Q: Should a service or product be provided at the barrel of a gun… yes or no?

That’s it—only one question long! So what’s your answer?

(HT: Adventures in Legal Land)

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Heads up, folks! The trailer for X-Files: I Want to Believe is now up:

(This is a sort of update to my Summer 2008 Blockbusters post from earlier in the week.)

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Seth Godin recently pointed his blog readers to TimeTube, a YouTube/Dipity mashup:

This is brilliant! Perhaps not helpful for every video search you’d ever run, but many searches would be aided by this sort of results display. Google’s already testing a timeline-based search results system; they need to get on the ball and add this functionality to YouTube (and/or Google Video).

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I don’t know about you, but it sure looks to me as if 2008 is shaping up to be one amazing season for moviegoers! Here’s my short list of must-see films:

Iron Man

‘Nuff said.

Son of Rambow

This movie reminds me of my childhood: days spent in the backyard with the video camera, my brothers and I making our own action/adventure blockbusters. We never got this creative with the special effects, though.

Speed Racer

When I saw the first trailer it was so much eye-candy, my optic nerves wanted to puke. That reflex has settled down now, and I actually think I’ll be able to enjoy the thing.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Finally! Last year I read Prince Caspian to Katie in anticipation of this film… and then it was delayed. Hmm… I wonder if we ought to re-read it now?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The boys (Lucas, Spielberg and Ford) said way back when that they’re only making this movie because they’re rich, old men and they thought it would be fun. That could mean that it’ll be really good, or really bad. Like, worse than Temple of Doom bad. :shudder:

The Incredible Hulk

Hooray! We finally have a Hulk film that doesn’t look like a box-office bomb stink like Banner’s pits! (Don’t let the door hit you on the backside as you leave, Mr. Ang Lee. Thank you.)

The Happening

“In a world where all of humanity is mysteriously dying off, one man will survive… Marky Mark.” Yes, Shyamalan truly understands the horror genre.

Get Smart

Let’s face it: Steve Carell has played “Michael Scott as ___” in every single theatrical role he’s had to date. Let’s face it: that’s why he’s so hilarious.

Wanted

The good: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging. The bad: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging.

(Seriously! A guy working in a cubicle meets a cute chick who thinks he’s some special mystical dude and takes him to a black man who will then spout philosophy and train him to take out “the bad guys” by doing things with bullets that you aren’t supposed to be able to do. How is that not The Matrix, people?)

Wall•E

It’s Pixar. It’s robots. It’s the future. I am so there! (But please, Pixar: don’t let this be another A.I.!)

The Dark Knight

From what I’ve seen in the latest trailer, the late Heath Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker is quite possibly the best ever. I’m most excited about this one.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

I want to believe that this will be good—if only because Nicole’s already itching to buy the tickets! (Update: the X-Files movie trailer is now online.)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Grab the popcorn and prepare to zone out, because you know that any movie where Brendan Fraser faces off against Jet Li has firmly released any grip it otherwise had on reality. But hey, that’s why we love the Mummy films, right? (Anyone remember “Brendan Fraser vs. Scorpo-Rock”?)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This will be fun! That is all.

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This past weekend, Nicole and I took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who! It was Joshua’s first time in a movie theater, and he did okay. (He got a bit whiny toward the end, so I took him over near the door and held him a bit, and he calmed down.)

Anyway, the movie was a lot of fun. I had trouble keeping track of whether Horton and the kangaroo represented “mainstream culture vs. evil, close-minded fundamentalists” or “believer vs. atheist.” It was a little too disorienting to try and embrace both models at the same time—maybe due to my taking personally the homeschooling dig early in the film.

As with previous Dr. Seuss theatrical adaptations, a number of additions were made to convert the 72-page book into an 86-minute film. Unlike previous live-action Seussian projects, however, these additions (for the most part) added something to the story without mutating it into a children’s book version of Ace Ventura. Even the anime fight sequence worked! The main exception in my mind?

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

At first glance, Katie seems to have been intended to play the part of the cute toddler who sometimes makes strange remarks. She ends up just being creepy, though. Her character is so dissonant in relation to the rest of the movie that she doesn’t just seem out of place… she seems like a saboteur, intentionally seeking to derail the story.

Aside from Katie, the movie just works. So, since she doesn’t have much screen time, I’d give the movie 4.5 (out of 5) stars!

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