Short version this week, for the following reason:
While I was minding my own business (read: watching The Simpsons) in the back of the house, our neighbor and her sister-in-law came over to ask if we knew of a babysitter who could be found on short notice. We did, but didn't have her number on hand. Not that it mattered, since The Wife volunteered to watch our neighbor's nephew (he's exactly a month older than She Who Shall Not Be Named). She might be in more trouble if the kid turned out to be a monster, but he was great. I especially liked being called "Man" all night, which is apparently his appellation for all non-father dudes.
Onward.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Best one yet, in my opinion, though I still think they're going to have to find a new cast, thanks to the "reverse Macchio" effect on display with Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe.
Howl's Moving Castle - Spirited Away is a tough act to follow, and while Castle is a decent enough film, it suffers greatly by comparison. Also releasing this week: My Neighbor Totoro
Jarhead - AKA That Other Vaguely Controversial Movie Jake Gyllenhaal was in Last Year.
Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Third Season - I'm glad the miracle of syndication and video technology are around to convice me this show wasn't a figment of my oft-fevered imagination. You can understand my confusion as a youngser, since the idea of a wacky comedy set in a Nazi prison camp seems like something only a person in the grip of a complete psychotic break could come up with.
Curse, Death, and Spirit - Three horror shorts from pre-Ringu Hideo Nakata.
The Shaggy Dog/Shaggy DA - Coinciding with this week's release of the Tim Allen Dog remake, which I am not seeing, so don't ask.
The Ape - Spider-Man's James Franco directed and stars in this inexplicable story of an aspiring writer who movies in to a house and ends up with a "trash-talking ape with an affinity for Hawaiian shirts" as a roommate. I must see this.
Read it again. I'm not complaining that they're growing up, I'm pointing out that - unlike American actors in their 30s who can actually pass for 16 - the kids in Harry Potter are going to look 30 when they're 17. Voldemort will probably lose some of his menace with Radcliffe and Grint towering over Ralph Fiennes in the next three movies.
Uh-oh, I woke up Gabrielle and Ian from their naps at the rest home...
I was, as I think I've mentioned, thoroughly surprised by how watchable the first season of Hogan's Heroes was on DVD.
Possibly this indicates an increasing load of mercury in my cerebrospinal fluid or something.
Why is it that everybody complains about the actors in Harry Potter growing up? The whole point of the series is that they grow up! And, if actors in their 30's can play high school kids, (hello, 90210), then the Harry Potter kids, who are at least within a couple of years of their characters' ages, can continue playing their parts until the series is over.