There will be tedium.

It's a dark, gloomy, rainy afternoon in Georgia, and my thoughts turn to the gloomy state of movies I have seen recently. Perhaps the gloomiest is the highly overrated THERE WILL BE BLOOD, which moves at a leaden pace and tries to mix two combustible substances, oil and religion. Paul Anderson's take on American capitalism synchs easily with other movie critiques such as Oliver Stone's WALL STREET and his own much more interesting MAGNOLIA. Anderson seems to think that a movie with almost no dialogue for the first 20 minutes, a movie with no women to speak of, and a movie that holds the camera on an overlit wide-angle shot of star Daniel Day-Lewis makes great drama. The pay-off is minimal, especially since Day-Lewis's character is saddled with a silent (before and after his accident) son and a strangely uncharismatic preacher. Both these conflicts finally come to a boil in the last 20 minuntes of the film, but by that time, we, like the three combatants, are exhausted. Day-Lewis, an actor of towering talent, reminds me of Laurence Olivier, who could charm and bluster his way through roles or create memorable characters. In this case, Day-Lewis is the former.

Ken Doll drops the ball and other cultural oddities.

After squandering over $35 million of his own hard-earned bucks, Mitt Romney has had to face a shocking reality. Good looks and money can't buy you love. The slick, plastic optimist simply did not connect with Republicans in these difficult times, while the straight, non-flipping and war-seasoned McCain has won the hearts of moderates and some independents. And what to make of the born agains and gay bashers. They seem to be in a perpetual disarray with no George Bush to assuage their fears. Hopefully all of these events will speed a Democratic victory in November. Whether Hillary or Obama or both, the current regime will be gone. But will their legacy completely destroy any hopes of recovery? Let us hope not.

Have you noticed that three of the best films from 2007 have psychopaths as main or important characters? And we are not talking about SAW III. Sweeney Todd is hell-bent on revenge, Daniel in THERE MUST BE BLOOD is hell-bent on being the number one oil baron, and the Javier Barden killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is simply hell-bent on anything that moves. The latter seems a more realistic incarnation of the Mad Dog From Hell in the Coen Brothers' classic RAISING ARIZONA. But these days the farcial highjinks of their earlier films are gone. People aren't laughing at many or any movies now.