I’ve seen a few movies recently that I liked, or thought were interesting:

The Avengers: Yeah, it’s Joss Whedon. I do love some of his stuff; others, not so much. I think he did a fine job on this movie, but I was not as blown away by it as other people I know. It was fun, but not so fun I felt I needed to see it again. (Though maybe I could be talked into seeing it in IMAX.)

I think, though, the bottom line for me was that not only was Loki just kind of unexciting as a bad guy, but Thor is my least favorite of the Avengers. Captain America was, well, okay, I suppose. Iron Man was good, and I though the Hulk was actually pretty good in this film. But Thor has never interested me, and to be honest I wasn’t crazy about the Thor film.

Miss Jiwaku’s  Most Noteworthy Comment: “The sound was really good!” (She’s been studying audio design for films… but for the record, she seemed to feel as I did: fine movie, but not genre-shattering.)

두레소리 (Du-re Sori Story): If you’re a musician, or into music, this will probably do more for you than if you’re not. It’s based on the true story of a singing club at a traditional Korean music school that, for idiotic reasons, was shut down despite brightening the lives of its members, and the teacher who broke the rules to keep the club going.

It was heartening to see a teacher fighting the system to help his students get more interested in, and excited about, their chosen field of study. (Because, take it from me: the more you learn about music, even music outside your field of specialization, the better — more creative, more innovative, more passionate, more inspired — a musician you will be.)

It was disheartening to see how “natural” it seemed to all the characters — except the teacher, and the students — that the choir should be canceled, banned from the school, and assailed on all sides. Sometimes, one gets the feeling that pleasure, happiness, and excitement are forbidden to young Koreans, and that some justification — usually the necessity of preparing for university, marriage, having a kid, or whatever — is always offered for ruining any hint of fun being had.

Miss Jiwaku’s  Most Noteworthy Comment (in response to my perplexity at why anyone would cancel a singing club at a music school): “They should show this film overseas, so people can see what Korean education and society are really like.”

Dark Shadows: A new vampire movie with a lot of familiar faces. We had low expectations, as the posted makes it look like a crappy supernatural comedy, but it’s actually a pretty good film. There are moments of wonderfully deadpan comedy, there is interesting conflict, the supernatural stuff is integrated into the story very well, and the film doesn’t try too hard to be knee-slappingly hilarious — which makes it work. Oh, and the special effects are mostly subtle at first, mostly pretty extreme toward the end, but very well done all the way through.

Miss Jiwaku’s  Most Noteworthy Comment: “It was really funny… especially the part with the keyboard.”