So we went and saw Chicago tonight, and I have to say I really liked it, especially surprising given my general disdain for musicals or movies with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Impressed with the level of singing and dancing from actors not generally known for doing such things. Richard Gere sounds like Murray Head when he sings, making me wonder if that big-screen version of Chess can't be too far off.

We saw the movie at the West Newton Cinema, an indie house with six screens (I'm hoping none were smaller than ours). A neat place, still holding on to some of its era charm (pre-1950, not sure how pre-, though), but with a shabby gentility.

The original plan was to see The Pianist, which we scrapped at dinner, as the couple sitting next to us was (a) unbelievably pompous, and (b) planning on seeing The Pianist. Fearing the possibility of us and they being the only two couples in the theater, we opted for an earlier show.

Other possible choices included A Mighty Wind, the Christopher Guest movie you've seen mentioned on Greg and James Dinan's weblogs, and Bend it Like Beckham, a movie about an Indian girl with soccer talent. I almost wish we'd seen that instead. Maybe next time out, though given that this was the first time at the movies since The Recruit, we'd need to pick up the pace a bit.

West Newton would actually be a nice place to live, it having a confluence of the movie theater, barbecue (where we ate dinner), and a commuter rail stop. I just hope the jackasses we encountered at dinner aren't typical of the locals.