I’m not sure why critics (in general) aren’t giving “The Kite Runner” higher ratings.  For some reason metacritic.com only rates it at 60.  IMDB rates it a little better at 7.6 (out of 10).

We loved this movie.  It deals with some very serious and mature topics in the lives of one family - as well as the decline of Afghanistan under communist and Taliban rule.  The actors were very well chosen and the adaptation from the novel to screen was handled very well.  In fact, one aspect of the original novel’s plot (which I felt was heavy-handed and unnecessary) was dropped from the end of the movie and so maybe I even liked it better.

Another movie (now on DVD) I didn’t hear much about was Stardust.  It hit the top of our Netflix queue and I was feeling a bit disappointed initially - until I saw it.  This was one of the more creative and fun films I’ve seen in awhile.  I’m a little bit surprised it hasn’t gotten more positive mention in the Bloggernacle - maybe I missed something.  It reminded me (in a good way) of Princess Bride - but this movie is it’s own creature and in some ways I don’t like even making a comparison.

These are two movies that almost got past me because I paid too much attention to the critics.