Summer Movies

This weekend marks the start of the Summer Movie Season. I am looking forward to it, and I am hopeful we'll be able to get out and see some. I don't think Joseph will mind too much if we get him a babysitter- he is developing a taste for movies too.

At least a taste for pulling them off the shelf.

With Joseph around I won't be able to watch every movie that I want to, but here are a few that I think might justify the effort:

• MI: III- I've heard a lot of good things about it.
• X-Men: The Last Stand- I liked the first, liked the second more, and despite the director leaving to direct Superman, I'm tied into to
• The DaVinci Code: Over 3 years in the New York Times top 10, most of the time as #1. Pretty incredible, and an entertaining story.
• Cars: Pixar has an 11 year perfect record.
• Nacho Libre: check out the website.
• Superman Returns: This year's Batman Begins.
• Pirates of the Carribbean: Can't beat the Disney World nostalgia. I hope they do a major reworking of the ride to take in some of the movie fun and general technological advances.
• Lady in the Water: I've loved everything that M. Night Shyamalaanmanan has done.

Some, like Poseidon, look like my kind of movie, but I have to pick and choose. Video will do for the rest. And I am sure Lacy will have some choices that differ from mine.

United 93

Pearl Harbor was on TV tonight, and it made me think about a few things:

• It is a mediocre love story, but the scenes of the actual attack are extremely well-executed and very moving. I think it's important to understand how that happened and see it unfold. Its also important to see how we responded to it.
• My initial response to the trailer for United 93 was this: I felt a chill as I watched and listened to the trailer. I felt like I wasn't ready for it. Like it was too soon and the wounds of 9/11 are still too fresh. I lost no family or friends that day. I was in Utah, far away from this incidents, but I think we were all wounded by it.Movies have been made of tragedies before. Titanic immediately springs to mind. But often those movies are about accidents. Perhaps the follies of man influenced those events, but 9/11 was an act of cold and calculated malice, and that day there was no happy ending. There were heroes, but part of me doesn't want to see that on screen. If I had to make a decision about whether to see it today, I don't think I would. I just don't think I'm ready.
• I no longer feel that way. Nearly every review I've seen of the film has been positive, mentioning the realistic way that fictionalized elements are portrayed, as well as how documented issues are shown. I am sure that watching the movie would be disturbing and difficult, but that's not sufficient reason to avoid it. However it is Rated R, so I may avoid it for that reason. I just thought it was worth commenting on my change of heart.

American Outlaw?

I enjoy watching American Idol, and find it an interesting cross-section of humanity. Some of the kooky contestants have equally kooky histories, like Bucky Covington.

This is a story about identical twins and a court case straight out of Hollywood. Check it out.