I've suffered all week from a severe cold that was essentially a New Year's gift from a friend. My sinuses thank him. I'm hoping for a legitimate addiction to some kind of drugged nose spray.

Anyway, the need to rest will mean that movies are in order.

Movie No. 3 for 2007 is one I watched last week, a comedy called Beerfest, brought to you by the troupe of comedians called Broken Lizard. They did Super Troopers, a movie that was funny in parts but that overall I found to be a relative bore.

However, before delving into what I thought of the movie ...

* Check out a quick synopsis of reviews on rottentomatoes.com.

* And, here's a trailer for your sudsy enjoyment.

My thoughts: Look, I love beer like the next guy, and I thought parts of this movie were quite funny. However, I hate the cast. I find Broken Lizard about as naturally funny as I did SCTV growing up, and that is -- not funny at all.

On the other hand, it's hard not to laugh at an Indian dude playing a male-male prostitute and then getting recruited to a beer-drinking team. The entire gist of the movie is that these guys have created a beer-drinking team to fight for the honor of their late father, played by Donald Sutherland, and whore mother, played by Cloris Leachman (who's always great).

The good parts of this movie were forced, and the bad parts were so bad that they were almost funny by being so bad. Others, such as the replacement of Landfill with his twin brother, whom they eventually called Landfill, were neither funny nor inventive. It was actually just dumb.

Nevertheless, I laughed, which means I can spare it an F.

However, most any other comedy available in the new releases section of your local Blockbuster will be funnier than this movie.

Grade D+

As a postscript, to be fair, the people I watched it with do enjoy Broken Lizard, and they dug the movie ... meaning that if Broken Lizard is your thing, you're probably in for a treat.

Movie No. 4 of the new year is actually kind of an oldie. I watched a 2003 erotic thriller called "Swimming Pool" this evening.

Here is the video trailer for the movie on IMDB.com.

Here is a list of reviews, quick synopses of what the critics thought on rottentomatoes.com.

My thoughts: First, this movie is very adult, not only in terms of the fact that it's technically an erotic thriller but also in the fact that it's just a mature movie. It's basically a French film but in English and some francais.

French countryside. Parisian fields. Beautiful, beautiful scenery.

On the other hand, there's a ton of nudity and sexuality. However, the story is basically one of a conversative English woman and a slutty French teen. They share a mysterious secret ... and, no, it's NOT sexual.

The movie plays out like a play. Did you ever read "The Cherry Orchard?" Anyway, it's not like that exactly, but the movie is pretty to watch, it's intriguing, VERY well acted and totally provocative in terms of post-movie discussion.

While it's a "thriller" though, it's a slow thriller, and it's more fun to watch the machinations of Rampling's character rummaging through the fridge or speeding away on her bicycle in the French countryside than to get caught up in any thrills.

One part of me says that this film should leave most people going "What the hell?" The other part of me says this is a legitimate movie classic, up there with Hitchcock's best psychological thrillers.

My hunch is that it's somewhere well in between ...

Grade: A-