Pam and I finally saw “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” last Saturday. I was very impressed. I actually felt that the religious symbolism came through better in the movie than it did in the book (though, as Anthony Lane described it in a review in The New Yorker, the religious symbolism is as obvious as a rhino in a phonebooth). They kept the violence a little off-camera, too, which was nice.

We’ve been under the weather, and are well behind in our holiday movie watching. I’m battling a cold right now, though I’m at work as I write this. Don’t know how long I’ll last. I couldn’t get to sleep last night, thanks to this malady, so I went out on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV (until 3 am!). Ended up watching much of the Jessica Lange-Jeff Bridges version of “King Kong.” I saw it in the theater when it came out, which seems like it was while I was still in college. I didn’t remember how much they played up Jessica Lange’s sexuality (showing her in skimpy outfits as much as possible), and making it seem like Kong was leering at her with lust in his eyes. Watching it last night, it seemed very silly. Pam and I still need to watch the new version.

And we need to see “Munich,” “Memoirs of a Geisha” (great book, but it woudn’t appeal to everyone), and “Syriana.” “Rent” is already gone, and “Aeon Flux” is probably soon to depart. We’ll probably have to catch them (along with the Edward R Murrow flick) on NetFlix. Think we’ll skip “Brokeback Mountain.” Yeah, definitely skip that one.