Solonor's Inkwell

Yes, it’s stupid. Yes, it’s juvenile. Yes, it’s gross. But my entire family found it extremely funny. Are we that different? I feel like I am the only one in Blog-land that liked the movie.

It seems to be fashionable to dump on this movie as either not living up to some high movie standard or for being dumb. Granted, if I had to assign it some “star” rating, I’d find it hard to give it the same weight as “Minority Report,” but sheesh, lighten up!

And, for the record, I hated the second one, so I don’t know where the “this one’s not as good as the second one” crowd comes from, either.

Just got back from the latest Austin Powers flick, Goldmember. I haven’t laughed this hard in months. Maybe I’m reverting to an immature teenager, but this is funny!

I admit that I tend to give credence to professional reviewers–much to the annoyance of my wife. If I read a review before going in, I sometimes (not always) wind up with a preconceived notion of whether or not the movie will be good. It’s a nasty habit, and I’m trying to cut down.

What helps are such obviously stupid reviews as these:

Roger Ebert: (2-stars) “The movie is a little tired; maybe the original inspiration has run its course. It’s a small disappointment, but I’m glad I saw it. Sorta.”

James Berardinelli: (2.5-stars) “One of the blessings of Goldmember is that it’s only 90 minutes long…”

Kenneth Turan, LA Times: “Everyone likes the idea of Austin Powers, but the actuality of “Austin Powers in Goldmember” is a lot harder to take.”

Granted, not everyone hated it. Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post all gave it pretty good reviews. But overall, I have to wonder what planet these people are on.