SNIKT!!!!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Not to be too hard on the film, but the verdict is still out on the question, "Can you make an interesting movie about a hero who can't get hurt, a couple of villains you can't kill, and a bad guy who can't die 'cuz he's in the sequel?" Really. Just shoot me in the head so I can forget the whole thing too, okay? Oh wait--you don't have to--it's been a week and I don't remember a fucking thing. (So if my mutant power is the ability to forget bad comic book movies, does that mean my X-Men field name is Lethe?)

Sidebar discussion: on the plus side, given how many times Logan shrugs off pain and comes back from the dead, Wolverine is now officially the Marvel version of Superman. On the minus side, Wolverine is now officially the Marvel version of Superman. With a cigar. That he never lights up.

Snarky coda:

Suck on this, bub!

Shouting Around The Rocks Desire Under The Elms. Great set. Great opening. Great Mother Courage echo at the end. In fact, everything that was silent in this production was great. But once people opened their mouths? I don't know about you, but if a volcano erupts when somebody says "Hello" to it, and then erupts again when somebody says "How are you?" and "Look at that sunset," I've stopped listening by the time it erupts over "I killed our baby."

Make it so-so.

Sidebar discussion: there's this thing that happens with out-of-town shows that transfer to Broadway. They get great reviews for the intimacy and detail of their original production, and somewhere between (for instance) Chicago and the St. James Theatre, they mutate from Mozart to Mount Saint Helens -- from a chamber piece to bad grand opera with all of the melodrama and none of the music. This happens all the time when the Brits bring a production over here; it's like they feel they have to yell at American audiences in order to get their point across. Although what point Brian Dennehy was trying to make by roaring out vowels without consonants for 90 minutes is beyond me.

Snarky coda: If you're pissed because Carla Gugino didn't get a Tony nomination, then you haven't actually seen the play.

SPOCK: Logically, this movie should suck.
KIRK: Shut up and kiss me.

Star Trek. Remember how you felt when you saw Iron Man last summer? Remember that gleeful high you got when you realized that it was not only fun, but smart, and well-written, and emotionally engaging? Multiply that by ten and you have the Star Trek reboot. As Bart would say, "Set your faces to stun." By the time you read this, I will have seen it again.

Sidebar discussion: e-mail me and we'll have one at a bar. So little time, so much to geek about.

Snarky coda: It's so totally a bromance now. But wasn't it always?

Almost as much fun as the movie? Seeing this commercial in Imax five minutes before the previews start:


Go, Ally!