Anna Faris returns as the inept and goofy Cindy Campbell and is recruited along with her friends to “Hell house” for the weekend where a professor claims they’re there for dream studies but instead are there to have the crap scared out of them by ghosts. This is nothing compared to the original “Scary Movie” at all. First off, the comedy timing and jokes are off, poorly timed and lame as hell. There is nonstop sexual innuendos and bathroom jokes that are laughable but not because they’re funny.
Bubble Boy (2001)
I was skeptical going into “Bubble Boy,” but as I was finishing it, I must admit it won me over mainly for its eccentric tone and “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” inspired flights of fantasy and surreal. Jake Gyllenhaal (in a goofy doo that admittedly tries too hard to gauge laughs) plays Jimmy, a boy who when he was born did not have any immunities. He’s a generally lonely boy with a very overbearing mother who protects him from the outside world as he lives in his bubble watching everything go by.
He then meets Chloe as played by Marley Shelton who begins to teach him about the world and she eventually falls in love with him. But Jimmy keeps her from truly touching him, which she wants more than anything. Eventually, she meets another guy who she tells Jimmy she’s going to marry him. Jimmy knows this guy is wrong for her, but he doesn’t stop her. Now, still in love with her, Jimmy breaks free from his bubble and goes on the road to Niagara Falls to keep her from marrying. In a protective bubble he meets a whole cast of freaks, bikers, and a cult who thinks he’s a god. Will he be able to stop the girl he loves from making the biggest mistake of her life?
“Bubble Boy” is a very niche comedy with an odd sense of humor that’s more about personal limitations we set for ourselves, more than turning the illness of the bubble boy in to a caricature. The way Jimmy perceives the world is something you only see in cartoons and I found it quite funny. Though “Bubble Boy” is mainly a comedy, it has a ton of heart and tries to build a fun adventure out of the drive Jimmy has to seal hi romance with his girlfriend. I won’t argue “Bubble Boy” is a masterpiece, but it’s a fun and oddly entertaining twist on the road trip film. While it won’t make Jimmy in to the next Pee Wee Herman, it at least aspires for off the wall fun.
Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
I have to say director Steve Beck’s treatment “Thirteen Ghosts” is not as bad as everyone says it is. Every movie buff knows that this is a remake of the cult-classic directed by famous director William Castle. I found this to be a very good horror flick and a fun ghost thriller. The premise and concept of the movie are basically the same. The family is trapped in a big house with ghosts you can only see with special glasses. There are different entities and personalities for each ghost, my favorite would have to be the Juggernaut.
John Carpenter's Vampires (1998)
So, yes, “Vampires” didn’t exactly turn out to be everything I’d hoped, and perhaps I was expecting too much from John Carpenter, and I admit to being a bit disappointed, but all the while “Vampires” while not one of Carpenter’s best, ends up becoming a fun exploration and view into Carpenter’s experimenting with the vampire genre. Very loosely based on the book “Vampire$” (sans John Carpenter moniker), the movie you see here was looked down upon by many fans of the book which happened to have a lot of satire, and happened to be more in the vein of “Scream” as in not taking itself too seriously, while its commentary on many social dilemmas and basic morals on good and evil, greed and its connections to morals, and this is the perfect example of what the Hollywood machine does to a good book, but it’s not to say this isn’t a good movie.
The MPAA
Ultimately, there’s no need for the MPAA. They’re an organization who not only rule over official movie based websites and movies in general, but they want to take control of the only facet for movie makers that have no boundaries: straight to video releases. I do agree with the rating system for television shows like TVY7 or PG because it’s a good tool for parents and I do agree with the movie ratings ala, R, PG, it’s very important we know what we’re dealing with when entering a film but there shouldn’t be any tailoring involved.
Horror Movies
“Horror is the future. And you can not be afraid. You must push everything to the absolute limit. Or else life will be boring. People will be boring. Horror is like a serpent; always shedding it’s skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can’t be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our unconscious.” – Dario Argento
Horror has become the dominant force in my movie purchases, movie viewings, and movie contemplations simply because I was introduced to the genre as a child and because they’re fun to watch. I seek out every horror movie there is, good or bad. I first saw “Night of the Living Dead” when I was seven, and it was horrifying. I have nothing but a petrifying fear for zombie movies. I’ll watch whatever horror movie you want me to, but I’m scared shitless of zombie films no matter what film and when it was made. My first glimpses of the walking dead feeding on an arm, chewing off the flesh scared me and it was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen. Just talking about it makes me look over my shoulder in fear.
Osmosis Jones (2001)
In the movie, Frank (Bill Murray Stripes, Caddyshack) is a mega-slob who really doesn’t care how he lives, but there lies a world in that greasy oily body of his. When he eats a hard-boiled egg that dropped on the floor, he accidentally eats a lethal Tony Montana-esque germ by the name of Thrax (Laurence Fishburne The Matrix). Now, a white blood cell named Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock SNL, Head of State) and a cold pill named Drix (David-Hyde Pierce Frasier) must stop the germ from killing Frank. But can they catch him in time?