Movie Impressions: The Hangover

When you’re vacationing in a town with a 3-screen movie theater, your selection of movies to see with da wifey on a night out on the town is pretty limited.  This week our choices were:  Up which we are seeing with the kids in a few days), Imagine That (which also would be a shame to see without the chillins), and The Hangover.  So off we went to the evening showing of The Hangover.

I see so few movies each year in the theaters that I’d probably never pick a movie in the style of The Hangover over other genres, but I checked out the trailer online before we went, and it looked pretty funny.  So we grabbed some popcorn (Reel Mountain Theater has one of the best concession stands I’ve ever seen – soooo much to choose from) and settled in for some laughs.

Movie Impressions: Star Trek

Well, in feat that’s probably never again to be repeated, I went with my brother G and my friends Craig and Justin to see a movie.  We went to the first showing of Star Trek at the local IMAX theater.  To gauge where I’m coming from regarding Star Trek, let me say that I would consider myself a fan of the franchise, but not to the point of being a Trekker or anything.  I watched the original series in syndication and when they ran remastered versions on the SciFi Channel years ago and watched them and recorded them on videotape.  I also bought the first DVD set.

I faithfully watched Star Trek: The Next Generation when it aired, and bought the DVD set.  I watched a lot of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but wasn’t as interested in it as ST:TNG.  I probably saw half of Star Trek: Voyager.  Star Trek: Enterprise was more interesting and I’ve watched probably 80% and bought the DVD set of those.  With regards to movies, I know for sure I saw from Star Trek 3 onwards in movie theaters.  I don’t recall if I saw Star Trek 2 in a theater or not.  I went on my first date with my (now) wife to see Star Trek 4.  And needless to say I’ve seen them all, some multiple times.  I have them all on DVD.

So in general I’m pretty familiar with the franchise.  I’d say of the 4 of us that went to the new movie, we had Justin (Star Trek nut), Craig (hardcore viewer), myself (more than casual), and my brother (very knowledgeable and DS9 devotee).  The crowd, of course, was full of fans waiting to see the first showing.  So how did the movie fare?  Will the franchise live long and prosper?  (Spoilers abound, so read at your own risk.)

Movie Impressions #2: The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Well, I don’t get to movies very often, but sometimes I make a special point to go to particular movies.  The new X-Files movie is one of those times.  I saw it with my brother last Saturday night.  Being a big fan of the series (well, at least until the last 2 seasons), I had semi-high hopes going into the movie.  I’m well aware that movies like this may not be blockbuster hits, but like my friend Justin said, it would be good to see the characters again.  Would “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” live up to my hopes?

Movie Impressions #1: The Mist

My brother and I went and saw “The Mist” last Friday.  I’m a big Stephen King fan… stories, not necessarily movies, and I had previously ‘read’ the story on audio, which was a full cast “3D” recording that was very good.  The movie was directed by Frank Darabont, who previously did the Stephen King stories “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” both of which were very good.  So I had high hopes for the film adaptation of “The Mist.”