Movie Review Monday #23: Sequels

I really need to get to the movies to give you people some fresh insight, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. Instead, this week I give you my favorite sequels:


1. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Lauryn Hill's version of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and that one kid's performance of "O Happy Day" still give me chills. And I definitely wore out my VHS copy repeatedly watching that joyful and triumphant final scene. This film is like Glee in the ghetto, and I enjoyed it even more than the original.
2. Scream 2. My parents let me watch Rated R horror films when I was young. The good news is that I didn't turn out psychotic or anything. Holler. Anyway, Scream 2 is amazing. It's scary, it's witty, it's a good time for all (except, of course, the nine characters in it who die). 2 is my favorite out of the Scream trilogyplusone.
3. Toy Story 3. Incredible. I am still in awe of the good folks at Pixar for creating such a heartwarming, funny, emotional animated sequel. Though I do still want to know what ever happened between Woody and Bo Peep. I mean, did they break up? Did she die? Did she cheat on him with a G.I. Joe? What's the deal?
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. My favorite Indy, hands down, though all of them are good. (Except the most recent one, but that hardly even counts as a real Indy film. What were you thinking, Steve?) Anyway, I still remember seeing this one twice in the theaters. It had adventure, humor, and oodles of lovely sermon illustrations.
5. The Dark Knight. Look, I'm not really into comic movies. In fact, I didn't even want to watch The Dark Knight because I was afraid the Joker stuff would give me nightmares given my fear of clowns. I've only seen one of the other Batman films, but even without seeing them all I know that this was the best one. Never before or since have I raised my arms in triumph and shouted "That was awesome!" when a film ended. At my apartment. By myself.


I would also like to use this platform to mention that I used to love all things Pirates until their sequels got out of control. They are so bad that I question whether I even really liked the first one. Seriously, I saw the second and third Pirates and felt insulted when they came out with a fourth. I picture a bald, besuited evil puppetmaster of a producer sitting in shadows, drumming his fingertips together as he thinks about the fact that his Pirates films don't have to be at all interesting - he can simply recycle the same rum jokes and let Johnny Depp do improv for all he cares. People will still pay to see them. Please join me in boycotting future Pirates films.


Thank you. That is all.

Movie Review Monday #22: My childhood

My family always loved watching movies together, and we'd watch some so many times that the VHS would get worn out. My husband almost never rewatches films, but I'm all about it. It makes them familiar, like hanging out with old friends. It's comforting. There are many that I associate with my childhood, and here's a top ten:

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Obviously.

2. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. When Sonora, that southern spitfire, tells the dreamy dude from Sixteen Candles to raise his arms while he's wearing the fringe jacket so she can trick him into a hug, my 8 year old heart just melted. This story was inspiring for horse high divers around the world.

3. The Goonies. You know, it only has the Truffle Shuffle, Data's faulty gadgets, Martha Plimpton yelling "Rabies!" at a cloud of bats, an eventually adorable misshapen man child with a "Hey you guys"catchphrase, and a group of misfits discovering new friendships as they join together to find some ancient booty. No big deal.

4. The Cutting Edge. Never before or since has there been a more entertaining montage of two people ice skating while one continuously says "toe pick." A delightful romantic comedy.

5. Muppet Christmas Carol. For the holidays.

6. Better Off Dead. This film is technically about a teenage John Cusack who gets dumped by his girlfriend and decides he'd like to off himself. In reality, it's so. much. more. My favorite character is his daffy mother who gives TV dinners as Christmas gifts and makes a dessert so disgusting that it literally creeps across the dinner table. This is 80s camp at its finest.

7. Newsies. Oh boys.

8. The Princess Bride. Why, yes, I have seen this film approximately 139 times and nearly have it memorized. Don't all children of the 90s? 

9. Tremors. I'm trying to remember if I ever found this film scary. I don't think so. It's just so silly, and I still love it even though they had to go and overdo things by making three sequels. (And a TV show?! I just saw that on imdb. Crazy. What were they thinking?!

10. Undercover Blues. If you had told 10 year old me that I would someday think Stanley Tucci was a skilled actor, I would have chuckled in disbelief and said "Morty? The guy who squeals like a girl and falls into the alligator pit?!" I'm certain those would have been my exact words. This film is a campy family spy show, in the same genre as Psych or Chuck. Hilarious and highly recommended.

Journey of Natty Gann didn't make it in my list because the only thing I can remember about it was an emotional scene where she yells at her wolf friend to "JUST GO!" from a train station. But I'm pretty sure that was on repeat at my house for a long while when I was very young too.

How about you, Lobsters? What was on repeat in your family's house?