Summer at the Movies...and on TV

Summertime brings with it more time to enjoy entertainment, so here are some of my thoughts.

MOVIES

X-3: The Last Battle- I thought this movie was comparable to the other two X-Men films. It was enjoyable, action-packed, and suspenseful, but nothing legendary. My only question is this: Was this really the last battle?

Superman Returns- I'll start off by saying this: Superman Returns is my top movie for 2006 thus far. This movie will catch your eye with the awesome visuals it offers. On the second viewing, I noticed how cool the diorama earthquake scene was. Unlike other superhero movies (yeah, I'm talking to you, Spiderman), Superman fought against a villain I had no trouble hating. Kevin Spacey did an excellent job bringing the evil Lex Luther to life. Although the movie runs for two and a half hours, the story keeps moving and keeps you interested. However, the dialogue in this movie struggles at some points. (Not quite Anakin and Padme, but almost.) Also, while Superman was a sweet summer flick, that's gotta be the weirdest lvoe triangle ever.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest- Pirates 2 was all about Pirates 3. The purpose of the plot (which struggled and jumped around a bit) was to get the story from the end of the first movie to the beginning of the third. This installment of Pirates lacked some of the witty dialogue of the first and definitely missed the character of Captain Barbossa. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed Dead Man's Chest and think it's worth seeing, even if just to prepare yourself for the next Pirates. The ending got me excited about the possibilities of the third one.

Movies I still want to see: "Cars" and "Naaaccchhhhooooooooo Libre"

TV

Let me start by saying that I don't really watch any TV shows at their regular time anymore. I take the DVD/iTunes route. This summer I have been watching season 4 of "24" and the second season of "Lost."

I'm impressed by Lost. At the end of the second season, the plot is still interesting and not too weird (but let's face it: the plot has always been weird--polar bears?). The second season dragged a bit in the middle, but definitely finished strong. The events of the last few episodes will provide material they can spend the whole next season exploring.

24's fourth season is off to a better start than the second or third seasons. They jettisoned all the old plotlines that were losing their appeal (like Nina, the Palmers, and Kim Bauer) and focus the new season on what we really want to see--Jack Bauer.

This leads to the inevitable question: Which is better, 24 or Lost? I prefer Lost. The main reason I like Lost more is because of the characters and the character development. When I watched the season premiere of the second season of Lost, I felt like I'd been reunited with old friends. Most of the peripheral characters on 24 (with some exceptions) are annoying.

That's a wrap on my summer entertainement. In sports, the Braves are off to a hot start in the second half. They've won their first five games against two NL division leaders, scoring a total of 65 runs. Remember...it's the land of the free and the home of the Braves.