My wife and I actually got to see two movies last weekend. That doubled our total for the year in a span of 18 hours. These two flicks will join “Dreamgirls” and “Knocked Up” and anything else we see before the year is done in the race for The Brians next year.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry: I love Adam Sandler. He is often nominated for a Brian and just plain makes me laugh. I could watch “The Waterboy” over and over again. Actually, I do since they play it on TV all the time. I like Kevin James too. “King of Queens” was really funny in its early days. I thought the two would work well together, and I was right. I know this flick didn’t get the greatest reviews, and I can understand why. The plot is kind of weak. The jokes are very predictable. Thank God for good acting. The lead actors really know how to deliver a joke, Ving Rhames does an outstanding job, and Steve Buscemi is Steve Buscemi. I generally find Dan Ackroyd loathsome these days, but even he made me laugh a couple of times. I think the key to movies like this is going in with realistic expectations. I knew I would get a lot of stereotypical homophobic jokes with an amazing personal transformation by everyone that would show how good triumphs over evil. Accepting that made it easier for me to find the humor in Rob Schneider’s gloriously bad portrayal of a Chinese. Plus, Jessica Biel is purty.

The Simpsons Movie: To be honest, I hardly watch the show anymore. It’s not because I am on some kind of boycott because of its quality even though I have been disappointed a lot when I do catch it these days. I just don’t have the time anymore. I’m glad my indifference didn’t extend to the movie. I rarely say that people “need” to see a movie (or watch a TV show or hear a band or read a book), but I have a hard time believing that most normal people won’t find this movie outrageously funny. First off, it’s not that long. They chose not to overdo things, just like Trey Park and Matt Stone did for the South Park movie. Secondly, they stayed true to what got us all interested in the show as more than a show a long time ago – some goofiness mixed with social commentary crossed with Homer’s representation of the oaf inside all of us. Plus, we got to see Bart’s weiner, heard Marge swear and saw Otto getting high. This will probably battle “Knocked Up” for the Best Picture Brian.