We are lucky enough to have a drive-in movie theater still open nearby. A couple of weeks ago for only $9 per person, we went to see the double bill of The Avengers and Dark Shadows. The Avengers will please any fan-boy or fan-girl, with lots of explosions, lots of aliens to fight, and some inter-team squabbling before the bad-guys show up, as the overly-macho superheroes attempt to impress each other with their styles. They finally stop fighting when the aliens show up, and become a team that defeats Loki (brother of Thor) and the aliens he was trying to use to take over multiple planets. Some argue that Black Widow and the Archer were out-of-place, since they don't have super-powers, but I was just glad that there was one woman who could kick ass...the only other woman in the movie was Gwynneth Paltrow whose role consisted of having worried looks over the safety of Iron Man, and wearing short shorts. And I have to agree with my sons that this time, finally, the character of the Hulk was done well!
I have to admit that I used to run home from grade school to watch Dark Shadows on TV, since it was on at 3pm in the Chicago area. I thought the actor who played the werewolf Quentin Collins was cute (hey, I was in grade school!), and if you missed an episode or two, the story-lines moved at the same glacial speed as any other soap opera, so it was easy to keep up. I remember a story line involving a dis-embodied hand, that of Count Petoffee, and lots of scenes of water crashing against the rocks below the cliff that many would hurl themselves from in an attempt to flee the evil of Collinswood. Johnny Depp does a good job as the unwilling vampire Barnabas Collins, and there are lots of scenes of the water crashing against the rocks whenever there is a lull in the action. The supporting characters are interesting and I thought it was very well-done.
This past weekend we went to another double-bill and saw Men In Black III and Battleship. I'm a real fan of both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and I like the previous two MIB movies, so I knew I would like this one. What I didn't expect was the fascinating work of Josh Brolin as a young K (Tommy Lee Jones), and the storyline that had a surprise heart-tugging at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
As for Battleship? Eh...it was like Transformers only not as much plot, and more cliches than you could shake a stick at. I wanted to yell at the screen, "Who writes dialogue like that? Toddlers?" But at least there wasn't any Shia LeBoef or Megan Fox, so be thankful for small mercies. If your kids want to see it, expect lots of explosions and some aliens who look like rejects from a Star-Trek convention, with humanoid features that won't scare the little ones too much.
Can't wait to see what's at the Drive-in next!
I have to admit that I used to run home from grade school to watch Dark Shadows on TV, since it was on at 3pm in the Chicago area. I thought the actor who played the werewolf Quentin Collins was cute (hey, I was in grade school!), and if you missed an episode or two, the story-lines moved at the same glacial speed as any other soap opera, so it was easy to keep up. I remember a story line involving a dis-embodied hand, that of Count Petoffee, and lots of scenes of water crashing against the rocks below the cliff that many would hurl themselves from in an attempt to flee the evil of Collinswood. Johnny Depp does a good job as the unwilling vampire Barnabas Collins, and there are lots of scenes of the water crashing against the rocks whenever there is a lull in the action. The supporting characters are interesting and I thought it was very well-done.
This past weekend we went to another double-bill and saw Men In Black III and Battleship. I'm a real fan of both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and I like the previous two MIB movies, so I knew I would like this one. What I didn't expect was the fascinating work of Josh Brolin as a young K (Tommy Lee Jones), and the storyline that had a surprise heart-tugging at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
As for Battleship? Eh...it was like Transformers only not as much plot, and more cliches than you could shake a stick at. I wanted to yell at the screen, "Who writes dialogue like that? Toddlers?" But at least there wasn't any Shia LeBoef or Megan Fox, so be thankful for small mercies. If your kids want to see it, expect lots of explosions and some aliens who look like rejects from a Star-Trek convention, with humanoid features that won't scare the little ones too much.
Can't wait to see what's at the Drive-in next!
