The Shallow End of the Pool

I had a great time in Florida last week. Our flight on Monday morning actually arrived early, and me and the fruit of my loins were already in my Dad's car with our luggage at the time we were actually scheduled to land. Within 2 hours we were cruising the Everglades on an airboat and saw a bunch o' gators. My daughter even got to hold one. The heat was unbearable, though, so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Very refreshing. Tuesday we spent a nice day indoors at the Discovery Kids Science Museum and also got to check out the IMAX "Deep Sea 3-D" movie which was pretty cool. Wednesday we went to the Rapids water park, where I learned that my fragile old body can't handle water slides as well as it used to. I'm still sore a week later. Thursday we took it to the cinema and checked out "Nacho Libre." I've been looking forward to this one for a while now, and I must say it did not disappoint. Jack Black delivered the goods as usual. I can see how it wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea, but it sure as hell was mine. Great stuff. We also had a nice dinner at the restaurant where my youngest brother formerly worked, and my youngest sister currently does. It was a great little Italian place. Friday before flying out we went to a place called Boomer's, which is like a mini amusement park. Raced some Go-Karts and rode a pretty decent wooden coaster. All in all it was a great trip.

Moving on, "Superman Returns" opens today, and I just got back from the show. Holy Toledo, folks. Stop reading this right now and go f***ing see it already. If you have any doubts at all, consider them erased. Everybody involved did a stellar job from top to bottom. Bryan Singer, I salute you. Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor is (not surprisingly) brilliant and Kate Bosworth is a fantastic Lois Lane. But the real burden falls on the shoulders of relative newcomer Brandon Routh, who handles it all with apparent ease. Routh is an absolute revelation as the Man of Steel. When I first saw pictures of him last year in the tights, I was not impressed. I had him pegged as too much of a pretty-boy. I was way off base. An absolutely magnificent film from beginning to end. I can't imagine I'll enjoy another movie this year as much as this one.

By the way, get to the theatre early. There was a preview for next year's "Spider-Man 3," which looks to be outstanding.