ONE SUMMER. FOUR MOVIES

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As years pass, I have less and less interest in viewing Hollywood films at the local multiplex. This summer I managed to see 4 movies in the theater. Three were sequels (or at least part of a series) and the fourth was a stand alone.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL: Phhhht. This movie seemed to be running on fumes. The time to make this movie has long passed - maybe 10 years ago. In ranking the Indiana Jones films this one comes in third, behind The Last Crusade, Raiders of the Lost Ark but well ahead of the abomination Temple of Doom.

THE X-FILES: THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE: Okay, I am an admitted and committed X-Files fan. I think Scully is the hottest woman on TV (or the silver screen) and Mulder is one of the coolest characters ever. So ... all my bias aside ... I was initially disappointed when I walked out of the theater. I mean ... come on ... after 10 years, couldn't the Chris Carter brain trust come up with a better plot line than this? At least 1/3 of the series episodes had more clever ideas than this feature film. But the film's major strength ... Mulder and Scully and their relationship ... has filtered to the forefront. More than a month later, I like the film better. The X-Files is ultimately more about Mulder and Scully than any plot, or monster, or alien. And by the way ... Scully is still hot.

THE DARK KNIGHT: I waited until the masses were gone and sat in a movie theater with a total of four people to watch this. Who would have thought that Batman would become a secondary character? For all it's tortured moral dilemmas ... and Heath Ledger's star turn ... the movie has left me ambivilent. Rather disappointing.

GONE WITH THE WIND: Far away the best film I watched this year in the theater. The Terrace Theater on James Island ran the classic for a week and did big business. I'm pretty sure, 50 years from now, none of the previous three movies I saw this summer will be playing to sold out audiences in a movie theater. Now, if only they would play Harvey ...