I saw stuff! It ruled! I am going to see lots more starting tonight, though, so let’s catch up right quick.

* 3:10 to Yuma. I liked it a lot, but didn’t *love* it. I hadn’t paid much attention to casting beyond the obvious, though, and was delighted to get so much Dallas Roberts. He’s worth seeing in anything.

* Dan in Real Life. I hit this free screening because I kinda dug a lot of people in the cast & because all the music was done by Sondre Lerche. It’s your standard romcom, but I thought it had charm. You have to know, though, that I am a sucker for any sort of performance in a film, and this one had a family improv-round-the-piano *and* a family talent show. Pure win, so far as I am concerned, especially as one of the brothers is played by Norbert Leo Butz.

* Lust, Caution. Eagerly anticipated by me, obviously, as I am a huge Tony Leung fan. And that Ang Lee guy isn’t bad either. I read a lot of mixed reviews before I went, and they’re all wrong. It was an utterly gorgeous film, it did not feel nearly as long as it was, and the critical obsession with the sex in it says a lot more about the critics than it does about the sex.

* Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Hello, awards season. Beautiful film, unsurprising to anyone who saw the first one. I’m still just utterly delighted that we got a sequel at all, and it’s marvelous. I’m looking forward to the inevitable special edition of the two films.

* The Darjeeling Limited. Oh Wes. Thank you. At this point I don’t adore it like I do Rushmore & Tenenbaums, but I really like it a lot and am looking forward to seeing it again. I’ve read a lot of meta on Anderson this week, but most of it has been really reductive, some to the degree you’re wondering if people are seeing the same movies. The obvious example is criticism of the treatment of India in Darjeeling, which tends to skip over little things like facts, and also that the film is clearly critical of the brothers’ use of India. Basically, I want to shake authors and ask if they’re paying attention. If Anderson’s weird about anything (and lord knows he is, and that’s why I love him) he’s weird about *women*. Discuss. (Also, Adrien Brody is painfully attractive. I’m just saying.)