January is the weirdest month for people who really like movies. On one hand, every new release is pretty much crap (so far we've had such great-looking flicks as "Just Married," "National Security" and "Kangaroo Jack"). On the other hand, all the really cool releases from December are still around and some are opening wider. Which means I'm in a mad rush to see a bunch of these movies before the Oscars.

Today, for instance, I'm driving down to San Diego (an hour each way) to see "Far From Heaven" which I've read raves about, but about which I have my doubts. Then I'm coming home. Later I'm going to drive up to Hollywood (about two hours each way) to see "The Two Towers" again, because there's a screening up there with a Q&A with Andy Serkis that seems like it'll be fun. I think tomorrow I'll have to go see "Chicago" or "The Hours." And whichever of those two I don't see tomorrow, I'll probably catch on Monday after class.

I really wish Hollywood would spread these releases out better over the year, so I'm not stuck madly trying to see ten movies every January. It's just annoying.

Ste "But then again, it seems weird to complain about there being too many movies" phen