I don't know if the world needs a sequel to "Taken," but I hope the filmmakers and the studio have the wisdom to call it "Retaken." (Or, in a concession to silly typographical tropes: "ReTaken.")

"I loved the 'Inquisition' musical extravaganza."

What a show!

No way this can be good. No way. It looks like another by-the-numbers action-caper pic. The original had a great sense of humor. Hard to say for sure from the trailer, but the remake looks humorless. And nothing could top David Shire's original score, which is arguably the coolest caper soundtracks of all time. Joel Mathis and I discussed the Pelham 123 remake along with other summer movies and music with Big Hollywood contributor Christian Toto and A Fistful of Soundtracks blogger Jimmy Aquino on our podcast last week. You can listen here: http://blog.infinitemonkeysblog.com/?q=node/6436

Pixar has long given lie to the idea that animated = "kids." This is a studio that does not condescend to its audience. The opening montage featuring Ellie and Carl's life together was brilliant and poignant. It manages to speak to adults without necessarily alienating kids. Few children under the age of 13 will understand what that brief shot of the doctor's office meant -- it flew right over my 7-year-old's head -- but every adult in the audience I was in last night said, "Oh!" Deftly handled, I thought.

If they starting filming in 2007, they must have assumed John Edwards would win. Well, maybe in some alternate universe. In any case, assume they were being subversive and meant Bush.

Too bad the movie is terrible. Not that the first was any great shakes. But at least Mickey Rooney was in it.

Adam Lambert mangled "A Change is Gonna Come." Lambert makes Michael Crawford look like James Brown.

Every season, when my wife and I watch the show, I find myself saying after some rip-roaring performance, "Yeah, I'd buy that record." I almost never do -- once the butchers at J Records get ahold of these winners, they overproduce the material and siphon out whatever substance made them interesting in the first place. But I didn't do that with any of the top 13 this year. None of them sounded interesting to me at all.

Except for Norman Gentle, purged from -- what? -- the Top 36? Top 24? I don't remember now. He's something of a novelty act, sure, but he was and remains brilliantly funny. I'd buy that record, for certain.

Good point. Also, in retrospect, I think I was unfair to meat.

Well, I didn't like either of the finalists -- I referred to them, perhaps too cruelly, as "Meat Sack A" and "Meat Sack B." I didn't like any of the top contestants this year, and I really didn't like the way the judges seemed to play favorites week after week. The strange thing about the Lambert phenomenon was how his over-the-top Broadway theatrics continually won the praise of Simon Cowell, who has been known to criticize contestants in the past for exhibiting precisely such characteristics.

Truth be told, I wanted Norman Gentle to win. Homophobia, indeed.

The first Star Trek film was pretty lame. But the Jerry Goldsmith score is terrific. (Listening to it now.) Goldsmith's stuff almost never disappointed, and almost always elevated mediocre material on screen.