1. Shia La Boeuf isn't actually that young. I look at him and I see late 20s and the scrawniness is a permanent feature, not a bug of adolescence. Wasn't there a bit of a scandale about it back when he was on Disney, because his IMDB listing had him as like 15 when he was actually considerably older? It appears that age-fuzziness persists, because he's theoretically 21 right now, which I'm pretty sure is a lie.

2. You're not a cougar unless you (a) could reasonably -- not just theoretically -- have given birth to the target in question; (b) have a tiger-print themed bedroom; (c) don't know what appropriate cleavage would be for an ordinary trip to the grocery store; and (d) actually make rawr noises, not for the funny of it, in public.

I like Nutty's definition of cougar, if only because I can hide behind the tiger-print requirement forever.

I thought Shia was all wrong for HJIII. HJIII should be lankier.

IJS.

I saw Ironman at a matinee and then Indy in the afternoon and I think Indy suffered by comparison. I wish that they hadn't gone with the space aliens. Also, jilli weren't there undead protectors? I mean, who were those people who were skeletons and then flesh and were lurking in the gravesites, if not undead protectors ?

I have to say seeing Cate Blanchett playing a psychic communicator brought a strange twisted Galadriel vibe to it.

Agreed on your last point, sumi. I kept waiting for "All shall love me, and despair" in the Natasha accent. Hee!

sumi, in regard to your first section of whitefont, I think they were just wearing skull masks, but were actually living protectors. Someone hit one and the mask shattered, revealing a person underneath.

Oooh, okay.

I saw Ironman at a matinee and then Indy in the afternoon and I think Indy suffered by comparison.

Yeah, so far Iron Man is still my main squeeze movie of the summer.

Wasn't there a bit of a scandale about it back when he was on Disney, because his IMDB listing had him as like 15 when he was actually considerably older?

Not that I can find on Google.

What's that German word for a face that cries out to be punched? Because I get that feeling anytime I see Mike Meyers mugging for the camera.

Matt, is it backpfeifengesicht? I had backpfeifengesicht as a tag once, and have it saved in my profile. I think it might be your word.

Of course, this means that I'm going to actually have to see Chronicles so that I know what the hell is going on in Prince Caspian.

I'm not sure that is true. If it's like the book you could pick up on things pretty easily without having read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I mean, it takes place long after the first book. (Narnian time.)

Book-wise, you can start the series with Prince Caspian. In fact, as a child, I did. I'm not sure that's the case with the film. We took the kids to see it, this past weekend. I've read all the books, but not for a good long time. I saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when it came out. I wished I'd rewatched it, before we went to see Prince Caspian. I know the story, but like The Two Towers, I felt like Prince Caspian just dropped me right into the middle of a story.

If you haven't seen Prince Caspian yet Aims, I think it would be worth your while to rent TLTW&TW, first. That will give you a chance to get to know the Pevensie children and understand how important they are to Narnia, and why. It will also add about seven more layers to interaction between all of the children. The Prince Caspian film makers seem to assume you'll come in knowing them, already. I want to accuse them of making the same assumption with the titular character, but I might just be needing to re-read the book.

It's funny, because I liked the movie while I was watching it, but I've felt this vague, mild feeling of discontent ever since the end credits rolled. I don't think it succeeded in taking me to Narnia, if you know what I mean (and if you haven't read the books, you maybe can't). I may just be feeling a little let down too, because a friend saw it before me, and he thought it was much better than TLTW&TW. Maybe it was, but TLTW&TW film managed to take me to Narnia, whereas the closest Prince Caspian got me was to a lookout tower from which I could see Narnia. I couldn't feel it. I couldn't taste it. I think at best, I caught a whiff of it on the breeze.

It is action packed. There are lots of battles but there isn't any gore (which is a plus for a children's film). It's solid enough, but I can't help but think it could and should have been more. And it's not the length at fault. I'm pretty sure the film clocked in around 2 hours and 20 minutes.

If they do it chronologically, it's Magician's Nephew, TLTWATW, The Horse and His Boy, then Prince Caspian, Dawn Treader, Silver Chair, and Last Battle.

It is. The Magician's Nephew was written -- I don't want to say as an after-thought, but it was written last, yet serves as a prequel to whole story. It's the Narnia creation story.

Prince Caspian was written (and maybe published) directly after TLTW&TW, but if I recall correctly, the events of The Horse and His Boy take place during the same era (in Narnia) as TLWT&TW, whereas Prince Caspian is set 1300 years later in Narnian time.

Lewis reportedly had no problem with the publisher ordering and reordering of the series, but I still recommend that my kids read The Magician's Nephew last. I sort of think of it as fanwank in the original sense of the word. If you fall in love with the concert that is Narnia, TMN is the encore that caps off your evening, because although you were sated, you just needed a little bit more.

Apparantly DH was talking to Maureen O'Hara for a couple of hours last week and had no idea. And when he was informed, had no idea who she was. For shame, DH, for shame.

Jarsy, that's grounds for divorce. Annulment, even.

Great segue for mentioning that I saw Speed Racer at an Imax theater this afternoon. I think it's a touch too long for such a (continued...)

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slight story, but it's hugely entertaining, the thing looks incredible, and I really like the actors they chose (although why they didn't just go ahead and get Tim Curry for the villain is beyond me, because they may as well have). The kid and the chimp were a touch over cute, but even they had redeeming moments. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman have both had what I must consider two of the strangest careers in Hollywood.

Do they have the TV show's theme song? This is really the only part I care about. If they'd used the song in the promos, the movie wouldn't have tanked. Not to go all bottle of A-1 sauce on y'all, but Yeah. It's that important.

Um, Batman Begins? Nope. American Psycho? Nope. Newsies? Nope. Empire of the Sun? Nope. And then I get the brilliant thought that she knows of Equilibrium (did I just break a secret code of cool for saying it's name out loud?!) and me and my brother start ragging on how awful and ridiculous it was and how much we absolutely loved it, and she's still all Nope and not interested in our squee. My next brilliant thought is that she's a dog lover, so I tell her he rescues a puppy. She jumped right on board!

Tell her CB played Laurie in Little Women (the version with Winona Ryder as Jo and Claire Danes as Beth). Other than Empire of the Sun, that might be the only film of his I've seen, too.

Jesus Camp. It's been written about elsewhere at length, but you'd think that a scene in which pre-scandal Ted Haggard leans into the camera and makes a joke about how he knows what you did last night, well, you'd think that scene would be the creepiest moment in any given documentary movie. But it's not even in the top ten.

It's not in the 10 ten? I have studiously avoided that film for the sake of my blood pressure. I keep meaning to see Saved, though.

God, I love Viggo: >[link]

I love him too, but I found some of it disturbing. I'd just beaten my brain into only reading the following as wholesome and endearing (which my intellectual side knows it's meant to be):

In Erie, while Kodi’s father was away for a bit, Mr. Mortensen, who has a grown son of his own, moved from his suite to Kodi’s room, a double, where they jumped on the beds together. During filming Mr. Mortensen, protective of Kodi, worried, for example, about yanking or dragging him too hard, but also treated him as an equal, a fellow professional who happened to have a very different way of working.

...when I read this:

We’re kind of like an old married couple. That’s what our relationship is.”

I don't...like it. Viggo my love, you should have stopped at friend. I hope I don't have to say this here, but just in case, I'd feel the same were the child actor a girl. It makes me think of a pedophile grooming prey. I don't want to think about that when I think about Viggo.

So Indy. It was a lot slower than I had prepared myself for.

What's the violence like? Is it just cinematic fun or could it be disturbing for the average kid from 8 to 12? Is there gore? Are the sexual situations inappropriate for kids from ages 8 to 12? Scott and I want to introduce our kids to the franchise, but we're wondering if they aren't too young still. It's been a long time since I've seen any of the films.

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