Ed South's Wonderful World of Blog

Classic Commercial Sunday - A Day At The Park

2012-01-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

Trailer Tuesday - License to Drive (1988)

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

Sonic Meets Flo

2012-01-23T00:01:00.001-05:00

For whatever reason, the kids and I are big fans of Flo the Progressive Insurance Gal. We're always excited when we catch a new chapter in her never ending adventures in some sort of weird insurance store where you buy insurance off a shelf. Anywho, the latest commercial from the insurance company features Sonic the Hedgehog (of video game fame!)

Classic Commercial Sunday - Seriously, How Fun Is The Kennedy Airport?

2012-01-22T00:01:00.001-05:00

Useless Movie Watching Trends From 2011

2012-01-20T20:30:00.000-05:00

This is utterly pointless, but since I've kept track of every movie that I watched in 2011 - I was curious to see how my viewing habits broke down as far as movie ratings and the age of the films I've been watching. Who cares, right? This is just the kind of thing I like to do...

Decades; movies from
the 1930's - 2
the 1940's - 11
the 1950's - 12
the 1960's - 19
the 1970's - 20
the 1980's - 31
the 1990's - 14
the 2000's - 17
recent years 2010 & 2011: 80

For a movie buff, it's kind of lame that I watched so many more recent flicks than older ones, but I really burn through the Netflix discs and my wife and I have finally started watching a lot more movies together. She's not quite as interested in the older fare as I am, but I'll jump at the chance to watch a film with her - and I can stomach romantic comedies so we don't have a hard time finding things to watch.

Ratings:
G - 30
PG - 46
PG-13 - 26
R - 56
made for TV movies - 7

Honestly, I'm really surprised I watched that many R rated films. My tastes in film run rather immature but I did get into a big streak of watching 80's teen comedies and 70's drive-in flicks, so I guess that explains that high number. Since I have kids, I get a pass at seeing 30 G rated flicks but let's be honest - the number would probably be around the same even if I were not a father.

Trailer Tuesday - Dirty Girl (2011)

2012-01-17T00:01:00.001-05:00

My Week In Movies - You Shouldn't Hang Me On a Hook, Johnny. My Father Hung Me on a Hook Once. Once!

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Johnny Dangerously (1984) As far as comedies go, this has got to be one of the all-time most unsung hilarious pictures ever made. A great cast led by Michael Keaton along with Marilu Henner, Joe Piscopo, Peter Boyle, Griffin Dunne and Dom Deluise...just to name a few...spoof 1930's gangster pictures. Now, most of us ain't really seen enough 1930's gangster picture to spot a good parody of one - but this movie is chock full of solid gags from beginning to end. As the film opens up we see a city street from the past. The subtitle at the bottom of the screen tells us it's 1935...and then a car in traffic runs over the subtitle causing it to crumble in the street. That's the first joke in the movie! The first time I saw it, I knew I was going to be hooked on the whole movie from minute one. I used to watch this great flick every chance I got on HBO back in the day. I hadn't seen it in a while, so it was great to revisit it and laugh myself silly. Look it up on Netflix Instant if you ain't ever seen it - or if you just need a good laugh.

An Extremely Goofy Movie (1999) Another under rated gem, the direct-to-video sequel to the also under rated A Goofy Movie from 1995, finds Goofy's son Max off the college where he butts heads with the big fraternity on campus. Goofy finds himself also on campus as a new student and falls in love with the school librarian. This is really a solid animated film, with no singing but plenty of groovy disco tunes take make up a pretty awesome soundtrack.

Winnie The Pooh (2011) Bob Howdy, this is a really good movie. I was excited to see it again as my theatrical screening last summer was severely dampened by a very obnoxious child in the row in front of us with even more obnoxious parents. I really enjoyed it a second time around and my kids once again laughed themselves uncontrollably. Afterwards Elias declared the movie "Hilarious" which is an honor he has only also bestowed upon "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs"...which he's seen 1 million times. Pooh's latest movie has a running time of 63 minutes, the actual movie itself wraps up at 57 minutes with the remainder of the time dedicated to a very creative credits sequence. It's honestly, a perfectly paced film. In some of the DVD bonus features, there are deleted scenes which the director said were cut because of pacing problems. If he put out a 63 minute movie, and removed stuff due to pacing...he should be in charge of editing every Hollywood movie from now on! Good stuff all around! See it.

The Tigger Movie (2000) So then we revisited Pooh's initial return to the big screen which I loved when it came out and I've seen it several times since. It's still a really good movie, the first time the Hundred Acre Wood gang was treated to a full-length narrative instead of shorter stories tied together. The problem with The Tigger Movie now, is that the 2011 Winnie The Pooh did such a perfect job of creating a newer version of Pooh and Co. that this older flim seems a little less sparkly than it did 12 years ago. Still, it's alot of fun with a pretty good story and an exciting climax plus original songs from Disney's original songwriting team, The Sherman Bros.

The Last Starfighter (1984) I borrowed the VHS of this flick from my buddy Joey Carwash about 15 years ago and have never watched it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I sold the tape at a yard sale somewhere along the line. Not to worry, Joey has the DVD now. I didn't watch his tape, and I hadn't watched it off my TiVo since I recorded it over a year ago. I finally broke down and watched it this week. It's one of those movies that really isn't very creative or interesting, but it just has a certain charm about it that makes it watchable and memorable. If nothing else, this movie is notable for being the last screen credit of the original Music Man himself, Robert Preston. It was also one of the first movies to deal with video games which was such a big deal back in the early 80's. I know I had first seen this when it came to HBO in `85, didn't think much of it then and quite honestly not that big of a fan now either.

The Smurfs (2011) There are chunks of this movie that are so dumb and have nothing to do with Smurfs, it's still kind of irritating that this is the best they could conjure up for iconic characters like Papa Smurf and the gang. Yet, there are some fun moments sprinkled throughout the picture and it has it's heart in the right place so for a PG rated family-friendly comedy, it's ok.

Classic Commercial Sunday - #83

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

My Week In Movies - Happy New Year

2012-01-11T10:10:00.000-05:00

So nice to start off the New Year with a handful of wonderful films...

The Help (2011) I really, really enjoyed this movie. Emma Stone is awesome along with a whole bunch of other great actresses whose names I don't know off-hand. Stone exposes the hypocrisy of the way southerners treated their hired help back in the 1960's. This story is told with humor, drama and wonderful characters - an overall really good movie worth seeking out. It's in the movie rental boxes now.

Our Idiot Brother (2011) Superb ensemble cast including Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, T. J. Miller and Zooey Deschanel. The title is a bit misleading, as you think you're getting one of those super silly Judd Apatow-style films but even though there are some goofy moments this is a nice story about unconditional love and the innocence of good hearted people. It take a while to find it's grove, but the film has a very satisfying ending. Good stuff.

Midnight In Paris (2011) There's alot of positive press surrounding Woody Allen's latest film. I believe it turned out to be his highest grossing movie yet and once again there is quite the Oscar buzz linked to this picture. I guess with all the hype going on, and being such a Woody Allen fan I was expecting to be blown out of the water but the story of Owen Wilson somehow going back in time each night to 1920's Paris just didn't manage to live up to it's hype. Still, it's a good film and filled with all the charm of wit of most of Woody's pictures.

The Onion Movie (2003/2008) This sketch movie based on the popular humorous newspaper was apparently filmed in 2003 and then shelved for most of the decade only to finally surface unceremoniously on DVD in 2008. As you should know by now, I'm a big fan of the sketch film genre, a rarely visited style of film making these days. The Onion Movie, in my opinion, is one of the better ones. The fact that they try to give the film a little bit of a plot and structure, but then it still veers off in many different directions just makes the randomness of this movie all the more fun. There's plenty of running gags throughout including Steven Segal as himself staring in a new movie called ****Puncher. That's good comedy.

Monte Carlo (2011) Dear Self, Stop watching movies just because there's an attractive girl in the lead, especially when the movie is aimed at the sleepover set. You're wasting your time watching silly movies like this, with thread bare storylines, minimal humor and zero creativity. Sure, Selena Gomez is pleasing on the eyes but you don't need to spend two hours of your life watching her and her friends parade around Europe. Honestly, there isn't any ground that wasn't covered 10 times better in The Lizzie McGuire Movie (Now that was a good flick!)

Trailer Tuesday - The Missouri Breaks (1976)

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

edTunes - Mr. Saxobeat

2012-01-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Classic Commercial Sunday - #82

2012-01-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

This was only 25 years ago! Can you imagine them even attempting to do this today...?

Can You Guess Why I'm Going To Watch This Season of Celebrity Apprentice?

2012-01-05T10:00:00.002-05:00

One question: What's an Aubrey O'Day?

My Week In Movies - The Rest of 2011

2012-01-02T21:40:00.001-05:00

The Bishop's Wife (1947) I saw this holiday classic for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. I was glad that I revisited it again this year. Not only did I not get around to many other B&W Christmas goodies, this is just a really good Christmas movie. You can't go wrong with Cary Grant - and in a whimsical role as an angel sent to bring a couple back together - it's just one of the great classic films of all time. There's plenty of Holiday Cheer on hand including a terrific ice skating sequence, plenty of footage of old department stores and some nice caroling. A great holiday flick that I look forward to watching again next Christmas.

Deck The Halls (2006) It's hard to imagine there was a time as recently as 2006 that Danny DeVito and Mather Brodrick were allowed to headline a major studio film, but such was the case in this oft-aired Holiday tragedy of film making. DeVito and Brodrick play rival neighbors who argue over Christmas decorations. It starts out funny enough, but looses steam about 15 minutes in and then just meanders on forever with endless sequences of runaway sleighs, explosions and pratfalls. This is not a Christmas movie I will feel the need to revisit ever again.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) I'm gonna admit, I didn't really want to watch this because there was so many other Christmas movies that I wanted to get to, but my kids really wanted to watch it and I'm not one to deny them Muppets. And after about 2 minutes into the film, I remembered how awesome this movie is. It's not in the same league as the first three Muppet movies, but it's a darn good Muppet production nonetheless!

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Basically the first movie, just reshuffled and with a different bad guy but in the end it worked. With a few solid laughs, some awesome action sequences and a breezy pace this silly sequel turned out to ultimately be satisfying.

Three Amigos! (1987) I always forget how much I love this movie. My kids saw it for the first time and they totally got it. It was a proud night of parenthood.

That's Entertainment (1974) Part film history lesson, part 70's time capsule; this is an ultra-entertaining look at the MGM Musical of Hollywood's Golden Age and it reminds you once again that "They just don't make `em like they used to!"

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas (2011) Yes, again. It was on Christmas Eve night and I ended up sitting on the floor with my wife and watching the entire thing again. I wasn't as productive as I should have been, hours before Santa's arrival, but I did laugh a dozen or so times again at this well done TV movie. I think I'll buy the DVD if it ever comes out.

December Movie Count: 14
Best New Movie: That's Entertainment
Best Rewatch: Ernest Saves Christmas
Worst Movie: Deck The Halls

Final 2011 Movie Count: 203 Movies!!!

Seasons Greetings!

2011-12-25T05:55:00.000-05:00

Toy Tinkers (1949)

2011-12-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

Do you remember a few years ago I told you about Sweden's Christmas Eve tradition with Donald Duck? No!? Well, you should click here and read it! Anywho, here's a Donald Duck Christmas Cartoon to make your spirits bright...

Best Friends

2011-12-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

This one is on the PG-13 side:

My Week In Movies - Put It Over There, Greaseball

2011-12-19T07:08:00.000-05:00

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) After Ernest, this is my second favorite Christmas movie! Last year, I shared the TV edit with my oldest son and he liked it. My younger son, Tanner, seems to have a better crafted sense of humor already so I was eager to show it to him too. He laughed alot and at all the right parts a 6 year old should laugh at. This is a movie that has seemed to pop up on just about every channel for the holidays. I have the DVD, but the TV-version basically cuts out the cursing and a couple of off-color jokes and then it's pretty ok for a family to sit down and watch. I taped it off CMT first, and even though it was in HD, the picture was only centered in the middle of the screen. TV Land shows a full screen version, but we don't get TV Land in HD. We finally went with ABC Family, which is showing a nice widescreen HD print with the curse words simply muted and a few minor snips around PG-13 jokes.

Friends With Benefits (2011) Justin Timberlake is such a talented fella. He's not only a good actor, he's a gifted comedic actor and he shines here in this tale of no strings attached sex with a friend. My major beef with this flick is that it pretends to mock all the contrivances and cliches of romantic comedies and then go ahead and follows the exact same path of 300 romcoms before it. Still, the cast is quite good and the film moves along at a brisk pace. The highlight of the movie in my book is a film-within-the film; a dead on parody of a romantic comedy that is seen on TV a few times staring Jason Segal and Rashida Jones. This would have made a much more interesting feature film.

March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934) Here's an ancient production of the classic Babes in Toyland story, this one most notable for featuring Laurel & Hardy. While the film is all around pretty good, when Laurel & Hardy aren't on screen the film quickly sags. There is also a depiction of the Three Little Pigs played by midgets in pig costumes and it's pretty terrifying, as is a monkey in a Mickey Mouse costume.

Christmas Commercial Sunday

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

My kids love this...

Christmas Macarena

2011-12-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

I've always wondered how close we were to getting a Macarena movie. That song was huge and then instantly hated by anyone who didn't like fun in their ears. Well, we never got a Macarena movie...which I hope would have involved a young group of kids saving their local youth center by holding the world's largest Macarena Dance Off to raise funds...but we did get this great spin-off holiday song to cherish for years to come:

Yogi's Home Up North

2011-12-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

Here's (what appears to be) a promotional photo of the Hanna-Barbera gang outside of the Yogi's Cave attraction at Canada's Wonderland, a sister park to Kings Dominion. I swiped the picture from the amazing Flickr feed of user Mr. Flintstone. Canada's Wonderland opened in 1981 in Ontario and featured similar attractions to those found at KD and Kings Island. By the time I made it to Wonderland in 1986, Yogi's Cave had been transformed into Smurf Cave. Of course, at the time, that was OK with me! Here's the write up about the Smurf attraction from Wikipedia:

A funhouse-like cave building that featured scenes of Smurfs in their "natural" habitat. This attraction was actually converted from Yogi's Cave in Yogi's Forest (1981–1983) before the area was changed to Smurf Forest for the 1984 season. Also featured near the end of the cave was a section of Gargamel's house where Gargamel would be playing his organ. Gargamel's house was formerly the Ranger's Cabin during its use in Yogi's Cave. Smurf Village was removed and replaced by an arcade until 1998 where it housed Meet-and-Greets with the Rugrats. Currently it functions as a gift shop and mini-arcade in the Zoom Zone area.

He-Man + She-Ra + Christmas = Awesome

2011-12-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

One of the crown jewels of my VHS collection has always been He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, which I taped one random Saturday afternoon off Baltimore's WBFF 45 long after He-Man & She-Ra were a thing on any kid's radar. I was more than stoked to find this great Christmas special released to DVD and sitting on the shelf for me at Wal-Mart for a mere $7.50! Of course I picked it up and now it will be a treasured keepsake of Christmas memories for our family to share for generations to come!

If you've never witnessed the pure holiday magic of He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special...it's about 40 minutes of the muscle-bound duo fighting creatively named creatures like The Snow Beast, The Beast Monster, and the Manchines. He-Man tosses off his one liners which aren't really puns, he just kind of says things with the delivery of a joke, even though there is no joke to be had. I'm not sure how She-Ra managed to fight so many bad guys in her show and this special seeing as how her outfit is skimpier than stripper. I spent hours watching the She-Ra show when I was a kid and perhaps that is why later in life I developed an affinity for strippers....but anyhow...Orko ends up getting beamed to Earth and then he brings back two kids who share the traditions of Christmas with everyone on Eternia. Nasty ol' Horde Prime doesn't like Christmas so he sends Skelator and Hordack to find the kids. When the kids end up with Skeletor..what happens is possibly the greatest couple of minutes in all of filmed Christmas entertainment history...You gotta click here to see it!

My Week In Movies - I Like Christmas

2011-12-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas (2011) I find the Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie to be the most tolerable of their kiddie sitcom stable. This feature length Xmas outing is even more tolerable without an audience screaming with forced laughter after ever other line. The made-for-TV movie find the show's family split up at the start of a trip from Chicago to Palm Springs. The dad and the boys end up at Grandma's by plane while the oldest daughter and mom travel much slowly by a variety of ground methods. This ain't a holiday classic, but it's a pretty good TV movie with some holiday cheer and a few solid laughs. It's easily accessible for anyone not familiar with the show and for anyone with Disney Channel as I'm sure it's running just about every day between now and December 25.

30 Minutes of Less (2011) Solid comedy with a solid cast including the always fantastic Danny McBride, underrated Nick Swardson and Parks & Recreation's Aziz Anzari along with Jesse Eisenberg; all tied up in a crazy heist involving a bomb strapped to Eisenberg's chest and he has 10 hours to rob a bank for the bad guys or they'll blow him up. With a nice breezy run time of under 90 minutes, this comedy is action packed and pretty darn funny.

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) Seriously, I could not love this movie an ounce more! Easily my favorite Christmas movie, it's also gotta go on my list as one of my all-time favorite films. I've written about it at least twice before. Once, two years ago when I first shared it with my kids and there is also this lengthier, nerdier article I wrote back in 2006.

Scrooged (1988) This is another one of those movies - beloved by America - that I just don't get. Released to theatres less than two weeks after Ernest Saves Christmas, I've just never got this modern Bill Murray take on A Christmas Carol. I saw it way back on either VHS or HBO and didn't care for it all. The last couple of years I've been meaning to take another look at it and I gotta say I was actually pretty bored with it. There's an impressive cast but it just doesn't do anything for me. Murray's speech to the camera at the tail end was pretty impressive but other than that I found it to just be an awful bore.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) I always wonder how uptight people really were back in the black and white days or if it's just the rose-colored lens of the cinema. When an old woman sees an unmarried man and woman walk into a bedroom at 11:00 at night and then she goes totally nuts and quits her job because of it...well, it's hard to follow along with a movie like that. There's some pretty silly stuff that happens in this flick, but all in all you can't really beat classic Hollywood's depiction of post-wartime Christmas.

Good iGrief

2011-12-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

This is one of those things where I would seriously consider buying an iPad just so I can experience this...

Walking In A Dutch Winter Wonderland

2011-12-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

In December, Dutch Wonderland transforms itself into Dutch Winter Wonderland. Not only is the park decorated with lights and other such Christmasy stuff but there's a few new attractions as well. The Christmas time park is open for the next two weekends and then also the week after Christmas. At $12.99, it really is a good bargain for a Christmas attraction! The admission price is fair just to get in and see the park's main attraction: The Royal Light Show. The Light Show is a display of thousands of Christmas lights blinking and twinkling to the rhythm of seasonal music. The show just about literally envelopes the audience. When seated in the viewing area, the lights dance not only in front of you but on every side of you including behind and above. It's a great spectacle and nothing like the neighbor down the street who has a couple of lighted trees synced to Manheim Steamroller. This is good stuff! As if that wasn't enough...

...my kids LOVED the new Polar Playground attraction. A semi-outdoor pizza joint in the park has been turned into a wonderland inside a wonderland. The walls depict Arctic scenes of penguin life while hundreds are soft foam "ice cubes" are waiting for kids to play with, build and use their imagination. Elias and Tanner easily killed 45 minutes having a blast inside this seasonal setup. They loved it. We ended up going back to it two more times through out the night. The park did a real nice job of transforming an existing space into something completely different.

Santa's Reindeer-In-Training are also on display in the area usually reserved for pony rides. I guess it has been a while since we've been to an attraction with real live reindeer because my boys flipped when they were standing face to face with Santa's real reindeer. We even got to see a little reindeer scuffle!

Entertainment options during the Christmas season include the live show "Jingle Bell Rock." This is a simple 10 minute show with two very talented dancers knocking out a few Christmas tunes and a few bad jokes. Unlike other shows at DW, this one appeared to be lip-synced however the dancing was a couple of levels above the summer shows. Either way, I can never seem to make it to the Radio City Music Hall Spectacular so this will have to do for me for now.

In the large Mill Stream Eatery in the back of the park, they have set up a Train Display and Gingerbread Houses. You can vote on your favorite Gingerbread House, which were all designed by local kids and organizations. This Smurf Village was one of the more elaborate displays and got a vote from all three of us! The Mill Stream is also open for business as usual adding Baked Potatoes with Chili and Cheese on top! Didn't try one, but if I make it back this season I just might have one!

Another neat little touch were there little houses set up in nooks and crannies of the park, each depicting a little Christmas scene inside. Nothing too elaborate, but it reminded me of the kind of things shopping centers used to do at the holidays when I was a kid.

Duke and The Princess were both decked out in their gayest apparel. Neither of my boys will go anywhere near the Princess if I've got a camera on hand, but Elias did cooperate for a snapshot with Santa Duke. In addition to all the Christmas fun, the park also has a dozen or so of their rides open. There's a list of the available rides on the park's website, but we were very happy to find a lot more that weren't on the list open for business. The kids were delighted to take another spin on the Turtle Whirl, and we took unplanned voyages on the Astroliner and the VR Voyager. Again, a nice little bonus touch DW!

Of course, this trip didn't cost us a dime (except for some Kettle Corn and a round of Shooting Gallery) as DW includes the Halloween time and Christmas event with their season passes. We're hoping to hit up the park one last time before our passes expire on December 30. Even if you're not a season pass holder, Dutch Winter Wonderland is a top notch Christmas attraction worth every penny.

Marshmallow World

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

Trailer Tuesday - Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

2011-12-06T07:24:00.001-05:00

The Christmas Song

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

My Month In Movies - November

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed (but probably didn't) the My Week In Movies feature has not been seen as of late. It's been a busy month here at the WWoB offices and the updating has fallen behind. Not to worry! I've been keeping track of all the movies I've seen and now I'm here to report to you in one giant swoop for the whole month of November. Here's the quick rundown...

The Muppets (2011) A
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011) A
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) A
Halloween (1978) A
Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2005) A-
Bad Teacher (2011) A-
The Man Called Flintstone (1966) A-
Spy Kids: All The Time In The World (2011) B
Exporting Raymond (2010) B
Machete Maidens Unveiled (2010) B
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011) B-
The Muppets Wizard Of Oz (1995) C
The Teacher (1974) C-
Captain America The First Avenger (2011) C-
Turtle: The Incredible Journey (2010) C-
Tomboy (1985) D
Pick Up (1975) F

November Movie Count: 17
2011 Movie Count: 189
My goal for the year has been 200 movies. I think I can make it!

The Chipmunk Song

2011-12-02T07:43:00.000-05:00

Ringing of the Bells

2011-12-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

Cartoon Network Bumper from 1997

Cartoon Network Fred Flintstone Thanksgiving... by 90sCartoonNetworkFan

Trailer Tuesday - Rainbow Bright and the Star Stealer (1985)

2011-11-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

Muppet Monday - Ideal Toy Commercial (1966)

2011-11-21T00:32:00.000-05:00

Alf Promos

2011-11-18T19:42:00.003-05:00

Because I'm a dork...

Rock-Afire Explosion Lives

2011-11-16T10:14:00.003-05:00

If you don't remember The Rock-Afire Explosion, there were the band that played at Showbiz Pizza Place before Chuck E. Cheese and pals moved in and took over. This video of the band is not simply somebody playing a modern song over old footage of the show, this is a whole new show programed by a dude in Georgia who bought an entire unused show from the original manufacturer and set it up in a garage in his backyard. There's a documentary about him, the band and the entire Showbiz Pizza Place operation now available on Netflix simply called The Rock-Afire Explosion. It could not be an ounce more fascinating!

Trailer Tuesday - Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

The first of the series to feature a plot...

Trailer Tuesday - Rome Adventure (1962)

2011-11-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

This was one of my mom's favorite movies that she spoke of often...

My Week In Movies - October Week 4

2011-11-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

Zookeeper (2011) Is this movie funny? If you like Kevin James then yes, it is funny. Is this movie good? It's good along the line of Kevin James falling down, talking to animals, getting shot in the face with porcupine quills, and more falling down kind of way. The thing with this movie is this: If you're going to do a film with a bunch of talking animals, the animals should be a little more a part of the action of the story. The various zoo animals help Zookeeper James win the girl of his dreams by giving him advice on how to do well with the ladies. That's all they pretty much do, give advice. They just talk. There's not much else the animals are given to do. The only animal costar who gets any real screen time is a gorilla who does have a pretty hilarious scene when Kevin James takes him to a T.G.I.Friday's. But that's the thing, if the other animals were all given something funny to do besides telling their buddy that the best way to sweep a female off her feet is to pee on a tree...this might be a much better film.

The Freebie (2010) I really enjoy actress Kate Aselton on FX's The League. So when I heard that she not only stared in a movie but she also directed it, I was in. It's a pretty captivating tale about a very happy young couple who decide to both take one night off from being married and go have a meaningless fling. The story unfolds out of order, which can be a confusing device but it is handled well here. This is an independent film, with some shakey camera work, mello soundtrack, lots of talking and a pretty surprising ending. Netflix Streaming

V.I. Warshawski (1991) For some reason, this movie is entertaining as all get out. It's probably the same reason people slow down to see a car accident. This detective picture is a wreck of a film. Kathleen Turner made took on the role of private detective Warshawski at the height of her career, hoping to turn this into a franchise for herself. Instead, it tanked her entire career. In 1991 she was the biggest female box office draw and this flick single handily ruined her career. I remember loving it when it came out, I even saw it at the theatre. It was a little tough to get through now, but like I said - it's weirdly entertaining.

Student Bodies (1981) Before Scream or Scary Movie, this unassuming flick was the first movie to really parody the (then-new) slasher film genre. The Breather is going around killing any high school kids who are about to have sex. He uses the standard weapons for his murders: paper clip, rubber chicken, eggplant. It's obviously sillier than it is witty, but the jokes come one after the other and there are more hits than misses. There's actually zero gore, nudity or sex but there is one scene which they point out in the movie was only added to get the coveted R rating. This is good stuff worth seeking out. I have a really old VHS copy of it, but Netflix has the DVD in their library.

It Happened At The World's Fair (1962) I arrived at this movie hoping to see some glorious footage of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. There is some neat documentation of the event, but it's all wrapped up inside one of the slightest plots I've ever seen in a movie. We start off with Elvis flying a plane. Way up there in the sky, he spots two attractive girls driving a car so he zooms his plane down to the road to meet them. They turn him down, so he walks down the road to a girl's house, sings to her - makes out with her and then her father comes home and literally tries to shoot him. Elvis flees the scene and gets into a fight with some thugs trying to steal his friends money. They beat the crap out of the bad guys and take off in the plane. When they land, the sheriff takes their plane away because they owe money on it. So the boys hitchhike. An old Chinese man and his 6 year old granddaughter pick them up. They are headed to Seattle. So Elvis, his buddy and the 6 year old pile into the back of the pickup truck, sing a few songs and arrive in Seattle. The King of Rock and Roll ends up taking the little girl all around the World's Fair. Elvis meets a nurse and fakes being sick to get her attention. The little girl runs away. They beat up a mobster and then Elvis leads a marching band through the fair. All in a day's work for The King!

Everything Must Go (2011) When Will Ferrel uses his comedic senses as back seat to dramatics, it works. This is a pretty good tale of a fella who looses it all (job, wife, car, dignity) within a few days. It doesn't take place in the 70's, and it's not about sports so it just might be Ferrel's most original film yet.

Beetlejuice (1988) I saw Beetlejuice the day it hit theatres 23 years ago and didn't really care for it. I was only 15 at the time, but I didn't understand the story at all, I thought Beetlejuice was not in it enough and I actually found it quite vulgar for a PG rated movie. Well, my oldest fancies himself a Tim Burton fan (he did make Batman after all) and has been wanting to see Beetlejuice so we settled in to watch it the other night, with the stipulation that I reserved the right to turn it off at any point if it was inappropriate. Well, most of the vulgarity is over kids heads (except for an only-in-the-80's use of the F word in a PG rated flick) and I actually enjoyed it this time around. The stellar cast and the creepy feel, plus even if he's not in it enough - Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice is as fantastic as comedic performances come.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) I know this is a modern classic that has legions of fans, but I still don't get this movie. In fact, I find it down right boring. The opening number is great and then it just looses my interest very quickly. I know I'm alone on this, but a real snoozer!

October Movie Count: 17

Best New Movie: Bridesmaids

Best Rewatch: Serial Mom

Worst Movie: Village of Giants

2011 Movie Count: 172

Muppet Monday - All Depends On You (1977)

2011-11-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

By the way, this 2 1/2 minutes of video is more entertaining than all of the last 20 years of television combined!

edTunes - I Wanna Go

2011-11-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

I love this Britney song, it's been getting heavy rotation on my iPod. I just saw the video for the first time yesterday and it's really good. First of all, it has a great sense of humor that most music videos don't dare have. She's got some comedy chops. Second, it doesn't hurt that Brit-Brit looks fantastic in it!

Trailer Tuesday - The Van (1977)

2011-11-01T07:11:00.001-04:00

Classic Commercial Sunday - #81

2011-10-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

edTunes - Time Warp

2011-10-29T00:23:00.002-04:00

In my opinion, the first half hour or so of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is pretty brilliant and then the rest of the film is a gosh-awful mess of a waste of time. I do love this song though. I made sure this was a staple at every high school dance my senior year...

My Week In Movies - Last Week: Caught Up!

2011-10-27T07:30:00.001-04:00

Bridesmaids (2011) As you are probably already aware, this is a top notch comedy with a stellar comedic cast. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy all found perfect roles to jump start their film careers. The film does have a story and some heart, it also has well developed characters. There's some stretches where the film isn't that funny and pays more attention to the storyline, but there are many scenes that are comic masterpieces that make the film as a whole an instant classic.

Serial Mom (1993) John Waters' take on true-crime dramas has got to be way up there on my list of all-time favorite movies. It had been a while since I'd seen it, but was thrilled to find it in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart recently on a 4 film Dark Comedy Set. (The other three flicks in the pack are worthless.) Kathleen Turner plays a Maryland suburban housewife who just happens to get a thrill out of killing. She goes on quite a killing spree, knocking off anyone who upsets her or members of her family. There's some gross-out humor and grizzly deaths but the gore and violence is kept to a minimum. The movie's sense of humor is "dead on" perfect. I easily find this to be one of John Waters' best movies. One of the fun things about watching a movie filmed around where you grew up is the sense of familiarity in all the settings. In fact, one of the scenes takes place in a shopping center parking lot across the street from the theatre I saw the film for a second time.

Jack and the Beanstalk (2010) What starts out as a clever twist on the classic fairy tale soon drags on and on and reminds me of why we don't watch direct-to-dvd flicks all that often. There's a handful of stars to be had in this family film, including the great Chevy Chase - whose name is on publicity material but only pops up in one scene in the film. Gilbert Gotfried has a big part as a goose turned into a human. It's fun to see him in a lead role for once. There's also Christopher Lloyd as the teacher at a school for nursery rhyme & fairy tale characters. On the black board behind Lloyd you can see the plans for the Flux Capacitor. Good times!?

Trailer Tuesday - Night of the Creeps (1986)

2011-10-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

Whenever this announcer was used in a trailer, you knew 95% of the cast was going to end up dead...

My Week In Movies - October Week 2

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001-04:00

Still playing catchup...

Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) I'm a big fan of the Gidget franchise and this is probably my favorite entry. James Darren returns as Moondoggie but the cast rest of the characters are recast. The ultra-adorable Deborah Walley takes over the title role, and comedy legend Carl Reiner steps in as her father. The second film is a more polished affair than the first, with some fairly elaborate musical set pieces. My favorite thing about this film is when a vicious rumor about Gidget starts to spread through her circle of friends. Somebody starts making up lies that Gidget is sleeping around with several guys. Even though the word "sex" is used a few times earlier in the film, they never come right out and say "Gidget is sleeping around." Instead they skirt around the issue by using phrases like, "had an unfortunate incident" or "spent time with boys that way." Pretty funny how innocently they would handle a situation like that 50 some years ago.

Murderball (2005) Here's another film I saw on the "50 Docs To See Before You Die" program and decided to check it out. It's about full contact Rugby at the Paralympic Games. These athletes strap themselves into souped-up wheelchairs and beat the hell out of each other on the court. It's a pretty intense sport and the film makes it all more intense by making the players human and showing them all beyond the game. It's an in-depth, unflinching look at the life of a paraplegic on and off the playing field.

My Week In Movies - October Week 1

2011-10-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

I'm way backed up on updating this feature. It's been a busy couple of weeks here at WWoB headquarters.

Munster, Go Home! (1966) I wouldn't consider myself a giant Munsters fan, I enjoy the show well enough but never a rabid fan of the series. I am however a serious lover of all movies derived from TV shows, especially when they star the original cast. It was a little more common back in the 60's for TV casts to make the leap to the big screen. This full color feature film reunited the cast (minus Marilyn) and debuted in cinemas just a month after the black and white series went off the air. The story takes Herman Munster and his family to England where Herman is heir to a family fortune and mansion. I don't think a frame of this movie was actually filmed in jolly ol' England, but it's still a lot of fun.

Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man (1951) A pretty solid entry for the boys as they play detectives who help a boxer clear his name of murder. To hide from the cops, the accused man takes a potion that turns him invisible. There's some connection to the original story of The Invisible Man, but this flick is mostly an excuse for Lou to scream and yell at spooky invisible things happening all around him. It's good stuff, I tell you!

Village of the Giants (1965) Here's how this terrible movie goes: Dancing, mud wrestling, giant ducks, more dancing, giant duck BBQ, yet more dancing, giants, giants dancing, tension-free battle with giants, and midgets. Horrible, horrible teenage sci-fi flick from the Beach Party era.

Doug's First Movie (1999) I "dug" this movie when it first came out but watching it now with my kids it plays pretty much like the Saturday Morning cartoon that it is. The animation is television grade but the story does pan out comfortably into 70 minutes. Doug and his buddy discover a monster living in a nearby lake and in the process of trying to protect him they uncover a plot to pollute the town's water supply. OK, never mind...this flick is pretty good. The kids like it, and that's what's important.

Trailer Tuesday - Star Crash (1979)

2011-10-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Trailer Tuesday - Mayor Cupcake (2011)

2011-10-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

Classic Commercial Sunday - #80

2011-10-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

I love the voices in this one...

My Week In Movies - In a Train or In a Bed

2011-10-06T07:38:00.003-04:00

Cedar Rapids (2011) I wasn't expecting much from this office place comedy but I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I'm naming this the best new movie I saw this month. The film follows the antics at a regional insurance convention. Sounds fun, don't it?! The cast is great with Ed Helms as a guy who is uncomfortable leaving his hometown to go to the convention in the big city. You just can't seem to go wrong with John C. Reilly as a crazy loud mouth associate who actually has quite a loyal heart. I was most surprised with Anne Heche, who I usually find to be somewhat of a talentless hack who's been riding off Ellen DeGeneres's gay coattails for the entire duration of her career. Heche is funny, sweet and sincere in this role as another convention attend who has more than one side to her personality. The other lead character is played by Isiah Whitlock Jr. who I'm not familiar with but was apparently in the HBO series The Wire. He's very funny in this picture too. Together, the ensemble make great friends and the film's story of friendship is a refreshing overtone to this cute, funny movie.

One Day In September (1999) There was a show on Current TV (yes, that's a real thing) that was counting down the 50 Documentaries You Should See Before You Die. I made it through all 5 hours of the show and had pleasantly seen a good number of the films featured on the show. There was also a list of films that I wasn't familiar with that looked really good. This was one of them. The Oscar winner for Best Documentary of it's year, this edge of your seat doc takes a look at the hostage situation that played out over the course of less than 24 hours at the 1970 Munich, Germany Olympic Games. I thought the film itself was a little disjointed and hard to follow at points, but the true life story itself could not be more gripping. The style of the film shifts from journalistic to cinematic at strange times and looses some of it's momentum in the process. But this is an excellent documentation of the horrible incident that occurred on that day and it's as action packed and intense as any cop drama you'll ever find.

Barely Legal (2011) With Netflix Streaming, I'll click on random movies and give them 5 minutes of my time to see if they can win me over. Usually, these modern day sex comedies are all horrible - shot on video and filling large portions of their run time with gratuitous shots of semi-pretty girls in various stages of undress. Barely Legal won me over in the first couple of minutes with a script that indicated there was someone with a sense of humor sitting behind the keyboard. Three female friends who all share a birthday decide they are all going to loose their virginity on their upcoming 18th birthday. While this is kind of a tired plot, it's the first time I've seen it done with the girls as the heroes of the movie. They throw a party and spend the next 90 minutes running into all sorts of problems that stand between them and the sheets. It's technically a bad movie. The production values are very low, the acting is not very good at times and the whole movie takes place inside one house. But there is some clever dialogue, a couple of really good visual gags and a good sense of humor that keeps things rolling along smoothly. If you're interested in seeing a Wii controller inadvertently used as a marital aide, then this is the film for you. This is the closest I've seen somebody nail the vibe of an old school 80's T&A flick in quite some time.

The Train Robbers (1973) There's a few names from classic Hollywood that will bring me to a picture without knowing much else about the movie. Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant and John Wayne to name a few. So, when I saw that John Wayne co stared with my current classic movie crush Ann-Margret, I was on board. Even though Wayne didn't really make comedies, he's such a fun presence on the screen. I especially love his movies from the 1970's where they have a touch of classic Hollywood mixed with modern cinema. The Train Robbers is great and has an old fashioned feel to it, even for 1973. Wayne and his buddies escort Ann-Margret to the hiding place of stolen gold which her dead husband was responsible for. She plans to turn the gold in to clear her hubby's name and The Duke and Co. split the reward money. Along the way, there is some good old fashioned shoot-outs, chummy cowboy banter and the star attraction: the beautiful Mrs. Ann-Margret.

Carnal Knowledge (1971) So then the following night, I followed up The Train Robbers with another Ann-Margret picture, Carnal Knowledge. This is a tale of two buddies played by Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel. The film follows them through four different stages of their lives. Starting in college and ending after each of the guys is divorced, the segments of the film represent the different stages of love throughout one's life. Candice Bergen plays a love interest in their college years. I've always loved her in Murphy Brown and other movies I've seen her in young or old. She's great here. Later on in life, Nicholson meets up with Ann-Margret who at first is supposed to be older than him but quickly she looks as lovely as ever. There's a bit of nudity on the part of Mrs. Margret here which I wasn't expecting...but I can't say I'm complaining either. The film is slow at times. It actually reminds me of some of Woody Allen's more serious pictures as far as style and pacing. It feels very influenced by Annie Hall and Manhattan, except that Carnal Knowledge was made many years before those two.

Vanishing of the Bees (2009) My wife seemed disappointed in me that I invested an evening watching a documentary about honey bees. Little does she know the effects of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder. A few years ago, beekeepers started discovering empty beehives with no trace of dead bees to be found. Not much is known about the disorder but there are many theories most of them leading to the way mankind has treated this planet. Cinematically, there's not much to BEE had in this documentary, but the information here will have you BUZZING with anger and alarm. vanishingbees.com

September Movie Count: 24
Best New Movie: Cedar Rapids
Best Rewatch: The Muppet Movie
Worst Movie: Paul
2011 Movie Count: 155

Trailer Tuesday - Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939)

2011-10-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

Coolest Mini Golf Hole Ever!!!

2011-10-03T12:50:00.000-04:00

Don't ya hate when you plop down your hard earned bucks to play a round of mini golf and then the course is totally uncreative? I mean, if you don't have at least a windmill and a loop-de-loop hole, I think people are entitled to their money back! Lilliputt Mini Golf in Grand Lake, CO. would not hear a complaint from me. Feast your eyes on this super elaborate hole which is worth the price of admission alone:

Classic Commercial Sunday - #79

2011-10-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

This one is airing now and I think it's great...

Photo: Ke$ha at Walt Disney World

2011-10-01T13:32:00.001-04:00

Ke$ha at Disney World
( GENE DUNCAN, THE WALT DISNEY CO. / April 21, 2011 )
Pop singer Kesha Sebert, known professionally as Ke$ha, poses with the White Rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland" at Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista.

My Week In Movies - You Go, Simba!

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

The Lion King 3D (1994/2011) Man, it's great to have a classic Disney animated film back up on the big screen. It used to be standard operating procedure for Disney to rerelease it's animated features to theatres every seven years, but when home video caught on and Disney saw the money to be made from VHS sales, the practice faded out. So now it looks like Mickey has found a new hook to bring people back to the cinema to see old movies - 3D. The Lion King was reprocessed into 3D and has since made close to $70 million at the box office. The effect is neat and the movie looks better than ever back on the silver screen and with all the noticeable detail that 3D glasses allow. Some scenes of the film, like the opening and the stampede scene, are simply breathtaking in digital three dimension. Overall, the added effect doesn't do much to the film - it's already a masterpiece of filming that doesn't need any gimmicks to make it an incredible movie going experience. (OMG! I'm all about some 3D Little Mermaid soon!)

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) This documentary picks up shortly after O'Brien's legendary boot from The Tonight Show. Unable to appear on TV for six months, Conan O'Brien packs up as much of his show as he can and takes it on the road for an exhausting tour of concert dates across the U.S. The film provides an interesting backstage look at the concert tour, as well as serves as document of the concert itself. You also get to see a less polished portrait of the talk show host than any network TV show would ever allow. This is basically a concert film, and like any concert film you're going to enjoy it most if you're a fan of the subject. If you like Conan, this is fun way to spend 90 extra minutes with Team Coco.

Prom (2011) Yes, I must watch every film to carry The Walt Disney Pictures banner! The last big hurrah of the high school social calendar is the centerpiece of an innocent and slightly sappy teenage romantic drama. Even though Prom is an event for 17-18 year olds, 13-14 year old girls is the target audience for this flick which highly romanticizes the event almost putting Prom on the same level as a wedding. It's almost like Romantic Drama 101 for preteens. There's not much original material on display here, with several very familiar storylines overlapping and intertwining. But the movie has it's heart in the right place and is completely free of swear words or sex, which is refreshing for a high school movie.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Another masterpiece...the first masterpiece from Walt Disney's animation studio, Snow White is a perfect blend of silly cartoon fun, theatrical suspense and perfect storytelling.

Paul (2011) I found this silly sci-fi spoof to be dreadfully boring. Two geeks on holiday to the states to visit Comic-Con, run into an alien in the desert and bring him aboard their RV for a standard "running from the government guys in black SUV's" adventure. There are some clever homages to classic science fiction properties spread throughout the movie, but the simple act of having a cartoon alien drop the F-word every other sentence does not carry a picture.

George Washington Slept Here (1942) I've been wanting to see this one for years. A great classic comedy with Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan moving from the city to an old home they just bought in the country. The house is a bit of a fixer upper and as the weeks go on it becomes more of a fixer upper. This is a great vehicle for Jack Benny who gets to stay close to his TV character and even tosses off a few references to his show in the movie. Good stuff with plenty of laugh out loud moments.

Baltimore WNUV 54 Community News and BTV Ad

2011-09-29T08:25:00.001-04:00

I found this ultra-nerdy clip on YouTube the other day I thought I'd share with ya'll. It's a few minutes from a Baltimore station that I logged many, many hours with in my youth. They don't really do these simple Community News bits anymore on the ol' tube but it looks positively ancient compared to TV nowadays. Second is a quick ad for BTV - Baltimore's Top Videos, a weekly music video show hosted by DJ's from the now defunct B104 FM. The DJ in this ad looks like he's dressed for a shift operating Space Mountain.

Trailer Tuesday - The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)

2011-09-27T05:55:00.000-04:00

edTunes - Polka Face

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

I haven't cared much for "Weird Al's" recent animated videos as they just seem to simply illustrate the lyrics of the song but the new video for his polka medley "Polka Face" is really neat. There's a bunch of visual styles on display, plus there is visual humor independent of the song.

Jokes.com

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Polka Face

comedians.comedycentral.com

Jokes

Joke of the Day

Funny Jokes

"Weird Al" Yankovic's new concert film debuts this weekend on Comedy Central.

Classic Commercial Sunday - #78 Chip Fest!

2011-09-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Piranhas Are Better Than Sharks

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Shark Night 3D (2011) Folks, this is one horrible movie. It's not scary. It's not funny. It's not campy. It's not gory. It's not very interesting. It's about a group of college kids who go on a trip to a beach house and then they all get eaten by sharks. The sharks look only slightly more realistic than the special effects in a made-for-TV movie on SyFy. The plot involves one of the absolute dumbest motivations for a bad guy ever! The 3D is just about as unnecessary as it can get. Not once do the filmmakers use the 3D gimmick to their advantage. I thought this was going to be silly over-the-top fun like Piranha 3D, but I was wrong. The only thing this film has going for it is the beautiful Sara Paxton in the lead role and former American Idol star Katherine McPhee as one of her friends. Even the fact that the entire cast is in bathing suits for the majority of the running time can't excuse the existence of this poor film.

Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) With is third film, Morgan Spurlock seems to have hit the same wall the Michael Moore has - he thinks his films need a gimmick. While Moore constantly tries to cram an in-your-face stunt into every one of his movies, Spurlock too feels the need to duplicate the pattern of his first movie (Super Size Me) and put himself into the middle of the subject he's investigating. In this instance, the subject is product placement in films. That's an interesting topic that hasn't been exposed in a documentary yet, however Spurlock takes it a step further and spends most of the film trying to find real sponsors to finance his film through advertising. It's a gimmick that works some of the time, but chunks of the film with him meeting with various potential clients seemed forced. The expose is at it's best when it uncovers the truth behind advertising in movies.

The Muppet Movie (1979) There are just so many reasons why this is one of the greatest movies ever made. First of all, it's a perfect example of how to take a television property and translate it to the big screen. The Muppet Movie has all the elements of comedy, music and heart of The Muppet Show - just blown up on a bigger scale in set in the real world instead of a theatre. The Muppet's first big screen outing is also the most perfect example of the right way to do cameo appearances. Just about every speaking role by a human in this picture is played by someone famous. Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Lee Marvin, Mel Brooks and even Orson Wells all pop up throughout the colorful adventure. The music in the film is all top notch including the now-standard Rainbow Connection and one of my all-time favorite songs, Movin' Right Along. Compared to today's family films with loud pratfalls and even louder flatulence, Kermit the Frog and Company's silver screen debut is an old fashioned, good hearted time at the movies.

Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th (2000) I'm not quite sure what the deal with this film is. It's seems to have a pretty decent sized budget and it's competently directed but it was just dumped on to TV and video when it was released. Perhaps it was upstaged by the higher profile Scary Movie. Anywho, this is a pretty good parody film which riffs on mostly Scream but also I Know What You Did Last Summer and then about 50 other movies. When Dawson and his friends at school start getting mysterious notes, they are all written on "From The Desk of the Killer" stationary. Now, that's funny right there. I don't care who you are! Unlike the more recent parody films that have been released, this one actually makes fun of all the movies it touches upon. There's actually a pretty funny Grease scene in here. You would think with a staring lineup of Coolio AND Shirley Jones this would have been a big hit - Oh, Hollywood! Netflix Streaming

Going In Style (1979) This older comedy came highly recommended from another blogger so I thought I'd give it a try. It's about three elderly gentlemen who are bored with their lives so they decide to spice things up and rob a bank. Their disguise is pairs of Groucho glasses, which seems to be about the only funny thing in this movie. Dreadfully slow and kind of depressing - I didn't enjoy this at all. George Burns is such a pleasure to watch doing anything...but this caper film just wasn't up my alley. Netflix Streaming

Trailer Tuesday - The Maltese Bippy (1969)

2011-09-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

edTunes - When We're Human

2011-09-19T10:07:00.000-04:00

Classic Commercial Sunday - #77

2011-09-18T00:01:00.001-04:00

My Week In Movies - When Will I Learn That RomComs Aren't Funny

2011-09-16T09:50:00.000-04:00

Something Borrowed (2011) The biggest problem (for me) with this romantic comedy is that it isn't that funny. I realize it's a rom-com, but ya still gotta give a little in the com department! Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson play best friends, Hudson is engaged, Goodwin sleeps with the groom-to-be, all rom-com hell breaks loose! John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) plays another friend who doesn't really fit into the picture but that's ok, because he's just playing the exact same character as Jim. He even mugs to the camera in one part! Ginnifer Goodwin is a good actress and I think she's down right pretty yet this is the third movie I've seen her in where she is supposed to be the "not hot" one. Does she look not attractive to anyone? Hollywood can be so lame when they still have to cast an attractive person to play a supposedly unattractive person.

Your Highness (2011) The joke of this movie is, "Let's make a big budget sword and sorcery film with lavish sets, costumes and special effects and then just drop the F-bomb every other sentence." And how long can that last, you might ask? By my count it only took 21 minutes before it was obvious that was going to be the only joke in the movie. And it can't really hold 100 minutes of film! Sure, there's also a Yoda-type puppet character who seeks manual gratification and a scene involving a centaur getting his freak on...but how funny can that be? Danny McBride is a great comedic actor and he's pretty good here, but it's not the best thing he's appeared in. James Franco is always fun in my book and he looks like he's having a good time. The biggest question in the casting is why in the world is Academy Award winning actress Natalie Portman doing in this penis joke filled romp. The fact that Portman chose to do this silly movie is just one of the reasons why she's such a great actress. Still, it's a horrible movie.

Not Quite Hollywood (2008) This is a crazy, fast-paced, kinetic documentary about the Australian film industry. The folks Down Under have only been making movies since the 1970's and they've felt they've always lived in the shadow of Hollywood. With different attitudes about sex & violence than the States, Australia has produced some wild & crazy films. This doc is loaded with clips and interviews and focuses on three popular genres of film: sex comedies, horror and action films. This is great fun and a wonderful exposure to some less popular films you might be interested in tracking down. Available on Netflix Streaming.

Cougar Hunting (2011) Having seen so many bad movies lately, I sat down the other night with every intention of watching something with a good story and good word-of-mouth. However, me being me...I ended up watching a recent low-budget sex comedy called Cougar Hunting, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you very much. Even though this was obviously filmed on consumer grade equipment and edited on someones laptop, it's a pretty decent film. Three friends decide to escape their dead-end lives and move to Aspen where they hear easy, available older women are plentiful. Each of the three guys gets into their own adventure. Actual name actress Lara Flynn Boyle has a role as the mother of one of the guy's new girlfriends. Yes, she tries to sleep with him. And Vanessa Angel, who played the Kelly LeBrock role on the Weird Science TV show also pops up in a strange role. It's a fairly well done movie with more heart than raunch.

Dirty Work (1998) One of the greats in the genre of Silly Movies! Norm MacDonald (in his only staring vehicle to date) and Artie Lange are two down-and-out guys who start a revenge for hire business. They go around a pull pranks on people and get paid for it. There's a minimal plot about raising money for a heart transplant and also something to do with an evil land developer (yeah!) But honestly, who needs story when you have a plethora of dead hooker jokes! The cast includes Chevy Chase, Jack Warden, Don Rickles & Christopher McDonald. This was also the feature film directorial debut of Danny Tanner a.k.a. Bob Saget. Awesome movie!

Finally, A Post About Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Folks, in case you didn't know... I loves me some Christmas tree decorations! Every year there are a few Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments that catch my eye, and I always intend to share them here and always forget. So this year I'm doing it, even if it's a little early for Christmas posts.

My favorite ornament this year is easily this really cool Caddyshack one. Mr. Gopher taking control of a subtley Christmas colored golf cart would make a fine addition to the South Family Christmas tree. This one is called "Pro Gopher" and it pretty darn cool. I don't think they've done a Caddyshack ornament before so that just makes this one all the neater. As every guy, I love that movie. When I was little, I used to keep my eyes peeled for it to come on regular TV so I could watch it because it was R rated and I just wanted to see that Gopher puppet so darn bad!

Last year, Hallmark did a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation ornament of the Griswold's Home decorated with thousands of twinkling lights. When you push the button on it, the house lights up and it plays the Hallelujah Chorus. I was thrilled to score one as a gift last season and it's a fine centerpiece of our tree. This year, Hallmark captures the opening scene in the movie when Clark and family trek out into the wood and take home the biggest tree they can find. This keepsake also plays the theme song from the Christmas movie. In the end, you just can't go wrong with the Family Truckster immortalized in ornament form!

This is the other new ornament this year that I really like. I love when stuff is based off specific old Mickey Mouse cartoons. "Clock Cleaners" captures the iconic scene from the 1937 cartoon of the same name. This is one of the best vintage Mickey toons and this ornament is a real doozy. When you turn the little crank in the front, Mickey and Donald sway back and forth working on the clock while they whistle the same song used in the film. Goofy is on the back side, also animated. Really cool piece, but at $34.99 I don't see it being added to our tree this year.

Finally, this Smurfette ornament isn't necessarily all that exciting, but it's pretty cool that the Smurfs have been included in the line-up this year, and it's a real smurf not a 3D movie Smurf. Smurfette will only set you back $9.95 so she's a little easier to hang on your tree than the clock tower. Hopefully somebody else will put out a more gender neutral Smurf ornament. We ain't got a Smurf on our tree!

Trailer Tuesday - Lilo & Stitch (2002)

2011-09-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Her Head Is A Big Mac

2011-09-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Under The Yum Yum Tree (1963) Here's how I arrived at watching this movie. Over the summer I rewatched the fantastic Disney film The Light in the Forest, the love interest in that movie is played by a young Carol Lynley. She's extremely beautiful in the film and sadly, that's enough for me to go find more films with her in. This swinging 60's sex comedy has an impressive cast surrounding Mrs. Lynley - so I was in. The film stars Jack Lemmon as a apartment complex landlord who likes to rent his rooms out to pretty young girls and then eventually have his way with them. Only in the 1960's could peeking at a girl in her shower be considered delightful. Anywho, Carol Lynley (adorable here as well) moves into the building. Of course, Lemmon goes to work on her right away. What Lemmon didn't know is that Lynley is sharing her apartment with her boyfriend played by Dean Jones, veteran of many Disney comedies. The young couple are taking a dry run at marriage and seeing if they can live together without sleeping together to see if they are truly compatible. Jack Lemmon does everything in his power to keep the two apart. The cast also includes Paul Lynde and Imogene Coca as the building's married handyman and maid. They are fantastic together and alone. You simply can't go wrong with either of them. This flick is briskly paced and pretty funny for a 48 year-old comedy with a running time near two hours.

Vampires Suck (2010) This is the first time I've rewatched one of these recent parody flicks. It wasn't as bad the second time around. This flick, from last summer, takes it's aim at the Twilight movies and as such is more focused than the other films in this series. By sticking to the Twilight plot and not trying to combine the stories of 50 different movies like Epic Movie and Disaster Movie did, the film plays out like a silly vampire flick. Yes, in one part a vampire looks at the girl and sees her head as a Big Mac. That's comedy folks!

Yeah For The New TV Season!

2011-09-05T00:01:00.001-04:00

When I was younger (and only slightly nerdier) the arrival of the new Fall TV Season was a big deal in my little lonely universe. I'd pour over the TV Guide and just imagine how awesome all the new shows were going to be. I'd plan out each night of the week for my optimal viewing pleasure. Nowadays, the return of new shows to Network TV isn't quite as exciting as it used to be. Lucky for me, it's also not as jaw-droping awesome to me as it used to be. But for the first time, in a long time...there's a handful of shows that I'm looking forward to checking out this season. I'm sure most of them will be cancelled before Christmas and the rest of them I'll loose interestet in shortly after New Years but I'm actually kind of excited about a few new shows...

The Playboy Club Mondays 10-11 PM Premiers September 19 on NBC
Ok, I've become a big fan of the Playboy Universe not because of naked girls but from watching my beloved reality series The Girls Next Door. Playboy is so much more than nakedness and when I started to read about the life of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, I discovered that he's an incrdibly fascinating man who is responsible for more change in this country than most people will ever give him credit for. The real life Playboy Clubs were a chain of night clubs that popped up in hot spot cities in the 1960's. They weren't strip joints but sophisicated hang-outs that promoted the finer things in life. The clubs disappeared over the following decades and have only recently started to make a comeback. The clubs of the 60's were legendary and the new series The Playboy Club seeks to reinvent some of that mystery and magic. I'm really looking forward to getting into this show.

Whitney Thursdays 9:30-10 PM Premeres Sept. 22 on NBC
Whitney Cummings is a very funny comedian. I've become a fan of her work through her appearances on the Comedy Central Roasts as well as her own comedy special, plus she's pretty darn funny on Twitter too. When I heard she was getting her own show I was pretty excited and then more so when I discovered that it is a traditional multi-camera sitcom. At one time, NBC was the king of sitcoms and they haven't launched a good straightforward laughtrack driven sitcom in a while. The premise is simple, Whitney and her boyfriend live together and are happy with their lives but don't feel the need to get married. Sounds like a fun addition to Thursday nights, even if it's taking 30 Rock's timeslot.

Pan Am Sundays 10-11 PM Premiers Sept. 25 on ABC
I'm quite sure more than one 60 minute show is going to be too much for me to juggle in a single season, but this period drama about globetrotting stweardesses looks like it might be alot of fun. It's kind of covering some of the same ground as The Playboy Club, so much so that the promo also uses an iconic Frank Sinatra song...

2 Broke Girls Mondays 8:30-9 PM Premieres Sept. 19 at 9:30 on CBS
CBS has always had a strong Monday night comedy line-up. They are adding this promising new sitcom right between How I Met Your Mother and Two And A Half Men, that's a pretty nice slot. This is another traditional multi-cam sitcom with a traditional premise: privalaged girl meets underprivalaged girl and they both have to work and live together. Classic. The cast includes Kat Dennings, whom I've enjoyed in a number of movie roles lately. The show was also co-created by Whitney Cummings, so it's got that going for it too. Which is nice.

Suburgatory Wednesdays 8:30-9 PM Premiers Sept. 28 on ABC
This one doesn't look that great...and it doesn't look like it's going to last very long either but it's totally in my wheelhouse. This comedy looks kind of like Clueless mixed with MTV's Awkward. It also boasts Jeremy Sisto in the cast, who is one of the very few males actors that I can say I enjoy his work.

What new shows are you looking forward to?

My Week In Movies - Week of 8/22/11

2011-09-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Take Me Home Tonight (2011) This has got to be one of the dullest comedies I've seen in a long time. A group of high school classmates all reunite at a crazy party a few years after graduation to find out that some of them have changed a great deal and others haven't changed at all. The film stars Topher Grace, who is a little hard to buy as a slacker high school kid after playing Venom in Spider-Man 3. Anna Ferris is here also, who is such a great comedic actress yet she chooses small roles in films that don't showcase her talent!? My biggest gripe with the film, besides not being funny, is that it doesn't know where in the 1980's it takes place. The first scene of the film is set in a music shop, with a giant poster of Madonna's Like A Virgin album in the back ground which would put the film near 1984. But then the record store also has a whole wall of Guns n Roses Appetite For Destruction CD's in the background which would place the movie in the last years of the 80's. The Suncoast Video store in the movie also features posters and displays for movies from all different points on the 80's. There's an ALF reference too, which is nice but just further complicates the actual year of this movie. Accurate references aside, this simply is not an interesting or funny movie.

Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) If you know me well, you know that I adore the Police Academy series. And if you know me really well, you know that #3 is my favorite! It was the very first movie in my movie collection. The third film in the series reboots the premise to introduce new viewers to the characters. The first film was a hard R rating, and the second was a PG-13. Both had mature subject mater but for the most part were very immature movies. In part 3, the film goes PG playing to kids and in doing so raises the stupid level to utterly delightful heights. The story is very
similar to the first film and most of the jokes are recycled, but I've always loved Police Academy 3 the best!

August Movie Count: 13
Best New Movie: Phineas & Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension
Best Rewatch: Cheetah
Worst Movie: Sucker Punch
2011 Movie Count: 131

Reason #6,821 Why I Need A Daughter

2011-09-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

...and my boys will spend the entire Christmas season wondering if this game will really be under their tree or not!

WWoB Office Update

2011-08-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

We've been doing pretty good with the steady stream of new content here at WW0B, but as we enter the last few days of Summer Vacation some of the paperwork has backed up our systems. In other words, I've just been so busy trying to squeeze in as much fun as a I can! Last Sunday I had an awesome time at the Ke$ha concert at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA. We had super awesome 3rd row seats (Thanks to my friend Matt) and we just danced and screamed and had a real good time. Ke$ha put on a real fun show with tons of glitter being shot at the audience from various contraptions. The whole experience was just a huge super fun party. I had a blast!

The next day, we loaded up the Family Truckster and headed out to Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA. They bill themselves as the Largest Free Admission Amusement Park in the Country. The park is just brimming with character. It's a collection of old traditional amusement park rides along side all of the new standards in theme park thrills. They have a few stand-out attractions like their Haunted Mansion which is constantly rated the best dark house ride in America. It's a really good ride! They also have two world class roller coasters which I was able to tuck under my belt of 2011 rides. The Phoenix is a great classic out-and-back woodie with ridiculous amounts of airtime. It's the first coaster to be taken apart at one park and put back together at another. The process has since become quite common in theme parks. Both my kids conquered this large coaster and they both loved it, although only Tanner would go with Daddy for a second ride.

Their other great coaster is a behemoth dark wood coaster called Twister, which is based on the design of the classic Mr. Twister at Elitch Gardens in Denver. It's a crazy good ride with twists, turns and unbelievable speed! Fantastic ride!

Then of course Tuesday we had the earthquake. Not really a big deal, except it kinda shook everybody up for the rest of the day. I think the oddity of having an earthquake that big on the East Coast just set the stage for the pandemonium that was to become Hurricane Irene. We're pretty far inland so I wasn't too worried about the storm.

It started to get dark and windy around 4:00pm, some steady by light rain followed. By 9 it was beating down pretty hard and the winds were fairly extreme. We were having Elias' birthday party which into the night morphed into a Hurricane Party! Elias had a good turn out for his party and our hurricane party was a success that went well into the night.

Otherwise, we're just getting into the swing of the new school year. We took Joey back to college on Sunday, Monday we spent the last day of Summer Vaca at Dutch Wonderland and Tuesday Elias started 3rd grade and Tanner began his 13 years of schooling with his first day of Kindergarten.

Earthquakes: Be a Prepared Bear

2011-08-24T00:03:00.003-04:00

In light of yesterday's earthquake that rocked the East Coast, I thought I would rerun this bit from April 5, 2007...

If ever an earthquake were to hit our small town I would first gather the family up and make sure they were safe and secure in the basement or a sturdy doorway. Then I would selflessly risk my very own life to rush to my bookshelf and grab my copy of "Earthquake Preparedness for the Family" hosted by Yogi, the Be-Prepared Bear. Who doesn't remember all the earthquakes Yogi and Boo-Boo endured on the classic cartoon show!? Actually, this is a series of three public service books that I have put out by the State of California and featuring one of my all-time favorite cartoon characters: Yogi Bear. It seems kind of odd to use Yogi as a spokesbear for earthquake safety. I mean, perhaps his priorities are different than my own. All I'm saying is, I don't know if I'd save my picnic baskets before members of my own family!

This book is filled with all sorts of bizarre illustrations like this one (to the left) of Yogi Bear attaching a hot water heater to the wall. There's just something funny about Yogi Bear and a hot water heater, I don't know what it is!? But seriously, if you live somewhere that securing your hot water heater to the wall, before an earthquake strikes, is a good idea than maybe it's time you looked for a new house!

I'm looking forward to the next two books in this series: "The Jetsons Prepare for Avian Flu" and "Captain Caveman Prevents Identity Theft"

Trailer Tuesday - The Jerk (1979)

2011-08-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Never Trust A Movie With "Suck" In The Title

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Sucker Punch (2011) There's only one reason to watch this mess of a movie, and it's the only reason I watched it. The lead, Emily Browning, is all sorts of ridiculously hot! If there is such thing as eye candy, she's an Everlasting Gobstopper! Besides her, this is not a good film. I'm not a fan of style over substance, which is what director Zack Snyder is known for. There are some awesome action sequences within this movie but they are presented as fantasy dreams. You know going in to the scene that this isn't really happening, it's her escape from the real world. So, the fights and battles really have nothing to do with the story and therefore I don't need to sit for 45 minutes and watch five hot girls battle dragons and robots! It just doesn't work. There is no emotional investment in what makes up the majority of this flick. The framing story is fairly interesting, about a corrupt insane asylum that is a front for a brothel. But there are so many mind-tricks in this movie that you just end up with two hours of meaningless violence and phony philosophy. I know Sucker Punch is out of my comfort zone but I was willing to give it a try. In the end, it's just an empty experience in fluffy confusion.

Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982) I've always found this to be the lesser of the Looney Tunes compilation films, yet I've seen it about 1001 times. This collection of mostly fairy tale based Looney Tunes cartoons was an absolute staple of my childhood. It seemed to be on HBO every summer plus I ended up seeing it at the free movies by the lakefront in Columbia at least two or three times. The film is part of the Looney Tunes Movie Collection DVD set which oddly includes only the first and third of the Bugs Bunny films. I'd been jonesing seeing this again so the other night when my wife had a friend over to watch Insidious, the kids and I cowered upstairs and watched Bugs and the gang. No matter how bad the bridging sequences of newer animation get in these films, you simply can't deny the entertainment value in classic Warner Bros. shorts. This movie chops up the cartoons a little too much but it's still an entertaining tale of Bugs and Daffy as traveling book salesmen who get caught up having to read stories to a spoiled prince. It has some great old cartoons in it including one of my all-time favorites, Ali Baba Bunny.

Murder By Death (1976) Only in the 1970's could you make a movie that is both smart and stupid - and perfectly wonderful on both levels. Neil Simon's spoof of detective mysteries is both dead on parody and silly slapstick. There's an all-star cast including James Coco, Peter Falk, Obi-Wan Kanobi, David Niven, Peter Sellers, and the very beautiful Eileen Brennan. Five of the world's greatest detectives are summoned to the mansion of an eccentric millionaire for a deadly game of Whodunnit. When I was in the 8th grade a friend of mine loved this movie. We watched it one night and I didn't get it at all. This time I got it. They just don't make good silly movies like this anymore.

Classic Commercial Sunday - #76

2011-08-21T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Some Oldies But Goodies

2011-08-20T00:01:00.001-04:00

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across The 2nd Dimension (2011) I'm not a die hard Phineas & Ferb fan but I've seen my fair share of episodes with my kids and it's a really good show. This full length adventure, which just debuted on Disney Channel, is a really well done attempt at taking something usually dished out in 15 minute increments and stretching it entertainingly into 90 minutes. While I was watching it I kept thinking, "Why didn't they do this for theatres?" But by the end I realized that to do the show justice they couldn't have done a "real" movie. There are too many inside jokes and running gags to make this film accessible to everyone. If this were a theatrical film, they would have had to re-establish all the characters and they couldn't have done some of the jokes and references that they were able to do by not worrying about outsiders watching the movie. There's many laugh out loud moments in the movie, in fact I think I got more of the movie than my kids did. My only complaints with the film are the pacing - I wish they would have slowed it down a little - and the look - I would have liked to seen them up the animation and shading a little bit. But in the end, a movie adventure that serves it's characters and audience well.

Cheetah (1989) Do not get me started on how much I love this movie! I'm not sure why, but when I was younger I couldn't get enough of this tale of two American kids spending their summer in Africa and raising a pet Cheetah. Now that I'm older, I see that the writing and acting is a little stiff - and it's not very creative, but it's still an enjoyable movie. I was surprised my kids liked it as much as they did since it's so old...I mean from 1989 and all! It's amazing how much movies have changed in 20 years. This Disney film has no off-color jokes, no rap music not much of anything except a good wholesome adventure about friendship and doing what is right. I still love it!

Here We Go Again (1942) This flick was a real treat. I loves me some Edgar Bergen and you don't come across his stuff all too often. For those of you out of the loop, Bergen was a popular comedian/ventriloquist back in the old days. The cool thing I love about his movies is that they treat his puppets like real characters. Sometimes you'll see his puppet characters, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, not on Bergen's lap but doing stuff like driving a car or sitting in a tree. It's a fun little gimmick. This movie also throws in fellow old tyme radio/TV stars Fibber McGee and Molly and The Great Gildersleeve. I had heard of these two other famous radio personalities before but was never exposed to them until now. They are all funny and entertaining as well. The plot of this movie is paper thin at best and just an excuse to hang a string of silly sketches and routines on. It's all simple and funny and it ends with a pretty good chase scene like all good movies should!

Back To The Future (1985) They were showing this on the big screen at a local arts center last week and I had planned to take my son, but some family obligations got in the way so we watched it at home later that night. I was never a really big fan of this classic, it's gotta be at least 23 years or so since I've seen it last. I really enjoyed this time around. It's a real solid movie. And since I don't know every line by heart like most people, I laughed out loud quite a bit. My son liked it but it was mostly way over his head, my wife and I kept having to explain everything to him so he could keep up. I'm sure I didn't fully understand it when it came out in the 5th grade. We didn't go to the movies much when I was little but I can vividly remember my mom taking my brother and I to see this at the old Harundale Mall theatre. I can also remember taping it off HBO for my friend Grant who didn't have cable - and I cut out the cover of the cable magazine with a picture of the movie on it and taped it to the VHS box for him. I was pretty proud of myself on that one. Ahh...memories! By the way, I love Lea Thompson!

Spaceballls (1987) I don't really like this movie. There...I said it. I made a comment about my dislike of this movie on Facebook the other day and I got a lot of virtual dirty looks from people. Mel Brooks is capable of so much more than this. I saw this when it first came out on video and way back then when I was 13, I thought the jokes were all obvious and stale. I love when they make a reference in a movie to the fact that they are in a movie...but Spaceballs does it too much. It kind of ruined that joke for me. I remember when this came out thinking that a Star Wars parody was kind of outdated and unoriginal. I laughed a handful of times but to me this is one of Mel Brooks' worst movies!

Six Flags Great Adventure Trip Report

2011-08-17T14:30:00.000-04:00

After a summer full of kiddie parks and beach boardwalks, it was nice to finally be able to hit up a genuine, full-fledged grown-up amusement park. So Monday, my previously mentioned good buddy Joey Carwash and I made the three hour journey into the wilds of New Jersey to visit Six Flags Great Adventure, one of the earlier Six Flags parks. Joey and I had actually both been to the park together back in 1994 on a college trip but either of us had much memory of the park. The park is pretty big, filled with first class rides and some standard carnival style rides. There are some kiddie rides sprinkled throughout.

The themeing in nice although a little random. There are nine sections (or lands) at Great Adventure which is actually three more than the Six Flags template necessitates. Some of the sections are rich in detail such as a Spanish/Mexican theme region called Plaza Del Carnaval and the standard wild, wild west territory called Frontier Adventures. Movietown is supposed to be a tribute to New Jersey's film making roots - but at this point is mostly just a tribute to Batman. Other sections of the park like Fantasy Forest and Boardwalk just blend in with the rest of the park.

Great Adventure is spacious and clean. However, there are large sections throughout the park where abandoned or repurposed structures take up space physically and visually. Near the front of the park sits many unused hanger style buildings that once supported the ride and theme of an airplane based flight simulator. Now the buildings sit there looking like exposed backstage areas of the park. The airfield theme is gone and the buildings look tacky and out of place. The same can be said for several large theatrical venues around the park that are still clearly visible but yet completely unused.

But let's talk about fun! The day we visited the forecast called for rain and thunderstorms throughout the day. When we arrived at the park around 10:30, it was raining pretty heavily. After a great breakfast at nearby Java Moon Cafe, the rain had downgraded to a light sprinkle. We figured the crowds would stay away and at the least we could hit all the big rides pretty quick. So, we paid the insane TWENTY BUCKS for parking (Six Flags should honestly be ashamed of themselves) and got a great parking spot in Daffy Duck section 2. As we entered the park, everything was running except for two of the bigger coasters (which later opened.) As expected, the park was near empty and we didn't wait at all for a single ride all day. Most of the rides were sitting in the station waiting for us. Score!

The main reason for making the trek up to New Jersey instead of just visiting the closer Six Flags park in Maryland was Great Adventure's newest ride: Green Lantern. Joey Carwash is a HUGE Green Lantern fan going back long before the movie ever came out. I was all for making a road trip just to go pay homage to one of my buddy's favorite childhood icons. After all, I just spent a week camping with Yogi Bear. Joey was super excited with all the little touches added to the ride area. There's a giant lantern in the plaza entrance before the ride. The queue area is lined with over sized comic strips telling the origin story of Green Lantern. You'd like to think the ride creators really were passionate about the Green Lantern character but it was more probably based on pushing the new movie.

The Green Lantern coaster is an awesome ride! Standing 15 stories high, the rides drops it's standing passengers 144 ft. at 63 MPH. There are 5 inversions along the track, although to me it felt like there were about 11. I've never been on a stand-up coaster before. As the train left the station I thought to myself, "This isn't any different than sitting down." Once we got to the top of the ride and I was standing 15 stories in the air...yeah, I could tell the difference. The first drop is super awesome followed by a very long ride of very intense twists and turns. When the ride was over I was filled with adrenaline. That was easily the biggest, baddest coaster I'd ever conquered. It felt great. Joey, of course, was an immediate fan and couldn't wait to ride again.

We next took on Rolling Thunder, the parks classic out-and-back woodie. This is a great ride, filled with ups and downs and not much else. A classic roller coaster experience from start to finish. Next to Rolling Thunder is El Toro, a beautiful looking dark wood coaster with a 176 ft. drop at 76 degrees, sending you into speeds of up to 70 MPH. This ride looked awesome but unfortunately I was unable to ride. The safety restraint was a single person lap bar that needed to come back very far. I had no problem getting the bar to click into lock, but they needed to have the bar go back fairly far and I wasn't able to quite make it. Joey felt uncomfortable in his seat, but he said it was one hell of a ride! I'm not sure why I'm able to stand 15 stories in the air, but I can't sit in a car for a wooden coaster. Oh well!

However, I was able to hop right onto Bizarro, a huge twisting mess of track with seven inversions. This was my first time on a floorless coaster, which isn't really scary as much as just an extra element of fun. It was another intense ride, filled with just about every surprise a roller coaster can throw at you. Good times! I had seen this ride's sister model at Six Flags New England on Bert The Conqueror a while ago and I had been eager to ride it ever since. Well worth the wait!

In the Movietown section of the park there are two Batman coasters. Batman The Ride is a suspended looping coaster. It's nice that Six Flags offers a test seat in front of their coasters for larger rides to see if the restraining system will work for them. At Batman there is also a sign to let riders know that people with a 52' or greater chest may not be able to ride. I take a 52' sports coat and darned if the little seat belt was only a fraction of an inch from being able to click into the shoulder harness. No big loss - I was already starting to feel a little queasy from all the tossing and turning of the day so I checked out a gift shop while Joey hopped on the ride. His report afterward was that the ride is way too brief.

Batman The Ride was built between the second and third Batman movie in the 90's. Across from it is the newer Dark Knight Coaster based on the current string of Batmam films. With The Dark Knight, Six Flags really makes a stab at trying to create a story-driven experience similar to a Disney Parks attraction. Guests enter a Gotham City subway station where TV's air the news while people wait for their train. While D.A. Harvey Dent is giving a press conference on the news, The Joker breaks in and causes havoc. Suddenly everyone is hurried out of the room into some dark corridors beneath Gotham where you board a Gotham City Subway Car. What follows is a Wild Mouse Coaster in the dark with several animated scenes and special effects set out along the track. Again, this was a short ride and the overall effect doesn't make much sense, but it was still a neat attempt to do something a little different. I'm sure it would have been a big hit with my kids!

My favorite ride in the park had to be Nitro...

Nitro has no gimmicks. You sit in a seat, in a train on a track, there are no loops. There is just one big awesome 215 ft. drop followed by 2 minutes of continually breathtaking drops. Nitro is just pure exhilarating fun without all the bumps, twists and stomach turning elements of many other coasters. Loved it! We rode it twice throughout the day and they were both awesome rides!

In addition to a Road Runner kiddie coaster, the park has three other smaller coasters. Runaway Mine Train is a classic Six Flags staple, Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train is an odd family-style steel coaster with the longest ride train I've even seen. It's kinda fast and curvy and very low to the ground. Skull Mountain is a dark twisty steel coaster in a dark skull shaped mountain. The ride is anti-climatic considering the themeing and build up before the ride.

There's a unique attraction called Houdini's Great Escape which consists of two parts. The first part, which is basically a preshow, is styled after the preshow of Disney's Haunted Mansion. Guests stand in a dark room while some bells and whistles go off trying to build up your anticipation for something scary that never really happens. The effect may have worked better had the volume been turned up. Next guests are moved into a second room where they have a seat and eventually the room starts to spin around you while you stay perfectly seated. It's a modern update on the classic Haunted Swing style ride...still enjoyed at Dutch Wonderland's Wonder House. We also rode their very old Saw Mill Log Flume and Congo Rapids white water ride.

The rain held off for most of the day, and we only had a brief little downpour which didn't bother us as we were already under cover enjoying a hamburger and fries. By the end of the night, the remaining two coasters had finally opened.

Superman - Ultimate Flight is possibly the coolest of all the superhero themed rides at any of these Six Flags parks. For this ride gives you the sensation of flying like Superman. It's a roller coaster...a big roller coaster at that. The seats are suspended from the track without a floor underneath your feet. The real kicker is right before the ride starts the seats raise up at an angle so that you are facing the ground. You then leave the station and proceed up the chain lift looking straight down at the Earth you are no longer standing on. I have to admit when the seats first locked into their ride position - I freaked. I would have gotten off if given the chance but I wasn't given that opportunity and I'm glad I wasn't. When the train lets go of the chain you are treated to a 100 ft. drop - head first, you then zoom up from the ground and travel through over a track that takes you on an experience very similar to what Clark Kent must feel like flying through the skyscrapers of Metropolis. It is a truly awesome experience! I love when theme park attractions can really tap into the property they are based on. The red, white and yellow color scheme of the coaster is nice. The comic book graphics all over the queue and loading station are also a nice touch. But experiencing the feeling of flying like Superman - something everyone has dreamed about is a really cool feat to pull off. My only complaint with the presentation of the ride was the generic FM radio music blaring over the speakers throughout the attraction. The familiar orchestration of John Williams' Superman The Movie theme would have been the ultimate touch to top off this attraction.

We rode Superman late in the evening. After a day of nothing but pretty big coasters, I was feeling a bit beat up and woozy. I didn't want to be a party pooper so we took Green Lantern for another spin almost immediately after Superman. (We spent at least a good 20 minutes in the Superman gift shop.) That second ride on GL did it for me. I felt like crap after re-riding that super intense roller coaster. I could have easily thrown up if years of drinking hadn't conditioned me to better control such an urge.

After much deliberation, I decided to sit out the evening's final roller coaster, Kingda Ka. As the tallest coaster in the world and fastest in North America I really wanted to conquer this ride but my stomach and my heart were telling me it wasn't a good idea. I decided to finally play my "recently had a heart attack" card and grab a seat on a nearby bench and let Joey hit this one up alone. I really wanted to ride it...honestly! But I think I made the right decision. I was not feeling well at all. I even passed up the opportunity to drink a few beers earlier in the day! Joey said the ride was just about the most awesome he's ever been on and at 456 feet high and 128 MPH I'm sure it was. Next time I'm at a park I'm going to try and get on their big one first and work my way backwards.Six Flags Great Adventure is a good park with an impressive collection of first rate roller coasters. Nice touches: Six Flags licences the Warner Bros. stable of characters which include the Looney Tunes and DC Comic Book characters. The park put these cartoons to good use as park mascots. The Super Hero attractions are full of nerdy detail for fans of the properties. We even found a fake phone booth waiting for Clark Kent near a Super Hero merchandise store. The Looney Tunes are well represented with two sections of the park devoted to kiddie rides featuring Bugs and the gang. There's plenty of stuff to buy all over the park with Superman, Batman, Bugs and Daffy all over them. Neither of these sets of toons are high on my list of interests but Joey Carwash dropped over $100 on Green Lantern and Batman paraphernalia.

The park was clean, spacious and well maintained. Some of the non-Superhero roller coasters had their own theme music playing in the station which was nice. You can even tell that employees are told to interact nicely with guests, except for the security guard in the parking lot who told us, "You picked a crappy day to come to the park!" "Thank you sir!"

My complaints: 1) $20 bucks for parking is legally considered rape in most states. Not a pleasant way to start off a day. 2) Too much crappy FM music blasting throughout the park. If you're going to go to the trouble of visually themeing areas of the park, the music should support your theme. Hearing Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson doesn't drive home the illusion that I'm in Adventure Seaport. 3) Why is there a therapeutic massage parlor smack in the middle of the park? It looks like the kind of place you go for "special services" I'm not sure why that would be in a theme park next to a store that sells Bugs Bunny t-shirts. 4) Not a single XXXL shirt sold anywhere in the park. It's New Jersey, I've heard they do have fat people there! 5) Mr. Six (the dancing old guy from their commercials) is creepy and nobody really likes him. Be gone with him!

Can't wait to go back.

Trailer Tuesday - C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)

2011-08-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

You have no idea how much I love this movie...

...ok, I guess you have some idea.

Always Good Eats in O.C.

2011-08-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

I like to take pictures of food. It's just one of the many weird things I like to do that generate stares of bewilderment from onlookers. Here's a couple of yummy things people ate while we were at the beach the other week. These first two are from Shenanigan's Irish Pub & Grille at 4th St. & the Boardwalk. They have plenty of seating directly on the boardwalk which has made this spot a new favorite with my family.

Skibereen Po'Boy: Traditional shirmp Po'boy. Spicy breaded shrimp on a six-inch toasted hoagie roll with lettuce and tomato, served with home-made remoulade sauce.

Gallagher's Banger: Authentic Irish Banger sausage flame-broiled, topped with caramelized onions, red peppers, and spicy brown mustard served on a toasted hoagie roll.

And from de Lazy Lizzard at 1st St. & the Bay, Godzilla Nachos which we had to order just because of the name.

Classic Classic #75

2011-08-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Party of Five at DW: A Trip Report

2011-08-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

Wednesday was our 9th visit to Dutch Wonderland this summer. I'd say we got our money's worth out of our season passes. The kids were extra excited about trip #9 because for the first time this year Mommy went to the park with us. They were very excited to show her all their favorite rides. As we were driving up to the park that day, my good buddy Joey called me and he was doing nothing so he ended up meeting us up there too to hang out for the day. It was a fun day for all of us with an extra large touring group. The park was PACKED that day. The parking lot was full as was the overflow parking. I managed to grab a spot in the very last row of the parking lot. Still, even all the way in the back it's not a long walk to the castle entrance.

The boys were very excited to take Mommy on the Turtle Whirl. They can't drag me on that spinning death trap but Mom's a big fan of the ride and the kids were so happy to have somebody to ride with. They actually had to wait in line through four rides before it was there turn. We've never see a crowd like that at the park.

One of the main reasons Joey and I have been friends for so long is that we both like acting like big kids. Needless to say, Joey had fun on all the rides big or small.

Here's Elias on Dragon's Liar. This is a neat shot of him because it's taken from outside the park.

In Duke's Lagoon, Tanner was climbing up the side of the play structure and swinging from a rope. Instead of getting a picture of him doing it, I was only able to grab a snapshot of one of the lifeguards telling Tanner to stop. (Tanner's on the stairs.)

Elias has been dreaming about getting his hands on this huge Slushie glass from Day #1. He was very excited when I finally broke down and bought it for him. After Season Pass discount, it was only $3.50. I guess I could have sprung for it a while back.

My wife was all about getting her some Dole Whip. Dole Whip is a staple of any true Disney World fan's trip and it was pretty cool that Dutch Wonderland opened up a Dole Whip Junction this year. It's a delicious pineapple soft serve ice cream served with pineapple juice. It's the very definition of Good Eats!

My kids will never pose for a picture with the Princess of Dutch Wonderland. Luckily, I had my buddy Joey with me - whose always down for snapping a picture with a pretty gal. After we took the picture, I told her I was gonna put it on Facebook and she said, "Make sure to tag me!" Nice touch, Princess Brooke!

Here's a picture of the Sunoco sign they recently added to the Sunoco Turnpike ride. Everytime we visit the park, they've added something new to this rechristened ride.

And finally, you know you're getting old when...

...you get so excited about a good parking space that you take a picture of it. This photo was snapped right at the park entrance and look at my red van over there - just steps away from the gate! I moved the car later in the day when I went out to get bathing suits. You can't beat a spot like that folks!

My Week In Movies - Land, Line & Sea

2011-08-11T00:01:00.001-04:00

The Birds (1963) I've seen most of Alfred Hitchcock's films and I've had the fortune of seeing most of them for the first time in a movie theatre but somehow all these years, one of his most popular movies has eluded me. My kids are obsessed over the idea of horror movies, and they think they want to watch one but I'm a good parent and I'm not going to let my 5 and 7 year old kids watch Nightmare on Elm Street or Child's Play. (Even though it seems that other parents find these sort of films ok for their little ones!) Instead, I thought a good classic like The Birds would provide some wholesome spooky thrills. After a very talky and slow first hour and a half, the final act of this classic picks up with some pretty tense bird attack action. I can see what audiences of the early 60's were terrified by this picture but it's pretty slow and tame by today's standards. The kids liked it well enough, even though they were bored to tears through most of it. I enjoyed it but it certainly isn't one of the more captivating Hitchcock films.

Cyberbully (2011) Here's a throwback to the classic days of Made-For-TV movies where the whole point of the film is to illustrate a growing problem in society. This new ABC Family movie is two primetime stars away from being an old ABC Sunday Night At the Movies presentation. Emily Osmet, from Hannah Montana, is a likable lead in this silly drama about a high school whose whole world comes crashing down after hoping on a Facebook style website for about a week. After rumors of her promiscuity flood her profile page, she resorts to suicide. Then the whole picture turns real heavy handed and preachy and poorly written. There's also a whole silly sub-plot involving her best friend playing some evil trick on her. This isn't a complete waste of time but it's pretty darn close.

Free Willy (1993) Boy meets whale - boy saves whale. This movie was so popular when it came out, it's been ripped off and copied so many times that rewatching it after 17 years if feels kind of stale. The rescue of Willy at the end of the movie is still pretty exciting and a decent amount of a payoff for making it through the first hour. My kids liked it. So I got that going for me...which is nice.

Yogi and Friends Around Town

2011-08-10T00:01:00.001-04:00

I mentioned that we went camping at a nearby Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resort. We had a blast - I think I mentioned that too. Of course, while we were there I had to take a picture of just about everything "bearing" the likeness of Yogi and his pals. Yogi, Boo-Boo, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith are all the official cast of characters for the chain of parks. Although we did get to meet Yogi and Boo-Boo face to face, we never did spot Cindy or the Ranger. Oh well, there's always next year. Anywho...here's some pictures from around the grounds of my good buddy Yogi and his pals.

Trailer Tuesday - Dangerous Curves (1988)

2011-08-09T15:27:00.001-04:00

Classic Commercial Sunday - #74

2011-08-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

The Greatest Financial News of the Decade

2011-08-06T10:41:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Not Too Smurfy

2011-08-03T08:25:00.000-04:00

The Smurfs 3-D (2011) The Smurfs movie looks pretty bad from the trailers. It's not actually as bad as it appears...but it's pretty darn close. The main problem with this movie is that the Smurf franchise deserves so much better than this. The movie starts off wonderfully in the Smurf village. Seeing the Smurfs in their town o' mushrooms with all the detail CGI provides over Saturday morning animation is really neat. Unfortunately, the Smurfs get sucked out of their village in the first 10 minutes of the film and by means of some magic portal, end up in the mysterious village of New York. Here the Smurfs meet Doogie Howser and the pretty girl from Glee and then it's all pretty much jokes and situations recycled from Alvin & The Chipmunks and numerous other recent kiddie movies. The "realistic" design of the Smurfs grows on you and works in the film. There are some funny and cute moments but mostly the entire production is bogged down by the sad fact that this was the best Hollywood could come up with for beloved characters that are 30 years old in this country...50 years in other parts of the world. Hank Azaria does a great job as Gargamel, capturing the voice from the cartoon down to a tee and he adds his own bit of silly humor to the role. The great Johnathan Winters provides the voice of Papa Smurf and Katy Perry adds a bubbly personality to Smurfette. While there are a handful of notable actors lending their voices to other Smurfs, the majority of the movie only centers on six Smurfs leaving the rest of the village to appear only briefly in the beginning and the end. It was neat seeing the Smurfs exist in actual three dimensions but the film fails at doing anything at all with the 3-D technology. Again, overall not a bad film but certainly a disappointment as a Smurfs Summer Blockbuster.

How To Eat Fried Worms (2006) This feels like it was made simply to try and make a few bucks off the popularity of kids books as movies....i.e. Harry Potter. Not much happens in this tale of a new kid at school who crosses paths with the school bully. They end up making a bet that the new boy will eat 10 worms and then it's just pretty much the kids coming up with gross ways to cook the worms. Silly, innocent fun - my kids liked it and that's who I rented it for!

Yogi Bear (2010) Third time seeing this flick and I gotta say I enjoy it more and more each time! This is probably the best cartoon-to-live action film that they've been able to make. It's faithful to the source material and they avoided adding in too much cynical & crude humor.

The Puppetoon Movie (1987) George Pal was the innovator of a film stop motion animation process known as Puppetoons, where he made cartoon shorts using materials other pencil and paper. The effect was the forerunner to films like Rudolph and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This movie is supposed to be a tribute to Mr. Pal but after a brief introduction scene featuring Gumby & Pokey the film just settles in for over an hour of old cartoons. Without any historical context or background information the toons start to run together and become rather bland. These sort of things work in brief 7 to 8 minute spots but a feature length presentation of them is hard to sail through.

July Movie Count: 16
Best New Movie: Winnie The Pooh
Best Rewatch: The Jungle Book
Worst Movie: The Puppetoon Movie
2011 Movie Count: 118

Trailer Tuesday - Spring Break (1983)

2011-08-02T00:01:00.001-04:00

Camping With My Pal Yogi

2011-08-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

Last week I took my family on our first camping trip. We spent three nights at the awesome Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp Resort in Quarryville, PA. The kids were beside themselves with excitement and we all had a really good time. Not only did we get to hang with our good bear friends Yogi and Boo Boo, we were also joined by some friends of ours who booked a visit at the same time as us. It was even more fun to have some other people to hang out with. We mostly stayed at the campground for the entire three days, minus a few hours for a grocery store run (and a hot pizza!) There are many activities at the park from arts and crafts to a pretty neat-o water park complete with slides and a huge water playground.

Now, my wife enjoys the great outdoors as much as the next person...but she needs her NOT PUBLIC restroom and some air conditioning. So, instead of completely roughing it, Yogi put us up in one of Jellystone's finer cabins:

This was our home for the week. In addition to our own bathroom w/shower and the nice cold air conditioning, we also had a kitchenette (which we hardly used,) a TV (which we only used to watch Yogi cartoons before bedtime,) and a few other comforts of home. We honestly didn't spend too much time inside, but it was nice to beat the heat every so often and also not have to walk the kids down to the bath houses to use the potty at three in the morning.

The kids took this opportunity to switch up their normal bunk positions from home and Tanner took the top bunk, while Elias slept on the ground level.

There's lots of cool things to do around the park. There's a pedal kart track for the kids which was pretty impressive. Tanner tore it up doing laps around the course...

....there is also volleyball, horseshoes, a playground and an arcade.

One night we hosted dinner at our campsite. Here we are with our friends enjoying various grilled meats and pasta salad.

We went on a wonderful nature walk through some paths that travel through the woods...

...the paths lead to a fishing hole in a secluded area. Jellystone really is as beautiful as it looks in all those cartoons.

One of the coolest attractions at the campground is their Jumping Pillow...

...it's basically a huge moon bounce without the walls. The best part is there are no age, height or weight restrictions. Anybody can join in the fun. It was super fun but also extremely tiring. Three minutes on this thing and grown-ups feel like they've just worked out for 45 minutes. Of course, kids can go for hours without taking a breath! I snapped this picture from across the road to illustrate how enormous this thing is...

Yogi and his crew have a lot of activities planned throughout the day. We played Candy Bar Bingo with jackpots of up to 52 candy bars. We didn't win! We also attended an ice cream social and a pool party. They had arts and crafts in the morning. The one day they were coloring Yogi Bear t-shirts with fabric markers. It looked really cool and I wanted the kids to do it but they were so excited about going to the water park I knew coloring a t-shirt wasn't going to hold their interested against having gallons of water dumped on them.

Another activity we attended was Sidewalk Chalk at the Basketball Court. I knew Tanner would really get into and he did drawing a whole city of buildings...and people with guns!?

Elias also got into the act with a portrait of our host...

The night we went over to our friend's site for dinner they treated us to some crazy good Grilled Cheese Pizza Sandwiches which were out of this world good!

Here's one more shot of us all playing cards one night...

South Family Camping Trip #1 was a success. The kids are already asking when we can go back. I'm hoping to take the boys tent camping sometime in the next month!

Classic Commercial Sunday - #73 Barbie Goes Camping

2011-07-31T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Some Traveling Music Please

2011-07-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Blue Crush 2 (2011) I was really looking forward to seeing this new direct to DVD movie. I love the first Blue Crush movie, and even though this is a sequel in name only I'm a sucker for silly DTV cash grabs and couldn't wait to see it. I'm not sure why I like the original Blue Crush so much, but whatever it is - it's not in this follow up. A girl goes to South Africa to follow in her dead mother's footsteps and surf all her favorite spots. Along the way there is one cliche after another. There's even some ultra-ridiculous subplot involving elephant poachers. I guess everything in South Africa comes back to poachers. Way too long, nothing interesting and by the time the film arrives at the obligatory surfing competition climax it's overstayed it's welcome by at least 45 minutes. A sad excuse for a film to carry on the distinguished Blue Crush name. (I hope they make another one!)

The Three Stooges Go Around The World in a Daze (1963) As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge Stooges fan but something draws me to their movies. This outing has the threesome traveling across the globe with their rich employer in a loose adaptation/sequel to the original Jules Verne classic Around the World in 80 Days. The funny thing is, this picture isn't all that funny but it's a pretty good movie none the less. It has an interesting story to follow even though it doesn't really give Larry, Moe and Curley Joe too much to do. There's one scene where they get to do a routine but other than that it's mostly just slapping and knocking on the head - as usual. Apparently at this point in their careers, The Three Stooges were mostly a kiddie act and their films played for matinee audiences. Daze plays more like a good hearted adventure flick than a slapstick comedy. Sony Movie Channel is currently running a nice HD print of the film.

The End of the World is One Step Closer

2011-07-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

This is a real toy. I saw it for sale in Target this weekend. The people who made this should be as ashamed as the people who are going to pay Casey Anthony for her movie/book rights. Ugg!

edTunes - Party Rock Anthem

2011-07-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

My wife LOVES this song right now. I think it's ok, but the video is crazy fun! This video is so much old school goodness it reminds me of the hours I killed in my youth watching stuff like this on MTV all day.

Trailer Tuesday - Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy (1955)

2011-07-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Homemade Smurfberry Cookies

2011-07-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

The other day while we were out driving in the woods, we came across this very rare Smurfberry bush. We pulled over and smurfed a small basket full of the ripe berries. Sure Smurfberries are delicious to eat just by themselves, and of course we made some yummy Sarsaparilla with a handful of the berries but I was looking for something a little extra special to smurf. So I went up in the attic and dug out my great great grandmother's Smurf recipe book that she had discovered in her backyard among a patch of mushrooms....during World War I?!?

Anysmurf...the fact is Saturday we had a rare occasion where we had two social gatherings to go to so I decided to get a little creative and whip up some Smurfberry Cookies, since I can't stop talking about Smurfs. I had looked up a few Smurf cookie recipes online but they were all way too complicated so I just created my own. You can make these too. Here's what you'll need:

3/4 cup butter (softened)

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla flavor

blue food coloring

Pomegranate Craisins

Smurfs Breakfast Cereal

This recipe is simple to smurf. First, smurf the butter and sugar together and then add the vanilla. Then start to mix in the flour while adding dabs of blue food coloring. You'll want to wait till your mixture is mostly white before adding the coloring or you'll be adding blue to the buttery yellow and it won't look right.

While the mixture is forming into dough, sprinkle in the Craisins. I suppose you could use any ol' berry or fruit for this recipe. I went with Pomegranate Craisins because it's a flavor most people wouldn't identify right away and Smurfberries should taste unique and not just like blueberries or what have you. (I'm smurfing a story with these cookies people!)

While kneeding the dough, continue to add in as many Craisins as you wish and drops of food coloring. I added the blue coloring a little at a time because I didn't want the shade of the cookies to be too dark. I ended up adding enough so that the dough wasn't entirely blue, there were some swirls of white in there as well. I liked this look as it actually helps sell the visual idea of the blue and white design of the Smurfs.

Then at the last minute I had the idea to add a coating of Smurfs Cereal to the top of the cookies. Pour a little bit of cereal into a bowl, then when you roll small balls of dough for the cookies press them down into the cereal to pick up a few for a little crunchy blue and white coating on top.

Make sure your balls of dough are pretty flat to begin with. The dough didn't expand out as some recipes do and the second batch of cookies came out much better and cookie like than the first batch which is pictured above. Bake the cookies on a greased cookie sheet for 8 1/2 minutes at 375 degrees.

When they are done, let them cool for a smurf bit and then you'll have yourself a Smurfalicious Batch of Homemade Smurfberry Cookies. I think the Craisins did a good job as far as looking like a Smurfberry baked into a cookie and the light blue color swirled with the white evokes images of the Smurfs. The Smurf cereal on top is just a nice unique touch and another way to work the Smurfs into the cookies.

I made two containers of the cookies to take to our two parties. I also added in a bed of blue and red Stauffer's Smurf Crackers which are kind of hard to find in stores...so I went to their factory in York, PA and bought some directly from them. (Is that sad?) (That was a separate adventure and nothing to necessarily do with my homemade project.)

Classic Commercial Sunday - #72

2011-07-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

My Week In Movies - Go See Winnie The Pooh

2011-07-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

Winnie The Pooh (2011) Just seeing the joy-filled expressions of innocence on my 7 year old's face during a screening of this Disney "reboot" was worth the $21.50 I dropped on tickets alone. This new Pooh Bear movie is a magical delight of simplicity and childhood fun. There's nothing modern, crude or cynical about this movie, just 69 breezy minutes of old fashioned fun. Taken directly from chapters of the same book the original Disney Pooh Bear cartoons were based on, three sections of the book Winnie The Pooh are blended together to form a less episodic, stream of conscious following in a day in the life of the residence of the Hundred Acre Wood. Winnie The Pooh is easily the best kids film to come out of Hollywood in a LONG time and also one of the most fun times my kids and I have ever had at the movies. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie!

Hall Pass (2011) As far as stupid comedies go, I really enjoyed this raunchy romp about two dudes who are given a week of from their marriages to pursue "other interests." The only problem with this flick is when Owen Wilson and Jason Sudekus are given their freedom it takes them a few days to get reved up to go out on the prowl for women. It also takes the movie a little too long getting reved up to the laughs and interesting situations. Still, it's a good time and if you like a good R-rated comedy you're sure to find plenty to laugh at.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) I really enjoyed this classic sci-fi flick, which I had never seen before. The mystery of what is happening to all the people in town is slowly revealed with alot of tension and suspense. By the time the movie rolls around to the third act, you can't help but be on the edge of your seat with anticipation. There's a reason certain movies have become classics and this one displays a certain intelligent style of storytelling that you just don't see anymore.

Abbott and Costello Go To Mars (1953) You know you're in for a good time at the movies when the opening credits reveal... "And Introducing The Miss America Beauties." A handful of real life beauty pageant queens play the inhabitants of a distant planet where Bud & Lou happen to accidentally land in a rocket. The ladies make Lou their new king while Bud stares on in disbelief. Some good laughs are to be had once the picture gets rolling. This was the duo's second to last film.

edTunes - Super Bass

2011-07-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

Three things:
1) I don't want to like this song, but I do.
2) This video has way too many close ups of shirtless men for me.
3) At no point in this song do I have any idea what she is saying.