I have
not seen any Disney trailers in a while (is it me, or do they not
advertise movies on TV like they used to?). But in the 90's I did, and
the trailers were always so annoying. It was almost like Disney was so
sure about its product they felt they could throw together any trailer
and it wouldn't matter.
Just so you know this is all in good fun. Anyway, here are five things Disney did to ruin their
own movie trailers.
TO MUCH TALKING!
This happened with the animated films a lot! Now I mean no disrespect to the guy who did these voiceovers,
he was great, but my lord shut up! First he had to remind of us of the
earlier fimes. Then He had to tell us who the characters were and set
up the basic plot. How about letting the scenes from the movie speak for
themselves without a plot synopsis? And finally he always had to point
out how the heroes were onto an exciting adventure the whole family
would love! It's like they were trying to convince us that yes, there
will be a story! A good trailer should be able to give an idea who the
characters are and what the story is about without it being spoon fed to
us. And just once I would have loved the guy to say "A terrible movie
your whole family is sure to hate!"
I
talked a few weeks ago about how much I love Baseball, specifically the
Red Sox. Well it stands to reason that if I love Baseball, I would like
Baseball movies. So today I wanted to share my personal favorite
Baseball movies.
Before I start to
list I wanted to mention what had to be my favorite Baseball scene
ever-from the movie The Naked Gun! Frank Drebin infiltrates a Baseball
game looking for a potential assassin, and let’s just say that it’s
really funny! Yeah the Acaedmy Award spoof in the third Naked Gun was
better,but still. I dare you to watch the scene where he mangles the national anthem and not laugh!
Ok, here are my favorite Baseball movies.
#5.Major League
I
go back and forth on this movie all the time. Sure, the Baseball stuff
is fun but why did they have to ruin the movie with that awful love
story? I like Rene Russo, but that subplot just seem really unneeded, as
if they wanted to pad the running time. Still the Baseball stuff is
really good and the film does have some laughs in it. Charlie Sheen, Tom
Berenger, and Cornin Bernsen all make a solid cast. Even Bob Uecker is
fun as the announcer. Sure the jokes a re bit off color but the
character stuff works well. It's Just a fun movie, if you can get past
that annoying romantic nonsense. What about the sequels? Yeah….let’s
just move on J
Plot Summary-Chandler hires a main which upsets Monica, Phoebe hooks up with Eric, Rachel decides to move out of Joey’s place
Funniest
Line-“ Yeah. I can't live with Joey once the baby comes. I don't want
my child's first words to be, "How you doin'?"…..Rachel
Nitpick
of the episode- Chandler hires a maid. Let me repeat that. Chandler,
who is married to an anal retentive clean freak who is always cleaning
and needs everything to be just so, hires a freaking maid!!! Who
thought this up?????
Standout Character-Joey, you can tell he honestly enjoys living with Rachel
Syndication Edit-The maid wondering why Monica put her head between her legs (no, I’m not kidding)
Final
Thoughts-I really don’t know what they were going for with the maid
story. I already pointed out how dumb that is, and then they take it a
step further by making Monica paranoid about the girl. I like when
Chandler asks if it’s possible the company
that made the jeans the maid is wearing could have possibly made more
than the one pair. The only good part of that is the end when Rachel
clears everything up. I liked the Joey/Rachel story, you wouldfigure
that Joey would not want to live with a baby but he loves living with
Rachel so much he’s willing to take it on…nice. Pointless as we will see
later, but nice. And Ross waiting out the death of a tenant so he can
lay claim to her apartment is awful. Finally, we have Phoebe who quickly breaks up with Eric.Really why did she try seconds after he just broke up with Ursula? Lots of stupid here.
I wanted to take a break from my usual light fare today and discuss the horrible events which took place in Boston yesterday.
As
you may or may not know, I live in the Boston area. I am only twenty
miles away, and visit the city a few times a year. I love my little city
and to see what happened yesterday really hits close to home.
It strikes even closer when I came close to being in the city
yesterday. I had made an apointment with a temp agency to talk to them,
but it was cancelled and rescheduled. Oh, and in case anyone is
wondering no I did not know anyone who was in or around there yesterday.
I am submitting
this late Monday night so I apologize if the information is incorrect or
has changed, but as I write there are over 100 injured including two or
three children and three dead (one was an 8 year old). To say that this
is unacceptable is an understatement. The Boston Marathon is a
cherished city tradition and while I may not be huge fan of it, I
respect it and its importance to the city. This act is just a horrible,
inexcusable offense which was the result of a coward. Yeah that's right,
because only a coward will willingly injure innocent people who didn't
do a damn thing to them. I don't know what the motive is, but it really
doesn't matter either. What in the world is the point of doing something
like this? The idea that somewhere there is a person or persons
congratulating themselves on a job well done sickens me. Yeah, good job!
Just to push your political or religious agenda three people lost their
lives while many other suffered injuries (some of those life altering
including losing limbs). Way to go! I feel so bad for the runners and
the spectators, just out to have a nice day and then this happens.
I
just don't get it, and at my advanced age I have seen it all to many
times. The Unabomber attacks. 1988 Pan Am flight 103 bombing over
Lockerbie. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. The
1995 Oklahoma City bombing (which involved children at the Federal
building). The 1996 Olympic Park Bombing in Atlanta (111 people
injured). The 1998 embassy bombings. The 2000 attack of the U.S.S. Cole
in Yemen. 9/11. The London bombings in 2005. And now the Boston Marathon
Bombing in 2013. And that doesn't cover the threats or potential bombs
which were discovered in time (and we're not even getting into
shootings!). And of course you can go further back in history, in 1963
there was a bombing in Birmingham, Alabama.
How
many times do we have to go through this? I understand that people have
differences in the world, there is nothing wrong with that. But what
makes one person or group decide that their way is so right that their
only choice is to kill people to advance their own agenda I will never
get. It could also have just been a nutjob who didn't like the fact that
the marathon was being run on a Monday or something, you never know.
Still why anyone would think causing so much tragedy is the way is just
lost on me.I think of all the families affected, and it really breaks my
heart.
One
of the things I love in Star Trek is the notion that one day we will
get past this kind of violence. I guess we can only hope that there will
come a time when this kind of thing is just pages in a history book.
The ironic thing is that this happened on a fantastic day for the city.
The marathon is alwayts a big deal, the Red Sox won, and everything felt
good. Until reality stepped in. For now all we can do is take solace
that there wasn't more injury or damage, it could have been lots worst.
And there are some great stories here of people helping and caring for
those who were injured. The first responders were just amazing in how
fast they go there, the responses from the governor, mayor, and
president were inspiring (this is one of those times when you forget you
don't like the president and you respect him), and I am sure many more
stories of courage will emerge in the next few days.
Of course there is a lot of greiving coming too. But we are a proud
city, and a strong country, and you know we will rise up and be even
stronger after this. Knock us down, and we just get right back up! I
just hope that the culprits are captured and severely punished. Until
they are, let's remember the victims. My heart is broken for my city and
the victims of this horrible act.
“When
I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would
say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are
helping.”
Plot Summary-At Monica and Chandler’s wedding reception, Chandler tries to dance,Joey tries to audition for a guest, Rachel reveals she is in fact pregnant
Funniest Line-“Oh honey, you could never embarrass me. Okay, you could easily embarrass me.”….Monica
Nitpick
of the episode-Monica takes the whole Rachel is pregnant news at her
wedding really well considering how upset she was that Rachel stole her
thunder on her engagement night. It could be that she is mature enough
to not let that ruin her big day, or it could just be lazy writing.
Standout
Character-Rachel, I promise I will try not to make her the stand out in
every episode but this was her season. And the scene in the bathroom
with her and Phoebe and Monica is one ofthe best of the series!
Syndication
Edit-The original tag and the opening was longer and included a scene
with Monica’s parents thinking she is pregnant. Another extra scene
where Chandler slips and falls on the dance-floor, grabbing his
mother-in-law's skirt, ripping it. Also you may wonder why Ben was not
at his aunt’s wedding. Actually, he was but his lines were deleted from
the broadcast version.
Final
Thoughts-What a great episode this is! The way that Rachel’s pregnancy
is handled is really good. You gotta love how the episode doesn’t reveal
anything about who and when, that will come later. I was kind of
surprised the whole episode was just the wedding reception. Chandler
trying to dance was funny, Joey trying to impress the director is funny,
and of course the main focus is Rachel. That scene with the three of
them in the bathroom is just a great scene. I love the way Phoebe lies
to make Rachel see how much she really wants it, and Rachel’s lines are
just well done. Even the silly Ross story, having tod ance with all the
kids, doesn’t come off all that badly. Just a very strong episode.
I love how the internet gives people a voice. You have every right to your opinion
and I will always support that. But at the same time very often people
will say things, for example critquing a show or movie, they insist are
clever when really they are blowing smoke. There is a difference between
expressing and opinion and spouting incorrect information in an attempt
to shopw off. Here are five example of what I mean that I have seen all
over the internet .
BEING A REFERENCED GUEST STAR IS NOT A "GOOF"
Sometimes
people really get carried away. I was looking at one site talking about
the mistakes on Friends (and yes there are plenty) but among the
mistakes they would comment on how a character would reference an actor
or actress who would later appear on the show. Um, how is this a
mistake? Talk about active imaginations, for instance Susan Sarandon got
a mention in one episode and many shows later appeared as a character.
CAN'T WE JUST SAY THE CHARACTER LOOKS LIKE SUSAN SARADON? Geez people,
it's a sitcom! Another one noted why Chandler and Joey didn't recognize
Bruce Willis when he appeared on the show since the two are huge Die
Hard fans...people, please!
STAR WARS JUMP CUT
I
have seen this a few times. There is a scene in Star Wars A New Hope
where Obi Wan gives Luke the lightsaber that once belonged to his
father. Before he does C3PO powers down. When Luke activates the
lightsaber, there is a jump cut which many people believe shows C3PO
reacting to the lightsaber. Supposedly you can see his head move. Sorry
guys that was just a jump cut, there is no way the actor could see the
actual lightsaber turn on since it had been undoubteldy added later, so
why would he react to it?
THE SCARECROW IN THE WIZARD OF US
I
see so many people posting this as if it were a film flub. That the
scarecrow has no brain and yet he comes up with the ideas. THAT'S THE
POINT! It's not a mistake it's brilliant writing! In the movie we also
see the Lion find the courage to enter the castle and rescue Dorothy and
the Tin Man clearly worried about her.
HOME IMPROVEMENT "TIM, AL, AND HEIDI"
This
is kind of a personal one because I tried to correcrt the person and
never got a reply. There is an episode where Tim Taylor says "Tim, Al,
and Heidi" and someone thought they had heard Tim say his real name, Tim
Allen. Yeah if you say that fast it can sound that way...but it's not a
mistake!
THE BACK TO THE FUTURE MEME!
If
any of you guys have Facebook I am sure you have seen this. Someone
takes an image of Marty McFly, and the caption reads TODAY IS THE DAY
HE CAME BACK FROM THE FUTURE. Then the date is photoshopped on the
console from the movie. This pisses me off because it's wrong!! I
realize not everyone has seen the movie as muuch as I have, but if
you've seen it once you should show know that they went 30 years after
1985. That would be 2015! October 21st, to be precise. It just annoys me
when people post this and think it's so cool,
it's not correct! I have seen these pop up many times and will be so
happy when the date does get here so these photoshopped things can
finall disappear.
As annoying as these are I do love that people can comment and express their opinion, and I hope that never stops!
Ah,
PSA’s! I talked a bit about this awhile back but decided to elaborate a
bit today. There was something special about the PSA’s we had when I
was growing up. They were corny, sure, but they were entertaining and
memorable. I am not sure what they have today, but I feel safe in saying
they just don’t make them like this anymore.
There
are lots I could mention from Woodsy Owl (Give a hoot,don’t pollute!),
to McGruff the crime dog (ah, take a bite out of crime), Smokey Bear
(only you can prevent forest fires!) The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, The crash test dummies, and even a crying indian!
Good times. I won’t get into the drug PSA’s(like the one with R2D2
smoking!!) because Nostalgia Critic covered those very well many moons
ago. Instead I wanted to talk about the PSA’s which aired onSaturday
mornings in between cartoons. Remember when getting up on Saturday
morning was a big deal? I loved to get up and watch the awesome
cartoons. Part of the fun were the cool PSA’s that we got. Here are my
five favorites.
#5.He-Man PSA's
It was a rule that said every kids show had to have a moral lesson, so pretty much every show in the 80's threw PSA's onto the end of their episodes. He-Man was no exception, but everyone did this even Sailor Moon!
#4.Time for Timer
I
am betting this is the one many people have never heard of. Though
Family Guy did do a parody of it. This one is hard to explain but let’s
give it a shot. Timer was a cartoon character who looked like a matzo
ball. He basically promoted stuff like healthy eating
habits and personal hygiene.I remember one where was inside the human
body talking about how food is processed for energy. One was set in a
western setting and he sung about cheese as a good snack (this was a
long time ago!). Another he sung about a healthy snack called sunshine
on a stick. It’s orange juice frozen inan ice cube tray. You put sticks
in the juice, and voila you got homemade orange Popsicle! And yes, I
tried this.
#3.Knowing is Half the Battle! from G.I. Joe
As I noted back in the
80’s all cartoons had to have something educational in them. He-Man's were goofy for the most part. G.I.Joe however, now these were cool! Maybe it was because
G.I.Joe is set in the real world so they could cover real dangers, or
maybe it was because they didn’t force the moral to be tied to the
story, but I still remember a few of these to this day. The format was
simple, a couple kids would get into a situation and a member of G.I.Joe
would pop up and give some sound advice. I loved G.I. Joe and the PSA’s
were a great end of each episode. These are so popular that they still
get made fun of. Is it lame that hearing the tag line on these still
makes me smile? Now you Know!
#2. Schoolhouse Rock
Why
oh why can’t they have stuff like this on today? Is there anyone who
has never heard of this, unlikely since these ran well into the 90’s?
Conjunction Junction, I am just a Bill, The Great American Melting Pot,
Electricity!….I love these! Basically these were shorts about English,
Math,and various other subjects with very creative songs that you can’t
get out of your head no matter how hard you try! My favorite is the
adjective song, the cartoon has a girl camping and she sings about how
she was “Unpacking her Adjectives”. Ok the animation was never much but
the songs were cool and the educational stuff was top notch. It’s not
always easy to make educational content memorable and enjoyable, but
this show does it very well! Unlike the rest of these all of these have
all been collected on DVD.
#1 One To Grow On
I
loved these!! Can I state that emphatically enough? It just wasn’t
Saturday morning without these awesome PSA’s. Basically the concept was
we would see a situation involving kids, for example complaining about
having homework, and suddenly the scene would zoom out to a celebrity
explaining whatever the moral was. After the celebrity explained the
mistake the kid was making the scene would zoom back in and we'd get the
proper resolution to the problem. Not only were these fun and
educational,they were a who's who of who was on NBC at that time! Name a
star on NBC in the 80's, from Michael J.Fox to Soleil Moon Frye, and
they did at least one ofthese. Even Mr.T! Sure not all of them were
perfect, they could be corny and not well acted, but man these bring
back some great memories. If you never heard ofthem, or just feel like
reliving some fun memories, I shared some YouTube links but there are plenty more to check out!
PSA’s
are still around today of course, including CBS Cares and the never
dying NBC classic, The More You Know……. which has been around for ages
(since 1989!) and was even parodied in an episode of Scrubs. At this
point virtually anyone who was party of NBC in the last almost 25 years
has done one. The piano tune with the star logo has become as popular as
the aforementioned G.I.Joe slogan.
Is it just me, or would anyone else kill for a DVD collection of all of these?
