Date: June 23
Location: AMC Sunset Place

Another South Miami date night. The movie was everything I expected and hoped it would be, no more or less. It’s funny, breezy, clever and features some great, charismatic movie stars doing their movie star thing. It falls short of the first film because we’ve seen it all before, but it’s a fun time nonetheless. And of course I’ll forget the whole thing in a week.

Date: June 2
Location: AMC Sunset Place

Ah, Sunset Place. Lining up early, securing the two best seats in the place. Huge screen, great sound. And no babysitter to pay. We did a repeat of last week, putting Fiona to bed at the abuelos and hitting the 8 o’clock show. As for the movie, the ranking at right says it all. One of the best comedies I’ve seen in years — better than the Wedding Crashers/40-Year-Old Virgin duo of 2005. It’s hilarious from every direction, in unexpected ways, with the leads firing on all cylinders and every bit player fighting over who gets to steal the movie. And on top of all that, it’s incredibly sweet and real and honest about relationships and new parenthood. Can’t recommend it enough.

Date: May 27
Location: AMC Sunset Place

First “date” movie in Miami in more than 6 months. We put Fiona to sleep in the portable crib at her abuelos’ place and hit the road. Worked like a charm. The movie was a lot of fun — I loved the bold direction they took the Will and Elizabeth storyline, and having Geoffrey Rush back was wonderful. Jack Sparrow was as entertaining as ever. The real star here, and I believe in the whole trilogy, is Keira Knightley. She has such a commanding presence for somebody so young and so beautiful, whether in these films or something like Pride & Prejudice. I am always impressed by her. The film was too long by a good half hour, but all in all a very fun ride.

Date: May 23
Location: Muvico Boynton Beach

Well, here’s a movie that makes Spider-Man 3 look like, um, Spider-Man 2. As somebody who very much enjoyed the first two Shrek films, I have no idea how this garbage made it to the big screen. The plot was weak, the characters bland and the humor non-existent. I think I laughed twice. I saw it with Sophia on an otherwise lovely evening — meaning this film puts to rest Dana’s theory about the moviegoing experience. Meet the Robinsons was Citizen Kane compared to this dreck.

Date: May 5
Location: Muvico Boynton Beach

First, the good part. Our Muvico is open, and it’s very nice. It’s literally 5 minutes from our house and we didn’t have any problems parking or getting in. In fact, we were the first people in the auditorium without even waiting on any lines. We will be going to this theater for a long time to come (especially in 2 years, when Fiona will be eligible for the kids’ room). Now for the bad part: the movie. There were all kinds of elements here that could have been assembled into a good film, but they would have had to start by not trying to include every one of them. Three villains (four, if you count Dark Spidey) is way too much. I wish they had given Topher Grace a lot more screen and plot time and just scrapped the Sandman altogether. And why is it that the evil alien goo turns Peter Parker into John Travolta? I expected so much more from the team behind the wonderful first two films. The summer blockbuster season starts off with a whimper. Bring on Jason Bourne!