We just saw The Queen. I think we're about done with the Oscars although we might still see Notes on a Scandel and both Little Miss Sunshine and Water are coming from Netflix. The Queen had very good acting but I didn't think the story was that interesting. But I've always considered royalty to be rather useless and expensive so I didn't care that much about the queen or her struggles. Diane described Pan's Labyrinth quite well. It is mostly a war story with some fantasy elements. The grisly part is mostly the fights between the army and the rebels which does include the aftermath of the torture of one of the rebels (although thankfully it does not show the actual torture). I feel sorry for my mother right now. She likes to watch the movies on our top ten lists for the year but she hates violence. And pretty much the only non-violent movie on my top ten is Shortbus which has a lot of graphic sex. So I can't exactly recommend that one to her either. I think she'd really like Volver though and all the violence in that is off-screen so I think that one is okay at least.

Great movie especially for all the men in your life. Husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, nephews, you name it. My hubby and I watched it and we don't have kids but hubby's father has never been a part of his life and mine died when I was 13. My five brothers ranged in ages of 18, 16, 14 and twins that were 8 at the time dad died. In my five brothers you can clearly see the difference growing up without a dad makes. And no, it wasn't the twins at the end that struggled the most, it was and is the 3 oldest. Having had their dad then losing him had a profound affect on their lives. The twins are men of god and have their mom to thank for that. If you haven't seen it, definately worth a sit down. Saw The Help last night. Another very good movie.

Still with furs. I lived for a year in Canada (Ottawa) a cold country and very chilly city and someone gave me their very old fur coat. It was extremely heavy and rather moth eaten, probably less mouton and more dead cat. One day I walked into the city library and, though it was snowing as I left home, it was raining by the time I got there . . . and my goodness did that soggy coat pong. All eyes and noses followed me round the shelves until, in sheer embarrassment, I had to take it off and hide it behind a distant radiator where it steamed-off noxious vapours. When I returned to the UK the coat stayed behind. BTW Queen Elizabeth, was never Princess of Wales, just Duchess of York, as George VI went straight from D of Y to King. When Diana became Princess of Wales it was noted that the title hadn't been used since the time of the marriage of George V in 1890 something to Mary of Teck, always know as Old Queen Mary when I was a child. Also a fact I only became aware of recently, the title of Queen Mother was specially created for Queen Elizabeth on the death of George VI . . . probably much more than you (true US republicans all) needed to know. ;-)

Gone With The Wind. Dare I say that I don't care for Clark Gable? There are many famous movies I haven't seen, especially ones produced in the last few decades--Avatar and Slumdog Millionaire from your list. Well, except for movies for kids--I've seen all the Disney movies (and just about any movie for kids from that time) over and over and over. The last time I went to a movie theater would have been to see a kid's movie, and my youngest is 26. I watch movies on YouTube, where I can start them again to see the parts I missed when I fell asleep. ;)