While it’s no longer a novelty for Americans, the Hulu.com website is a great distraction for me on my trips to the U.S. Who can resist an opportunity to watch free on-demand episodes of Newhart and Lou Grant. Certainly not I.

Last night’s Hulu adventure was my first watching of the movie Ishtar. I’m a devoted Warren Beatty fan, and so this was long overdue.

Many words have been spilled over the years about Ishtar and I’ve little to add other than there’s no doubt that the script is flaky and the acting variably brilliant and foggy. But, even with those challenges, it’s still an entertaining and sometimes bitingly funny picture.

Tonight’s movie was the contemporary film Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor, Olivia Williams and Pierce Brosnan and directed by Roman Polanski.

I drove an hour to the west and into Vermont to the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro for this – I’d been wanting to see a movie there for years and years.

I was not disappointed: it’s a beautifully shot, tautly-directed political thriller. McGregor and Williams in particular are great, and the setting – northern Germany standing in for Martha’s Vineyard – and the (constantly raining) weather were perfect backgrounds for the swirling plot.