3 Movies I've Seen Recently

Paradise Now
Great movie about two Palestinians living in the West Bank and being picked to be suicide bombers. Well done and interesting.

Hustle and Flow
Took me a little to get into, but then I really liked it. A friend of mine was disturbed though and felt it was racist. I agreed more with my wife who felt if anything it was sexist. She pointed out that it wasn't as if they gave the impression that all blacks were pimps and hos (hos, ho's or hoes? How do you write it?). For example, they had the middle-class black woman who was uncomfortable being around the pimp house. I actually really liked how they handled race in the movie. They turned things on their head a bit by having his main ho and dj be white. And I liked how that was noted by the characters, but not the biggest deal in the world. Overall, I thought it was definitely a good movie.

Jarhead
Curious about other people's take on this movie. I enjoyed watching it, but am still unsure. Part of me felt like its point, going to war but not fighting, was made and then not much more happened. Additionally, I never totally bought the 2 stars as army guys. Jake was passable, because he can look kind of crazy. But Peter Sarsgaard (who'd also been in Garden State) didn't fit the army-frat guy type at all. They both would work better as lost intellectuals than lost army guys. Still, another part of me felt like Mendes stuck to a simple thesis and pulled it off. Them having to go through all the army rituals for nothing, the desert images, the need for a kill... It's all kind of sticking with me. So, opinion is still pending.