Reviews

Everyone knows that sequels never live up to the predecessors. There are many exceptions to this rule, but Scary Movie 2 is not one of them. It seems that Keenan Ivory Wayans, once the brains behind clever parodies and satires, and his brothers just slapped together a bunch a jokes and tied it up with a weak plot just to cash in on the success of the original.

The jokes this time around mostly fall flat on their face simply because a) they last too long (i.e - Chris Elliot's deformed hand in the food) or b) it's been done before in the previous movie. Oh, and I don't know what the Wayans were thinking when they thought that sticking in pop culture catch phrases would garnish laughs (specifically the parrot mimicking a certain British gameshow host -- you know the line, the guy who fancies himself a comedian at work by the water cooler always says it in everyday conversation thinking it's a side splitter).

The original Scary Movie got a lot of it's fuel from shocking its audience (with jokes you'd think would've gotten them an NC-17) or by going against the conventions (i.e. - the killer is never caught and the main character gets run over in the end). The only thing shocking that can be said of Scary Movie 2 is that it doesn't even come close to the risks taken by the first movie.

The final nail in the coffin came from the movies clumsy plot. It seems that they jerked around for a good hour or so until the professor's assistant tells everyone how to rid the polterguist pretty easily and BOOM!, conflict resolved quicker than you thought there was one. It makes you wonder why the Wayans never explained how come they couldn't have just done this sooner instead of having everyone run around like idiots (or, for that matter, why they didn't explain how all the characters who were supposedly killed off in the first movie were all fine and dandy for the sequel).

You could probably do worst than Scary Movie 2, but you can definitely do a whole lot better. You're not missing much here if you haven't seen it yet.

Why this show was cancelled so quick is beyond me. Oh yeah... the ratings. Well it's not the show's fault, it was the time slot (it was on at 8:30am on Saturdays where I live). This show was great nontheless with its take on the kid show genre in general. I still love the Bill Nye parody where everyone is singing "The Grass is Green" (you have to see it to understand) and the 80% Chance of Rain (a spoof on disaster movies). I hope they release these on tape sometime soon.

What's the deal with Disney movies lately? I mean, the live action ones. Okay, even the animated movies are losing its luster. With that said, Inspector Gadget has got to be the worst live action Disney movie to date (or at least of the ones I seen). What happen to all the TRON's and MIDNIGHT MADNESS'S?

Where shall I begin? Let's start with the over commercialisation of the movie in general. Was the blatant Yahoo reference supposed to be funny? It would have been less insulting if the movie just paused for a commercial break. And I think I had enough of Disney slapping their name into the script (i.e. the car nonchalantly says "...this is a Disney movie...").

Now let's move on to the utter disrespect for the traditions the cartoon set. The car NEVER talked (this is not Knight Rider) and Dr. Claw was NEVER seen. I admit they got the other mundane details right but the visible Dr. Claw just made it so detached from it's cartoon roots.

Trust me when I say you'll get more enjoyment by watching re-runs of the old Inspector Gadget cartoons instead of sitting through this special effect dreck.

I can see how the "hardcore modern gamers" would hate this game. What they fail to realize is that this was more than a game, it was innovation in the field of animation. Sure you couldn't directly control Dirk the Daring's moves, but you're decisions instead at key moments were the difference between Dirk being one step closer to Daphne (the Princess) and the decaying skeletal remains of failure.

Don Bluth was certainly a genius for coming up with something so simple and addicting, even though Laserdisc games in general never went to far in the industry. Dragon's Lair's animation was top notch and kept quarters rolling in simply to view the beautiful animation on screens once reserved for simple computer pixels. It's no wonder this game is one of only three arcade games in the Smithsonian (Pong and Pac-Man are the other two).

Thankfully, after 17 years, we finally have a 'perfect' home version thanks to DVD technology and Digital Leisure. You can buy it for a standard DVD player (along with getting interviews with Bluth and a 'watch' mode so you can enjoy the animation without entering moves) or the DVD-ROM version (which is more faithful to the arcade by not replaying the 'resurrection' scene before each new scene and randomising the scenes but lacks the extras of the regular DVD).

Don't let the simplistic gameplay stop you from enjoying what is a piece of history in animation.

This gameshow was great when I was a kid. Contestants taking their hard earned money to buy grotesque prizes... it was wonderful. Now it's getting all a little overdone, like most gameshows nowadays. The excess graphics and hoopla surrounding the show really doesn't jazz up the game itself, which has become dull ever since they stopped with the shopping segments and when they started giving you R, S, T, L, N, and E automatically. And is Vanna White even necessary anymore? She touches the screen! They can do that automatically.

It's not a bad show - just no fun for me anymore. It's just another case of a gameshow taking itself way too seriously. Please bring back the simplicity and fun of the old gameshows!

Xanadu, for all it's worth, was a perfect beginning to a cheesy decade and a great end for a tacky decade.

It seems Sonny Malone (Michael Beck -- in pretty much the only movie I've ever seen him in) is a discouraged young starving artist. Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) is a long retired musician and millionaire who dreams of another "opening night". Enter Kira (Olivia Newton John) a roller skating muse, along with eight other women we never hear from again. Her presence brings together these two mens' dreams to form Xanadu... a place where dreams are realized (providing those dreams involve roller skating in some way).

Okay, let's be blunt here. This move is horrible. But that's what makes it so good. Anyone can watch this movie and thumb their respective noses at it. However, if you go in with the attitude of poking fun at cinema misfires (in full MST3K state-of-mind) you'll enjoy yourself. What other movie has Gene Kelly dancing in a giant pinball machine or a heavenly world that resembles a close up of a hot grill or Olivia Newton John emitting a purple vapor trail wherever she goes?

You'll probably get best results from the DVD version, since you can skip the boring scenes (i.e. the Don Bluth Animation -- no offense to him or anything) and perhaps jump right to the Franchise Glitz Dealer scene. Oh, and the soundtrack by itself is excellent. With memorable songs by Electric Light Ochestra and Olivia Newton John, it's definitely the highlight of the movie itself (well besides the trippy scene wipes and cheesy yellow laser graphics).

I only wish this wasn't Gene Kelly's last movie role before his death over a decade later. Nevertheless, Xanadu deserves a place on your shelf right next to your copy of Plan 9 From Outer Space.