Sean Connery plays Alex Murray, a selfless Scot sawbones in Africa. It sounds dully virtuous. But don't write off the movie yet. Based on William Boyd's 1981 novel, the film has a touch of Evelyn Waugh — though the satire is served dry, it has still got a kick.

one side, there's good Dr. Murray, on the other, there's Fanshawe (John Lithgow), an exploitative Brit bureaucrat, and Adekunle (Louis Gossett Jr.), an exploitative local politician. Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels), a skirt-chasing English diplomat, must decide whose side to take. There's little surprise in the choice, but compensation comes in the tasty performances and in the light touch of Bruce (Driving Miss Daisy) Beresford, a director who knows the value of small pleasures.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”