Hale Kilinahe: Pith of Pop: Monster's Ball

I was expecting something darker, edgier; I was thinking most of the action took place in the prison, as opposed to in the diner where Halle Berry's character works and the house where Billy Bob Thornton's character lives. The story is really about Thornton and Berry and how they both deal with grief in their lives. The story gets seriously depressing in the middle but by the end it's almost sweet and hopeful.

There are scenes that are very, very hard to watch. A central character dies in the first half hour. That scene, plus the few immediately preceeding it, are really just wrenching. And of course, there's Halle's Oscar moment, which pretty much everyone has seen on talk shows by now. There'a a decidedly non-erotic sex scene. Several, in fact.

Halle Berry is good, but not Oscar-good. And Puff Daddy rocks. He's great. I've always been kind of a Puffy apologist. Not too many people like him, but I think he's quite the actor.