my recent netflixes include "night at the museum" and "ridicule". "night at the museum" was one of those films whose trailer i saw and had no interest in. suddenly one day twiddle thumbs decided she wanted to see it so we put it on the netflix queue. i bumped it up because lately i'm tired of seeing older films and want to see more recent releases. even though i really don't know about the film, i thought it's gonna be some crap children's film. after watching it, maybe it is some crap children's film but i enjoyed it! it wasn't the greatest film. i wouldn't watch it over and over again. maybe just one more time and with kids...crazy to say, i know, but it made me laugh. instead of being uncomfortable watching ben stiller trying to act, it's ben stiller doing what he does best. a lot of times i find robin williams annoying and he wasn't in this one. that helped a lot too.

"ridicule" is a film that i have completely forgotten why i added it to my queue! even while watching it i couldn't figure out why because nothing about it seems like something i'd be interested in. actually, that's probably what made it great! what i probably did was look at my recommendations and added a few that were highly rated (4 out of 5 stars). the film is from france and is set in the last days before the revolution. ok, not last days but last years. being that it is a period film and french, you'd think that i wouldn't like it. contrary, it's delicious! you can see the cruelty of the court in those times before it fell. it's all about being ridiculed. if you are ridiculed, you become an outcast. the danger is that it can happen at any time because everyone is a sharp-tongued comedian ready to outdo the other. we see the court from the point of view from the main character who is an outsider. overall it was a great film in terms of story and characters. i love a good laugh and there's plenty of those. but there's also a bit of lesson to be learned for jokesters and that is what happens to those you ridicule. their feelings and how others view them after they've been ridiculed. there's much more going on in the film of course but you must watch it to enjoy it.