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Sal, I can't argue with you. I'll be surprised if any of the remaining Narnia films do nearly as well as the first. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is the strongest story and the rest of the books don't fit together like the Tolkien trilogy.

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Thanks for the insight in your blog about this summer's movies, Mike. I might consider Prince Caspian as an under performer, though. When you look at it, the original Chronicles of Narnia made $291 million, whereas this sequel made $141 million. Granted, those are just domestic numbers, so the sequel didn't technically lose money based on its $200 mil budget after making $335 mil worldwide, but that is still a clear letdown compared to the original which totaled $774 mil worldwide. Maybe the fact that the sequel stunk had something to do with it? Just a thought.

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I just saw Hancock and was very disappointed. I wasn't expecting greatness, but it was such an empty story with a few flashy action sequences that it kind of went nowhere for me. I wanted to know so much more about Hancock's character, such as if he's from another planet, what the source of his powers are, and other common superhero issues, and they only touch on that for about 30 seconds. Granted, Hancock is purposely made as an "uncommon" superhero, but I'm talking about storytelling here and not character attitude. Would it have killed them to write a few more lines to address this? At worst it would have lengthened the film from its paltry 92 minutes to a slightly more nourished 93 minutes, and at best it would have satisfied those of us who actually care about the story and were looking for some depth. This one is all about the exterior.

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I have nothing against "The Dirty Dozen." It's one of my favorite movies, but I think of it more as an action film than a war film. Scroll down Mike's Lists to my list of 21 Top-Ten War Movies and you'll see that the list is weighted toward the more serious and realistic stories, particularly in World War II. Much as I enjoy "The Dirty Dozen" every time I rewatch it, I can't put it up there with "From Here to Eternity" or "Hope and Glory." And by the way (**shameless self-promotion alert**)I do give "Dirty Dozen" the highest, four-bone rating in my book "War Movies."

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Mike: I can't believe that you do not consider the Dirty Dozen to be on of the best war movies. After you think about it, I bet you change your mind and add it.

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Well, I got dragged to see You Don't Mess With the Zohan by a couple of friends, and......Who knew?! Pelvic thrusts can stop all the wars in the world! This was the dumbest comedy I've seen in a long time, but it was kind of funny in its own right. I certainly laughed a decent amount.

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Onita, It appears that the version of "Thief of Bagdad" that you're looking for is not available on DVD, but I'm going to check out another source and should have some news for you soon. Randy, Good call on Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive." It's one of the great unrecognized horrors. And it's loosely based on a true story that is recounted (*shameless self promotion alert*) in my book "American Murder."