So, I was at the Drive-In this weekend

[ulthar]

And lo and behold, I saw a trailer for the new CASINO ROYALE.  I said, "they are remaking CASINO ROYALE?????"   I seem to remember reading about that here, but I must have blocked it out.  Oh well.

We saw OPEN SEASON and GRIDIRON GANG.  OPEN SEASON I could take or leave; it was okay, but mildly annoying.  Again, I must ask: Is Pixar the ONLY CGI animation production group with a decent story department?  Cheap (easy laugh) humor, utterly predictable storylines (that are not really that interesting) and cliche'd stereotyped characters wear thin on me.  I'm heartened to learn that my 4 year old daughter is gaining some discerning taste and does not just like these movies because of the all the pretty colors.  She really did not care for OPEN SEASON that much, either.

GRIDIRON GANG was pretty good if highly predictable.  I liked that it was based on a true story, though, and I'm a big fan of programs that help "wayward" youth find self-respect and a better way.
Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) may not be the BEST actor in the world, but I think he does a more-than-credible job and is certainly better than one may expect.

Some other recent viewings:

RE-ANIMATOR  

Classic.  I saw this at one of the few theatres playing it in 1985 in its unrated release.  I remember people leaving the theatre.  Interestingly, my horror movie loving Doctor wife had never seen it, so I queued it up for her.  Hehe.  Like I need an excuse to watch it again (I'm sure I'm in the double digit viewings).

FORBIDDEN PLANET

This was an awesome story, but I found the pacing a bit slow.  I think for this story, though, it had to be.  Too many nights with 3-4 hours sleep does not help my movie watching (sitting still often leads to nap), but I did fight to stay awake for FORBIDDEN PLANET.  Ya gotta love Robbie the Robot.  Among the things I really liked was the totally military and Naval organization of the ships command structure and crew.  They used a lot of Naval termininolgy (they had a Bosun on a spaceship!), which I thought was very cool.

KILL BILL Vol 1

Violent and quintessential Tarantino.  As usual, interesting story, great music and there is not much else to say about it that has not already been said.  I liked it more than I thought I would and am looking forward to Vol 2.

[Yaddo 42]

The last ad I chekced, our local drive-in is showing a double feature of "Open Season" and the "All the King's Men" remake. Odd combo, one for the kids then one for the grown ups when the kiddos fall sleep I guess. They usually run a family friendly comedy and an action flick or two mainstream films like the "Pirates" sequel and say "Superman Returns". Usually no weighty grown up dramas and rarely anything in the horror, extreme violence or grossout comedy realm. I'm guessing they won't try to sneak in "Jackass 2" before they close for the season.

Haven't seen "Gridiron Gang", I almost did the other week on a night off (I saw "Flyboys" instead). The Rock can be good in stuff but he needs good material or something to play off of in a broad comic sense, since he's used to playing to large arenas and TV camera closeups (that eyebrow lift might as well be straight out of old slapstick silent comedies and early TV sitcoms)from his wrestling days. I still say "The Rundown" is his best film, and the one that got the most out of him as a peformer.

[raj]

Forbidden Planet is great.  I like the cook's character.  Funniest moment was when they were measuring IQs and the captain's was the lowest of the group.

[daveblackeye15]

Vol2 of Kill Bill is awesome.

I want to go a drive in so badly but they're a rarity now aren't they?

[BoyScoutKevin]

Though, I forget which one, the character of the cook in "Forbidden Planet" is based, if somewhat loosely, on one of the characters in Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Actually, the whole film "Forbidden Planet" is based on Shakespeare's play.