". Otherwise, the girls and I will probably curl up on the chesterfield tomorrow evening and watch "Hitch".