So I convinced a girl to go see The Hours with me. I was worried about seeing this by myself, it's such an obvious chick flick. Don't want the man card revoked, doncha know? Unfortunately, it ended up two girls went with me, so instead of looking like I'd used this to convince my girlfriend to see Shanghai Knights, it looked like I was just one of the girls, their gay friend or something. But that's never stopped me before, so I made them promise not to tell anyone if I cried, braced myself, and bought a ticket.

This was a great movie. A little slow, and a real downer, but otherwise it was damn good. It was loaded with terrific actors, including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Claire Danes, John C. Reilly, Ed Harris, Nicole Kidman, and Nicole Kidman's fake nose. All of them performed admirably, especially Harris and Streep, I thought. At first it was the fifties story I was interested in, but Moore was slightly annoying, a little too whiny. So then I concentrated on the contemporary story, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Harris as the man dying of AIDS was so awesome, his reading full of pathos but not mawkish. And Streep was the perfect choice for his foil, his former lover now living with another woman.

The twenties story of Woolf and her husband was also very involving, if slightly anti-climactic since the movie started with Woolf's suicide. Hey, how about that Julianne Moore, too? When did she become everyone's favorite sexually transgressive fifties housewife, anyway? That last movie she was in it was her husband that decided he was gay, and she decided that she wanted a black man. I haven't seen that one yet, was it any good?

What award(s) will it win (it'll definitely win something)? It could maybe win for score, but that might as well be called the John Williams award, so probably not. Ed Harris looks to be a very strong contender for Best Supporting Actor. I've now seen four of the five nominees, and I think it's between him and Paul Newman right now. Can't wait to see Chris Cooper, though. Was John C. Reilly nominated for this or for Chicago? I thought he was better in Chicago. Nicole Kidman looks like she stands a good chance of a win, although Diane Lane and Zellweger were both good also. For Best Supporting Actress I think Streep is a lock, but I haven't seen Kathy Bates yet. I still think Best Director is going to Scorcese no matter what, and I'm sticking with Chicago for Best Picture. Whew, this movie got a shit-ton of nominations, huh?