Friday night, our kid was at a sleepover, so we indulged… My wife and I saw Punch-Drunk Love and then right after it went to Secretary. Inbetween we had hot chocolate and cake at the little bistro at the cool theater we go to here.

It was really fascinating to see both of them together like that… a lot of similarities, actually. They’re both about people finding love that doesn’t fit the hollywood-romantic mold, who don’t seem to be merely settling for lowered-expectations geek-love, but who seem to discover another oddball as a real blessing.

Overall, I’d have to say PunchDrunk was more a movie about story and directorial flourish, not so much about characters. But Secretary is really brilliant, and very very character-driven. The leading actress is amazing. She should be up for an oscar — she does incredible character-evolving stuff just with her face in this movie. And Spader is at his best.