The two other movies I saw over break were slightly less conversation provoking: Doubt and Valkyrie. I shall explain:

3. “Doubt” – It’s cast is probably the most remarkable aspect of the movie, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. The story evolves as a pseudo witch hunt, where the target is the priest of a Catholic school, his supposed victim being the only black student in the school. Without any evidence, Sister Aloysius Beauvier launches an undercover attack on the priest, recruiting Sister James, a young, innocent, willing-to-please, newcomer to act as her cohort. Still unable to prove anything beyond doubt, Sister Beauvier manages to convince Father Flynn that he must leave or she will expose his “secret”. My suspicion that nothing questionable ever happened was validated, in my opinion, by the last line of the movie. My mom left the theater thinking he did something wrong, so my review is really just my interpretation anyway, but I won’t spoil it for you by spelling out the ending.

4. “Valkyrie” – Let me start off by saying that its difficult to take Tom Cruise seriously when he’s wearing an eye patch. This wasn’t his best performance. However, the story was very educational and some of the cinematography was quite breathtaking. If you don’t know the Valkyrie assassination plot, its worth it to learn about the last attempt on Hitler’s life before he took his own, but its easily a DVD rental.

Book reviews to come soon!