Tropical heat this weekend, and I've spent much of my time in the sun. I've been broiled. In a good way.

I saw Men in Black II Friday night, and it pretty much met my extremely low expectations. It was still a disappointment, though.

There were some neat ideas in there, and Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are talented and charismatic actors with a remarkable chemistry, but overall, Barry Sonnenfeld's direction was flat, the story pointless, the pace way off, and the jokes hit-and-miss (with a lot more misses than hits).

It's a shame, because the concept is great, but I don't think these are the people to pull it off. Like the first one, this simply felt like a competent episode of a long-running TV-show - in itself not a bad thing, because some TV-shows match, even surpass, most movies. But in this case, with an "event" movie of this type, that's a minus. Watching the flick - even though I was seated in the fourth row watching a giant screen, with the volume approaching the limits of human tolerance - I got really, really bored. And that's never a good thing.

Give the franchise to a new director, hire a new screenwriter, and maybe - just maybe - there's still hope for the third movie to meet the concept's potential. Maybe.

I wouldn't hold my breath, though. Hollywood don't play dat.

The heat continues, and it's torture being locked up in the office today. I could sneak out, but then I'd just feel guilty afterwards. Oh, and the cat's got a swollen left eyelid - she can barely open that eye. I wonder what's causing it.  ¶ 10:49