Compliance, Ohio - Mist and Oscar

One beautiful day last week I experienced a new weather phenomenon...freezing fog.

It had rained the day before, putting lots of moisture in the air. The next day, it was foggy and the temperature was right at freezing, masking trees in the distance and growing little icicle beards on everything that stood still.

Today, of course, it's back to "freezing rain", meaning "drive slowly and walk flat-footed...like you have blisters on your feet...or painfully fabulous shoes."

But, there's no denying it: this Midwest weather is perfect for movie-watching. So far, I've rented "The Departed" and "Babel" in an attempt to catch up with the Oscars (and the rest of the world).

I was a little worried that I might not be able to snag a copy of "Babel" at the local "Family Video" store (the only rental place left in town, I'm told, after the other one left mysteriously in the middle of the night...which sounds like an excellent back-up plan), but I was in luck. Last night, the night before the Oscars, the featured film was "The Guardian!!! Starring Kevin Costner!!!" ("Rental only $1.50!" Exclamation points free!)

There were several copies of "Babel".

The acting in "Babel" was amazing, but the story was quite a downer. While it's true that everyone made an emotional connection - or reconnection - by the end of the film, it was still depressing and too easily boiled down to "Crash" with language instead of racism. (Like "Syriana" is "Traffic" with oil instead of drugs, and "Britney Spears" is "Madonna" with youth instead of talent...or hair).