Tag Archives: Adventure

Goosebumps (2015)

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Goosebumps-2015

What “Goosebumps” accomplishes, is not just paying homage to the joy of “Goosebumps,” but to the joy of reading and writing as well. It’s not many movies that can convey the idea of writing as something purely magical, and “Goosebumps” pinpoints how books can be a portal in to something entirely otherworldly, especially if you’re a fan of the world RL Stine has built for his fans since the 1990’s. More of a meta-horror comedy than an actual series of tales, “Goosebumps” is set in Delaware where Zach and his newly widowed mother are preparing to start their lives over. With Zach trying to adapt to his new school, he meets the gorgeous Hannah (Odeya Rush), a neighbor who is home schooled by her reclusive and strict father.

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Rankin/Bass Festival Of Family Classics: Jack O Lantern (1972)

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I grew up watching Rankin Bass cartoons. I loved them, and watched mostly around the holidays. So every single Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent with the folks at Rankin Bass. Someone somewhere would air one of their numerous specials every year, so I love this company. “Jack O Lantern” though is very new to me, and one I was never really familiar with. Which is shocking considering “Jack O Lantern” is really quite a good adventure tale that I would have loved as a child.

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The ‘Burbs (1989)

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There’s just something about Joe Dante in where he loves to shake up American middle class. We have suburbanites fighting killer gremlins, suburbanites fighting killer toys, suburbanites fighting werewolves, and now suburbanites basically turning on one another. “The Burbs” watches like something of a sick mid-quel of “Rear Window” and “The Trouble with Harry” in where the mundane is flipped on its head and transformed in to a veritable nightmare for a bunch of neighbors in a seemingly small cul de sac.

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The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone (1979)

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I fondly remember renting “Meet Rockula and Frankenstone” quite often from our local videos store when I was a kid, and thankfully the movie genuinely holds up. Like all great comedy series, the Flintstones have had their share of crossovers, and this time they have the misfortune of meeting Dracula and Frankenstone. Or their stone age counterparts, as it were. While it’s not raucously funny as when Abbot and Costello met them, it’s a darn good short movie with the Flintstones doing what they do best.

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Aladdin (1992): Diamond Edition [Blu-ray/DVD/Digital]

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If there was ever a testament to the magic of Robin Williams, it’s in his portrayal of Genie from “Aladdin.” The friendly Genie has been something of a pop culture facet for decades before “Aladdin,” and what could have been a stock character is transformed in to one of the most inadvertent heroes of all time. That’s mainly because Williams instills a humanity and charm in the magical being that’s impossible to recapture. Even a brilliant voice actor like Dan Castellaneta never reached that pitch that Williams did with his turn as the Genie. Though Aladdin is often depicted as the hero of the “Aladdin,” it’s the genie that’s mainly the hero, because he doesn’t just help Aladdin, but he also keeps him on the straight and narrow, devising ways to prevent the magic of the lamp from corrupting the character.

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Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000)

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I guess there’s not much you can do when you cross a children’s cartoon series with a monster traditionally known for mauling people to death. That said, “Meet the Wolfman” is probably the weaker pairing in the Chipmunks animated movies, mainly because the writers don’t do much with Laurence Talbot and his ability to transform in to the wolfman. It only makes sense the Chipmunks would eventually come across Laurence Talbot, but I think there could have been a much more entertaining result to come from his meeting them. Talbot is played more as a menacing presence that moves in next door from the Chipmunks.

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The Simpsons: Halloween of Horror

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“Look I don’t want to be rude, but you sad losers should go suck somewhere else.”

Like every other hardcore Simpsons fan, I was a bit surprised that the series decided to not go with “Treehouse of Horror” this year. But FOX publicists assured fans that the following week would bring a new “Treehouse of Horror.” Even the characters address it in the first few minutes, as Homer has to appease Flanders, who asks why Halloween isn’t being celebrated in a treehouse this year. Thankfully “Halloween of Horror” is an experiment, and a damn good one. In all of the twenty seven seasons of “The Simpsons,” there were Christmas and Thanksgiving episodes, but Halloween was a special event with standalone non-canon horror stories meant to pay tribute to everything from Stephen King to Edgar Allen Poe. This year, the series treats us to two Halloween based episodes! Thankfully, “Halloween of Horror” is quite great and reminded me of a time where “The Simpsons were hilarious.

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