The Aristocrats ++ I view 4 letter words as punctuation and punctuate most sentences myself. However, unnecessary expletives detract in real life. Provocative but not terribly appealing.
Capote +++++ This is the story of Truman Capote and involves his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. If you are homophobic stay away. If you are an open minded human see it. It will be nominated for a best picture and should be neck and neck heading into the stretch.
The Constant Gardener. Honesty is the ultimate victim. Ralph Fiennes will get a best actor nomination +++ Paranoid men will walk out of this one going "I thought so."
Flight Plan. Think of this as a two hour advertisement for Amtrak and cruise ships. Jody Foster is very good. Movie an interesting B/B+ ++ She may get a nomination although this is not her best movie.
Good Night and Good Luck - a movie about Edward R. Murrow, beautifully nuanced +++++. Take a smart person with you and talk about this movie afterward. This movie will get several nominations.
Jarhead - a thinking man's anti-war movie about the first gulf war. Jake Gyllenhaal will be nominated for best actor but Peter Saasgaard will win for best supporting actor. ++++ Parents will not send their children into Iraq after they see this.
March of the Penguins. - A movie without a category. Simply superb. Will make people on the Golden
Gate Bridge come down from their ledges. There are good reasons to live and this movie reminds us of the joy of being alive. +++++ Might get best picture if it qualifies, otherwise best documentary in a walk.
Prime. A movie about a love affair between an older woman and a younger man. ++ Meryl Streep is better than this role lets her be. Uma Thurman is the older woman and every man would like to be the younger man.
Shopgirl. - This is a cerebral but fundamentally mean spirited Steve Martin movie. A disengaged man does the right things but without feeling. Claire Danes as a vulnerable young woman may get a best actress nomination for her role in this interesting movie. Take your psychologist with you. You'll have plenty to talk about. +++
The Squid and the Whale. A very real if not very happy movie. It's like reading a very good short story about an unhappy subject. +++ If you are looking for a quality downer here it is.
Walk the Line. This is a musical for psychiatrists, psychologists and anyone over 50. Reese Witherspoon broadens her curriculum vitae. ++++ Johnny Cash returns to life to correct and update the record. The car almost crashes and we end up happy they're happy.
The Wedding Crashers. Imperfect and light. A diversion ++ A good movie to see after a bad day.
The 40 Year Old Virgin. You have enough crap in your life without this.
Movies resonate with different people for various reasons. Hopefully some of these will work for you.
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 40 Ramasvami (Kavali Venkata). A Digest of the Different Castes of India, 83 charming hand-coloured lithographed plates, Madras, 1837. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 50 Watson (John Forbes) & John William Kaye. The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations...of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan, 8 vol., 480 mounted albumen prints, 1868-75. £4,000-6,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 53 Afghanistan.- Elphinstone (Hon. Mountstuart). An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint plates, a fine copy, 1815. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 57 [Album and Treatise on Hinduism], manuscript treatise on Hinduism in French, 31 watercolours of Hindu deities, Pondicherry, 1865. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 62 Allan (Capt. Alexander). Views in the Mysore Country,
[1794]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 76 Bird (James). Historical Researches on the Origin and Principles of the Bauddha and Jaina Religions..., first edition, lithographed plates, Bombay, American Mission Press, 1847. £3,000-4,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 100 Ceylon.- Daniell (Samuel). A Picturesque Illustration of the scenery, animals, and native inhabitants, of the Island of Ceylon: in twelve plates, 1808. £5,000-7,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 123 D'Oyly (Charles). Behar Amateur Lithographic Scrap Book, lithographed throughout with title and 55 plates mounted on 43 paper leaves, [Patna], [1828]. £3,000-5,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 139 Gandhi (known as Mahatma Gandhi,) Fine Autograph Letter signed to Jawaharlal Nehru, Sevagram, Wardha, 1942, emphasising the importance of education in rural communities. £10,000-15,000
Forum Auctions Online: India Ends 19th February 2026
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 140 Gantz (John). Indian Microcosm, first edition, Madras, John Gantz & Son, 1827. £10,000-15,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 146 Grierson (Sir George Abraham). Linguistic Survey of India, 11 vol. in 20, folding maps, original cloth, Calcutta, Superintendent Government Printing, 1903-28. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 195 Madras.- Fort St. George Gazette (The), No.276-331, pp.493-936 and Index to all of 1834 at end, modern half calf, Madras, 2nd July - 31st December 1834. £2,000-3,000
Forum, Feb. 19: Lot 205 Marshall (Sir John) and Alfred Foucher. The Monuments of Sanchi, 3 vol., first edition, 141 plates, most photogravure, [Calcutta], [1940]. £3,000-4,000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: HAMILTON, Sir William (1730-1803) - Campi Phlegraei. Napoli: [Pietro Fabris], 1776, 1779. € 30.000 - 50.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: [MORTIER] - BLAEU, Joannes (1596-1673) - Het Nieuw Stede Boek van Italie. Amsterdam: Pieter Mortier, 1704-1705. € 15.000 - 25.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998) - L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Roma e Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [ma 1933?]. € 20.000 - 30.000
Il Ponte, Feb. 25-26: IL MANOSCRITTO RITROVATO DI IPPOLITA MARIA SFORZA. TITO LIVIO - Ab Urbe Condita. Prima Decade. Manoscritto miniato su pergamena, metà XV secolo. € 280.000 - 350.000
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.