The western is a tricky genre. Do you go for John Wayne heroics, or Unforgiven style warts and all realism? Or do you go somewhere in between? Do you jazz up history and have Val Kilmer speak in a Foghorn Leghorn voice and Kurt Russell wearing his best "Village People" mustache and eyeliner, or have Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid plod through a visually perfect and painstakingly accurate film that moves at the pace of an asthmatic ant.

Another movie summer has come and gone, filled with sequels, bombast, product placement, and enough explosions to destroy the entire west coast. While it didn't reach the heights of summer 2005, it compared fairly well to its immediate predecessor, summer 2006. Let's examine some of the highlishts (and lowlights) of Hollywood blockbuster season.

Starring Jim Belushi, Alex Neuberger, Peter Dinklage, Patrick Warburton and the voice of Jason Lee
Directed by Frederick Du Chau
Slicc Fliccs: C
TimewasterGuide: 2.5 clocks

When "The Bourne Identity" was released in 2002, we were among the small number of moviegoers who were less than thrilled. It was an exciting thriller, and Matt Damon was great as always, but, as fans of Robert Ludlum's original novel, we were unhappy with the changes made to the story. It was hard for us to accept the film.

I approached the critics preview of the new romantic comedy License to Wed with very little enthusiasm. In fact, it would be fair to even use the word "trepidation." Trailers for this films indicated a shrill, crass, laugh-free series of cheap gags, and another performance that left of us wondering why we all used to love Robin Williams. To make matters worse, it co-starred teeny-bopper Pop Tart Mandy Moore. While I had never actually seen Moore in a film, history was not in favor of a young pop star giving a good performance. About the only factor in the film's favor was the presence of John Krasinski, the enormously talented co-star of the hit TV sitcom The Office.