And the Winner is..

My love of movies probably came from my Dad. At one time I actually served as a movie critic for one of the radio stations I worked for. The problem is I'm more of a popcorn movie type of guy. You know favoring movies that are entertaining versus those that wow real critics.

I actually looked forward to this year's Oscars. Because of the early morning hours I work I couldn't stay up for the whole thing, but tried to stick around for at least one major award. That came 90 minutes into the telecast. Because the Academy wants to appeal to an international audience we have to sit through every minor category. Many people have remarked to me that they simply just hate that. I agree if you watched the Barbara Walters special, the red carpet preview and the Oscars you put in more than 5 hours.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing some of this year's winners. However I never buy all the critical hype instead preferring the praise of someone I know in idle conversation as the best thumbnail description of a movie.

I recently picked up some movies on DVD after getting a little Oscar fever. Putting on my old critic's hat here are some brief descriptions. Peter Jackson's "King Kong" is one long film, which probably could have been broken up into two smaller films. Yes it's visually stunning and the special effects are very good, but unlike his Lord of the Rings films as action-packed as a film can get it's hard to get worked up about a movie when you already know the sad conclusion, the monkey dies!

Our morning show's Bob Hoffmaster recommended the Spike Lee film "Inside Man." It's a caper film starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen. I never thought I'd say I enjoyed a Spike Lee film, but there it is. The bank robbers aren't the real villains. If you like smart films with a Law & Order type twist you might like this one.

Finally last, but not least a movie I haven't been able to get out of my head "Hollywoodland." It bombed at the box office and might not appeal to everyone, but if you like a good conspiracy theory this might do it for you. It's about the mystery surrounding the death of 1950's TV Superman, George Reeves. In it a fictional detective, based on a real detective, looks into the suicide of Reeves. It paints a sad portrait of Reeves who couldn't get a good acting job once he donned the famous cape.

Ben Affleck plays Reeves. Adrien Brody is the detective. There's a marvelous scene where Reeves is watching a screening of the film "From Here to Eternity" in a packed movie house. He's morphed into a real scene from that film with the film's star Burt Lancaster. I won't give it away. The movie shows three possible ways Reeves took his own life or was shot and killed by another. A warning though that this is not the kind of Superman film you want your children to see.