So, Babel was coming out, but I felt that I should watch Iñárritu’s previous feature two films. Possibly because I am a crazy person. First up was Amores Perros, which is a gritty and violent film about love, told in 3 interrelated stories (a hallmark of Iñárritu).
Next came 21 Grams, which I think is my favorite of the bunch. From my impression of the marketing I had expected it to be a much more spiritual/religious film than it really was. It’s much twistier than the other two, but certainly compelling, so I had no trouble following it.
Finally, Babel was an intense and devastating film, one of those pieces that makes you wonder why anyone attempts to communicate at all, since it is so clearly doomed to failure.
(In looking up Iñárritu, by the way, I also discovered that he directed one of the most memorable segments of 11’09″01, a collection of shorts very much worth watching.)
wicked jaws 
Do you recommend Babel? I am not sure if it’s a theatre movie or a rental for me.
Actually, I think all of them are theater movies for this reason — they are twisty and sometimes subtitled, and I think it’s easier to focus on all that in the theater setting. That might be because I am easily distracted & knit at home.