No posts today as I was hard at work at some behind the scenes technical stuff. I'll put up a post about that soon.

So the day's not a total loss, let me give you a few quick takes on some of the movies I've seen lately:

SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: We're SpongeBob fans 'round these parts, so taking the four-year-old to this was a no-brainer...pretty much literally. That's OK, though. I'm still not sick of the guy and it had a few good laughs. Good excuse for getting out of the house.

Elf: I really, really like Will Ferrell, so this was a natural rental. That guy can just stand there looking at the screen and I'll laugh. Maybe I was a bit too built up for it then, because I was slightly disappointed. Still, cute movie, and I liked his little love-interest there, Zooey Deschanel. She was perfect. Me wants. Am I too wrapped up in politics? Ed Asner bugs me.

The Incredibles: Another one we saw at the theater. BTW, we saw this at a place called "Chunkey's" where you sit in a reclining car-seat at a real table and order off a full menu with table service. That was interesting. Pretty good, too. Steak tips. Yum. The movie was excellent. No doubt. Very enjoyable and I'd see it again. The only thing that bothered me was that I get the whole thing about letting exceptional people be exceptional, but I couldn't get out of my mind the thought that, "OK, but what about us regular people who are just stuck in these shlubby lives of ours? We're screeeewed aren't we?"

Spider-Man 2: I enjoyed the first one and I enjoyed this one, too, even though it dragged a bit in places and Kirsten Dunst has a smokin' body but a horsey face. Mega-cool Doc Oc effects, and I really enjoyed the scene on the train when Spidey passes out.

The Adventures of Milo & Otis: This is an older film - made in Japan in the 80's. English version has a voice narration by Dudley Moore. It's a terrific kid's movie about a dogy and a kitty and their animal adventures. My kid loved it, but adults will be a bit disturbed appreciating it on a different level. I guess animal protection rules in Japan weren't what they are in the States as it's quite obvious they must have drowned a few cats and dogs in the making. Seriously. Kinda freaky.

Shrek2: Saw it in the theater, just rented it. Good, fun, worthwhile, but I thought the first one was brilliant.

The Day After Tomorrow: I love disaster and other types of "last man on earth" stories. The effects were awesome, but the story was flat stupid. Attention Hollywood action film makers: You don't know crap about politics or science, either. Don't even try, you just fuck up your movies. If I ever meet Dick Cheney I'm gonna tell him, "I LOVED you in The Day After Tomorrow!"

Scooby-Doo: The first one. I wasn't interested enough to sit for more than 15 minutes of it (though I grew up on the cartoon), but my wife watched it and said it was surprisingly good.

The Passion of the Christ: I finally saw it. I said and read pretty much all there was back when the controversy was raging. I think sometimes when a controversy gets going it becomes self-perpetuating with people responding to the responses and on and on. As far as the movie itself went I fast forwarded through some parts - boring. I didn't notice the sort of disclaimer I had understood Gibson to have added about Jesus being the only crucified Jew to live again. Yes, the main bad guy is certainly the head Rabbi, and they wear those prayer-shawl type things, but some of the Rabbi's do step forward in his defense, and I'm not sure, so don't quote me, but I think the only person actually referred to as a "Jew" (we're just presumed to know about all the others I guess) is that fellow who's unfairly seized as a bystander, helps Jesus for awhile, shares his burden and is left to live on after Jesus is crucified. I think there's something poignant and significant in that.

Movie I'm looking forward to: The new version of Walking Tall starring The Rock. I loved the original, and I like that Rock guy. I'm not a wrestling fan, but every time I've seen him interviewed he seems like a real cool guy. Movies that affected me growing up and will have me doing something stupid some day just you wait and see: Walking Tall and Billy Jack.