Now that I’m married and a father of four lovely children, it is increasingly difficult (read: impossible) to ever see a movie in the theater. Michele and I don’t get any time to ourselves, period, let alone the opportunity to go out and see a new movie. One of the movies I most wanted to see last year in the theater was Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World because I’m a big fan of the books on which the movie is based (I think I’ve read them all), and I’m also a big history buff when it comes to the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars in the early part of the 19th century.

When Michele and the kids (minus Tristan, who was sick) went to Sam’s Club yesterday, she bought the DVD, which just came out last week, I think. Last night I had a chance to watch about half of the movie. Cinematically it’s great; the details and design are very good. I’m not at all a fan of Russell Crowe and think there are others who could have done a better job at portraying Captain Aubrey. An actor that comes immediately to my mind is Ciarán Hinds, for example. He’d make a great Captain Aubrey. Anyway, I’ve read some of the criticisms of the plot in movie reviews and I can see why some people are rather critical of it. But I still have enjoyed it and look forward to finishing the rest of the movie soon.

I also am a huge fan of Ioan Gruffudd and the Horatio Hornblower series on A&E. I now have the complete collection on DVD but haven’t had a chance to watch them all yet. It’s kinda hard to do that when you’ve got little kids!