My Week In Movies - July; Week 3

The Great Outdoors (1988) Do yourself a favor and go back and watch an old John Candy movie that you haven't seen in a while. Man, he was a great talent who is missed. We really don't have anyone like him anymore. I hadn't seen this summer vacation picture since it came out and don't remember it too fondly but rewatching it now I enjoyed the heck out of it. John Candy and Dan Aykroid take their families on vacation in a cabin in the woods. It's all the standard B-grade storylines running, but it's just innocent, silly fun that all works together.

Mannequin (1987) I hadn't seen this one in a long time either. What a great cast, in addition to the two stars Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall there's also Meshac Taylor, G.W. Bailey, James Spader and the always great Estelle Getty. This is another round of silly 80's fun with a department story mannequin coming to life in the form of Cattrall and romancing store employee McCarthy. As with every 80's comedy, there is an extending music video scene where she tries on different outfits. That scene is always a winner.

Rascal (1969) My kids are on a big kick about raccoons right now, so we watched this vintage Disney comedy about a young boy who adopts a raccoon as a pet even though the whole town tells him a varmint can't make a good pet. Not much time is spent on the relationship between the boy and his new pet, instead there is a storyline involving the town pastor and teacher getting involved with the boy's upbringing and a totally odd and tacked on side story about a car race. Not a very engaging film even for a die hard Disney fan like myself. (The kids fell asleep within the first 30 minutes.)

Stop! Look! And Laugh (1960) I love movies that serve as odd time capsules. At one time, ventriloquist Paul Winchell hosted a Saturday morning kid's show featuring Three Stooges shorts. So, somebody decided to make a movie version of the show. Paul lives at home with a couple of his dummies and he tells them various stories which end up just dissolving into a greatest hits collection of Three Stooges shorts. It's very strange, but both the vintage shorts and the new material work...and work well. My kids were howling at the puppet bits and enjoyed the Three Stooges shorts as well.

Madea's Big Happy Family (2011) This was my first venture into the world of Tyler Perry and Madea. If you're not familiar with Madea, she's a large elderly black woman played by a large younger black man in minimal drag. She's stared in a dozen or so plays and a more recently a handful of movies. I'm always intrigued by characters moving from film to film (a la' Ernest) so I gave this Madea entry a try on Netflix Instant. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the film. The writing isn't that great, and alot of the characters are more style than substance...but overall, the film doesn't shoot too high and it works at it's own level. A woman discovers she has only a few weeks to live and she wants to gather her family together to tell them all at once. Everybody in the family has their own dysfunctional story and every attempt at a get together falls apart before the news is sprung. So, the woman asks Madea to gather everyone up for her. I like a good simple story with some heart and big laughs, Madea's Big Happy Family provided in all departments.

Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) I wasn't really sure what was going on in this charming western comedy, but everybody on screen looked like they were having so much fun that it was hard not to enjoy myself too. James Garner arrives in town and gets mixed up in a plot to...well, I honestly really don't know. But it's fun. The great Jack Elm (who is in my all-time favorite The Cannonball Run) is awesome in this movie, as well as Suzanne Pleshette and Harry Morgan. This movie also features the most well lighted town in the wild west.

Man of the House (2005) Big studio comedies don't get much worse than this horrible attempt at laughter with Tommy Lee Jones playing his Tommy Lee Jones character assigned to protect a cheerleading squad who have witnessed a murder. Any film that explores the wonderful world of cheerleading and can't come up entertaining is a very sad story indeed. I think I laughed once during the painful 100 minutes of film I subjected myself to. Bad.

My Week In Movies - July; Week 2

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) So many questions with the newest Spider-Man movie. Why did we need to sit through his origin story...again? Why does it take Spider-Man almost an hour to show up to his own movie? Why does the bad guy always have to have a backstory, can't he just be evil? Why does the villain's story always have to be something personal with Spider-Man? Why can't they just make a movie where some robots rob a bank and Spider-Man swings in, battles them, and saves the day? And why, oh why did Spider-Man...NOT ONCE...sling web out of the 3D movie screen and into my face!?! All that being said, I enjoyed the new movie.

21 Jump Street (2011) A silly movie (staring Tatum Channing or Channing Tatum, whichever it is) based on a 20 year old FOX show should not be good. Yet alone, how does it be great. 21 Jump Street is a fantastic movie. Very, Very funny. It pokes fun at itself while still being genuinely funny on it's own. It plays around with the aspect that it's based on an existing property and most importantly it never once lets the story of the film stand in the way of the humor. I hate when a silly comedy gets too bogged down with it's own plot. This movie is perfect. As an added bonus, there's a really great cast including a few people from The Office, Parks & Recreation and New Girl. Plus there's Brie Larson who I thought was kind of cute in Hoot, and she's very pretty here too.

The Cannonball Run (1980) Simply put - my favorite movie of all time. It still makes me laugh from beginning to end. The kids were interested in seeing it since they've heard me talk about it and quote it so often. The youngest fell asleep quickly and my older one found it pretty boring. Perhaps I sprung it on them a little too early. Although I guess I was Elias' age when I first started watching it religiously on HBO. Of course back then, we didn't have 14 new animated films a year competing for our attention. We made do with what we had.

Starcrash (1978) I hate that whole "so bad it's funny" thing. This Italian knock off of Star Wars is not all that funny, but it's so bad and silly that it is very enjoyable. I have no idea what it was about, but there is some girl in a leather bikini fighting bad guys with a robot named Elle The Police Robot. Elle speaks with a slight southern accent and is full of witty C3-PO-esque things to say. Oh, and near the end David Hasselhoff shows up to help Bikini Girl battle some space cavemen. Good times!

Dennis The Menace (1993) I remember this being kind of funny. I think I watched it when I worked at a video store once. My kids love the old black and white TV show so I thought they'd get a kick out of this updated (read: Color) version. They enjoyed it ok but I have to say it is god-awful. The movie is 95% soundtrack. Things aren't funny...but the soundtrack sure works hard into making you think you just saw something funny. Also, Dennis the Menace was never mean spirited, he wasn't out to make people's lives a living hell. In this movie, Dennis is a pretty naughty boy. Also, kids movies shouldn't have so many sex jokes in them! Do I sound old?

My Week in Movies - July; Week 1

As if you cared...My Week In Movies returns in all it's full glory! The main reason I started this feature was to write about movies, and lately I've just been listing what I've seen instead of doing any writing with them, so I thought it was time to get back to basics.

Wild Things 3: Diamonds in the Rough (2005) There's really no good reason why I watched this movie except that I just seem to love crappy made-for-DVD sequels to real films. I enjoyed the original Wild Things and thought I'd give this goofy follow up a try. It is actually pretty good, about a gal who frames her stepfather for rape in the hopes of swindling some money out of him. Her scheme involves several people and as in the original flick, everybody is backstabbing everyone else and the twists and turns are fast and frequent. Any movie with stolen diamonds as a central plot device can't be that bad. The production values are top rate for a direct-to-video cheapie and the cast is all having fun.  From reading up on the other two films in the series, apparently lesbianism is also a theme that runs through the four Wild Things films, and chapter 3 also has no shortage of that. So, you got that going for ya!

Good Eats!

Jaws: The Revenge (1987) You've probably heard how bad this third sequel is. And whatever you've heard is right. This is a bad movie! It's not scary or intense in the least bit. It involves the mom from the first two films traveling from New England to the Bahamas where the shark (Jaws or Bruce, which ever you choose to call him!) has followed her! Jaws somehow knew that Mrs. Brody was booking a flight to the Bahamas and then followed her from the water as she flew 80,000 ft. above it. With a ridiculous set up like that, and then nothing scary to follow...this really is a horrible movie. (It's probably about the 5th or 6th time I've seen it.)

June Movie Round-Up

As the summer sets in, it's harder for me to get a chance to watch a movie without it being family friendly/kid approved. I was a bit disappointed with my beloved Pixar's latest offering Brave. I found it to be derivative of several Disney films before it and it just didn't have that magic that is usually associated with Disney or Pixar. However, I was totally blown away by The Secret World of Arrietty from Japan's Studio Ghibli. I'm not usually a fan of Japaneese animation but this reworking of the story The Borrowers was totally captivating and quite and slow paced (something NO American piece of animation is allowed to do anymore!) I read a book on the Greatest Cowboy Movies of all time which lead me to watch Shane, a really good western that ranked very high in the book. Vibes is an old Jeff Goldblum/Cyndi Lauper vehicle that I used to adore as a kid. I hadn't seen it in a long while...it wasn't quite as great as I remembered it but it was still a pretty solid flick. I'd had the preteen mermaid movie Aquamarine on my back burner for years. Finally saw it and it wasn't half as bad as I imagined it would be. The new Blue Lagoon: The Awakening has nothing at all to do with the first two films in the series except an island and sex. The newer live action Charlotte's Web isn't near as faithful to the book as the older animated film. Once again, here's a list of my June movies from best to worst:

Tangled (2010)
Stitch! The Movie (2003)
The Secret World of Arrietty (2012)
Robin Hood (1973)
Shane (1953)
Ace Ventura When Nature Calls (1995)
Vibes (1988)
Brave (2012)
Aquamarine (2006)
Men In Black (1997)
Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)
Ringmaster (1998)
Just One of the Guys (1985)
Malibu Beach (1978)
Charlotte's Web (2006)
3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)


June Movie Count: 16
2012 Movie Count: 116

10 Great Summer Movies

Every year I intend to do a list of my favorite Summertime Movies, and every year I don't do it. So here it finally is...10 movies that are all great at capturing the spirit, fun and warmth of the Summer!

Blue Crush (2002) Surfing is one of the few sports I can really sit and watch it. It amazes me. I've always loved a good surfing movie too. According to Sports Illustrated, wearing a bikini is also a sport. If that is the case, that too is another sport that I could sit and watch. It too amazes me. So when they put surfing together with bikini clad gals, I was all in. Blue Crush is the story of a group of girls who take their surfing very seriously. Awesome surfing footage is mixed in with a couple of auto-pilot story lines involving crappy jobs and a strained relationship between two sisters, but it's all so fun. If you can't make it to the beach, Blue Crush defiantly brings the beach to you.

Ernest Goes To Camp (1987) Folks, with Ernest P. Worrel on the scene, you just can't go wrong. Ernest takes charge of a group of juvenile delinquents at Kamp Kikakee and teaches them a thing or two about the great outdoors. And in the process, he teaches us all a little something about ourselves. If you like parachuting turtles then this movie is for you. If you don't like parachuting turtles, they why are you even reading this blog?

Hoot (2006) I guess, technically, this isn't a Summer movie, since it takes place somewhere in the school year - but they are in Florida and it's hot and sticky and that comes across loud and clear in this family film about a trio of kids who stop the construction of a new pancake house to save an endangered species of owl. A few weeks ago when we were at the National Zoo, we saw the Burrowing Owls featured in the movie and my kids and I all simultaneously exclaimed, "Those are the owls from Hoot!" A proud fathering moment.

Jaws 3 (1983) Obviously, the original Jaws is a classic. But for my money Jaws 3 is where it's at. High on my list of summertime activities is Amusement Parks and Jaws 3 has plenty of great footage of Sea World Orlando circa 1983. True, this third instalment in the franchise has nothing at all to do with the other three flicks, but it sure is a good time. Bess Armstrong, Dennis Quaid, Lou Gosset Jr., and Lea Thompson try to save the guests at Sea World from another killer shark. It's even all the more fun when you realize it was originally released in 3D and several shots in the film serve no purpose other than to stick things into theatre goers faces. It doesn't work on TV, but if they ever put out a 3D Blue Ray of this movie, I'm upgrading my entire home theater system - TV and all!

Kidco (1984) Kidco is about a group of kids who spend their summer working. Not exactly the kind of thing a good summer movie is made of, but these kids work together to make a little more money then a paper route or lemonade stand would allow. This was required summer viewing every summer when I was a kid. It was a time when kids movies were loaded with cursing. From Kidco I took away the phrase "crock of shit" which I still lovingly use to this day.  The film hasn't had a release in years, never popping up on DVD and the VHS copies that are out there are hard to come by. It pops up on the movie channels every now and then and is definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

Meatballs Part II (1984) By the time I had seen the original Meatballs (just a few years ago) I had already seen so many rip-off's that the original now seemed stale. Part II of the Meatballs saga is the version that I grew up with and I LOVE this movie. I would have to crown it as THE BEST SUMMER MOVIE OF THEM ALL! Wacky hi jinks at Camp Sasquatch include the discovery of an alien ( as seen above.) The fantastic cast includes Richard Mulligan, John Larroquette and Paul Reubens. Meatballs Part II really makes me nostalgic for summer camp...which is odd because I never went to summer camp.

One Crazy Summer (1986) This is director Savage Steve Holland's lesser known, and lesser loved follow up to the cult classic Better Off Dead. Although it's not a direct sequel, it has the same tone and sense of humor as John Cusack, Demi Moore and group of other semi-recognizable faces descend on a Nantucket, Mass. for the summer. The flick perfectly captures the feeling of having the whole summer in front of you as an empty slate for all sorts of adventures.

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) The Peanuts Gang's third big screen outing finds them spending the summer at Camp Remote, which like the rest of the Peanuts universe has very little adult supervision. As such, some bullys push Charlie Brown and his friends around until they all have a showdown with a raft race on the open river. This flick was broadcast, without fail, every summer of my childhood. Sometimes more than once in a single summer. I never missed it and to me it's as much of a summer tradition as the beach and cook-outs. However, one thing has bothered me since I first saw this movie at 6 years old....why does it snow while they are away at SUMMER camp?

Summer Rental (1985) John Candy and his family rent a run down beach house for the Summer in this light and breezy comedy that is perfect for popping in the DVD player on a rainy night during your stay at the beach. This was one of John Candy's first independent staring vehicles and it's a perfect spotlight of his gentle humor and warm personality. Like most good summer movies, it ends with a race on water based vehicles.

Summer School (1987) For those of us that may have spent more than one summer sitting back in school, this is a film near and dear to our hearts. Even if you were some sort of smarty pants and managed to pass your classes each year this is a really funny movie with slacker Mark Harmon taking charge of a group of other slackers sentenced to Summer School. It's hard to believe there was a time when Mark Harmon could headline a movie, but it's captured on film for historians to note.

May Movie Round-Up

What am I, everybody else? I loved The Avengers!

Continuing to let my DVR fill up with shows, in May I watched a whole bunch more movies. Here, again, is a list from best to worst. The Avengers was really, really good...I'm not a huge super hero fan but I enjoyed the heck out of that movie. We Bought A Zoo made me want to buy a zoo. Usually I move films from my list of movies I love to list of movies I don't love anymore. Get Over It, a feather weight high school comedy with Kirsten Dunst, was way better that I remember when I saw it in the theatre 10 years ago. The bottom four movies on this list were the pits including the mind numbing dumbness of One For The Money and the pale, slow Blue Crush rip-off Beautiful Wave.

The Avengers (2012)
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
We Bought A Zoo (2011)
Get Over It (2001)
Growing Up Brady (2000)
Lilo & Stitch 2 (2005)
Midnight Madness (1980)
Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)
King Ralph (1991)
Charlotte's Web (1972)
How To Frame A Fig (1971)
Blondie Meets The Boss (1939)
Crash Course (1987)
New Year's Eve (2011)
Pure Luck (1991)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)
She's Out of Control (1989)
One For The Money (2012)
Beautiful Wave (2011)

May Movie Count: 19
2012 Movie Count: 100

April Movie Round-Up

Really liked this movie!

I didn't watch too much TV this month, I was really in a movie mood. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Oscar nominated The Descendants. After watching it, I thought maybe I should add some more drama to my diet and followed it up with Martha Marcy May Marlene and Sleeping Beauty. Both of these new dramas felt fairly pointless and had unsatisfying endings. My only trip to the cinema was to see The Three Stooges, which was pretty darn funny and I was really glad they kept it clean. Shockingly not horrible: Alvin and the Chipmunks Part 720 and Tooth Fairy 2 staring Larry The Cable Guy.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
The Descendants (2011)
Hexed (1993)
The Three Stooges (2012)
The People Vs. George Lucas (2010)
Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)
Camp Cucamonga (1990)
Popatopolis (2009)
My Father The Hero (1994)
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Blondie! (1938)
Rock n' Roll High School (1979)
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)
Tooth Fairy 2 (2012)
Van Nyus Blvd. (1979)
The Sitter (2011)
High School USA (1983)
Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Dirt (1979)
Sleeping Beauty (2011)

April Movie Count: 22
2012 Movie Count: 81 (up 11 from 2011)

Happy Land of Hanna-Barbara Canada

Here's a great areal shot of the Hanna-Barbera section of Canada's Wonderland (sister park of King's Dominion)...

From Wikipedia: Hanna-Barbera Land opened in 1981 with three sections. The first section was Yogi's Woods, based on The Yogi Bear Show, which featured the attractions Balloon Race, Yogi's Cave, Boo Boos Buggys, and the Woodland Theatre (now the Playhouse Theatre). Scoobyville was the central town site, where a carousel and other attractions were included. On the opposite end of Scoobyville from Yogi's Wood was Bedrock, based on The Flintstones. Saltwater Circus was also in the section. In 1984, Smurf Village replaced Yogi's Woods; the section featured the newly popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Smurfs. A walk-through attraction, Smurf Village closed at the end of the 1992 season. For the 1993 season, the Smurf Village section of the park became Kids Kingdom. In 1998, KidZVille replaced the Kids Kingdom and its two rides, the "Kid's Castle Playland" and the "Jumbo Bumps" were renamed to "The Candy Factory" and the "Twizzler Twist" (and renamed again the next year to "Sour Cherry Blaster Twist"). Along with five new rides for KidZVille, "The Busy Little Town" was launched, and it included the characters from Nickelodeon's Rugrats series.[3] The Playhouse Theatre still had a Hanna-Barbera themed show, Scooby Doo's Scary School Daze.[3] On slower days, the Scooby-Doo walkaround character may venture through this section of the park. The Bedrock section of the park met its end soon after, being replaced by Nickelodeon Central in 2003. Only the bumper cars were kept, turned into the Rugrats Toonpike. The restaurant was de-themed, and turned into a Pizza Pizza. In 2010 Hanna-Barbera Land was replaced with Planet Snoopy.

  I had the fortune to visit the park in it's heyday back in 1986. I mostly remember the Smurf Village walk through attraction, which replaced Yogi's Cave and a live Smurf show that we saw.

Dutch Wonderland Castle Construction

There's plenty of activity inside Brooke's Castle before the park opens next weekend. On a recent visit to the Season Pass Office, we snapped a few pictures of some of the progress just beyond the castle drawbridge...

There will be a whole new view when guests enter the castle this year. On the right hand side of the picture, covered by the tarp, is the gift shop. Just beyond the retail area is a new room. On the other side, what once housed more retail space is now taking shape to become Merlin's - Dutch Wonderland's first full service restaurant.

You can see at the far end of the hallway, a new yellow room is making it's debut where just a wall stood before...

...Not sure exactly what this room will be yet. It looks like cubby holes, which is a doubtful addition. Perhaps these are display units for merchandise?


On the other side of the hallway, construction is still moving forward on Merlin's. The restaurant is scheduled to open at the beginning of the Summer and it looks like they've still got quite a way to go. The new restaurant will give guests the opportunity to dine inside the castle in what promises to be a themed dining experience.
It certainly looks like there will be plenty of new surprises just inside the castle alone when the park opens for the 2012 season. It make you wonder what other surprises Duke has planned inside the park...

Trailer Tuesday - Ted (2012)

I'm not sure how this is a Green Band trailer...

Classic Commercial Sunday - On My Way

My Month In Movies - March Wrap Up

Just didn't feel like writting that much this past month, so I took a break from the weekly movie updates. Here's a list of what I saw in March from best to worst...

Ernest Goes To Jail (1990)
The Muppets (2011)
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004)
Young Adult (2011)
Miss March (2009)
The Big Year (2011)
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (2003)
Valley Girl (1983)
Ernest Goes To Africa (1997)
Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007)
Walt & El Grupo (2008)
The Lorax (2012)
Koko: A Talking Gorilla (1978)
Jack and Jill (2011)

March Movie Count: 14
2012 Movie Count: 59 (up 2 from 2011)

Classic Commercial Sunday - #85

Think about the fact that in 1988 everything wasn't generated on a computer. Which means every creepy thing you see in this commercial was built and constructed on a soundstage somewhere...

My Week In Movies - February Wrap Up

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012) There's a fine line between making a totally stupid movie and a stupid movie that knows what it's doing. I'm happy to say that this is one of the good ones.

The Prize Fighter (1979) Tim Conway (easily still one of my favorite actors) and Don Knotts appeared in 6 films together. This depression area boxing comedy was the only one of the six I hadn't seen. Overall, not a great film but Mr. Conway can do no wrong.

Brain Donors (1992) I've always loved this remake of The Marx Brothers' A Night At the Opera. I'm really surprised this hasn't become more of a cult classic over the years, but if you like funny, funny movies - find a copy of this great movie and watch it.

Puss In Boots (2011) Very slightly better than average outing for the Dreamworks crew. Shrek's buddy Puss gets his own backstory which is actually well told with some exciting action sequences and plenty of gentle humor spread throughout.

Night Patrol (1984) This is one of the major Police Academy rip-offs that I had not seen. I actually remember my dad telling me about it when he saw it late at night on HBO when I was a kid. There's some solid humor tucked in this movie, but instead of a Police Academy clone, at it's heart the film is really a staring vehicle for The Unknown Comic - a guy who told joke wearing a brown paper bag over his head. He was a real celebrity back in the early 80's...and somebody thought they should capture it all on film. Doesn't mean I had to watch it some 25 years later!?

February Movie Count: 23

Best New Movie: Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Best Rewatch: Brain Donors

Worst Movie: Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star

2012 Movie Count: 45

My Week In Movies - Snap Snap

Saturday The 14th (1981) This is one of those movies that I have fond memories of watching a zillion times on HBO when I was a kid. I haven't seen this one in a real long time, it seems to have fallen quite our of circulation. There was an old VHS release and it still hasn't seen the light of day in the digital age. I was stoked when it popped up on Netflix Instant a few weeks ago. It's not quite the comic gem I recall, but it's not a bad flick about a family moving into an old haunted house and all hell breaks loose before long. The title is probably the only thing that's kept it in the memories of people for so long. The print Netflix is using appears to be from the VHS release, complete with super-outdated looking FBI warning.

Addams Family Values (1993) One of the rare instances where the sequel in WAY better than the original. The second (and final big screen outing) for the Addams' find Fester falling prey to a homicidal seductress. It's fast paced, very funny with really solid one lines and a terrific secondary plot which sends Wednesday and Pugsly off to a summer camp for privileged kids. Good stuff all around.

The Change-Up (2011) This is a neat take on the ol' body-switching movie. Usually, it's parent and kid who switch bodies, but this time they take two best buddies in their 30's. One is married with a high pressure job, wife and kids and the other is a dope smoking, goof off ladies man. The results are pretty darn funny, however at over 100 minutes the film looses a little steam in it's final act. Still, a solid R-rated laugh if you're in the mood for one.

My Week In Movies - Was Phantom Menace The Best Title They Could Come Up With?

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D (1999/2012) I don't care what people say, I've always found this to be an enjoyable film. The secret to having a good time watching this flick is to not pay any attention to the plot. The stupid plot involving the Trade Federation and negotiations and all that blibber blabber is all just a meaningless framework for the real story of the film, and that's the discovery and early years of the boy who would become Darth Vader. And for everyone who complains that Jar-Jar Binks is too silly to be in a Star Wars movie let me remind you that the series also features funny robots, a Muppet, a village of teddy bears and that blue guy that plays keyboards in Return of the Jedi (Yes, I mean Max Rebo. He's awesome!) The 3D effects added for this release make the picture look beautiful but sadly not a single thing pops out of the screen. I think I speak for everyone when I say I wouldn't mind a lightsaber singeing my eyebrows. The bottom line for parents is that it's awesome to be able to let our kids experience all these films on the big screen...the way Qui-Gon Jinn would have wanted it.

Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star (2011) You can't possibly imagine a worse film released by a major movie studio. You can't make a movie with the premise that a guy with "little talent" wants to be a porn star and then have the silly proceedings be so plot driven. Nobody cares about character AND the most screen time semen has ever had in a movie. You gotta pick one or the other.

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011) Now, this also sounds like it would be a horrific mess of modern film making but it's actually a very well done story about friendship and the transition from your carefree 20's into the more responsible 30's and 40's. A group of friends spend their last summer at their beach house by throwing the ultimate party. The theme for the final party will be an orgy. While the flick does contain graphic nudity and relations, this is not a silly sex comedy or skin flick - it's a pretty darn funny movie with a great ensamble cast including SNL's Jason Sudekis.

Dance Flick (2009) I first saw this slightly better than average parody film in June 2009.

Eight On The Lam (1967) I discovered this older comedy on Netflix. Bob Hope plays a cash strapped father of seven who finds $10,000 in cash. He then gets framed for embezzlement at his job. Since he's been living the good life when his new found money, he assumes that no one will believe him that he didn't steal the money. So he packs up the seven kids and hits the road to hide out and clear his name. Phyllis Diller plays the kid's nanny who stays behind and tries to throw off the cops investigation. Oh, her boyfriend is a cop - and he's played by Jonathan Winters. I loves me some Jonathan Winters. Score! Good stuff.

The Spy Next Door (2010) This kiddie action movie is the cinematic equivalent of making a pitcher of Kool-Aid with an improper sugar to water ration. You can tell this movie could taste good, if they let Jackie Chan do his thing but they've stirred in to many stunt doubles and overdosed on cliche kiddie storylines. Spy Next Door? More like Spy Next Bore! Am I right people?

Street Fighter (1994) Last week, Licence To Drive made the leap from Movies I Love to Movies I Don't Love. This week, Street Fighter got reclassified from Movies I Love to "What???" I saw this video game based movie when it hit theatres for two reasons; 1) It featured international pop sensation Kylie Minogue and 2) it was written and directed by one of the 34 writers of The Flintstones movie. I remember really liking this movie, to the point where I bought the laser disc when it came out and I picked up a copy on DVD at a yard sale last year. The kids wanted to watch it the other night because they are on a video game movie kick and...WOW! What a jumbled mess of a movie. I'm not sure what I ever saw in this film (besides Kylie Minogue) but I can't imagine ever watching it again. Horrible.

My Week In Movies - Oh, Anna Faris

What's Your Number? (2011) Anna Faris takes center stage in this romantic comedy about a young lady attempting to revisit all of her 20 past sexual partners in the hopes of finding Mr. Right among them. What has to be one of the stupidest set-ups for a movie ever, just rolls completely out of control downhill the further the movie goes on. As always in a romcom, it's pretty darn obvious who's going to end up together fairly early on in the film...especially when the first two names in the credits are a male and a female. This lame brain flick attempts to trick us the whole way along about who's Faris is going to end up with. By the time she meets up with ex-sex partner #5, this movie is cruising on cruise control like I've seen no other romantic comedy before it. It's downright painful to watch the predictable plot points come one after the other. Anna Faris is funny, very funny. But as I've said before, when you let a lame plot take over the movie - it's not usually good news.

The Stupids (1996) I was excited to see this Tom Arnold vehicle appear on Netflix Instant. This was just about the end of Arnold's brief "name above the credits" phase of his career. I saw this in the theatre way back and enjoyed it, and I had a feeling my kids would get a kick out of it. They did. As you can guess, any movie where humans have cartoon pets is a-ok in my book. The story involves The Stupids, who are very stupid, thinking they are wrapped up in some plot to overtake the world. They aren't but in the process end up actually foiling a plan to take over the world. Bob Keeshan, who played Captain Kangaroo on TV, appears in his only film credit as does legendary director Robert Wise. It's neat to see both of them having fun in a picture and it's fun to watch this good natured silly movie with your kids.

License To Drive (1988) Another recent addition to Netflix Instant is this teen semi-classic from the 80's. I used to love this movie, and recall watching it several times in my youth. I'm afraid it's one I'm not going to have to take off my list of fondly remembered movies. It was pretty stale and boring this revisit. The whole "sneak out of the house for ultimate date and everything in the world goes wrong" plot has been done so many times, this one just doesn't have enough steam to keep my interested. There are some decent performances by the Corey's (I can't believe I just said that) and a very young and beautiful Heather Graham but otherwise, pretty lame.

The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012 - Animation (2012) I wrote about this collection now showing in theatres the other day. The package we saw featured 8 shorts, 4 of this year's nominated animated shorts and 4 other critically acclaimed shorts from years past. The best one of this year's nominees is probably "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." which packs the look and feel of a feature length film into about 15 minutes. My favorite, though, had to be "A Morning Stroll" which not only utilizes several different styles of animation, it also made a statement about the attention span of people today. The one short nominated for the Oscar this year that is not included is "La Luna" supposedly a masterpiece from Pixar. I'm not sure why it was not on the bill where I saw the show, as reviews for this package universally include it. I couldn't help feel a little let down that I didn't get to see this new Pixar short, but over all the 8 cartoons are a fun night at the movies.

Heavy Petting (1989) Not as lewd as it sounds, this is a brief 75 minutes of clips from old sex education films interspersed with interviews from various famous and not so famous people about the sexual morals and expectations of the 1950's. I'm always down for a good retro trip down Memory Lane (even if they're not my memories) and this is a fun, breezy documentary that is always fun around Valentine's Day.

Trailer Tuesday - Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984)

Skylight by David Bass

This is a great little animated short that I caught the other night along with the Oscar Nominated shorts, If you've got 4 1/2 minutes take a look. It's very funny.

2012 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation: A Quick Parent's Guide

Just wanted to do a quick post regarding the package of animated shorts that is playing in theaters this week. For years I've wanted to see the annual collection of Oscar worthy toons and take my kids to expose them to different styles of animation. And year after year, I can never find any information regarding the content of the short films. Just because they are cartoons doesn't mean they aren't chock full of sex, violence and profanity. I've stayed away from the toon feat in the past but this year I made a somewhat more aggressive attempt to find out if the Oscar package was child friendly.

The studio was nice enough to quickly answer my query on Facebook and said it was "family friendly and full of laughs". So I took the kids last night and found the proceedings to be the equivalent of a PG rating.

There's actually very little dialogue in the 8 shorts featured and besides one use of "hell" there is no objectionable language. What you will find is an old man flipping the middle finger, another guy mooning the old man - pressing his butt cheeks up against a car window, and a cute fish getting his head chopped off. There is a startling scene where a zombie jumps out at the camera and a brief chase leads to a small bloodbath. My 6 year old was very off put by the zombie and spent the rest of the night worrying that there would be more scary parts.

But in the end, the kids and I greatly enjoyed the eight films. Only one of them is very dry and drags on a bit. The rest are a mix of charming, funny and thought provoking.