Trying to stay away from teh computer is a challenge for us. We spent our weekend trying to stay out of the office. Except for a three hour stint playing Bookworm (Tod kibbitzed and I did the typing), we did pretty well.
One way we passed the time was by watching endless movies: Monsters, Inc.; Rated X (called King of Porno in Japanese); Girl, Interrupted; Rear Window; A.I.
I really liked Rated X. Emilio Estevez directed this film about the Mitchell brothers, two entrepreneurial pornographic filmmakers. There was plenty of nudity & sex (always a plus) but the story focused on the relationship between the brothers. I loved the way the film incorporated porno cuts (bad edits), weird continuity and the canted and rotating camerawork that you sometimes see in porn films. Rated X is set over 30 years from the early 60s to the early 90s and the period sets and costumes were impressively acurate in detail.
The worst film of the bunch was A.I. Man, it was bizarre. Spielberg and Kubrick collaborated on this project for decades and it looks like they kept making concessions to one another. "OK, Stanley, you can keep your signature toilet scene but I have to have a cute, animated talking toy." The acting was choppy and sometimes unmotivated and the film would have been better off ending about 20 minutes before it did.
So the movies kept us off the computer most of the time, but we ended up checking IMDB after every one. I love reading the goofs and trivia...
It's a strange opposite, you're watching American movies in Japan and lately I've been watching Japanese movies in America. Lately, we've caught Audition, Ring, and Battle Royale, all good movies.
There's a movie thats out, or coming out there called Returner that looks fun, your standard US-type action adventure film.
I share your frustration with AI. I think everyone kept looking at it saying "Ok, that's a Spielberg thing, that's a Kubrick thing." It made me sad to watch it though, as I knew that'd be the last thing we'd see from Kubrick ever. His 2001 is, IMHO, the best movie ever. That whole period of his films (The Killing, Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, 2001, Clockwork Orange) is a creative triumph. I'm on a new Kubrick kick lately as the BBC has been playing a Kubrick documentary all weekend.