"A Christmas Carol" Parody #3: The Flintstones

A Flintstones Christmas Carol isn’t a direct parody of the classic story, but the story is told.  The Flintstones characters partake in the Bedrock community theater’s production of the story, and during the performance Fred (who is the star, Ebenezer Scrooge) learns his lesson about being selfish, egocentric, and stingy in real life.  It’s a pretty simple premise and a pretty simple movie.  Had the whole Bedrock gang in it being their usual enjoyable selves and getting to act the roles you would expect (Barney is Bob Crachit, Bamm-Bamm is Tiny Tim, Wilma ended up being the Ghost of Christmas Past, Belle, and a charity worker).  It’s pretty much an extended The Flintstones episode, except the animation looks much better since the movie was created in the 90’s instead of the 60’s.  Actually, they did a very good job at fitting in a lot of the story into a seventy minute movie; far better than some.  I consider this a must have movie for any family or Flintstones fan!

For more info on this movie, click on the link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0193164/

Disney's Babes in Toyland

Babes in Toyland was Disney’s first live-action musical movie, almost acting like a pre-courser to Mary Poppins.  Unlike Mary Poppins, Babes was a box office failure, and it’s understandable.  For Disney, it was a slightly poor production with a lot of camp but little “magic”.  At the same time, it’s colorful and entertaining; plenty of energy throughout the whole movie.  The songs aren’t so bad, except the ones shared between Mary & Jack (Annette Funicello & Tommy Sands) are rather boring.  When I think about it, Annette’s acting was also a little weak.  But then again her character Mary was pretty lame.  She was all “boo-hoo” and “oh no”, fussy-wussy.  She did have amazing dresses, nice tight bodices and big fluffy skirts in vivid pastels.  My favorite characters were the villains: Mr. Barnaby and his two henchmen, Gonzorgo and Roderigo.  All three are hilarious; Barnaby perfectly oily and slick and Gozorgo and Roderigo are entirely amiable.  Ed Wynn as The Toymaker is quite a delight!  His eccentric way of speaking and infectious laughter is always most entertaining.  Forever he’ll be the Mad Hatter!  The actual battle of the toy soldiers against Barnaby was rather lame, almost a joke.  You watch and think “Barnaby is literally laughing at them in their attempts.  He’s totally gonna kick their ass!” And Mary, though being a giant at the time, was completely useless in helping Jack and the soldiers in any way!  Stupid girl.  The movie ends with me feeling really displeased as well; there’s too many loose ends.  Doesn’t make clear of what happened to Barnaby after the battle.  Did the Toymakers factory get fixed, and how about all the destroyed Christmas toys?  Why was Jack and Mary’s wedding going to be a warm and sunny day, and then at the end it was a winter wonderland?  Did they randomly decide to wait months later to do it?  The children never found the lost sheep.  It being there only source of income, what then?  I’m very displeased.  Unless you don’t realize all these things until the movie is over, so up to then it’s easier to enjoy.

For info on this movie, click on the following link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054649/

"Hark, the Peanuts Children Sing..."

There isn’t a Christmas for me without there being Charlie Brown.  Even though nowadays tv stations don’t do a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas more than once (if at all), it was guaranteed to be on plenty of times a decade or so ago.  Once again that may lead to the fact of Schulz’s heavy Christian influence in his cartoons.  A Charlie Brown Christmas is special for this reason.  Besides that it’s the whole endearing gang celebrating the most popular holiday of the year, it goes far enough to make the point that Christmas exists because of religion and that the birth of Jesus Christ is the “meaning of Christmas”, as Linus points out in his speech, a speech that is entirely the highlight of the special.  Even during the 60’s, such a strong deliberate Christian message was controversial and made CBS executives worry, but Schulz stood firm on the matter and said “If we don’t do it, who will?”  And clearly it didn’t stop the cartoon’s popularity.  To try to completely separate Christianity from what is fundamentally a Christian holiday is absurd, and despite how commercial Christmas becomes, religious aspects can’t be vanquished and tv shows and movies shouldn’t back down to display it.

To backtrack, A Charlie Brown Christmas is also special in that it was the first cartoon special based off of the comic strip, which then led to the multitude of specials created over the following three decades.  Also, it was the first cartoon of its time to have the children characters actually voiced by children, hence why the character’s speeches are so static.  But it gives it a more genuine juvenile feel, and since then it had become a trademark for the Peanuts corporation.  Besides that signature pathetic little Christmas tree, a highlight for me is the credits at the end when the whole gang sings “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” in their high, slightly off pitched voices.  So sing on Peanuts, sing on!

Another special included on the disc is Its Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown.  Created nearly thirty years after A Charlie Brown Christmas, its not nearly as good or well-known as, but it still holds the Peanuts charm.  There isn’t a direct plotline, just multiple excerpts of the gang doing their own preparations for the holiday.  It does lead-up to the school’s holiday pageant, which was a little random, leadless, and Peppermint Patty makes a complete ass out of herself.  Marcie was on the ball though.  To me, this cartoon seemed more like an episode of the Peanuts’ show “Charlie Brown and Snoopy” than an actual special.

Merry Christmas Peanuts!

For more info on these specials, click on the links below:

A Charlie Brown Christmas: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059026/

Its Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104534/

"A Christmas Carol" Parody #2: Bill Murray

Scrooged didn’t leave a great impression on me.  Today was the first and most likely last time watching it.  The plot is pretty typical, just an updated “modern” version of A Christmas Carol taking place in NYC during the 80’s and Scrooge being replaced by a mean career-oriented tv executive.  The twist in the story was creative enough I guess, except there wasn’t a flow to the story.  The scenes were changing left and right and didn’t connect well.  Also in the end I didn’t love any of the characters.  None of them were really likeable.  And I found the humor so over the top that it didn’t translate to funniness but to irritation or confusion.  I’m also picky about Bill Murray; he’s a big hit or miss for me.  Let’s just say I could live with not seeing this movie ever again.

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096061/

A Christmas Story: the movie

Now A Christmas Story is a holiday classic for sure!  I make sure to watch it every Christmas.  After all, TBS does a “24 Hours of A Christmas Story” every year, which is greatly appreciated, and not so surprising in its popularity with many of the most memorable moments in holiday movie history, such as the frozen tongue to the flagpole, the “Oh fudge” mishap, the sexy leg lamp, and the pink bunny pajamas.  That, in through the "older" Ralphie's narrative, the movie really captures the feelings and views of an child during Christmas.  Even not being able to connect to the movie’s time period directly, I still find humor in the characters’ environment though of course I expect people who were around during 40’s and 50’s to have a nostalgic connection.  I realize how foolish I was when I was younger because I always had wondered why the quality of the film was far better than most other older movies until I realized that though the film took place in the 40’s, it was not filmed then.  What a simpleton.  Or we can consider it adorably clueless.

A Christmas Story is a holiday hall-of-famer and I can’t wait for another year to go by so to see it again.

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/

The Nutcracker Prince (it's a cartoon, not the ballet)

The Nutcracker Prince was Warner Bros. take on the famous E.T.A. Hoffmann story “Nutcracker and the King of Mice”, and they actually were the closest to the original story out of any form of production I’ve seen.  Though they opted to name our heroine after the more popular name used for the ballet version (Clara) instead of Marie, they did however include the story of the Hard Nut, Drosselmeier’s relationship with his nephew, the fact there was an older sister Louise, and that they traveled to Toyland instead of a Kingdom of Sweets.  This story really displays the drama behind the character’s motives and personalities than what is shown in the ballet. 

The cartoon doesn’t display the best animation, but it does capture the charm and magic of the story magnificently, and I really enjoy the contrast of the regular animation to that of the goofier and more peculiar animation during Drosselmeier’s story of the Nutcracker.  The voice acting is pretty decent, too!  Kiefer Sutherland left a warm and charming persona of the Nutcracker and Megan Follows gave a fantastic rendition of a maturing but excitable Clara.  Phyllis Diller’s cameo as the Mouse Queen is pretty amazing; that’s a voice that demands attention and respect (and slightly irritating).  Honestly, I found most of the parts involving the Mouse Queen and her son the Mouse King rather frightening. 

I became familiar with this cartoon long before I became a ballet dancer, and because excerpts from “The Nutcracker” ballet were used in the movie that may have affected how I react to different parts of the score now.  Mostly is the music to the pas de deux of the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier which is dramatic enough on its own, but in the movie it was used as Clara’s dance with her beloved Nutcracker in Toyland, which then led into her realizing she wanted to experience adulthood causing all the toys and her Nutcracker to disappear and leaving her to confront the Mouse King for the final (and frightening) time by herself, and then finished in her waking from her sleep and running to Drosselmeier to complete despair only to find his Nephew, who’s also her love Nutcracker, in his store as well.  That was a lot of drama and feelings to go on at once with that music and it may have scarred me emotionally for life, because now when I hear that music in the ballet I still get a sense of dread, depression, but eventually of contentment.

Anyways, good cartoon movie; all kids should watch; make it a tradition.

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100281/

I'm dreaming of a "White Christmas"...

I hadn’t seen White Christmas before until last year, so to me I can’t say it’s a tradition or holiday related.  Technically it has nothing to do about Christmas; the last scene just takes place on Christmas.  Putting that aside, it is a wonderful feel-good movie.  Not the biggest fan of Bing Crosby, but he plays himself pretty well.  And for me in the long run I don’t associate the movie with its songs but more with its dance sequences.  It may be because I’m a dancer myself, but I do consider the dancing far more impressive to dance than the songs were to sing, with the exception of Rosemary Clooney’s song “Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me”.  It’s so moody and alluring, and she looks fantastic in her black dress.  Vera-Ellen’s dancing is marvelous and her body is sick.  Well actually it was; she was battling anorexia.  That explains the protrusion of rib.  But the duet dance number between her and Danny Kaye is the highlight of the movie for me.  That, and you have to love the “Sisters” number; it’s extremely catchy.  Overall, it’s a wonderful movie but I just feel the title should be changed; “White Christmas” is misleading.  Either there should be more Christmas (too late for a redo on this classic movie), or the title should be changed to “War and Business” or “Sisters and Misters” or whatever.  But what would I know?

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047673/

"A Christmas Carol" Parody #1: The Muppets

I think we can all admit that the Muppets have fallen quite far since the death of their creator, Jim Henson.  However, the first few movies produced following closely to his death in the early 90’s were actually very good and created great memories for my generation.  One especially was the Muppets spin on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.  The Muppet Christmas Carol briskly reenacts the story’s events in a light good-humored way.  When I say briskly, I also mean barely.  I guess in an attempt to not lose their young audience’s attention, they eliminated small details of the story to shorten it from a possible two hours to about ninety minutes.  No mention of Ebenezer’s sister Fanny, no scene showing the dilapidated lives of the poor during the “present” Christmas, no human forms of Ignorance and Want, etc.  They also downplayed the drama of some of the most major scenes.  You didn’t really get the feel of sorrow when the neglected Belle breaks her engagement to Scrooge nor do you see true terror when Scrooge confronts his own grave.  They also made Scrooge’s nephew Fred more of a jerk by having him make jest of his uncle at his Christmas party instead of standing up for him.  Michael Caine is a delightful Scrooge, which considering what his character is supposed to be like, may be a bad thing?  I found him convincing.  Gonzo as the narrator (along with his sidekick Rizzo) and Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit were the most entertaining, him with his jovial weirdness and her with her deep/light one-liners.  Most memorable is the opening song “Scrooge”; any young person would recognize it in a second.  I think it’s a favorite because the lyrics themselves are funny, and the song is sung almost by the entire Muppet cast.  If only there was way to enjoy Kermit’s singing.  He always gets the most touching song numbers but his singing isn’t the most soothing.  Good thing he’s loveable.  And mad props to Steve Whitmire who voiced for Kermit, this movie being the first time doing so since Jim Henson’s death, sounding exactly like him and has been doing an excellent job ever since.

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104940/

A holiday ABC Family Channel Original Movie can bring me happiness... really?

Just caught this on tv and I had to say some words on it.  My new holiday movie obsession continuing from last year is Holiday in Handcuffs, an ABC Family Original Movie no less!  Out of all the multiple and terrible movies they produce, this is definitely one of their best.  Yes, it isn’t the best acting.  Yes, the storyline is choppy with quick and unreasonable solutions to the characters’ problems.  Yes, the plot is completely unrealistic.  And yes, it’s pretty damn predictable.  However, It’s definitely a feel-good movie and it actually makes me laugh.  Melissa Joan Hart brings most of the charm to the movie, with her quirky facial expressions and comedic timing.  Never destined to be a star actress, she still brings comfort being on the tv screen.  Having grown up watching “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, she oddly feels like a good friend or maybe even a distant relative.  She makes me feel good and I like that.  June Lockhart is humorous as the grandma, and Mario Lopez is… well, Mario is… he’s still himself.  Not much has changed since “Save By the Bell” besides bigger muscles; he even still has the same voice.  It’s fun to count how many times his voice hits that puberty-induced adolescent high pitch sound when he talks.  I have to admit though, I totally wouldn’t mind being handcuffed for the holidays if it was with him, especially if he’s shirtless.  Or naked.  Completely horny, too.  Mmmmmmmmmmmm.  Kidding, but not really.  Side note, they did manage to get him a shirtless scene in the movie.  Now only if that was surprising. 

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938666/

Tim Allen is St. Nick

The Santa Clause is a must watch every holiday season for me.  Besides the Home Alone movies, it’s the oldest modern-day Christmas movie I remember always watching.  Being also a fan of Home Improvements, I’m fond of Tim Allen’s dry but emphasized sense of humor.  Oddly enough now that I’m older, I have to admit I do find him quite cute.  He’s quite a guy’s guy, or a dude’s dude, or whatever you would call that age group.  Turn off is that he also reminds me of my dad, so eww to that.  There is so much magic, charm, and humor to this movie that it almost masks the annoyances of the characters.  Charlie evolves from a poudy quiet boy in the beginning to an irritatingly whiny selfish boy by the end.  Neil is a the typical no-it-all psychiatrist, Laura is the too sensible no-it-all ex-wife, and Bernard is the taller bossy no-it-all elf.  The worst part of them all is their terrible hair.  Though, I haven’t seen them but I heard that Charlie grew into quite the cutey in the sequels.  His headshot anyways is very attractive.  For some reason I was always very partial to Judy the elf.  Maybe because she’s the hottie-tottie.  Shrug.  The Santa Clause is a very creative and entertaining movie, which is sad because for some reason Disney can’t produce as high of quality Christmas movies nowadays as they did a decade ago.  Of course Tim Allen’s comedic talent is what really made it shine; too bad he hasn’t done another decent movie since. 

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:

The Santa Clause:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111070/

Thanksgiving with the Peanuts

Continuing my celebration of holiday cheer alongside the Peanuts gang, for Thanksgiving I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and The Mayflower Voyagers.  The Peanuts are a good perk to the spirit for this holiday because Thanksgiving can often be overlooked as boring and daunting, compared to the magic and wonder of Halloween and Christmas that it is unfortunately sandwiched between.  Looking through the eyes of the children characters and influenced by their creator, Charles Schulz’s, own patriotism and spirituality, the gang explores the holiday’s history and its present meaning of thankfulness and togetherness.

The first segment, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, touches on the situations of the hassling preparation for Thanksgiving meals and the bond of friendship.  I think we all can feel for Charlie’s pains in his pathetic attempt to make a Thanksgiving meal for his friends.  It is no easy feat to make a feast, especially considering cooking the turkey and then the embellishments that come with it, so is there any real surprise that his answer to feeding his guest was to make piles of toast accompanied with popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans.  I’ll forgive him for his simplistic but sweet actions, but I won’t forgive Peppermint Patty for her extremely rude behavior.  That lez needs to pull up a book on manners and smack herself in the head with it, and then maybe she’ll get a clue.  Seriously, how can you scold somebody who you’re supposedly in love with for creating a poor meal when you’re the one who invited yourself over anyways and then hold expectations on a young boy?  At the same time, Charlie should have really gained a backbone and just told her what.  Guess that’s why they call him “wishy-washy”.  Good thing for Marcie, who just always knows how to the fix a situation in her own weird way.  Another issue I find is the parents’ complete lack of activity in the day’s events.  For being Thanksgiving, I didn’t that much of family togetherness, unless you consider the gang’s ride to Charlie’s grandmother’s house and the back of his mother’s car as a part of it.  I just find it very questionable. 

The second segment, The Mayflower Voyagers, is very much more educational.  It’s a actually an episode from the Peanuts miniseries This is America, Charlie Brown, in which the gang take part first hand of the greatest moments of US history.  In this case, they are among the Pilgrims on their journey to the new world and their first tough year in trying to settle.  It is a very cute way to introduce history and to make it entertaining to kids.  I can say the regular Peanut specials are far more entertaining than this, especially considering most of the episode consists of the kids reciting the historical facts with an occasional gag here and there.  But their recital of the event is very thorough, containing much information that I didn’t know and not very common knowledge. 

That’s the interesting part.  In today’s school education, I believe they barely touch the events of Thanksgiving, if even.  Even in elementary school, I remember I wasn’t taught much about it besides Plymouth Rock and Squanto.  I didn’t even know the captain’s name was Hamlish.  Also, and what is very common about the Peanuts, is the expression of Christianity.  Of course the Pilgrims’ flight was religion-influenced and often thanks God for their, but the gang themselves display faith.  Linus gives a prayer at Charlie’s Thanksgiving dinner, which is a big deal compared to today’s society in which I don’t think school’s dare to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  As usual, Schulz has shown me how much the ideals for American youth culture has changed from forty years ago to the present.

For more information on these movies, click on the links below:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068359/

The Mayflower Voyagers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307141/

A Peanuts' Halloween

Its holiday season now and who’s better to spend it with than with the Peanuts gang.  The Peanuts have movies and specials galore, and I always found the holiday-themed ones to be my favorites.  With Halloween kicking the season off (with Election Day coming very short after it), obviously the first dvd to watch is a double feature containing It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown displays extreme qualities about the main characters.  We realize that Linus is very naïve and borderline retarded for believing in such thing as a giant pumpkin that brings gifts to children on Halloween; we are constantly reminded how pathetic and tragic Charlie Brown’s life can be, displaying immense unpopularity and gaining only rocks while trick-or-treating; and Lucy, who is always bossy in general, is just a huge bitch in this movie, bringing her sass any chance she gets.  I know these are things to find humorous about the characters, but when you take a close look, you see the reality of it all.  Being made in 1966, you see actually how much has changed in pre-adolescent Halloween culture.  Charlie and friends dressed up in homemade ghouls and (mainly) ghosts costumes; today kids are in super get-up superheroes and Disney princesses.  Charlie and friends received quarters and cookies during trick-or-treating; nowadays giving a cookie during Halloween can result in a police visit.  Charlie and friends went out at night without parental control; that would be considered completely unsafe and an act of bad parenting for today’s standards.  The 60’s was an easier and less threatening time for children on Halloween.  The movie leaves me feeling sorry for poor Sally, missing her first trick-or-treating because of her blind devotion for Linus, Lord knows why?!  A child without candy on Halloween is a sad, sad story.  I feel your pain Sally!

As for You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, it’s definitely not about celebration Election Day (usually not much to celebrate anyhow), but it does tie in with the day in that the movie is about a school election.  The focus isn’t so much on Charlie Brown not being elected but more about Linus who is.  Once again Lucy acts as a bossy bitch and organizes and pushes her brother’s whole campaign.  Why she didn’t run for office herself I don’t understand, because she knows how to get what she wants and she loves ordering people about, so class president would seem ideal for her.  Besides that Snoopy makes an appearance as Joe Cool, there really isn’t much interest about this Peanuts special.  But don’t worry; there are plenty of others that are more enjoyable.

For more info on these movies, click on the links below:

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060550/

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069525/

Another Mel Brooks Horror

I previously said that Young Frankenstein was my second favorite Mel Brooks film.  After watching Dracula: Dead and Loving It again, I realized that that was a lie.  Maybe it’s the generation gap, if that’s even it, but I find Brooks’ humor of the 90’s far funnier than that of the 70’s.  And don’t expect that I mean the material is cruder.  It might be, but the gags I find funniest are one’s that are more classically slap-stick.  For example, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Dracula attempts to lure Mina out of her bedroom but the maid complicates things, resulting in gags such as tripping over footstools and two people knocking each other over.  So basic but it almost always brings tears to my eyes from laughter.  Leslie Nielson is… the most interesting Dracula I’ve seen.  It may be because I have the image of Bela Lugosi stuck in my mind, who was quite the opposite of an old man, but Nielson’s characterization may be more based off of Gary Oldman’s Dracula impersonation.  Ironically, throughout the movie Dracula views everyone else as the simpletons (and they are!) but he neglects to notice how big of a simpleton he is himself.  To truly understand the humor in this movie, you have to know the source (duh).  Like how Young Frankenstein was a parody of the 1931 Frankenstein film and The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula: Dead and Loving It satirized elements of the classic Lugosi film and the 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  Peter MacNicol, who plays Renfield, did the most amazing job at replicating Dwight Frye’s own portrayal of said character in the 1931 film.  A lot of Frye’s scenes from the original movie were replicated, and MacNicol was very close in copying them, of course taking Renfield’s insanity over the top to the point of extreme idiocy.  MacNicol imitates Frye’s voice perfectly and even has Frye’s creepy laughter down pat.  Also, I love Amy Yasbeck!  She acts so silly and frazzled and her voice adds to the humor ten-fold.  Mel Brooks as Dr. Van Helsing was ok.  He, as an actor, isn’t as good as the ideas he manages to create.  I do enjoy the scene when Van Helsing and Jonathan Harker drive the stake into Lucy’s heart, causing gallons of blood shooting out at them, but that is more about the gag than Brooks’ acting.  He makes me laugh, so I forgive him.  

For more information on this movie, click on the link below:

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112896/

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Over a decade after creating his monster hit The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton returned to the art of stop-motion animation with Corpse Bride.  As his usual trademark goes, the film is dark and morbid, but far less grotesque as Nightmare was and is even a bit more heartwarming.  I would go as far as to say the movie is whimsical.  The strength of the movie lies in Burton’s genius as a visual artist.  He takes the saturnine and twists it into the most intriguing and lovely images ever.  He managed to make a corpse the most beautiful character in the movie, despite her decayed skin and rotted limbs.  I also appreciate his ingenuity in the separation of the world of the living and the land of the dead, making the living drab, uptight, and bleak, and the dead are colorful, fun, and “full of life”.  With an interesting storyline and characters, I only find two drawbacks with the movie, one being the songs.  None are truly good or worth remembering.  Even when the song is introducing the situation or the characters, it still feels like it’s almost being a hindrance to what you really want; the action.  It probably has to do more with the melodies; they’re not catchy.  Ugh, especially the song the maggot and the black widow spider, “Tears to Shed”.  I just keep thinking “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”  They're the two most pointless characters who are probably the worst singers the worst song to sing.  And what’s up with that maggot anyways!  Being a parody of Peter Lorre.  Really?  Who the heck even knows who Peter Lorre is nowadays?!  I only know who he is from parodies and references in Looney Tunes.  Anyways, clearly those two characters are the other drawback.  The three main characters (Victor, Victoria, and the Corpse Bride) are all likeable characters and you can’t help but root for all of them.  Victor’s bumblings and nervousness adds to his lovability, the softness and meekness of Victoria makes her so charming, and as for the Corpse Bride (or Emily, as we find out near the end of the movie), well your heart just goes out to her.  She’s a tragic hero with an open, loving heart and you end up joining her in her sorrow and wish her for her happy ending.  Talk about endings, the end of the movie is bitter sweet and such a stunning image.  Though the Corpse Bride never fulfills her dream of getting married, she accepts her reality and is ready to move on.  After throwing the flowers, she gazes at the moonlight and precipitates into butterflies and a flourish of light.  It’s so poetic and touching. 

The movie is nothing like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I wouldn’t ever want it to be.  It’s its own special story that stands strong and shouldn’t be compared to its fore-runner. 

For more information on this movie, click on the link below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121164/

"The Munsters", with a 'u'

Here’s another double feature of mine featuring the weird and eccentric sitcom family of the ‘60s (besides the Addams), the Munsters.  Whereas the Addams where seemingly normal looking people acting atrociously and expressing interest in the dark and goth, the Munsters were, well, monsters acting in the typical “Leave It to Beaver” family way of life expected in the ‘60s.  There’s the lovable but oafish husband Herman, the Frankenstein monster; Lily, the dotting but firm vampiric wife; their adorable werewolf son Eddie; Grandpa, mad scientist and vampire; and cousin Marilyn, the black sheep of the family ironically because she’s “normal”.  But let’s not get too far into the premise of the show; point is the movies featured, Munster, Go Home! and The Munsters’ Revenge, are about this different and well-known family.

After The Munsters was canceled in 1966 after only two seasons containing 70 episodes, the series was shortly followed by a box office failure movie Munster, Go Home!  Essentially the movie, plot being that Herman inherits a title and an estate in England and how his despicable relatives try to be rid of him and his family, comes off more as an extended episode of the show.  The movie is in color and features all the same actors portraying the family members, with the exception of Marilyn Munster being played by Debbie Watson (during the series, Marilyn was played by two actresses: Beverley Owen and Pat Priest).  Low budget, the use of green screens, poor sets and cheap special effects are plentiful.  Considering it was the ‘60s, such things are probably of the norm and to be expected and I may be asking for too much, but still I assume to be impressed by some aspect of the movie.  However, when it comes to the storyline and the characters, I am content.  I do enjoy the show and maybe if the movie had been split into three separate episodes I may be more forgiving.  I remember coming across this movie for the first time when I was younger and being shocked that I was seeing these characters in Technicolor, and then being distrot when I would watch the show and would never come across an episode that was in color. Watching it again after such a long time, a new thing that upsets me is that I didn’t find Marilyn as pretty as she should be.  She should’ve been a total fox, but this Watson girl was just fine.  Disappointment considering she’s the love interest of the British racecar driver Roger (Robert Pine) who was quite the luscious-lipped cutie.  Putting that aside, the movie is still in all good fun as of the show, and it was interesting to see the family on a legit adventure in England rather than facing a daily mundane problem in their home.

The second movie, The Munsters’ Revenge, is a big return for these characters to television, the movie being created fifteen years after the serie’s end.  Mind you the film is fifteen years later, not the characters, remaining the same age as before.  The family was supposed to be weird back in the 60’s, but they are even more awkward compared to the times of 1981.  Being a tv-made film, it was still a total flop, predictably.  While the first movie held the campiness of the sitcom, the sequel lacked the show’s charm or a strong plotline (being that Herman and Grandpa are falsely accused of crimes and must clear their names but foiling the plans of a monster-robots wielding conman).  Yeah… and on top of that the film was shot fairly poor.  There’s times when there would be awkward silences as if the actors are waiting for a laugh track, or the composer just didn’t feel like creating anymore background music.  And at one point you were even able to see the end of the pet dragon, Spike’s, tail.  The film did manage to obtain the original Herman (Fred Gwynne), Grandpa (Al Lewis), and Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), but Eddie and Marilyn were replaced by different actors, K.C. Martel & Jo McDonnell.  Gwynne and Lewis seemed like time hadn’t gone by at all, but De Carlo aged tremendously, maybe because she wears the least amount of makeup between the three.  Her appearance was superfluous as well; she neglected to carry the storyline in any fashion.  In fact, Uncle Phantom of the Opera had more screen time than her.  And what a nuisance!  His sporadic appearance throughout the movie was literally for him to belt operatically and to constantly show that he can break glass.  Pain to my ears.  As for this new Marilyn, get out of here!  Unlike the other Marilyns who were sweet and cute, this one was extremely bossy and definitely not 19-years-old.  Actually, the Marilyn from the first movie, Debbie Watson, would have been the same age as McDonnell (30) at the time of filming, so why not just use her again?  Oh, McDonnell was also a poor actress, on top of that.  Yeah, I said it.  The only redeeming thing about the movie is that Herman was as endearing as ever; very little saving grace.

Unless you’re already a fan of the tv show, I wouldn’t recommend watching these movies.  To be precise, you must be a regular fan to watch the first movie and a die-hard fan to watch the second movie.  Sitcoms often have a hard time transitioning from show to movie, and these were no exception.  So why would I make them a part of my movie collection?  Because I am an old fan and they do hold a place in my heart for sake of sentimentality, and they are nice to watch at this time of year.

For more information on these movies, click on the links below:

Munster, Go Home!: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060726/

The Munsters' Revenge: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082778/

Young Frankenstein: A Mel Brooks (and Gene Wilder) Film

Young Frankenstein is a classic satirical comedy, and possibly the most popular of Mel Brooks’ movies. Although the movie is often thought of and advertised as “A Mel Brooks Film”, the screenplay actually was a collaboration between Brooks and the movie’s star Gene Wilder, the latter being the originator of the idea of the movie.  Basing their satire on classic black-and-white horror movies, specifically the combination of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, the team added the typical and semi-expected gags along with fresh and sometimes spontaneous material.  They were very careful to stick as close to possible to shooting the movie in the same fashion as the old horrors, but still for modern times.  They shot it in black and white, despite the producer wanting it to be in color, and they used old effects such as apparent fake lightning and that famous loud surprise horror sound (Dan, dan, DAN!)  Its such small details that are relatable and appreciated.  And surprisinly enough, when its been typical for Mel to make an appearance in his own movies, this time around he did not. 

I’ve seen the movie more than enough times now to find any joke too stimulating, but the biggest pleasure I find from the film is the portrayal of Igor by Marty Feldman.  His natural quirkiness of delivering lines, his large smile, and his giant bulging eyes always get a chuckle out of me and I find him the most lovable character in the movie.  When I was younger I always tried to figure out how they made Igor’s eyes so seemingly extraordinarily bulgy, as it was hard for me to accept that they were the actor’s natural state.  They are a little unsettling, but they add to his character and I guess in the long run I wouldn’t want it to be in any other way.  In the reverse, I find it ironic that Gene helped write the movie because out of the whole cast he’s my least favorite, both as his character Frederick Frankenstein and as an actor.  Frankenstein isn’t a likable character; he’s a temperamental, selfish, stuck-up jerk who only thinks of up-keeping his reputation as an established genius. In addition to this, he’s an adulterer, stereotypically ending up sleeping with his lab assistant.  Seriously, such a hot lab assistant as Inga (Teri Garr) would never sleep with some man who looked like that.  That crazy frizzy clown hair is not a turn on!  I’m also being tres harsh.  But I also find Gene’s acting in the movie rather mediocre, especially compared to his performances in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Blazing Saddles.  He’s a good shouter when upset, but all of his emotions come across as synthetic and sometimes his lines are choppy.  Maybe he just does his best working amongst candy-grubbing children or black sheriffs.  Amongst the rest of the cast there are terrific and hilarious appearances by the Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher and Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth.  True gems of the movie are the running gag of the horses’ scare of Blucher’s name, Igor’s ever repositioned hump, and definitely the “Putting on the Ritz” song/dance routine by Frankenstein and the Creature. 

Along the lines of what has already been stated, this is my favorite of Mel Brooks’ films… ok, actually it’s the my second favorite, after Robin Hood: Men in Tights.  But it’s definitely Mel at his least offensive but highest wit.  Though most of its pleasure has been lost to me over time, I’m confident any new viewer will be laughing nonstop. 


For more information on this movie, click on the link below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/

The Addams Family *snap snap*

The Addams Family is the penultimate Gothic-horror comedy, a must watch during the Halloween season.  The two movies produced in the early ‘90s that were directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values, relaunched the popularity of this lively (and sometimes deathly) family for the following decade.  Though the magazine cartoonist Charles Addams, who originated the Addams, had continued to create comics featuring them for The New Yorker since the late ‘30s til his death in 1988, the Addams Family had pretty much been forgotten since the run of the classic tv show of the ‘60s.  The ‘90s movies were mainly based off of the tv show’s version of the family, but was even heavier on the macabre and dry sinister humor, much like the original cartoons. 

Of course a movie is only as good as its actors, and The Addams Family featured a superb group of them, including Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as Wednesday.  I wouldn’t say Huston’s Morticia was as beautiful and lovely and as typical housewifey as Carolyn Jones from the ‘60s show, but she did play the role beautifully as a quiet seductress with quick wit.  Also, the best part of her role was how she always had a beam of light laid across her eyes in dark shots.  Amazing.  And for Ms. Ricci, this is my favorite role of hers.  In every other incarnation of Wednesday I’ve seen, she is always displayed as a typically sweet little girl or a little brash, but Ricci really made this Wednesday child full of woe with her fearlessness and her immense sarcasm.  And Christopher Lloyd… well he’s always been wacky enough that him playing the intensely foul and weird Uncle Fester is no great shocker. 

The great thing about the two movies is that the sequel is one of rare breed of sequels when it is equally good as or even better than the first.  I know I surely enjoy The Addams Family Values more than it’s predecessor.  Though both movies focus mainly on events involving Uncle Fester, I find the second movie includes more plotlines for all the characters, and it’s just funnier.  Wednesday and Pugsleys’ enforcement at the summer camp alongside the wackadoo camp counselors and stuck-up prep kids always guarantees laughs, and Joan Cusack’s role as Fester’s gold-digging psychotic killer love interest Debbie is cool, calculating, and perfectly crazy.  Add in stale sex talk, a Satan hand pupper, and fail murder attempts, and you have all the ingredients for genius! 

If you haven’t seen the movies before you should now, because if you don’t then you’re a loser because these movies are awesome and everyone knows it.

For more info on these movies, click on the links below:
The Addams Family: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101272/
The Addams Family Values: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106220/

American Pie - The whole damn thing

The last installment of the American Pie trilogy, American Wedding is the most disappointing.   It just didn’t have the same fun vibe as the previous two movies, though they did tap into that fun for a little during the bachelor party scene.  The hijinks in general were more extreme, but they didn’t have the same impact.  I think that before when there was a hijink, you usually felt some sympathy for the person.  But in this movie, most of everything happened to or because of Stifler who you couldn’t possibly feel sorry for.  I think that was my main issue with the movie.  Despite that it’s about Jim and Michelle’s wedding, the movie continually focused so much more on Stifler, I mean waaaaay more, and this Stifler is him at his worst.  We went from being the typical horny-jock-asshole to just being completely insane.  Frankly, it’s a little uncomfortable, plus annoying.  I get it that they wanted to show the evolution of Stifler from being insufferable to being almost decent, but why?  He was always the slight antagonist and isn’t a part of the four friends.  Oz isn’t in the movie at all and Kevin is barely present, and when he is he’s boring as hell.  So they made Kevin a bigger pussy and they made Finch less sophisticated.  At least we didn’t have to suffer another appearance by Vicky.  On a brighter note, it’s sweet how they confirmed Jim and Michelle’s relationship is more than sexual exploration (not that it isn’t a part of it) and again showed the characters’ maturing process.  It’s a little weird that the trilogy ended on so sentimentally and its sad that Oz wasn’t a part of it, but it was a good way of putting a period on this entire story. 

For more info on this movie, click on the link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328828/

American Pie - A nice helping, please

This sequel is as good and entertaining as it's original counterpart.  The writers did a great job at creating character development and adapting the main characters to their high school life to their present college one.  It's cute how they portray the reunion of old friends after separating for their "life changing" experiences at college and still being as close as ever.  Simply unrealistic (I'm not being pessimistic, just honest), but a sweet notion.  What is most impressive is how the producers managed to get all of the the characters from the first movie to be in the second.  How rare is that?  And each characters' characteristics were amplified: Oz being even more Mr. Sensitivity, Stifler being douchebaggier, Finch being more off-putting, etc.  With that, I feel they also made the girls' parts in the movie more prominent than they should be, especially Tara Reid's.  Vicky is such an obnoxious bitch and I hoped her friend Jessica would punch her in the face... really hard.  And my heart goes out to the sexy and simple Nadia when Jim rejects her.  How crushing.  But I don't care how off her taste may be and how much she adores geeks, hell no would anybody that hot sleep with a guy like Scherman.  I mean, he's just too ewwy.  Gross.

Once again the movie covers more topics than simply the joy of promiscuity; the survive of first time long-distance  relationships, the confrontation of old loves, and the male species fascination with lesbianic sex.  However, I can't say anybody can relate to having yourself superglued to your penis and a porn tape.  Funny yet mortifying.  They never did say how the doctor managed to help Jim.  Hopefully more than just yanking it loose.  But I guess that's the point of Jim's character: to perpetually be the one to end up in every uncomfortable situation.  For real, I may be gay but I would find it too awkward if a trumpet was shoved up my ass.  Point is, Jim gets all the best gimmicks.  Let's just be thankful that the creators refrained from being clichy enough as to find some way to incorporate an apple pie into the movie simply because of the franchise's name. 

For more information on this movie, click on the link below:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252866/

American Pie - One Slice

This is a good movie, hands down.  I mean, who doesn't find this movie funny, besides the prissy & stuck-up girls?  As being part of that whole string of high school teen comedies that was so popular during the late-90's (i.e. Can't Hardly Wait and She's All That), this is by far one of the best.  I contribute it to the fact that instead of focusing on the hooky romance, it focused on... well the sex, specifically of adolescent males.  I would say it was an updated version of Porky's, but funnier.  Over the top in every way, it took a topic that usually is spoken in secrecy and all seriousness and made it something that everybody could relate to (yes I am also including the female species).  True, most people don't end up drinking cum-mixed beer or fucking an apple pie along the road of getting some sex, but it did point out issues like the difficulty of approaching and preparing for sex, it being spontaneous or planned, how it relates to your partner, what to do with feelings involved, etc. 
My problem is that, in reality, I would find hard to believe that either of the four boys would have had trouble getting laid, especially Oz (played by Chris Klein).  He's a beefy stud (thanks God for locker room scenes!)  Even if he would come off insencere and say corny lines, girls would've slept with him anyway.  Finch may have been the least likely to appeal to women, he's certainly not homely, but he was weird.  Even Jim (Jason Biggs) is adorable.  He is a geek, but some people like that.  I mean, I do.  Nadia certainly did to!  He isn't a deuschbag and he isn't bad-looking.  But my definite preference goes to Thomas Ian Nicholas' character, Kevin Myers.  Not a hunk, but he has all of the "nice guy" qualities, with his honest sincerity and supportiveness.  And he's just so damn cute!  Definitely more of the ideal boyfriend.  And once again, wouldn't have had trouble getting some.  Vicky just took forever to pull the stick out of her ass.  It's also a little shocking to see Nicholas in this kind of movie.  He had definitely come far since A Kid in King Arthur's Court, though he had just shot A Kid in Aladdin's Palace just a year before American Pie.  Just when you thought you knew an actor.  And a shout-out to Alyson Hannigan for bringing the best out of a band geek and to Eugene Levy for just being himself.
Yes, I definitely feel we could give thanks to American Pie for bringing such hijinks and laughs, and especially for popularizing the term MILF and bringing the famous line "One time at band camp, I stuck a flute in my pussy". 

For more info on this movie, click on the link below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163651/

A new kind of Alice: the horribly cheap mid-80's made-for-tv kind

This made-for-tv movie musical is another memory of my childhood at my grandparents.  Though the overall title is Alice in Wonderland, the movie is divided into two parts, the first "Alice in Wonderland" and the second "Alice Through the Looking Glass".  Watching it now, I realize exactly how horrible it is: both in acting and set/special-effects quality.  I guess I should keep in mind that it was the 80's and it was a rather elaborate production for tv, but I can still wish for it to be better.  And even if the special effects were better, its hard to excuse the horrible acting, mainly referring to our heroine Alice (Natalie Gregory).  The girl was ten at the time of filming, but when you have seen great young actresses like Dakota Fanning and Lindsay Lohan, makes you thing "really, there was no one better?"  On the other hand, the film also contained a large amount of big name stars at the time, such as Red Buttons, Sherman Hemsley, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Channing, just to name a few.  Now what would push these celebrities to do such a d-list movie is beyond me, but it didn't stop them from displaying their talents and trying to make the best of a horrible script and production.
I know I make it seem so dismal now, but I do remember loving it then.  I enjoyed the multitude of different characters with there own different personalities (at the time I had yet to read they novel and there for wasn't familiar with the Looking Glass characters yet) and how more detailed the story was compared to the animated Disney movie.  The story seemed to have no end (the movie's length is 3 hours), and all the events seemed too amazing.  I laugh now remembering how much I wondered how they made Alice grow and shrink and how Alice passed through the looking glass.  Geez wiz, what a poor simple child.  I do also remember how much it bothered me that they dressed Alice up in a peach frock instead of the infamous blue, and it still does.  It's just how it is!  Alice=blue dress.  It's the law.  And the Jabberwocky frightened me so much that I would fast forward through those parts.  It still is rather scary.  Production probably spent most of their money on that costume, and the castle set for the last banquet/chasing scene. 
Another downside to the movie is that it couldn't just simply be about the story.  They made it to teach children life lessons through Alice, who in Wonderland learned about growing up and then in Looking Glass Land learned to conquer her fears.  And they also tried to entertain through musical numbers.  Almost every main character had a number to sing, and that's along, especially when when half of them can't actually sing and the other half (more rather) are terrible numbers.  Shame on you, Stephen Deutsch and Morton Stevens! 
The movie is nice to have around for reminiscence sake, but unless you're a small child it's not going to do anything for you.

For more info on the movie, check out the link below:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088693/