Movies, movies, movies

And some books. But mostly movies. Without even getting to the drive-in yet this summer, we’ve been downing movies like popcorn. Couple of weeks ago we hit Proctor’s, which was showing “Robots,” which is really excellent. (“Madagascar” is showing this weekend, btw.) Last week we went to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the Spectrum. While I love Gene Wilder and enjoyed the gentle sweetness of the first film made from the book, this is truly the second Golden Age of Cinema, when anything you can imagine can be put on the screen and made believable, and if you don’t believe that, you haven’t seen the squirrel scene in the new “Charlie.” It’s true that I’m currently a sucker for anything Johnny Depp might do, but this movie is so much more than just Johnny Depp. All the performances are excellent, the special effects don’t look like special effects, and there is just one Oompa Loompa, who is all Oompa Loompas, which is quite the effect itself. Plus, Tim Burton used the original songs, which are truly much better than the concoctions in the first movie.

Not a drive-in, but almost a drive-in, they’re showing movies down at the amphitheatre in Riverfront Park in Albany on Friday nights. (Mad props to Pioneer Savings Bank for sponsoring it.) Nothing finer than a warm summer night sitting alongside the river watching a movie. They open with some comedians, then go into an episode of the Simpsons, and then a movie. Last week, it was a movie I would never otherwise have seen, and I would have had to regret it, because any movie that has a pirate in its cast for no apparent reason certainly deserves my attention, and that movie is “Dodgeball.” Much funnier than it had any right to be. I am generally running cold on the whole Ben Stiller concept these days, but this time it worked, primarily because Vince Vaughn just played it straight, even though he was surrounded by totally over-the-top characters. Plus, Rip Torn. Plus, Lance Armstrong. Plus . . . oh, god, who wasn’t in it?

So, am I going to see the Gin Blossoms at the Plaza tomorrow night? I really really want to, but they don’t start until 8:30, and the girls have been fading early lately. So we’ll see. But it’s the Gin Blossoms!