I love going to the movies over Christmas vacation, because that’s when all the good stuff comes out. I saw five movies in the last week and a half:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — I fell in love with this movie. It’s big and beautiful, with a sweeping story. Also very long — 2 hours and 47 minutes. At times I felt like I was watching a director’s cut. David Fincher, the director, really indulged himself here. But I truly loved this movie. Fincher also directed my favorite film of 2007, Zodiac, which, like Benjamin Button, sucked me completely into its world.

Revolutionary Road — Jesus Christ, what a depressing film. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio (reunited from Titanic) play an unhappy suburban couple in the 1950s. It was impossible not to think of Mad Men — if Pete Campbell were married to Betty Draper — except it doesn’t draw attention to its time period as Mad Men sometimes does. It’s a good movie, and Kate Winslet is terrific, but we never quite understand why her character is so unhappy.

Doubt — So entertaining. Meryl Streep is spot-on, Amy Adams is great as Sister James, and Philip Seymour Hoffman does a nice job as Father Flynn. Viola Davis is good as the fourth main character, the mother of a young boy, but I would have liked to have seen Adriane Lenox play the part — she was stunning in the role on Broadway.

Frost/Nixon — I’m a political/presidential junkie, so I enjoyed this alot. In fact, I think I liked it even better than the Broadway play, maybe because I could actually see Frank Langella and Michael Sheen up close on screen instead of from a theater mezzanine. Or maybe it just works better as a movie, because you can actually show the sets. Langella is terrific as Nixon.

Valkyrie — Given all the bad press during production, this turned out surprisingly well. Actually, it was pretty great. It’s two hours long but goes by quickly — particularly the second half, which is unrelentingly tense and suspenseful, even though you know how it ends. I wonder how the movie plays if you don’t know?

There are one or two other movies I still want to see, including Slumdog Millionaire. I have no desire to see Gran Torino or The Wrestler — Clint Eastwood has never really done it for me, and I don’t want to stare at a broken-down Mickey Rourke for two hours.

Finally, I do not need to see the trailer for the Julia Roberts/Clive Owen spy movie ever again. Five times was enough. Hell, once was enough. I think I can recite the whole thing from memory. “Appletini.” “Well that sounds good!”