Movie: Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer and the trailers before it.

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Is it wrong to say that I liked this movie? Because I did.

The sequel has been trashed in the press more than just a little bit and has been complained about in the comic fandom but I thought that it was a good movie.

I'm sure a lot of people will complain that the whole Galactus story line was wrapped up in one 97 minute movie. But, while I had doubts, I think they did a concise job telling the story and I personally did not feel cheated. In addition to the Galactus storyline they also covered the "Doom stealing the Surfer's powers" arc.

To be honest, character development outside of Johnny and Susan Storm was a little lacking. It mostly went with what we already knew and no real growth over the movie for Ben or Reed.

Another qualm I had was the product placements. I was thirsty for a little Dos Equis after the movie. And do we really need to know that the Fantasticar has a Dodge Hemi engine in it?

Okay, I have one more. The reintroduce Stan Lee in the movie as himself. However, you might remember that he appeared in the last movie as one of his best cameos to date--FF mailman Willie Lumpkin. Why they decided to change that all of a sudden I don't really know. The kinda invalidated one of the best parts of the last movie for a cheap gag. I don't remember the original comic version of the story, but as it stands, that irked me.

But all in all, I like the movie. It captured the family like nature of the comic and, unlike the X-Men, the FF again works as a team. Sure, many might complain that the short running time gave short shift to one of the most classic of storylines. But I think the makers used good economy in storytelling and touched on all the plot points and emotional moments with just enough time to get the point across. It was fun and complex enough that I enjoyed it a lot.

Now, the trailers:

• Golden Compass: My friend Jeff  has freaked out over the teaser poster, and the movie might actually rock, but the movie seems like just another example of Hollywood's lack of originality. This movie seems to develop from the "Chronicles of Narnia was a surprise hit so lets adapt more childrens books with talking animals, children in peril and fantastic alternate worlds."
• The Simpsons Movie: I can't say I watch the Simpsons TV show that much anymore, mainly because I don't watch any TV all that much anymore. But the movie seems to have all the elements I love about the TV show when I used to be a regular watcher. I can't wait for this to arrive.
• Live Free or Die Hard: I have to admit, I am a fan of the Die Hard movies. Well, maybe not too much the second one. But I loved the first one and I also loved the third one. This one seems to be good, but it seems to focus more on "unbelievable stunts than the third did.