My sisters and I had a tradition in college. Every here and there we would get together to watch a really, really bad movie. Our “Bad Movie Nights” were a lot of fun, as we tore apart the plot, the acting, the special effects… anything that caught our interest. It made some really horrible movies quite watchable.

And yes, for the most part they were rented rather than watched in the movie theater. Can’t have near as much fun when in a theater and other people are there, wanting quiet.

So, in no particular order, otherwise known as the order in which I remember the titles:

1. Independence Day - Gosh, you can hack alien technology with a Mac? I guess Apples really are superior. Never did understand why some people thought this move was so brilliant. Good special effects, but for the rest… meh.
2. Batman & Robin - What the hell were they thinking when they made this movie? Stupid effects, campy even for a superhero movie.
3. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - Watched as a result of a dare placed after watching the #2 movie on this list. Which would be worse? We couldn’t believe what a close call it was.
4. Plan 9 From Outer Space - You can’t have a list of bad movies without mentioning this classic from Ed Wood, can you?
5. The Day After Tomorrow - Really lousy environmental disaster movie. The basic plot has been done over and over; only the details differ. Scientist makes prediction. He’s mocked. He’s right, but his child is in the path of danger. Blah, blah, blah. Nice special effects, although I don’t consider that a big accomplishment given current technology.
6. The Core - Whimper, whimper. Anyone bring the jumper cables? The core of the earth has stopped spinning and we need to start it back up again!
7. Broken Arrow - “Please do not shoot at the nuclear weapon” and other such gems for daily living. And of course that endangered mud. Guys, if you introduce that kind of factor into a movie, have it be more than a bit of throwaway environmentalism. Please.
8. The Avengers - True torture for my stepmother, who grew up watching the show. Just a mess of a movie.
9. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Make yourself a promise. You will never, ever watch this movie unless it is in a theater, at midnight, with a bunch of lunatics who have the whole thing memorized and are prepared to shout out lines and comments while dressed the part. It’s just not worth it any other way.
10. The Puppet Masters - I’ve never really understood how they could call it modernizing Robert Heinlein’s story when they cut the technology down to mighty close to what we have now. And the characters, ouch!
11. Starship Troopers - Take a novel. Cut it down to the most basic plot, but save the character names. Then claim your movie is based on the novel. That’s about what they did to this Robert Heinlein novel.
12. Godzilla - Or perhaps just Godawful. The title might just work as well.
13. Battlefield Earth - Bad even by bad movie standards. Psychlo? Can’t you get more creative than that, Mr. Hubbard? Travolta, the costumes needed a lot more work. A lot.

Of course, there are plenty more out there. We did this regularly for years, but I can’t remember all the titles.

And if you heard a scream as you read #11, that was when my fingernails hit an odd combination of keys and deleted the saved only up to #4 post.

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It’s something seeing all the hype leading up to the Simpson’s Movie. It makes me wonder if I’m not the only one who thinks they should have done it years ago. Honestly, I’ve felt that the show has been on a steady downhill slide these past few years, so a movie is not that exciting to me. But a few years ago I would have been more interested.

I do enjoy seeing everything they’re doing for it, though. Such as turning a variety of 7-11s into Kwik-E-Marts. Very cute. None in my area, and I don’t plan on going to the 7-11 just a few blocks away to see if they have any of the merchandise left.

Themed shops are cute, but my personal favorite is the one in Lathrop, CA. It looks like a flying saucer crashed into it, and there are aliens throughout the store. Lots of fun, and my kids insist on stopping there whenever we pass through on the way to Sacramento.

Technorati Tags: simpsons movie, kwik-e-mart, themed shops

Not personally, as a general rule, but then I haven’t really dealt with anything of the sort. It can depend on how you define superstitious or the supernatural. My sisters and I have managed to unnerve people by talking simultaneously, saying the exact same things. Just comes natural to us on occasion.

But ghosts and the like I’ve never had a need to believe in. I’m the sort who would need to see it to believe it.

Perhaps like Mike Eislin in the 1408 Movie. Somehow that is not a pleasant thought after watching the trailer.

For people who love horror movies, this looks pretty good. Stephen King, after all, just for starters, and what appears to be a nice, chilling premise. Basically, Mike Eislin (John Cusack), is a bestselling author who has been discrediting the paranormal. He has gone to various haunted houses and graveyards, and the only result he has had is a disbelief in the afterlife.

But his stay in room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel as a part of a new project, “Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms” changes everything. He ignores the warnings of the hotel manager, and becomes the first in years to stay in that room. Eislin must battle his skepticism as he tries to survive.

All in all, the 1408 Movie looks quite terrifying. I’m sure my husband will be begging to go see it just as soon as he sees the trailers. Very much his kind of movie.

It’s nice seeing Disney work the multicultural angle neatly into their animated movies. And now they’re going to have their first black princess in their upcoming movie, The Frog Princess.

Like any little girl, my daughter loves Disney princesses. However, her favorite princess is not a Disney princess. She loves Rapunzel best, and she hasn’t even seen the Barbie version of that movie.

No plot hints, aside from calling it an American fairy tale about a girl in New Orleans.

Some people are concerned with how sensitive Disney will be, calling the movie with their first black princess “The Frog Princess”. It’s certainly not the most flattering title. But if Disney follows the current formula, she’s be headstrong. Read the rest of this entry »

We went the other day to see the new movie, Happily N’ever After. It was pretty cute, but I’ve seen better, such as Shrek.

My daughter loved it, though. She’s 4 and a recovering Cinderella fan. Rapunzel is more her style these days. The Ella in this movie was far enough removed from the Cinderella she knows from the Disney movie or from Ella Enchanted that I don’t know that she considered it a different version of that same character.

The characters were pretty interesting. The Wicked Stepmother played up the frustration of being one of the bad guys who always lose. Prince Charming was a most by the book character… literally. Then there were the assorted wolves and other fairy tale bad guys. Read the rest of this entry »