"I choose life."

These past two days, I've spent many hours in a dark place. No, it's not winter depression, nor have I been confined to, uh, solitary confinement in state prison. I've sat in a darkened theatre and watched a bunch of movies (well, four) at the "annual" (this is only the second year) Filmport, a not-quite-film-festival here in Oslo. Three in a row last night - from six thirty until one thirty; a real marathon - and one tonight. Movies that aren't exactly brand, spanking new, but which haven't yet opened in Norway, and, consequently, movies I haven't yet seen. So far I've caught Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Far from Heaven, The Ring, and Catch Me If You Can, and I have tickets to three more next week.

Confessions was quite brilliant, and not only because of Sam Rockwell's pitch-perfect performance - playing real-life TV producer, and unlikely CIA hitman, Chuck Barry - or the both-funny-and-tragic screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Human Nature), but also because of George Clooney's direction. Sometimes you could tell it's his first time behind the camera, and sometimes he tries a bit too hard - distracting us from the story and the performances with "smart" camera moves and framing - but it still beats the hell out of most debuts, and the silver-haired one appears to have a great future ahead of him in the director's chair...unless he sticks with the acting.

Far from Heaven was a very different movie, but no less stylised. A melodrama set in, and inspired by, the 1950s, it nevertheless featured subtle performances from all its leads, and managed to be extraordinarily moving - despite the potential trappings of the genre and the era. An exercise in style, but not at the expense of content - quite admirable. Recommended.

I have to admit that I thought the American remake of The Ring matched, and perhaps even surpassed, the Japanese original Ringu...in some areas. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree, but I'd actually rate the two equally. Ringu (and its first sequel) has a stronger sense of menace, and a rougher, more authentic air to it, while The Ring has a tighter story, is more shocking - I jumped in my seat a number of times - and moves quicker. The Ring takes the plots from both Ringu and Ringu 2 and mixes them together into something that's at once original and true to the original, and (I thought) actually quite a bit creepier because of it. An impressive remake which I look forward to seeing again. On DVD. Alone. At night. In the dark.

Finally, Spielberg's latest is probably his best movie in years, from a pure entertainment point-of-view. Catch Me If You Can doesn't have the grand themes or ambitions of A.I. or Minority Report, but it's breezier, lighter, funnier, better paced - simply put, more entertaining. More fun. More easily accessible. And that's in no waya criticism of his last few films, but a compliment to Spielberg's versatility. I loved Catch Me. I loved Tom Hanks', Leonardo DiCaprio's, and Christopher Walken's performances. I loved the look of it. I loved the score. I loved the script. I had great fun for two hours and twenty minutes. And I'm seeing it again, soon. What more could you possibly need? Go see it.  ¶ 01:23