Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

I've just got a couple of car-loads of stuff to remove from my old apartment (at least, I hope my estimate is correct), so I took time off on Sunday (after church, a trip to the bank, and the grocery store) to see two -- count 'em, TWO -- actual movies at two different local multiplexes over the course of the day.

First, I saw a French movie, being billed as "PRICELESS" in English ("Hors de Prix" in French, which -- if you pronounce it according to English rules -- sounds really rude, especially since the film has a lot to do with young people who have sex with older people for profit), since I figured that would be the one least likely to stay around another week. It was well-made and funny, but -- like most of the French comedies I've seen on the big screen over here -- often quite sad.

If the idea of a young woman (and eventually a young man) 'selling' themselves to someone in order to have a roof over their head and 'nice things' to wear doesn't put you off at the get-go, you'll probably enjoy this film.

Then, in the afternoon, I caught the last cheap matinee (for the day) of "THE INCREDIBLE HULK", and boy was THAT worth the money, and then some! TWO really good Marvel film adaptations in two months? That's got to be some kind of incredible record. All the humanity that somehow seemed to be lacking from the first "HULK" film was there on the screen, and even the CGI Hulk (who -- like the Hulk I remember from the cartoons and comic books -- was monosyllabically verbal) seemed far more approachable. Also, the cameos of Stan Lee, Lou Ferrigno, and yes, even the deceased Bill Bixby (in the form of a re-run of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" on Bruce Banner's TV one night) were much more creatively handled.

Plus, having just re-viewed one of the 'old/new' cartoon episodes (as in, from the late 90's/early 00's -- not the "Hulk" cartoons I remember watching on the "Dr. Max Show" weekday afternoons in the 1960's) earlier that day, I was delighted to recognize references to "The Abomination" and someone who might turn out to be another well-known Bruce Banner/Hulk antagonist in future movies (Matt Frewer voiced "The Leader" in the cartoon series I was re-watching, which explains some of my affection for that particular cartoon incarnation -- also, they had Lou Ferrigno doing the voice of the Hulk in that series, as well). The Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr., OF COURSE) walk-on at the end -- before the closing credits, thank you! -- was just icing on the comic-book cake.

See either of these movies and you'll probably have a good time, but "THE HULK" is the most fun, by far. And that's the one I wouldn't mind seeing again someday.