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Let's all go to the lobby

Kim Hollis: What movies have you seen lately? What did you think of them?

Matthew Huntley: I've seen all the summer tent poles, which have ranged from fun and exciting (The Avengers), to lackluster (Dark Shadows), to amusingly bad (Battleship), to quirky and interesting (Moonrise Kingdom - okay this isn't really a tent pole), to just average (MIB3 / What to Expect When You're Expecting), to magnetic (Snow White and the Huntsman). Nothing has really surprised me with this lineup, but it's been a solid season so far. I hope to sample some more independent films soon, starting with The Invisible War next week.

Jason Barney: In the last week I saw three films. Prometheus was really good, but there were some big holes in the storytelling. During the film I was completely entertained, though. The plot was engaging enough where I have thought about the material several times and want to see more. As a SF fan, though, I probably enjoyed it more than others. I want the sequels to get made.

Madagascar 3 was just what I was hoping it would be, a good distraction for my son and nephew. It was okay. There were some good moments, but you take the kids for the opportunity for them to be entertained.

Snow White and the Huntsman was worth seeing, but nothing special. The setting they created was pretty impressive. Kristen Stewart was okay. She was annoying in some parts, but good in others. Chris Hemsworth was about what I expected. Charlize Theron was ideal as the witch. This ends up being the standard summer box office movie. Went for a distraction, hoped it would be worth watching. Walked away satisfied.

Samuel Hoelker: I liked Prometheus, even though I saw it at a drive-in, the worst possible place to see an action movie that requires total immersion. It's very flawed, and I can see how people can fall into both the love-it and hate-it camps, but I was able to suspend most of my disbelief for most of it. As a stand-alone movie, it almost reeks of shoddy filmmaking (would people have been fine with The Devil Inside if it had been made by Ridley Scott?), but if it is actually the first of three films, I'm incredibly game.

Snow White and the Huntsman bored me. It was bland, lacked any tone, and, once again, I realized I don't like Kristen Stewart (and man, does she have lots of goodwill from me due to Adventureland). Charlize Theron has very little to do, and Stewart is the opposite of radiance (which is what Snow White is supposed to possess). I liked the Hemsworth, but outside of the evil queen, I'll take Mirror Mirror any day.

I also caught Polisse, a French crime procedural film. It's more or less interconnected vignettes, some of which work and some of which don't. It has interesting threads that never really connect, and for a 140 minute film, only one character really gets developed. Still, it has some powerful scenes and can be quite harrowing to watch at some points (it follows the Parisian version of SVU). But boy, does it feel long.

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