This is my all-time favorite song which also happens to be from my all-time favorite singer. In my high school years, while the rest of the school was into The Cure, Guns and Roses, Depeche Mode or Metallica little ol' me was off on my own listening to Debbie Gibson. My first real celebrity crush. This song never fails to cheer me up!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
edTunes: Shake Your Love
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Ready To Go Surfing Again
I loves me some Blue Crush, the 2002 movie about female surfers. I also loves me some crappy made-for-DVD sequels to movies I love. So, I'm all in for this upcoming flick... Agee!
Labels:
coming attractions,
DVD,
youtube
Monday, March 28, 2011
Antique Autos Part 2: Mrs. White's Parakeet
Labels:
Betty White,
cars,
Golden Girls,
movie props,
museums
Friday, March 25, 2011
15 Minutes, I Say 15 Minutes Son
The fine folks at Geico Insurance have produced some fine commercials. What do they, put out like 8 new commercials a week, or something like that? It's always cool when they bring a classic animated character into the mix. Check out Looney Tunes star Foghorn Leghorn getting into the act. This spot features some really nice animation too!
Since we're talking about Geico, let me also run one of my favorite commercials in a long time. The timing in this spot is so dead on! There's also a :15 second version of this commercial and it totally ruins the pace. Both the actors in this spot are so good.
Since we're talking about Geico, let me also run one of my favorite commercials in a long time. The timing in this spot is so dead on! There's also a :15 second version of this commercial and it totally ruins the pace. Both the actors in this spot are so good.
Labels:
advertising,
commercials,
Looney Tunes,
youtube
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Launch of edTunes: The Gambler
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First up, is one of my all-time favorite songs The Gambler, by rotisserie chicken guru The Gamber himself - Kenny Rogers. I loves me some Kenny Rogers. I've had the fortune to see him perform live twice and it's always a treat. The man knows how to entertain a crowd without breaking a sweat! The performance we're going to take a look at today is from a 1979 fourth season episode of The Muppet Show.
Labels:
edTunes,
Kenny Rogers,
Muppets,
music
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
My Week In Movies - Did I Mention Herbie is Awesome
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Antique Autos Part 1: Herbie
This past weekend I dragged my kids up to the Antique Auto Club of America Museum in Hershey, PA to see two authentic Herbie The Love Bugs used in the filming of the 1974 sequel Herbie Rides Again. The original movie, The Love Bug, was the highest grossing movie of 1969 and apparently stayed the top box office grosser of all time until a little film with some spaceships, robots and lightsabers showed up in 1977.
The AACA Museum has two Herbie cars on loan from the William E. Swigart, Jr Automobile Museum in Huntingdon, PA. They are on display until April 24, 2011. The first Herbie is in beautiful condition:
Also on display is this beat up Herbie:
And for extra nerdy fun, here's the registration for Herbie:
This is a sign that was used when Herbie made public appearances back in the day. Since the original four theatrical films, there has also been a TV movie in 1997 and a 5th theatrical production, Herbie Fully Loaded in 2005.
Herbie is awesome!
Check back later in the week with some pictures of another neat car on display at the AACA Museum.
Labels:
cars,
day trips,
Herbie The Love Bug,
movie props,
museums
Monday, March 21, 2011
Fantastic Trailer
Last week I mentioned the smutty classic Hardbodies, another film in the genre of "Let's Go To The Beach And Engage In Empty Sexual Relations." It's a fun little film and it still holds up in it's own silly little way. I want you to watch the original theatrical trailer for this movie. While I do enjoy the film, this trailer is so much better than the movie. If I had seen this trailer in the theatre (especially when I was 11, when the movie came out) I would have went absolutely bonkers for it. Hardbodies in no way lives up to the wacky zaniness that this promotional piece suggests. If you've seen the film and then the trailer, it's almost as if Columbia Pictures was straight up telling you they were putting out the stupidest, crappiest movie they've ever made.
Labels:
B movies,
coming attractions,
movies,
T and A
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Classic Commercial Sunday - #57 Cereal is for Girls
Friday, March 18, 2011
Proper Smurfing
A few weeks ago I ended up watching the premier of Matthew Perry's new show, Mr. Sunshine. Normally, I wouldn't have had any interest in the program but the previews kept showing a shot of somebody punching somebody in a Smurf theme park costume. Well, if you're going to take the time to work a Smurf into your show than the least I can do is watch it. Well, the first episode didn't have a Smurf and I was felt pretty used after sitting through the show. After the case of "bait and Smurf" I never watched the show again. Thanks to the internets, I found out that the Smurfs finally did make their appearance. On the show, Perry's character runs a giant events arena and Smurfs On Ice was booked. Here's a clip from the show, even though it features Allison Janney smacking Papa Smurf's blue rump - it's alot more respectful to the Smurfs property than a certain live action film we discussed earlier this week.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
My Week in Movies - Best Picture #3 For Me!
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Labels:
My Week In Movies,
Roger Rabbit,
T and A
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Original Kings Of Catchphrase Comedy
Saturday Night Live this past weekend was on fire! Here's one of the stand out sketches:
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Unsmurfy
First, let's take a look at the new trailer for the upcoming live action Smurfs movie - then we'll discuss...
Here's my beefs:
1) Sending the smurfs to modern day New York City isn't a totally terrible idea (it certainly isn't an original idea) but that's a plot that should be saved for a #3 sequel. You don't jump right out of the gate with the old "sent to the real world" plot. They did it with Fat Albert, Bulwinkle and at least a few others and it just doesn't work. Star Trek did it well, but they waited until their 4th film before they sent the crew to modern day San Francisco. The Smurfs in New York is just not a terribly great way to start off a potential movie franchise.
2) Was there really not enough Smurfs to pick from that the new filmmakers had to create a new Smurf? You may have noticed in the trailer a Smurf wearing a kilt and sporting a Scottish accent. That would be the new Gutsy Smurf. Sure. That's necessary.
3) Don't sexualize Smurfette. I know everyone has always made jokes about one Smurf girl and 98 male Smurfs, but seeing Smurfette's dress blow up like and the other Smurfs ogling her is just kinda gross.
4) The new Smurfs are ugly! The original Smurf designs created by Peyo, a Belgian comics artist, 50 some years ago are masterpieces of simple cartoon character artwork. These new 3D Smurfs are, again, kinda gross. They are not cute at all.
Still, as Smurfs are deeply ingrained in my being - I'm looking forward to seeing this movie and judge first hand what they've done with the property. My 7 year old has already suggested that after we see the new movie we come home and watch the older animated film The Smurfs and the Magic Flute to see how a real Smurf movie is made. That's a Smurfy idea!
Here's my beefs:
1) Sending the smurfs to modern day New York City isn't a totally terrible idea (it certainly isn't an original idea) but that's a plot that should be saved for a #3 sequel. You don't jump right out of the gate with the old "sent to the real world" plot. They did it with Fat Albert, Bulwinkle and at least a few others and it just doesn't work. Star Trek did it well, but they waited until their 4th film before they sent the crew to modern day San Francisco. The Smurfs in New York is just not a terribly great way to start off a potential movie franchise.
2) Was there really not enough Smurfs to pick from that the new filmmakers had to create a new Smurf? You may have noticed in the trailer a Smurf wearing a kilt and sporting a Scottish accent. That would be the new Gutsy Smurf. Sure. That's necessary.
3) Don't sexualize Smurfette. I know everyone has always made jokes about one Smurf girl and 98 male Smurfs, but seeing Smurfette's dress blow up like and the other Smurfs ogling her is just kinda gross.
4) The new Smurfs are ugly! The original Smurf designs created by Peyo, a Belgian comics artist, 50 some years ago are masterpieces of simple cartoon character artwork. These new 3D Smurfs are, again, kinda gross. They are not cute at all.
Still, as Smurfs are deeply ingrained in my being - I'm looking forward to seeing this movie and judge first hand what they've done with the property. My 7 year old has already suggested that after we see the new movie we come home and watch the older animated film The Smurfs and the Magic Flute to see how a real Smurf movie is made. That's a Smurfy idea!
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog Preview
Here's a clip from the new animated adaptation of
The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog by Mo Willems.
The cartoon is a short that is initially made available for classroom use only and will eventually find it's way to the retail market. The first book in the series, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus, also has a cartoon to go along with it and it was released on DVD (although I've never seen it in a store!) My kids have it and they love it. It's available on DVD.
The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog by Mo Willems.
The cartoon is a short that is initially made available for classroom use only and will eventually find it's way to the retail market. The first book in the series, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus, also has a cartoon to go along with it and it was released on DVD (although I've never seen it in a store!) My kids have it and they love it. It's available on DVD.
Labels:
animation,
The Pigeon Wants a Blog Post
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Classic Commercial Sunday - #56 When Ice Cream Was Breakfast
Saturday, March 12, 2011
My Week In Movies - March Comes In Like A Lizard
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You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (2010) Woody Allen's latest film takes all the familiar characters, situations and film making techniques of all his other movies and gently mixes them up for a light but pleasant look at finding true love and dealing with relationships that have run their course. Woody's newest cliche' that he seems to be employing alot recently is a narrator who keeps the film popping along at a nice pace. Woody's not on screen in this one, but Anthony Hopkins does a nice job playing the "Woody" role. I'm not good enough a writer to try and sum up the events in this film. Rated R for language.
Labels:
animation,
My Week In Movies,
T and A,
Woody Allen
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Hey Kids Look! A Charlie Sheen Post
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Sunday, March 06, 2011
Classic Commercial Sunday - #55 Ernest Film Festival
Labels:
Classic Commercial Sunday,
Ernest
Thursday, March 03, 2011
My Week In Movies - Roly Poly Fish Heads
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Lady and the Tramp (1955) There's not much to say about this Disney classic except that it's easily in the top ten of Disney's greatest animated achievements. My kids love dogs and dog movies so it really was a crime that they hadn't seen this one yet. They loved it! It's rated G, although there is some discussion of canine promiscuity.
February Movie Count: 14
Best New Viewing: Splendor in the Grass
Best Rewatch: Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
Worst Movie: The Filthiest Show in Town
2011 Movie Count: 34
Labels:
animation,
Disney,
Ernest,
My Week In Movies
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