Blogging in Arkansas

This week's blog comes to you from Camp Robinson, AR (just outside of North Little Rock), where I am attending a one week course for work. But since I've got a laptop and Internet access, I'm not going to let that stop me from getting my blog out! :-]

So the final two weekends in July brought us 3 more movies that I deemed worthy of spending my hard-earned dollars on – The Island, followed the next weekend by Sky High and Stealth. The Island, sadly, was quite a disappointment (not nearly as much as previous lame summer movies, but still not nearly as good as I’d hoped it would be). Being a Michael Bay movie, you have to expect that the story is going to play second fiddle to the action and explosions and special effects. That’s just a given. But that being said, The Island’s story is still so weak and full of holes that it really takes away from the movie. I’m as willing as anyone to turn my brain off for a little mindless summer movie eye candy, but I’d still like a basically believable story. Especially when I’m watching a sci-fi movie (and despite what critics of the genre might think, YES, you can have a sci-fi/fantasy film that has a believable story – there is a difference between a believable story and a realistic, true-to-life story). And while the action scenes are fun to watch, they’re no different from any other of a dozen action movies that have come out over the years (many of them directed by Michael Bay, and most of them done better). The critics hammered it like they do most of his movies, but in this particular case I can’t really bring myself to disagree with them (although most of them hated it much more than I did). Scarlett Johansson (who I was very surprised to see in Home Alone 3, which I watched on HBO Family last night because there wasn't much else on and there's not a whole lot else to do in a hotel) and Ewan McGregor are both fun to watch, but they didn't really seem to have much chemistry between them, and just can’t save this lackluster film. To be honest, I actually much more enjoyed the performances of Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou as secondary characters than I did the performances of the main characters.

The last weekend of July brought a couple of better movies (although not necessarily great movies). The first was Stealth. While the story was a little preposterous, it was a whole lot more believable and well thought out than The Island was. Though hardly the best movie to come out this year, it was still fun to watch. I haven’t decided yet if it’s worth buying on DVD – probably be one I pick up when I can get it on sale (I passed on it when it first came out, so it'll probably be awhile before I pick it up).

The other movie that came out this weekend was Sky High. This was a fun movie. I really, really enjoyed this movie, quite a bit more than I thought I would. Sadly it’s been long enough since I’ve seen it, though, that I can’t remember all the specifics of the movie that I’d like to talk about, so a fuller review will have to wait. I picked it up on DVD right before I came down here to Arkansas, so once I get home and get a chance to watch it, I'll do a fuller review of the movie.

And so we come to August. The first movie of August was one that looked like it was going to be pretty stupid, but was one I just had to see regardless – The Dukes of Hazzard. And much to my surprise, it was actually good! Not great, mind you, not even really good. But still all in all an enjoyable movie. What impressed (and surprised) me the most was how many things it pulled from the original series. Naturally all of the characters from the show were there, and the General Lee (of course), and even the exploding dynamite arrows. And of course the car chases and unbelievable jumps with the General Lee were still there. But they also had the narration just like the original show, and even the brief moments where the scene was frozen and the narrator would make some goofy comment (like the show always did right before it went to commercial). I thought little touches like this were just great. And while I still say Daisy Duke has no business being a blonde, I have to admit that Jessica Simpson did a pretty good job with the role (and looked damned, damned fine doing it!!).

My biggest complaint about the movie would have to be the characters of Bo and Luke, which sadly were way too over-the-top and really not at all true to the original show. Luke Duke was the worst. The way they made his character not only completely stupid, but seemingly in love/lust with the General Lee, was just sad and lame and wrong. This is one of the big things that made the movie go from really good to just pretty good. So while I enjoyed it, I also think with a few minor changes it could have been a lot better. But still, all in all it made for a fun summer popcorn movie. Regardless of what the critics thought (of course they hated it, but that’s the reaction the critics always have to dumb, goofy comedies. All I can say to them is – get a sense of humor already, for crying out loud!!), I have to say that it was worth the $5 I spent to go see it.

Well I think that’s about enough for this entry. I’ll cover the rest of August next time out. Until then, my dear readers! :)