There is a huge pop culture phenomenon happening at the multiplexes this summer. Almost everyone and their dogs have seen a movie sequel based on an amusement park ride at Disneyland. Of course, the first movie was also a huge pop culture phenomenon, but the sequel is bigger. Because everyone and their dog saw the first one both in the theaters and at home on DVD.

I saw the first one again (the first time was a few years back with a borrowed DVD while pulling a Captain Jack) around the same time the sequel came out. I did have to endure commercials, but since the movie is PG-13 and mostly for "scary sequences," I basically saw the movie as it was in the first place.

I don't get it. But then, maybe it's not for me to get. Especially if everyone is supposed to get it. That's a wide net with big holes. As a small fish in the big sea of pop culture, I seem to have passed through the net with nary a scratch.

Before the first movie, the Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't even a particularly popular ride. It, like the constantly annoying Small World ride, was merely a way to get out of the sun and be floating through the water. The line was never long. There were no thrills, it was merely the same song being sung over and over by increasingly drunk puppet pirates. And the pirates looked more like the ones from Peter Pan than any original creation. But "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" is a nice refrain.

I haven't seen many of the summer movies yet. I am waiting till they hit the buck theater, for the most part. I did check out A Scanner Darkly, which is a trippy cartoon about drug addicts. I'm thinking it probably won't be a huge hit with the entire family.

And, because it was the first "blockbuster" of the summer, I checked out Mission Impossible: III for a buck last week. A disappointment by only grossing around $135 million here in the U.S., it isn't bad. But it's not great either. I've decided that the Scientologists are right, in one regard: Tom Cruise is alien. He seems to be trying really hard to look human, but, when it comes down to it, he's as cold to the human condition as David Bowie's alien in The Man Who Fell To Earth. Of course there is hope, as Bowie's character eventually falls into the traps of our society and abandons his own people. Maybe Tom Cruise can learn to be a person, too.

Summertime isn't a time for big think pieces, though. It's hard to think very long about anything when it's so hot outside. This is why, I think, the real campaigning for the November election will happen after it's cooled down enough for people to actually concentrate.

Nope, summertime is for candy. We're supposed to get big shows of special effects or big time crazy situations ripe for comedic exploits. Every once in a while, they'll throw a curve ball our way, but we know what every movie is going to be like before we plunk down our money. If you are surprised by anything, you aren't paying attention and, thus, get what you deserve.

The big hit in Albuquerque this summer is actually a throwback. A new commuter train, called the Roadrunner, opened up a little over a week ago. It has been filled to capacity ever since. Of course, it's free until October, so that might have something to do with it. But hey, a hit is a hit. I don't think the people who started putting it together knew it would do so well.

And neither did the guys who put together the first Pirates movie. They might have known, however, that the sequel would do pretty good. Not as much risk there, since now everyone from the ages of 8 to 80 declares Johnny Depp is their favorite actor. Five years ago, this wasn't the case.

So as bombs fly on the other side of the world, we are more interested in seeing super heroes and pirates and foul-mouthed retail clerks. Because summer is surreal enough without getting totally real.

There will be time for me to condemn everything bad in the world, but I'm thinking all that badness isn't going anywhere. And I've heard the devil now wears Prada.

That sounds like enough real life for me.

Matt Worley is on a flight of fancy.