I had the opportunity to see Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk this week on consecutive days. And to further my excitement, here's a quote from the Marvel Studios director about what's ahead:

"We've got three to five years of I hope great movies with the characters that we do control, all leading up to The Avengers."

YES.

1. Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times.

A Few Good Men.

I liked Keifer Sutherland back then, before 24 became such a hit show. Jack Nicholson is great, Tom Cruise is stellar (he could act then, before he went crazy), and Demi Moore and Kevin Pollak are a great supporting cast. I used to watch it every month when it was on Friday nights on TBS. A back to back with A Hunt for Red October and A Few Good Men, how can you go wrong?

2. Name a movie you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

Considering my age, not many. Go with the Tolkein trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean (the first). That might be all, to be honest.

3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie.

George Clooney, Scarlett Johanssen, Jack Nicholson

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie.

Tom Hanks & Nicholas Cage

5. Name a movie you can and do quote from.

Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, Anchorman.

"It works 60 percent of the time, every time." (Anchorman)

6. Name a movie musical in which you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera

7. Name a movie you have been known to sing along with.

Dreamgirls, Moulin Rouge

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see.

Crash. What a powerful movie.

9. Name a movie you own.

HAHA. Big list. First that come to mind are Little Miss Sunshine and A Prairie Home Companion, because they are some of the most recent acquisitions.

10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

Jennifer Hudson

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?

Cherry Bowl in Traverse City has double features all summer, but I can't remember any titles I saw there.

13. Name a movie you keep meaning to see but you just haven’t gotten around to yet.

I'll go with Miz Booshay on this one, The Queen.

14. Ever walked out of a movie? Which one?

Not in the theatre, but I have shut a few off watching them on DVD. See answer #4.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

Dreamgirls, again, because it was one of the most recent theatre experiences.

16. Popcorn?

In the theatre yes, but not usually at home. On occasion I'll steal some of Giles' because she eats it every Sunday evening. :-)

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

I'd like to go a few times a month, but budgetary reasons have limited that to every month or so. It depends on what is playing.

18. What's the last movie you saw in a movie theater?

Dreamgirls, I think?

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Dark comedies, historic dramas.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

I remember seeing Jungle Book in the old Meijer theatre in Traverse City. But it was clearly the re-release in June, 1990 when I was 5, as I most definitely was not alive in 1967.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Con Air. Gone in 60 Seconds (with Nicholas Cage). Titanic. A LOT of romantic comedies.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Amelie was weird but awesome.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

Con Air was scarily bad. The Watcher in the Woods was scary when I watched it, probably around the age of 5 or 6.

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

Anchorman. Airplane. And several Muppets movies.

We've watched a few movies of late. Monday night was Amelie, tonight was Mr. Holland's Opus. Granted neither of these are new movies, but they are still movies that deserve to be viewed by the masses.

Amelie was absolutely beautiful. The music throughout was perfect and it has some visual imagery and sarcasm that is magnificent. It is one of those movies that makes me wish I was fluent in French to understand some of the literary idioms as well (isn't that the worst part about not understanding a language?). Granted it's an R-rated movie, probably for some nudity and language, but that generally takes a back seat (for me) when it comes to artistic value. The movie was in a sense a love story, in a sense a "finding yourself" (I actually hate that phrase) story, and then at times an oddly-humorous tale. Worth seeing.

MHO was a great film when it came out, and it is a great film now. Sure, it has it's quirks, the ones that the music elites like to critique, but it does the job it set out to do. It's a feel-good story of a small-town man that dedicates his life to serving the public good. I am sure that many music students over the years can find some resemblance to their own music teacher. If you haven't seen this one, you should pick it up cheap on Amazon and watch it this weekend.

For the past few years the Box Office has been down. It seems that every year the reports are released of a rash of summer box office flops, hundred-million dollar movies disappear (remember the Alamo, anyone?) and the MPAA is certain that "piracy" is the cause of their failure. But I''m gonna go out on a limb here and you''ll probably all disagree with me but I don''t think that piracy has anything to do with it. I''m gonna guess that it has something to do with an overall lame quality of product.

Let's look at a couple of recent titles. Did you see the previews for Adam Sandler''s film Click? Quick plot recap: guy (played by generally funny comedic actor) who lives "normal life" with "normal family" and "normal Office Space-type job" suddenly decides that he is bored so he meets some crazy scientist man (played by generally funny and talented actor) who gives him a cure-all to his boredom at work, at home, with his very hot wife (played by a hot and talented actress), etc. The plot turns when his cure-all becomes unsatisfying and he realizes that he is about to lose his formerly boring life which he has now realized is important to him and part of who he is. In the end, he gets his normal boring life back which, thanks to the joys of Hollywood and cinematography, is romanticized by some cheesy music and creative visual effects.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I didn''t see the movie? That I came to this plot summary by my own clever thought-process and the fact that this story has been told 100 times in 100 different ways. It seems like I was 2 years old when I first heard the story of the "magic ice skates." You know, the one where the kid who can''t skate goes to the crazy scientist-type old man, gets a magic piece of equipment, and suddenly can skate with the best of them. Eventually, he loses them, learning that its all about passion and dedication and not "magic" anything. I have even heard it told with basketball shoes.

I am ridiculously fed up with the fact that movie producers and movie studios believe that they can continue to spoon feed us this type of "entertainment." At what point will the general American public stop paying for this crap? But then I remember the stupid things that the American public cares about, like Brittney Spears'' personal life, and I realize that there really is no hope for us. But remember, the reason movies like Click are not relevant or generally popular is because everyone is downloading it and not watching it. Right. That is less believeable than Pam Anderson''s...intellect.

I really did nothing over spring break. I went to my buddy Matt's house in Saginaw and watched a lot of movies, ate good food, and that was basically it. On Saturday his parents took us to Detroit to see Three Mo' Tenors, an amazing act that I wish everyone could see. With the exception of that, however, we basically watched movies. They included (this is not currently a comprehensive list):

• Constantine
• Ray
• The Woodsman
• The Constant Gardener
• North Country
• Hustle and Flow
• Good Night and Good Luck
• Kung Fu Hustle
• Prime
• 16 Blocks
• Failure to Launch
• V for Vendetta
• Inside Man
• Chappelle's Show (the entire second season, 13 episodes)
• Law and Order: SVU (the entire second season, 21 episodes)
• Everything is Illuminated

For those 16 reasons above, I consider the past week a successful spring break.