CHANGELING

I took time off from writing over the holidays to catch up on some of the great movies that are out. I love going to the movies, the whole idea of going to the theater, buying the popcorn, and settling into that cushy stadium seating. I guess that comes from living in Los Angeles, the company town of movies, where going to the cinema was always an EVENT. It's what I miss most about living there. (Besides the beach, of course.)

I usually go to the first showing of the day when there is almost no one else in the theater. Often I have the whole place to myself, and they run the movie just for me. I love it!

The first film I went to see was CHANGELING, a movie not to be missed. Intense and dramatic, yes. Compelling story, yes. And based on a real event that took place in Wineville, California in the nineteen thirties. The events were so horrific, Wineville later changed its name to Mira Loma.

Angelina Jolie was fabulous as she is in everything. The wonderful John Malkovich, another of my favorite actors, is in it. So is Jeffrey Donovan, the cool, sexy star of TV's BURN NOTICE, but I have to say, after watching him for a season in BURN NOTICE, he didn't seem to fit the part he played in CHANGELING. I had a hard time taking him seriously in the role. Jason Butler Harner played the killer and gave the most chilling performance, my choice for best actor in the film.

Clint Eastwood was the director so you know the film has depth.