Top 10 Movie Bunnies

With Easter just around the corner I give my favorite rabbits/bunnies in film. You will not see Harvey or the rabbits from Watership Down, as I have not seen those movies yet.

10. Easter Bunny (Mallrats)

Jay and Silent Bob attacked this poor guy for revenge after their friend claims, but was not, he was attacked by the mall's Easter Bunny. Funny how the kids quickly turned on E.B. as well.

9. Cute and Fuzzy Bunnies (One Crazy Summer)

A product of Hoops (John Cusack) drawings, these bunnies seek to destroy all happy relationships. This is a pretty fun 80's flick.  

 8. Rabbit in the hat (Twilight Zone: The Movie)

Definitely the ugliest rabbit on the list; a hairless hare. The first rabbit to come out of the hat was cute and fuzzy, but not the second one. Not all rabbits that emerge from top hats are fun.

7. Frank (Donnie Darko)

Frank, the costumed, end of the world prophesying rabbit. He also influences Donnie to flood a school and burn down a house. Not someone I would want 'visiting' me.

6. Thumper (Bambi)

The food patting rabbit that helps Bambi learn to walk and talk. He was my favorite character in the movie. 

5. White Rabbit (Alice in Wonderland)

He;s late, he's late, for a very important date. I am referring to the original white rabbit in this spot, not the Tim Burton version. Although, he was pretty cool too.

4. The Were-Rabbit (Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-rabbit)

I really could include all the rabbits from this movie, because they are brilliantly designed. But it is this veggie chomping rabbit that takes the 4 spot.

3. Killer rabbit of Caerbonnog (Monthy Python and the Holy Grail)

"What's he do, nibble your bum?" He may be the cutest on the list- and the most ferocious as well.

2. Bugs Bunny (Space Jam and Looney Tunes: Back in Action)

Arguably the greatest Bunny of all-time. After years on the small screen, he finally made it to the big screen in a couple of movies. If we factor in his TV series he would probably be #1, but this is a movie list.

1. Roger Rabbit (Who framed Roger Rabbit?)

The question everyone wants to know the answer to. How did this guy land Jessica Rabbit? Regardless, this bumbling rabbit is the best 'bunny' in film. 




Source: Google

Tree Leaves: Summer Movies

I am adding a new segment to the blog called Tree Leaves. I will put a question out there and I want to hear back from you! So please 'leave' (funny, funny) your answer in a comment.


What summer movie release are you looking forward to the most?

Weekly Recap: March 17- March 23, 2013

A recap of the movies I watched for the first time this past week.

Featured:

Moonraker (1979)- 6/10

James Bond (Roger Moore) goes to space to stop madman Hugo Drax from destroy and repopulate Earth. This is by far the silliest of the Bond movies I have seen- especially when Jaws, back for another adventure, is on screen. That said, it was still a pretty good time. Moore was back and pretty good again. I was expecting Bond to spend a little more time in space though- given the movie poster.





The Rest:

Skyfall (2012)- 7/10- You can see my full review in the previous post. It was good, but did not meet expectations.

Scooby Doo in where's my mummy? (2005)- 5/10- Another decent Scooby Doo flick. This one has a 'surprise' villain at the end.

Hop (2011)- 4/10- Just in time for Easter. I waited an entire year because I missed it last Easter. Normally I enjoy kiddie movies, but this one never pulled me in.



Movies watched this week: 4
Movies watched in 2013: 43


Source: IMDB

Skyfall Reviewed

I finally got Skyfall is the mail this week. I don't get to the movie theater much because of my little guy, so I am forced to wait until my DVD provider gets them to me. Skyfall was one of my most anticipated movies of 2012, so it was tough to wait so long. So did it live up to the hype?

In my opinion, it did not. This is not to say it is a bad movie, but it did not feel like a 'Bond' movie to me. Sure, there were a lot of nods to the 'old' ones (which I loved- especially at the end of the movie), but it never connected with me. If it weren't for the nods to the old films, and the Bond name, it would have just been another thriller for me.

Javier Bardem was pretty awesome as the villain, but he just didn't get enough screen time. It was not until he arrived that the movie really took off. But it lost me again when Bond arrived at 'Skyfall.'

I won't dig too deep because I don't want to give things away- just in case someone out there has not seen it yet (although I'm pretty sure I was the last one to do so). It certainly is not a bad movie; it is rather entertaining and I reserve the right to increase the rating upon a second viewing. It just was underwhelming to me. It is possible that I set my standards too high, but folks were saying this was the best Bond yet. No hardly.

My Rating: 7/10

 
Source: www.007.com

Weekly Recap: March 10- March 16, 2013

A recap of the movies I watched for the first time this past week.


Featured:

Nature Calls (2012)- 3/10

Randy (Patton Oswalt) hijacks his brother's (Johnny Knoxville) adopted son and his friends from a sleepover and takes them camping. His brother and the parents of the kids then track him down. This movie was actually better than I thought it would be, but still isn't very good. Oswalt wasn't bad in the lead, but Knoxville is very forgettable here. Rob Riggle was beyond annoying as Knoxville's best friend.





Movies watched this week: 1
Movies watched in 2013: 39


Source: IMDB

Top 10 Green Movie Characters

With St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, I have decided to share my favorite green movie characters.


Honorable Mention: Greedo, Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Rex

10. Shrek (The Shrek Franchise)

Not the prettiest character, but this lovable Ogre, voiced by Mike Myers, brings the funny in this family franchise.

9. Jabba the Hutt (The Star Wars Saga)

Speaking of ugly characters, this overgrown tadpole has to be the ugliest character in the Star Wars' universe; and that is saying something.

8. The Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!)

"You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch." He is THE classic Christmas villain. I wasn't a big fan of Jim Carrey's version though.

7. Hulk (Hulk, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers)

Although he has been played by 3 different characters in his recent movies, it is the big green guy we care about- not what he looks like in human form.

6. Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too." She really hated that dog. I haven't seen the new Oz yet, but I doubt the 'new' Wicked Witch will live up to the original.

5. Mike Wazowski (Monsters, Inc., Monsters University)

I can't wait for Monsters University to come out so we can see Mike (Billy Crystal) and the Monsters back in action.

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I-III, TMNT)

Go Ninja, go ninja, go! Giant fighting turtles who are obsessed with pizza- who thinks this stuff up? It should come as no surprise that we are getting a Turtles reboot soon.

 3. Frankenstein's Monster (Frankenstein, Monster Squad, Van Helsing)

He is not always portrayed as green (in the really good ones he is black and white) but he makes the list anyways.  There are too many movies to list, so I included my faves.

2. Slimer (Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2)

That is a lot of hot dogs- watch out Joey Chestnut, this one hungry ghost. Every time we see him he is eating.

1. Yoda (The Star Wars Saga)

Was there really any question? Master Yoda is the greatest green character of all time. I prefer the puppet from the original trilogy, but it was cool to see him in fighting action.











Source: Google

Sequels...The Sequel

It is not my intention to keep writing about sequels, but they are just so prevalent these days. Yesterday as I was looking at the upcoming movies for the remainder of the year, there were an awful lot of sequels on the list. In fact, I counted 28 sequels set to release through the end of 2013- starting with G.I. Joe: Retaliation releasing on March 29. That list doesn't even count the sequels that have already been released.

Again, it is not that I do not enjoy sequels. I am really looking forward to a number of them- Ironman 3, Star Trek Into Darkness. That was just a shocking number to me. It has gotten to the point to where we are going to get a sequel to every movie that makes money- even if the main characters are killed off in the first one.

Weekly Recap: March 3- March 9, 2013

A weekly recap of the movies I watched for the first time this past week.


Featured:

The Bourne Legacy (2012)- 6/10

I wasn't on board with a Bourne movie without Matt Damon; and after seeing it, that feeling hasn't changed.  The movie isn't terrible, and Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz worked well together, but it didn't live up to the original trilogy. Aside from the the references to Bourne and Treadstone, this movie never felt like it fit into the Bourne story. I didn't like the whole 'super soldier' aspect either. I like my Treadstone operatives to be bad-as without chemical help.




The Rest:

Sinister (2012)- 7/10- It wasn't the greatest horror movie of all-time, but it is probably the best I have seen in some time. There were really no parts that lagged, and I must say, it creeped me out a bit.

Machete (2010)- 5/10- The best part of Grindhouse (2007) were the 30 sec fake trailers in between the two movies- including Machete. They were able to transform that 30 sec trailer into a decently entertaining B-movie.

Let's Go to Prison (2006)- 5/10- I am a big fan of Will Arnett, and Dax Shepard is pretty funny as well. This movie has its moments and overall is a decent comedy.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012)- 4/10- I haven't really been a fan from the beginning, but the 'epic' conclusion was the cheesiest of them all. I will say that the fight scene at the end was the best part of the entire series; unexpectantly graphic.



Movies watched this week: 5
Movies watched in 2013: 38


Source: IMDB

Unnecessary Sequels/Prequels

In this day and age, if Hollywood isn't remaking a movie, they are making a prequel/sequel for the movie. Any movie that makes any money at all is treated with the sequel treatment. You could argue that most sequels/prequels are unnecessary, but that is not to say I don't enjoy some of them. In fact, I recently posted 3 upcoming comedy sequels I am looking forward to (I left out Hangover 3 because I am not quite sure about that one yet). Some sequels are even better than the originals. Though I have yet to see a prequel that is better than the original, but there are good prequels out there as well.

A lot of sequels/prequels diminish the power of the original- especially once you get to the 3rd or 4th installment of the franchise; again, not the case with all movie franchises. There are a lot of upcoming sequel/prequels that I am less than excited about. In fact, one of them comes out this weekend- Oz the Great and Powerful.

The Wizard of Oz has withstood the test of time and is still a favorite to most young children. Despite being filmed almost 75 years ago, it holds up very well today. Now the upcoming prequel is not the first time someone has tried to continue this story, but will no doubt be the biggest attempt. I haven't seen it, but I do hear that Return to Oz (1985) is quite good; but it wasn't well received by audiences. My two fears with the new Oz are CGI (we saw what that did to the Star Wars franchise) and James Franco. Now I like James Franco in almost everything he is in, but I just think this role is too big for him; and from the reviews I have read, that is the case. I will give it a chance, but I am not going into this one with high expectations. Usually I would trust Sam Raimi, but I worry about this one as it will be very hard to live up to the original. And as I am writing this, an article came across that a sequel to the prequel is already in the works.

One franchise that insists on putting out a sequel pretty much every year is Resident Evil- despite the fact that none of the sequels are really any good. I am a big fan of the game, and loved the first Resident Evil (even though it isn't much like the game), but the franchise has gone downhill with each new installment. At least they are mixing in characters from the games, but it really isn't helping. It has now been announced that we will get a 6th Resident Evil in 2014. I guess I cannot blame them, they are making a ton of money with each one. Let's just hope this is the last one.

The last I will discuss is the planned sequel to a movie I just completed- Sinister. Although I did not like it as much as most people have, I found Sinister to be a smart and terrifying horror movie; that is rare nowadays. So why can't we just leave it at that? Sure they left it open at the end to continue the story, but it is not necessary. A sequel will simply make the original film lose its power. But it is a horror movie that made a lot of money at the box office, so we should have seen this coming. Any horror movie that makes a little money is quickly turned into a franchise.

Sequels and prequels are not going away, and like I said, there are a lot of good ones out there. But most of them are simply unnecessary.

Source: FilmAffinity

Weekly Recap: Feb 24- Mar 2, 2013

A recap of the movies I watched for this first time this past week.

Featured:

Flight (2012)- 7/10

I have not seen many scenes that were more intense than the plane crash scene. It was brilliantly done, and had me sweating while watching. Denzel was great as always; he definitely deserved his Oscar nom. About half way through the movie I was thinking it was going to be a solid 8/10, but it slowed down as it moved to the end. Not that the second half is bad by any means, but just not great. It's worth watching for Denzel's performance and that awesome crash scene.




The Rest:

Repo Men (2010)- 4/10- I just never really got into this one. If you like blood, you will like this one. It is definitely not for the squeamish.

Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011)- 4/10- They really screwed up Shaggy's character in this one. The direct to DVD Scooby-Doo! series isn't great to begin with, but this one was disappointing.


Movies watched this week: 3
Movies watched in 2013: 33


Source: FilmAffinity

Top 10 Bill Murray Movies

Bill Murry has been producing funny movies for longer than I have been alive. The other night I caught one of my favorite Bill Murray movies, Stripes, on TV and I decided to make a list of my 10 favorite Murray movies. This was pretty tough, because their were a lot of options, but here we go.

 10. Caddyshack (1980)- 7/10

I don't like this movie as much as most people claim to- it just doesn't hold up as well when you watch it now. Nevertheless, Carl the groundskeeper is one of Murray's best and most memorable characters.

9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)- 7/10

This was the first Wes Anderson movie I saw, and of course it made me a fan. Murray awesome as Steve Zissou, a man seeking revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner.

8. What About Bob? (1991)- 8/10

Murray brilliantly plays an obsessive compulsive recluse who follows his Doctor on vacation to seek help. This is probably not one of Murray's most popular roles, but this is a hilarious movie.

7. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)- 8/10

Wes Anderson likes to use Bill Murray in his movies (for good reason) and this is the best in my opinion. Murray is great as the father of a runaway girl. I enjoyed Murray himself better in Life Aquatic, but this is the better movie.

 6. Ghostbusters 2 (1989)- 8/10

I'll admit this is a corny movie, and does not even come close to the greatness of the first film. But Dr. Peter Venkman and the gang were back in action and that was fun to see.  Maybe Murray will eventually sign off on #3.

5. Scrooged (1988)- 8/10

This 'modern' retelling of A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite holiday classics.  Surprisingly I did not catch it on TV last Christmas; it is usually on quite often during the holiday season.

4. Groundhog Day (1993)- 8/10

I cannot convince my wife that this is a good movie, but it is one of those I want to watch every time I see it on. Watching Murray, a TV weatherman, relive the same day over and over is quite entertaining.

3. The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)- 8/10

This is another one that isn't as revered as Murray's other films, but this is one of my favorites. What is not to like about Murray mistakenly stopping an assassination plot?








2. Stripes (1981)- 8/10

I certainly wouldn't want this guy joining the Army, but it is hilarious to watch. Not only is Murray great in this movie, but it stars Harold Ramis, Judge Reinhold and the late John Candy. What a comedy team. 

1. Ghostbusters (1984)- 10/10

It really should come as no surprise that this takes the top spot. This is still one of my favorite movies of all-time. Not only to Murray and Ramis re-team, but they added Dan Aykroyd as well. I wouldn't mind seeing them strap on their proton packs and fighting the undead again.








Source: FilmAffinity

Comedy Sequels

There has been a lot of news about comedy sequels in the last few weeks. Of course nowadays Hollywood is making a sequel for every movie that makes a little money. But there are 3 that I am especially excited about.

The one I am probably most excited for is the announced sequel to Hot Tub Time Machine. I am a huge fan of this movie- it is the best comedy I have seen in recent years. So far most of the cast is on board, but no confirmation that John Cusack will be back. Although I am excited to see where they take this story with a second film, it will not be the same without Cusack. The rest of the cast was great- with Craig Robinson, Clark Duke and Rob Corddry (Motley Lue!)- but Cusack needs to return.

Yesterday I read that the Broken Lizard boys are finally moving forward with a sequel to Super Troopers; another great one! Most of Broken Lizard's filmography is pretty entertaining, but none top the Spurbury Highway Patrolmen. Car Ram-Rod is back! And weren't we supposed to get a sequel to Beerfest? Maybe that is next on their list. 

Today there was news on the upcoming Nation Lampoon's Vacation sequel, more like spin-off, staring Ed Helms as Rusty.  Helms will now be the 5th Rusty in the series. This one will probably have less of Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, but I am sure they will make an appearance. The good news of the day is the new Griswolds family will be returning to Wally World! A Vacation without Chase could ruin the franchise, but I think Helms is funny enough to continue it on.
 

Source: Joblo.com