Movies seen this week
Monsoon Wedding -- A gorgeous film, with a wonderful mix of Hindi and English culture that describes the three days before an arranged marriage (and an unexpected lovematch) in Delhi. Although the narrative is almost hijacked by what seemed to be a secondary plot point, it still trucks along. Worth seeing because of the great music, unabashed romanticism, and almost documentary eye into the world of a wealthy Indian family.

Dot the i -- Ostensibly a film about cold feet before a wedding, it turns into more of a thiller/exploitation movie. I'm not sure I liked the characters at all, but I also think the director might have been doing that on purpose, which takes some courage. At the end of the movie I felt like I needed a shower. Again, not a bad thing if you're into it, but I can generally do without.

Angel-A -- A Luc Besson movie about an angel who comes down to rehabilitate an Algerian/French/American ne'er do well. It's an old conceit, and the use of multicultural elements and black-white film doesn't really do anything to make the story fresh. I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that popular French cinema is the worst kind of sentimental, outrageous dreck. Even Luc Besson, who I think is really quite talented, can bring so much bombast that you snort your popcorn. It's like Michael Bay is running a school over there.

Coming up: Land of the Dead, Laura, and the original Solaris