Double Billing

Got a couple of movies for you.
First up is the Fantastic Four. This is a movie that I enjoyed. It's one of those summer blockbusters that is just supposed to be fun and loud and contain plenty of explosions. This one fills that role rather nicely. The people in it are amusing when they need to be and do a good job with the needed fight scenes. Looking this over, it almost looks like I didn't like this movie, but that's not true. I will grant that it is not exactly Oscar material, but I never really pay attention to that sort of thing. What the Fantastic Four does do is entertain. As a comic fan, I went in with certain expectations, and they were all met. The movie does not follow the comic book exactly, but it does have catch the spirit of the comics. Something I liked was that the group was always liked as the Fantastic Four. That is something that has always been an important part of the comic - they are a family (though not all related). They have no secret identities, they just are these four people with fantastic powers. The world loves them for what they do and who they are. It is like a direct counterpoint to Spider-man, who is tolerated at best, at least by the general public. And as a family, they have their own little internal squabbles. It is fun watching Johnny and Ben (The Human Torch and The Thing) squabble back and forth. Me and Jeff are much the same way at times, with less superpowers. Doctor Doom is evil, but !!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!! he does not die at the end, which is good. He's incapacitated, but that is always the case. If he pops up again, it probably won't be for a couple movies (oh yes, there will be sequels).
Actually, I'm excited about where they are going to go with the movie franchise. The FF has always been a group that dealt with cosmic events. In the first year of the comic they faced Galactus, a being that travels from star system to star system eating planets for survival. That'd be something to see in a movie. So there you go, a fun movie. Take the family, it's good fun.
The second movie is a bit older and probably familiar to many of you. It is simply known as Hitch. I finally watched it tonight, and I really liked it. I hope women were paying attention when they watched that movie, because it touches on some interesting stuff. For most guys, it really is hard to make that first impression, to take the step. This movie shows that, and it makes me wish there was a real date doctor around. It would be so much easier if there was someone coaching from the sidelines. It's not even so much that he was telling them what to do as he was giving them the courage to do what they wanted. Is this making any sense? Anyway, the movie was really good. Will Smith is a very entertaining man, and Kevin James is hilarious. My favourite scene is when the woman asks him for a pen, and from behind the door a hand casually reaches out, puts one in his pocket, pats it and then leaves. And then Kevin pulls out the pen and offers it to the lady. It's almost like he was on pause while until the pen was in his pocket. It just kills me everytime I see it (it's in the previews, so I've seen it before). Seriously, watch this movie if you haven't already.
So, until next time, don't lick toads.