This Week At The Movies

I rented Casino Royale, Dreamland and Eragon, and went to the first showing of Shooter.

Casino Royale -- for a franchise built around rip-roaring set pieces, they sure made a b o r i n g movie. Well, the guy had to talk once in a while. Turned it off, pretty quick. Couldn't figure out who he was trying to catch, and didn't care.

Dreamland -- written and directed by the Director.* Advertised as a cross between The X Files and Twilight Zone - which sounded neat, but alas, turned out to be more of a cross between The Blair Witch and another story that didn't make any sense.

Eragon -- written by a kid** from my little town. The book is better.

Shooter -- speaking of books that are better than the movies made from them -- I liked Stephen Hunter's series about Bob Lee Swagger, and I like Mark Wahlberg, but this movie was just -- not quite right.

Plus the villain is (gasp) a senator from Montana who, for some reason, is slaughtering villagers in Africa for oil pipeline rights of way. I'm sure the filmmakers did not expect the BIG LAUGH that reveal got in these parts. Or the snorting that sputtered from one end of the theater to the other when Bob Lee drives from Virginia to Bozeman in one day.

Oh well. I still may see The Last Mimzy or Premonition before the weekend is over.

*usually a bad sign.
**teenager.