Brave men, tough odds, funny stuff

Some of it intentional, some not.

Maybe I'll name my son Tim just so I can follow it with "The Enchanter": "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

No, this doesn't mean we know we're having a boy. I'm just saying that if we do ...

I actually fell asleep near the end of this -- and it's not even that long! -- but it still was hilarious to that point. As you know, our story follows King Arthur as he gathers his Knights of the Round Table and goes off in search of the cup that Christ used during the Last Supper. Alas, nothing comes easy these days, and ... you know what's coming ... hijinks ensue.

It's hard to say what the funniest part of this movie is. I've always been partial to the killer rabbit, but come to think of it, the real joy in that sketch is the very first time you see it. So now I find more humor in the more nuanced scenes, such as the "Old woman!" scene early on, or the would-be assault on the French castle. ("I fart in your general direction!")

Come to think of it, the business at the bridge is pretty funny, too. But like I said, I fell asleep. And I still don't know the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow -- African or European.

Laugh hard and think not: "Live Free or Die Hard"

Yeah, yeah, yeah ... if it weren't for a free preview weekend on HBO, I wouldn't have given this a second viewing after enjoying it in the theater. (Somewhat guiltily, if that's even a word.) While I opposed the principle of this movie -- in much the same fashion as the fourth Indiana Jones installment -- I admit that it was rather entertaining, in a hugely absurd sort of way.

Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, this time enlisted to protect a computer hacker who unwittingly helped cause chaos to The System and now has to help unf*ckup things. Justin Long, often annoying, is the hacker and actually has a pretty good rapport with our hero. It definitely could have been a lot worse.

But know this: When the gigantic computer clusterf*ck is the most believable part of a movie, you've got problems. There's good action, yes, but there's also some really laughable stuff. I mean, the part with the driverless car jumping a curb and taking out a helicopter isn't even in the top 3 mind-boggling scenes. This movie makes "The Transporter" series look like PBS.


And now for some real cowboys ... : "Ride the High Country"

Finally got around to this one, fortunately before the guys moving my daughter's playset to our backyard bumped our dish, requiring a tech visit that ultimately erased everything on my DVR. So yeah, it's time to finally buy the DVD of the 2008 NCAA basketball championship, since I no longer have it preserved for posterity.

(And the best part was that I had the last few seconds of regulation in its own little clip, so I could cue up Mario's shot at will. Shame.)

Dad's a big fan of this western, in part because he worships all things Peckinpah. And it definitely wasn't bad. No "Wild Bunch" or "Professionals," but I liked the edge that Peckinpah brought to it and the nobility -- or lack thereof, depending on the character -- that the two old guys showed.

In short, Joel McCrea is an old stud cowboy hired to bring some gold back from a mining camp. He enlists his old friend (Randolph Scott) and the friend's young partner, and they pick up a young farm woman along the way. Alas, not only are there villains in the camp, but the guy's friend ain't such a friend. So we've got the whole double-crossing thing and the bonafide bad guys thing going on. What's an aged gunfighter to do?

Not a bad story, but a tad slow on the front end. I guess that's because they really want to build to a climax, as we watch the two old guys have their big moment of glory. Doesn't make my Top 5 westerns -- "Timerider" counts, right? -- but worth seeing all the same.