So Friday I stopped by the local video store and picked up two five-day rentals: Gingerbread Man starring Kenneth Branaugh and People I Know, starring Al Pacino.

I started watching Gingerbread, and found it a little hard to buy Branaugh as a Savanah lawyer. He’s a good actor but I didn’t get far into it. Got bored. I had the feeling the director was bored too, and maybe the cast. Possibly the writer, John Grisham, is getting bored writing about people like Savanah lawyers. (But please, John, not another Painted House.) A quick google proves I’m not the only viewer who wasn’t caught up in it. It’s got a hell of a cast, though, including Robert Duvall, so I’ll probably try finishing it. It’s paid for and not due back until Wednesday.

So I popped it out and put in People I Know. Al Pacino as a has-been NY publicist. Not far into the film, I found myself watching Pacino and Tea Leoni suckin up some opium in a swanky whorehouse. God preserve me from movies that make me feel like I’ve just stepped in something that’s gonna need hosing off.

In short, I think I’m off movies for a while. There are just a few that have been recommended by people I trust, and I’ll watch those as the Winter goes by. (I liked March of the Penguins.) But for the most part, it’s time for a few — dozen — good books.

* I spelled weak that way on purpose. It’s a pun, get it? Ha ha .