Chattin' with The King

You never know who you're going to bump into on the streets of Nevada.

I had some free time today and went to see two movies -- one before my conference began and one after it concluded for the day.

Both films were shown at the movie theater inside the Horizon Casino. I think it's so funny that most movie theaters in Nevada are located inside casinos.

The two movies couldn't have been more different -- Mama Mia and Hellboy II. However, both films were gorgeous to look at.

Mama Mia is so much fun. Meryl Streep is amazing -- her ability to act and sing at the same time is very impressive. Pierce Brosnan can't sing for a lick -- but I thought that made his performance even more touching. And the setting on a Greek Island is breath-taking.

Actually I was pretty disappointed by the first 20 minutes of the film. The whole thing just seemed so cheap. But it turns out the problem was with the movie theater. I guess the "real" projectionist showed up about 20 minutes into the film because he adjusted the size of the screen (while the movie was running), turned up the volume in the auditorium and got rid of all the irritating scratches in the image. What a difference a good projectionist makes.

This evening I went to see Hellboy II. I actually missed Hellboy I. But in the intervening years I was completely blown away by director Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth." His visual imagination is mind boggling. And he continues to strut his stuff in Hellboy II. A comic book tale, Hellboy is a creature from Hell employed by the U.S. Government to protect mankind from various nefarious plots.