The Usual Susspects » movies

Incredible Grandma

Mike — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:34:17 +0000

Darah has been on a tremendous The Incredibles kick lately. She watches the Pixar movie every day. She wants to watch it when she wakes up and before she goes to bed. And every time she see Mirage, the white-haired female character, she calls out, “Look, it’s Grandma!”

Florida 2010 – Day 3

Mike — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:53:52 +0000

Tuesday morning we met up with my Uncle and Aunt for brunch at a local deli. Afterward we headed to the beach. We used to go to Boynton Beach, which is logically the closest beach, but several years ago we all agreed that it was worth the extra drive to go to Deerfield Beach. (I took this 180° panoramic shot of Deerfield Beach last year.) When we put our towels down and sat in the sand, Darah told us that she wanted to go to the beach. We explained to her that this was the beach, but she meant that she wanted to go down to the water. Amy went into the ocean with Maegan while I stayed on the beach with Darah. I walked with Darah down to the water and let her get her toes wet but she couldn’t go in any further because she wasn’t allowed to get any salt-water in her ears. (I don’t think I’ve mentioned why before, but wait another week or so and I’ll eventually get to that story later.) Darah was a little frustrated but she still had fun letting Daddy bury her feet in the sand.

In the afternoon we all went to see “How To Train Your Dragon” (in 2D). We weren’t sure how well that would work out with Darah, not only because we’re not sure if this would be her first time in a movie theater and just keeping her still and quiet, but also because she could get scared. I sort of prepared her ahead of time for the dragons and the loud volume by having her watch the previews on YouTube with the volume up. I guess it must’ve helped because everything went well. She stayed quiet the entire movie and didn’t seem to be afraid. The movie itself was very good. Maegan says it’s the best animated film ever produced by Dreamworks (which would include Shrek and Kung Fu Panda). The only downside was the asshole father in the row in front of us who not only didn’t turn his cell phone off, but he let it ring four different times during the movie and proceeded to answer each call and talk. The nerve. Want more nerve? This jerk had the audacity to turn around and give us a look when we laughed at a funny line. Are you kidding me?

P.S. Here’s a link to all our vacation photos on Picasa.

Our Other Thanksgiving Tradition

Mike — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:57:00 +0000

Every year my mother and sister travel to Charlotte for Thanksgiving. That’s one tradition. Another tradition we have is to always see an animated film the day after Thanksgiving. (I don’t even know the last non-animated film I saw in a theater.) This year we saw Bolt. Good movie, two thumbs up. But we didn’t stop there. None of us had seen Kung-Fu Panda yet so we rented it from Blockbuster and watched it later that night. Also good. And to complete the trifecta, my mom and sister never saw The Simpsons Movie before, which I just happened to own, so we watched that one too this holiday weekend. When there’s nothing else to do, there’s always an animated movie somewhere.

Animated movies always have trailers for other animated movies. The first trailer we saw with Bolt was for Despereaux, but I was more interested in the next trailer we saw for Monsters vs. Aliens. Since Bolt was Disney film, the trailers included a preview for Pixar’s next movie Up, due out in spring of 2009. As usual for Pixar trailers, it didn’t give too much information about the film so I hit Wikipedia for more and I was surprised at several other Pixar movies in the works too. In 2010 Pixar will release Toy Story 3 but I don’t care about that one. In 2011 Pixar will release two features. One is a fairy tale called The Bear and the Bow, and the other one is Cars 2. What? Cars was a great movie. I attended the world premiere in 2006 and I own the DVD. But how can they ruin it with a sequel? Say it ain’t so. Not to mention Paul Newman and George Carlin both died earlier this year so how’s this going to work? Well anyway, the final Pixar movie being planned is Newt, which is scheduled for release in 2012.

Wall-e

Mike — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Maegan and I always see new Pixar movies the first weekend they are released, so we just saw wall-e today. Pixar films are always great and wall-e was no different.

I’m not going to post a full review, but I do want to share that I felt like I needed to exercise after the movie. (You’ll understand after you see it.)

The Simpsons Movie

Mike — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:14:00 +0000

I just came back from seeing The Simpsons Movie with Maegan. It was eeexcelent. I knew going in that I would love the movie but I also knew that I would still be disappointed from unrealistically high expectations. The biggest problems weren’t with the movie at all, but that I had already seen so much of the film in trailers, promos, and sneak peaks.

I don’t want to spoil the film for anybody so the rest of this post is in stealth mode. If you’ve seen the film or don’t care, highlight from HERE…

Favorite Unexpected Moments:

“Why would anybody go to the movies to see something that’s on television for free?”
After endless attempts to cover it – Bart’s full frontal nudity.
The Fox News ticker.
Everybody in church runs in to Moe’s and everybody in Moe’s runs in to church.
Lisa punches Bart square in the face.
Bart’s wanted poster graffiti looks exactly like another family
Eski-MOE’S
To Be Continued… Immediately
Marge leaves Homer (not a favorite part but totally unexpected)
The polar bear kicking the fox
Maggie actually speaks for the first time. If you didn’t sit through half the credits then you missed it.

Post-Movie Questions:

What ever happened to the pig? He was last seen in a burning house that then crumbled into a sink hole! Spider-Pig is dead, isn’t he?
What about the toxic lake which is no longer isolated and I assume even worse after months under a dome?

…to HERE to read the hidden text.

P.S. If you do want the entire movie spoiled click here.

Thank You, Come Again

Mike — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:56:00 +0000

As part of a promotional campaign for the upcoming Simpson’s Movie, several 7-Eleven stores around the country have been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts. The stores have even been restocked with brand name products from the show, including Buzz Cola, Krusty-O’s Cereal, and Squishee drinks. But the Simpson’s branding doesn’t stop there as they’ve included details such as “The Freezer Geezer” and a great El Barto graffiti of “Skinner Stinks” spray painted on the back of some stores. Lines have been long at some stores. Unfortunately for me, none of these Kwik-E-Mart stores are around here.

More Photos

If We Were The Simpsons

Mike — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 02:52:00 +0000

The Simpsons Movie just relaunched their official website. Half of the site is annoyingly under construction but you are able to make your own custom Simpsons character. Maegan wanted to make herself into a Simpsons character, so I Simpsonized the entire family (and then PhotoShopped it more).

Son of The Mayberry Code?

Mike — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:47:00 +0000

Last year my television station launched a major multi-media promotional campaign for a contest called The Mayberry Code. (I blogged about receiving an Emmy nomination for the promo and I’ll find out if I won in two more weeks.) My totally original concept was to place Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show in the role of a detective trying to uncover a dark mysterious secret by means of decoding cryptic clues. Of course this is a spoof of the plot to The Da Vinci Code, but with the unique twist of adding Deputy Fife into the mix.

Yesterday I was astonished to discover that a short film was released with almost the exact same premise as The Mayberry Code! A film titled The Norman Rockwell Code ^[IMDB] is the story of Barney Fife’s son, a detective trying to uncover a dark mysterious secret by means of decoding cryptic clues. Sound familiar? Watch the trailer.

Spoofing The Da Vinci Code is not such a unique idea but what are the odds that two different parodies would each feature the same television character from over 40 years ago (or his son in this case)? We launched our on-air campaign in April of 2006. The Normal Rockwell Code was released a month later in May. However they began filming in February before we ever sent out our first press release. Purely an incredible coincidence. I guess great minds think alike.

Although there are a lot of similarities with the initial premises, both projects had significant differences too. We created promos only while they created a full 33-minute feature (complete with on-location production, a detailed plot, and extensive script.) We utilized actual footage from The Andy Griffith Show while they utilized real actors. We relied on tongue-in-cheek comedy while they used shtick routines. It’s really apples to oranges, especially considering their bizarre sea-related conspiracy plot line.

I watched the entire film online. The Normal Rockwell Code is pretty good. A funny movie, especially if you enjoy The Andy Griffith Show. And the production quality was pretty good too (if you ignore the lightstand and sandbag in the museum shots). Well done.

Disc Golf: The Movie

Mike — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 02:32:00 +0000

I found this both interesting and surprising as I discovered that a movie is currently being made about the sport of disc golf. Chains is a film about “the fastest growing sport you never heard of”. It’s set for a winter 2007 release date, and if it is released in theaters at all I’m sure it will be shown at only a select few. Either way, if you watch the trailer you’ll see that is a very well produced documentary (so far). They’ve done a good job adding some ESPN-like excitement to the sport.

I love playing disc golf. I began playing the sport as a kid at summer camp in Massachusetts, way back in 1984. I played just about every day. I used a 165g Frisbee^® brand disc (I’m not sure whether or not specialized disc golf discs existed back then) and the 18-hole course used marked trees instead of baskets.

After a 20-year hiatus I introduced Maegan to the sport this past spring. Disc golf is very popular around the Charlotte region and the US Championships were recently held at Winthrop University in nearby Rock Hill, SC. I still only get out on the course a handful of times each year but I’ve actually submitted a proposal to our HOA to build a small course around our neighborhood park. No official word yet but I’ve heard that board members liked the idea. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to walk just down the street with Maegan and play every day like I did when I was a kid.

Anyway, back to the movie. Look what the successful documentary Mad Hot Ballroom did for dancing in 2005, so why not a movie about disc golf? It looks very interesting and I look forward to seeing it.

Worst Movie Ever

Mike — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:38:00 +0000

Several months ago I saw several early animatic clips from The Simpsons Movie due out in 2007 (here’s one) and was immediately concerned about how lowbrow the jokes were. During last night’s episode of The Simpsons they showed the first official teaser for The Simpsons Movie. I had been marking my calendar for the release of this movie but I am now completely skeptical that it will be any good.

Staying with their inability to rise above lowbrow shtick, the end of the teaser shows Homer swinging on a wrecking ball between a rock and a building with the words “A Hard Place“. That’s not funny at all. What I did find funny was their unintentional joke backfire about the movie being in 2D. The entire premise of the trailer is that The Simpsons Movie is not in 3D, yet the first clips shown after that claim show Homer driving a construction vehicle down a hill – obviously created with the aid of 3D computer animation! Now that, I found ironically funny.