4 new entries bring my total to 12.  That's embarrassing.  I should think about turning in my cinema rewards cards.

* Angels & Demons, 5/16, Augusta, GA: Better than Da Vinci Code but it had to be.  It atill butchered the book, as expected, but it was still exciting despite the fact I knew what was coming most of the time.  Definitely not Howard's best work but the film had a big opening & that's what the studios look for.  There's a reason this is a summer film.

* Terminator Salvation, 5/22/ Charlotte, NC:  Better than Rise of the Machines but no comarison to Cameron's film.  It has all the elements of a summer film, explosions, firefights & leather clad babes.  The space time contiuum of the Termonator franchise seems very convoluted to me & I have alot of issues in regards to it.  I would love to have a discussion about the science of thwe time travel theories because I would like some answers.  This should be the last installment of the franchise but if there's anything that this franchise has taught us it's that the future is uncertain.

* Anvil: The Story of Anvil, 5/29, NYC: A true documentary about a real life band that is eerily similiar to that of Spinal Tap.  It's was gut wrenching to see 2 dude's in their 50's clinging to the dream of heavy metal stardom.  It reminded me of The Decline of Western Civilization, Pt 2 & seeing all the 80's glam metal wannabe's believing that they were going to make it only to be chewed up & spit out by the industry.  This is a must see for anyone who likes music not just heavy metal.  Best film I've seen all year, but that's not saying much.

* Up, 6/2, Chattanooga, TN:  Saw the 3D version & it didnt disappoint.  It's got everything from the standard Pixar chase scenes to the gut wrenching, tearjerker scenes.  Fun for the entire family.  Dug was an great character.

May try & do a midnight showing of The Hangover this week if it's offered in Chattanooga.

May has started & that means the annual release of summer (hopeful) blockbusters!

> X-Men Origins:  Wolverine.  Suffice to say I was really looking forward to this film.  As a fan of the comic character & the 1st 3 films it was much anticipated.  My level of anticipation was matched by my level of disappointment.    I went to see this at a Midnight show in Warner Robins, GA.  Sacrificed several hours of sleepprior to a load-in.  Bad idea.

Where to begin, it's essentially a Hugh Jackman dating service video.  You see him shirtless, flexing his rippling muscles & running so you can see the breeze run through his long flowing hair.  Most of his best dialogue is him screaming in anger. 

The only real things that were answered about Logan's origin are that he & Sabretooth are indeed related, brothers of different mothers, & that he & Sabretooth were more or less mercanaries until their split.  Everything else we already knew from the 3 X-Men films.  The rest of the stuff was just filler & crappy filler at that.  Wait til this one comes out, don't waste the time.  To me, it was more disappointing than Quantam of Solace.  Solace had a bad story that made little sense, Wolverine was just plain bad.

> Star Trek.  I caught this over th weekend while doing nothing in Birmingham, AL.  This film did not disappoint.  Now, JJ Abrams is not a Star Trek fan, admittedly, so die hard Trekkies may have issues with that but too bad, it's the way of the world.  All of our favorite characters are now intertwined with a new back story, with a few intersting surprises to say the least.  Althogh Abrams is not a Trekkie there are several scenes where he pays homage to the original series & they are good.

The only probelm is that he uses time travel as a plot point & uses the time paradox to rewrite the Star Trek universe.  I really don't care much for the time travel plots bevause they are hit or miss & there is always some kind of "is that possible?"  However I aslo try to not dispute the fiction part of science fiction.  That's the only issue I have & it's asmall one at that.  This was a good film, maybe not as great as Khan but very solid.

>Wraith Of Khan.  I caught this while I was in Orlando because it was playing at the Citiwalk & I figured, "when am I going to ever get a chance to see Khan in a stadium seating theater."  So I spent the $10.  Suffice to say, the scene where Kik screams,"Khaaaaaan!," loses none if its potency after over 25 years.  It was a nice warm-up to get ready for the new version.

I have managed to see 4 films since my last entry.

- Watchmen, 3/6/09, Jacksonville, FL:  I was looking forward to this for awhile & it didn't disappoint.  It followed the graphic novel well, a few minor changes, & the characters were great.  Jackie Earle Haley was awesome as Rorshack.  I thought this would be difficult to make into a film because the graphic novel ws very talky at times but it pulled it off. 

- Last House On The Left, 3/24/09, Astoria, NY:  I had to go to NYC to get another license which I had lost in Jacksonville in a drunken stupor.  I got together with some friends & saw this one.  I seem to remember I stopped watching the original as a kid in the 80's because it was a bit too graphic & the updated version was the same.  Apparently old age has made me a bit squeamish because this version was REALLY graphic.  That's not my thing anymore so I would only recommend this if that's what your into.  Film wise it was a solid remake but the content is no longer what I am into.  Not that I was ever into that much as kid but Friday the 13th was more my speed.

- Monsters v. Aliens, 4/7/09, Baton Rouge, LA:  I saw this in 3-D with a lady friend & it was a good time.  It's a bit more of a kids film with some witty humor for adults.  The 3-D effects were good as well.

- State Of Play, 4/17/09, Birmingham, AL:  This film has an all-star cast to say the least.  The acting however is not the problem.  It's apparently based on a BBC series.  When a large ensemble cast of talented actors does what's advertised as a gritty thriller, I get excited & want to see it.  This film was disappointing on may levels but the acting wasn't bad but it was by the numbers.  Everyone was playing their role to stereotype.  Robin Wright as the jilted politician's wife, Russell Crowe as the once great grizzled reporter whose best stories may be behind him, Rachael McAdams as the wide-eyed cub reporter trying to earn the respect of the veteran reported & hard-ass editor.

This film has parts of 3 Days Of The Condor & Pelican Brief.  So much so you can actually pinpoint the scenes as I did & say to yourself, "wow that's right out of 3 Days Of The Condor" & "is that the same parking garage as Pelican Brief?"

Even the ending is borrowed from countless other thrillers, like I am supposed to believe it's a new twist.  Yeah I may not have seen it coming as I watched it but I can sure give titles where the same thing happened.

That's 6 2009 releases to date.  I am looking forward to Wolverine & Star Trek over the next few weeks.  Actually, I may not bother to see anything else until 5/1/09.

I have managed to see 2 2009 releases within the 1st 60 days of the 2009 calender year.  I have more or less given up on the 2008 releases n0w the the Oscars have come & gone.

* Taken:  good thriller but somewhat predictble,

* The International:  good film despite being a tiny bit predictable & a bit unbelievable at some point, nothing like the ridiculousness of Diehard 4.  I liked the the theory of the large corporate conglomerate controlling everything.  Not a must see but not disappointing.

My 18th 2008 release was Gran Torino. 

Eastwood did a masterful job of playing a bitter, racist, unlikeable old man.  Although he just kind of grunted his dialogue.  I don't know if I would call it his best work but it was a good performance.  Not really academy award winning but he's Clint Eastwood.

That's 18 2008 releases viewed to date.  It doesn't look good for any more since I am back at work.  I might be off next week in Charlotte & there's a slim chance but I won't hold my breath.

Well I managed to get to NYC for some film viewings.  It only had 1 day & it didn't go as well as I would have thought, I didn't do a very good of planning & I got a late start to the day which cost me a film.

Here's what I did see:

- Waltz With Bashir:  This film was in a critic from Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 2008 films.  It was an Israeli animated film that dealt w/a massacre of Palestinian civilians at a refugee camp during the Lebanon invasion of 1982.  Admittedly, I know very little about this except the incident where the US embassy was bombed & hundreds of US Marines were killed & wounded.  The fact that this film was animated didn't make it any less powerful.  A film like this is not for everyone & I am glad I saw it. 

- The Wrestler:  Evrything that has been said about this film & Mickey Rourke is TRUE!  Rourke clearly has given his best performance of his career, granted there has been alot of his smaller indie films that I never saw.   This was very depressing & I felt heartfelt sorrow for the character Rourke plays.  All the actors in this film delivered a superb performance & Darren Aaronofsky did a great job in his direction.  Aaronofsky's last big film was The Fountain in 2006 & it was a bit weird & it turned some people, myself inclkuded, off.  This was a nice bounce back.

I still want to view Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Doubt & Gran Torino before the 2009 Strength in Action Tour begins in a few days.  I probably won't be able to view all of them but I gotta get through as many as I can.

Managed to catch Quantum of Solace while I am in Charlotte over Thanksgiving After Casino Royale, I was really looking forward to this film. To say I was disappointed after seeing this film is a big understatement.

The action sequences were great, the lead female is a goddess but the story & plot were almost non-existent. I went with my sister & her fiancee & after much discussion, we're still not sure what went on. The villains are clearly defined but its the "end game" that's cloudy. The lead villain, the guy who was "locked in" from Diving Bell & Butterfly, gets his comeuppance & there's another evil dude who gets it, his presence is only a revenge side story for the female lead. But that's it.

The film lacked alot. It was a let down because I thought Casino Royale was great but Solace was just a crappy action film. I thought Crank was stupid & had a ridiculous sotry but a ridiculous story would have at least been something for this film. All I can say is they better make up for it in the next installment or they run the risk of being plagued bu the same issues as other Bond films, all show no go.

So after a near 6 week cinemaplex hiatus I managed to get to see 2 films yesterday in White Marsh, MD. It's technically Baltimore but it isn't. Anyway here we go:

* RocknRolla: I had left Guy Ritchie for artistically dead after view Revolver last year but this was actually a solid film. It borrowed from Lock Stock, Snatch & even a bit of Layer Cake but it that's what made him famous prior to his career ending marriage to Madonna. The characters were great & there were some nice twists in the plot. Granted some of those twists were taken from other films but it doesn't matter. It was a good film that was fun. Great performances from the dude who played King Leonidas, Tom Wilkinson & others. It's easily Ritchie's best film since Snatch but that spans 7 years & granted it's not saying a lot but it's a start. I am now looking forward to his next film.

* Body of Lies: A Ridley Scott film with Russell Crowe & Leo DiCaprio, how can it miss? I wouldn't say it missed but it kind of combines elements of Syriana & Spy Game. It also lets the audience know that despite all of the US's power & technology sometimes the simple methods are the best. Solid acting from Crowe & DiCaprio given but Mark Strong, who played the main character in RocknRolla, gave the standout performance of the film. Solid film, which is what your gonna get from Scott, Crowe & DiCaprio but not outstanding. Based on some of they're other works, you have a certain expectation that, for me, just barely scratched.

I probably won't see another film until Quantum of Solace comes out. Unless of course Iget off my butt & go see Pride & Glory tonight but who knows.

Apparently simple math seems to escape me. Thus far this year I have seen a total of 12 films. Yesterday I actually did a double header here in the Charlotte area. Come to my surprise there is a bit of an art house theater at Woodlawn & Park. Now I am not from Charlotte but I have spent alot of time in the South Park area over the last 18 months & I have never seen it so I firmly believe that it was built some time last week almost overnight.

* Righteous Kill: It had a nice little plot twist but I cam away with the feeling that DeNiro & Pacino no longer have it. There were phenomenal in Heat, given, but that was 13 years ago. Both are pushing 70 & they just aren't that believable as tough, gritty NYC cops. I think the film would have been much more believable with actors in their 40's or 50's than these 2. One can make an argument that their best work is 10 years behind them.

* Burn After Reading: This was a nice follow up to No Country For Old Men. It was a different direction & that's what the Coen Brothers do. Excellent performances all around, especially from Coen Bros. mainstays Frances McDormand & Clooney. Whether it was intended or not, the film is a veritable quote fest. All of the characters are pretty self-centered & not that likable. But, I imagine thats what those people are probably like anyway. The one goodhearted person in the film meets with a bad end. It's very dry comedy which is a Coen Brothers specialty.

So now I am up to 14 films for the year.

Today I caught Traitor in Winston-Salem. It was good but it followed the "undercover cop/spy" formula a bit too far. It got very predictable at points but overall it was a good film. It didn't get too preachy about religion, tolerance & profiling.

That brings my film tally to 11 this year. A far cry from last year. With our tour season getting extended & very little time off, I can't imagine coming close to last years count.