saw Before the Devil Knows Your Dead - very good. Hoffman is excellent (per usual - but still - hope he snags a Best Actor nomination. Marisa Tomei's body is gorgeous - at 43 she has a body women in their 20s would die for . I suppose i'm another sexist statistic commenting - but damn I was jealous. That aside her acting was very good also. Hawke was fine too . I found his character the most sympathetic although certainly not blameless - but I pittied him a bit.

For those who haven't read a review - Hoffman and Hawke are brothers who attempt to rob their parents' jewelry shop to get some major cash (both being in serious trouble money wise) - Hoffman dreams up the plan and marvelously manipulated his younger bro (Hawke) to participate. Its supposed to be a victimless crime - they get the money/jewels - His parents would get an insurance payout - but of course things don't go as planned.

the basic story doesn't sound complicated anfd it isn't - but the acting is superb and great dialogue add much nuance to the film. I was very entertained

In "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" everyone, I repeat EVERYONE (except possibly Rosemary Harris), has something wrong with them. And Hawke's flaw is that he is _weak_.

As the drama unfolds, we see any possibility of discovering a sympathetic character evaporate.

In "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" everyone, I repeat EVERYONE (except possibly Rosemary Harris), has something wrong with them. And Hawke's flaw is that he is _weak_.

As the drama unfolds, we see any possibility of discovering a sympathetic character evaporate.

The focus is on the many mistakes made by our war planners, and how little prepared we were for the aftermath of the invasion.

Charlie Rose had clips of interviews he'd done with Norman Mailer. I've always thought the guy was a rare sage. He said......before we went to war.....that he was afraid we'd never be able to end it.

PS Hoffman was great in a film that won't make the big time: The Savages...a film fest favorite it tells the tale of a brother and sister (Laura Linney) who are called to Sun City, AZ where their estranged father is beginning an unsettling trip down the highway that is dementia. The 2 sibs are writer wannabes who have not matured into creating families of their own plus they are competitive. So it's a tale of unprepared caregivers trying to do the right thing for a father they barely know.

Here's the blurb for today's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, on NPR:

"...The latest experiment in the eclectic career of filmmaker Todd Haynes: I'm Not There, a kind of fantasia on the various public personas of Bob Dylan. Six different actors — including Richard Gere, Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett — play the famously protean singer...."

Cate Blanchett??