My wife saw her first Jaws movie last night. She’s never seen the original Jaws, but I’ve seen them all, so I knew what to expect from this first sequel. I used that to my advantage. When the shark was getting ready to make a surprise appearance, I made it a point to have my arm around her and squeeze when the shark appeared. The screams she let out were hilarious.

I went and finally saw the A-Team this past weekend, and I have to say that it was a lot of fun. I grew up watching the A-Team on TV, so I have a soft spot in my heart for the show and the premise. Liam Neeson is always a world class actor, and the rest of the team members were cast perfectly. One thing I was surprised by was that guys actually died in the movie. It was always a joke that in the TV show, final battles used more ammunition than the Civil War without ever recording one fatality. I still would go see it again in the theater.

Let me preface this one. There’s a guy whol calls himself Goldentusk who creates parody songs and videos based on popular movies and their respective theme songs. Most of his parodies treat the original movie with respect but does poke a little fun at the leaps in logic movies sometimes make. Well, he is turning his eye to the popular Twilight series. I can’t wait to see what he has to say.

Well, the next film in the Twilight series comes out this month, and I for one cannot wait to stand in line with my wife along with a torrent of swooning tweenage girls to see the mopey Bella try to figure out which boy she wants. I would rather have a root canal done with no novacaine. OK, maybe that’s a little harsh, I’ll take the novacaine I guess.

I’m not a fan of the current Saturday Night Live, and I haven’t been a fan for a while. The last time I watched an original airing of SNL was when Dana Carvey and Mike Myers were still doing the Wayne’s World sketch. Since then, I have had to wait for something that would require watching. The Celebrity Jeopardy sketches with Will Ferrel as Alex Trebek are hilarious, but I was not about to waste night hoping that a specific sketch would be on the docket. Now, the next SNL inspired movie will hit theaters tonight. Watching the previews, I have somewhat high hopes for this. I was a casual follower of MacGuyver and his ingenuity in making something from virtually nothing became an iconic joke. So, to watch SNL take on this icon in a satirical fashion means that there is potential comedy to be mined from the premise. While I might go see this movie in the theaters, I don’t think it will bring me back to the show.

The iconic baseball field that was the setting for the film Field of Dreams is for sale. The owners have preserved the field outside of Dyersville Iowa, since the movie finished production in the early 90s. Close to retirement, the couple are looking to sell the land for just over $5 million. The price includes the field, the house, concession stand and a few other buildings. The realtor hanlding the sale says he has received numerous call from interested parties. Some have expressed an interest in maintaining the field. Others, unfortunately, have mentioned building a hotel, water park, even a minor league ball park. Yikes! What some people don’t realize is that this is still a farming community. People are still trying to make a living off the land. The field is not very big, and you can’t see it until you get to the street (I know, I’ve been there twice). It’s a perfect tourist destination because people don’t get in the way of farming. If you build a hotel or water park, now all of a suddend you have massive amounts of trafiic, sanitation, and noise to deal with if you farm the land nearby. Here’s hoping the new owners allow the field to remain as is, so that future tourists can visit the site without bothering the neighbors.

This is one of those poll questions that is too early to ask, but I have pushed to my breaking point. The latest take on the fictional character Robin Hood opens this week, and it got me to thinking about the various movies. After realizing that this is a particular topic that needs to be put to pasture, I decided to once more figure out which is the best Robin Hood movie. Now, let’s get some ground rules. First, Robin Hood is a fictional character based on several figures in British history. Second, most of the info we know concerning this character come from songs created by minstrels who traveled from town to town, singing for entertainment and money. Third, I read dramatizations of the songs when I was a kid, so the common elements of the Robin Hood mythos are Sherwood Forest, his status as an outlaw, his band of merry men with Little John leading the way and his relation to Will Scarlett are all part of the songs at some point.
That being said, each movie includes some of the original myth as well as embellishment for its own sake. Erol Flynn’s movie is colorful and playful, Kevin Costner’s is more realistic, except for his lack of accent, Disney’s is a anthropomorphic fox, and Mel Brooks’ is a satire. There are probably a few I’ve missed (like I said, this character needs to be put to bed), but what I’ve seen of this new one with Russell Crowe, it appears maid Marian becomes a soldier. I’m sorry, but historically speaking, that would never happen. So of all the Robin Hood movies, my favorite one to watch is still Costner’s. I can live with the fluctuating accent.

Continuing with the poll typr posts, let’s pose another question: what is the best and worst superhero movie of all time? And when I say movie, I mean theater movie, not made for TV movie. For me, I have a hard time naming the best.  I grew up with many, the original Superman from the the 70s, Tim Burton’s Batman from 1989 and Batman Returns would all be contenders for me and it’s hard to select the top one. Picking the worst is hard because I am a bit of a snob when it comes to superhero movies. Any movie that doesn’t have a lead that interests me doesn’t make it on my radar. I have yet to watch any of the X-Men flicks or something from the Marvel universe and here’s why.

Being a superhero is a fantasy of most men and some women.  If you had an ability that is outside the normal range of humanity, you would be pretty stoked about it and the world would probably develop an unhealthy worship of you. Yet, every Marvel comics character hates the fact they have their powers and the world in the comic demonizes.  I’m sorry, but that’s a load of garbage, for reasons I said earlier. I can’t imagine anyone in this real world saying, “Oh, I have a titanium skeleton and can never be seriously injured. The world hates me for my gift.  Boo-hoo.” Give me a break.

I was born in 1977, the same year Star Wars debuted in theaters. While I did not see the first movie, I was able to see the second movie in theaters, and I have been a fan of the series ever since. I dragged my family to the theater to see Return of the Jedi 6 times. And as a kid, some of my favorite toys were the Star Wars toys. While my parents weren’t poor, we didn’t exactly have a lot of disposable income, so some of the bigger toys remained fantasies in my head. When the new trilogy came out in the 1990s, the floodgate of merchandise opened anew for Star Wars. And as an adult, I had a little more income in which to indulge. MSNBC just did a story today on some of the most memorable Star Wars merchandise not only from the original trilogy but also from the prequels and reminded me of some of the coolest Star Wars stuff. Bar none, the coolest item was the full size lightsaber replicas. Made from real metal and designed just like they were in the movie, each lightsaber had a colored tube that lit up and produced sound effects from the movies. There were cheaper models made from plastic and some made noise and others didn’t. If you are lucky enough to have one of the metal ones, you have an iconic piece of memorabilia.

This is so perposterous, I can’t even make this up.  There is a video on YouTube of a school play of…Scarface.  The Brian Depalma film holds the record for the most f-bombs dropped in a movie, never mind the violence and the drugs. I’ve watched the video; it’s legitimate. Kids in 2nd or 3rd grade using the word “fudge” as a substitute, a pile of popcorn represents the cocaine, and nerf guns and sound effects round out this production.  Now, I have no problem with watching the movie, if you’re an adult, but to have kids re-enact this particular movie almost seems like one of the seven signs of the apocalypse.  If you’re going to do a school play around a movie, I’m sure there are others out there that can entertain with offending.