I do not think I could ever be a movie critic. I think in order to be a good movie critic you need to always watch a film with a bit of detachment. I cannot imagine you are able to really lose yourself in a film as a reviewer. I suppose you can see each film more than once...the first time to really watch it and enjoy it and the second time to review it with a more detached eye. I wonder if that is what critics do. But I would also think that after time, you lose the ability to be a regular moviegoer. Even I, nothing even close to a reviewer, have a hard time watching a movie without noticing - even seeking to find - anachronisms, continuity lapses and things like that. Tonight, as I watched "Owning Mahowny," a selection of the San Francisco International Film Festival, it occurred to me that I will likely never make my writing career as a film critic! First of all, I got lost in Philip Seymour Hoffman's character. He is a stupendous talent and whenever I watch him onscreen I have trouble focusing on much else. For some reason, I am predisposed to dislike Minnie Driver and she was in this movie, too. But I cannot decide if she did a poor job, if the character was poorly written, if the director failed to bring her character out or if the editor cut in the wrong places. Whoever is at fault, I thought the Minnie Driver character did not add anything to the film. Now, I do understand that it is based on a true story (and a novel) so there is probably little room. But I also know that movie makers are known to take poetic license and this would have been a good time to do so. It's just that, the whole time I saw her character, I was hard pressed to understand why she was staying with this guy, unless she is a total loser. Frankly, she comes off as a loser and though she says she loves him, I never actually saw or felt it. I think it was probably a combination of writing and directing. And then acting. Because I just do not like her!

My sister's next movie - Hollywood Homicide - is coming out soon! It is set to premiere in June. Not sure when in June but we are hoping the week while Mom and Nick are here so we can all go down to the big red carpet premiere and see it together or else all go to the theater on opening night and see it together! Anyway, the trailer is apparently out in theaters now and she is in it (towards the end). Kind of fun! In order to see the trailer in the theaters I will probably have to go see something wretched, like Anger Management or some other awul blockbuster. So, I may have to content myself with seeing the trailer online!