Some movies are content to settle for the lowest common denominator, combining trashy ethnic stereotypes, bathroom humor and cheesy slapstick jokes in the hope of luring audiences for a cheap laugh.

But some movies aspire to go even lower. “Furry Vengeance” is that movie.

Keep your children far away from this odious film about an unscrupulous developer who is bulldozing a forest to make room for houses and ultimately, “a shopping mall with a forest theme.” Brendan Fraser plays the local manager for the developer. He has moved his
wife Tammy (played by Brooke Shields) and his son Tyler (played by Matt Prokop) from Chicago to the small town of Rocky Springs to supervise the construction of a few homes, not realizing that the master plan is to demolish the entire forest. The woodland creatures
(led by a wily raccoon) have figured out the sinister plot and launch an insurrection against Frazer and his company to protect their forest.

The movie “Idiocracy” imagines a future day when our society will be so dumbed down that we will be entertained by TV shows consisting of nothing but jokes about a man being hit in the crotch. Well, gentle readers, that day is here. Brendan Fraser not only suffers the predictable “I-landed- on the peak of a roof and it went right into my crotch” pratfall, but also the “a raccoon is biting me the crotch and won’t let go” and even some new ones: after he has been submerged in the pond Fraser announces, “I need to remove a leech from my no-no zone.” Then there’s the time his woodland foes adjust his lawn sprinkler to spray him in the crotch and the embarrassed Frazer announces ” look at Mr. Pee-Pee pants.”

It’s hard to think of who might not be offended by this wretched movie. Frazer’s ruthless Asian boss from the home office talks in a screechy sing-song voice, relies on calculators, electronic gadgets and hand sanitizers. The equally unscrupulous money men from India fare no better (“If my Indian investors wanted to be reminded of pollution they would stay home in Calcutta. Stinko!”) And of course, the movie doesn’t miss the opportunity to make fun of the difference between American Indians and citizens of India (“Wigwam? Teepee? Squaw?”) Then there’s the stereotyped Mexican laborer at the construction site, or the elderly teacher who is senile and annoys everybody with her slow pace and long lapses.

The entire movie is speckled with excrement, both literally and figuratively. Brendan Fraser gets trapped in a port-a-potty which rolls over and over and gets turned upside down. Birds with extreme digestive problems dive-bomb their enemies and spatter them with bird poop. When the Indian financier is about to sign the contract, a big wad of excrement spatters on the document and a discussion ensues about who is going to clean it off. And when it seems the prop department might have run out of excrement, skunks spew thick clouds of noxious fumes and animals spray other bodily fluids on their beleaguered foes.

Gender is treated in an equally appalling way. Fraser, with soap in his eyes, reaches out for a towel and ends up drying his face with his wife’s bra, which then unaccountably slips onto his arms so that it looks like he has been wearing it. At this moment, the woodland creatures raise the curtains so that the construction workers outside believe Frazer is a cross-dresser. The animals further cement this idea when they trick Fraser into wearing his wife’s pink exercise outfit (with the words “yum yum” written on the butt) out in public.

Normally, I try to find something good to say about each movie I review. Dear readers, I am speechless.

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70.  The Station Agent

“The Station Agent” is a little indie movie from one of my favorite directors you’ve probably never heard of — Thomas McCarthy.   Though you’d probably recognize him if you saw him; he’s also a talented and prolific supporting actor who shows up in movies like “Duplicity,”  “The Lovely Bones,”  “2012,” and “Flags of Our Fathers,”  among many others.

This is a quiet little movie about a quiet little man who just wants to be left alone, but gets drawn into friendship and community in spite of himself.   “The Station Agent” is a joy to watch, an effortless film that is alternately funny, heartbreaking, and profound.

It’s certainly the best, meatiest role that’s ever come Peter Dinklage’s way, and he rises to the challenge.  Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Canavale co-star.   Richard Kind and Michelle Williams make guest appearances, rounding out perhaps the best, most underrated cast in recent memory.

A Re-Tread Weekend At The Movies

This might be a good weekend to stay home and rent a movie. If you’re looking for something new, there are two new flicks to choose from, but really, will they be worth the price of admission? One is a re-tread of the tired old Freddy Krueger franchise. When will the movie makers finally give this blood-soaked-poorly-acted-franchise a rest. He dies, he comes back, he dies he comes back, he dies he comes back. Do us all a favor – Kill Freddie!

As for the second new movie offering of the weekend – Brendan Fraser is back on the big screen. While it’s true he is a bankable Hollywood figure, it’s also true he’s a one dimensional actor and if you’ve seen on Fraser movie, you’ve pretty much seen them all.

New Movies On The Big Screen

A Nightmare on Elm Street – Rated R on 3,332 screens
Jackie Earle Haley takes on the role of Freddy Krueger in this reboot of the horror franchise. To refresh your memory, Krueger terrorizes teens who live on Elm Street in their dreams. Twilight actor Kellan Lutz, Melrose Place actress Katie Cassidy and Friday Night Lights actress Connie Britton also star.

Furry Vengeance – PG on 2,997 screens
Brendan Fraser is a real estate developer who relocates his family from Chicago to Oregon to oversee an urban development project. Little does he know that he has to contend with a raccoon and other angry animals whose homes are endangered by the project. Brooke Shields and The Hangover actor Ken Jeong also star.

Maybe….enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus

Danny Trejo is apparently upset that he was excluded from The Expendables when early talks of the film suggested that he was firmly a part of the cast.

Well now he comes forward shooting his mouth off about why he thinks he wasn’t included.

WorstPreviews quotes:

“Let me tell you about ‘The Expendables’,” said Trejo. “Stallone said I was in ‘The Expendables’ so he could raise his money, you know what I mean? Because I bring in the Latin audience. So I was in ‘The Expendables’ all the way up until the time they started casting. I’m not in ‘The Expendables.’ That’s one of Hollywood’s ploys to… how do you say it? They have this huge cast, and then all of a sudden, when it comes time to cast, the people that actually raised the money aren’t in it.”

He was then asked if he feels like Stallone used him. “Of course. Come on, man. All them guys — supplements are making them nuts,” he replied.

Sounds more like angry talk when he takes personal jabs suggesting that “supplements are making them nuts”

While there might be a shred of truth that there was big talk of big cast, and name dropping lots of celebrities does help make the movie, but when it comes down to brass tacks, when the movie finally gets made – thats when we find out who they could afford, who fits the script, and all those other adjustments a final project gets.

They turfed 50Cent for Terry Crews (traded up for an ACTOR), and Whitaker had a scheduling conflict. That he didn’t include Trejo could have been for a dozen reasons, but I don’t think they name dropped him as being on the cast just to lure in a Latino audience.

He was name dropped because they likely wanted to use him in the first place. Or maybe this tantrum is an indicator of why they dropped him? Who knows.

But I assure you it wasn’t “the supplements”. Its just business.

Do you think Trejo would have made for a bigger draw? I don’t.

With Nightmare on Elm Street officially being rebooted today, the door is closed on the original series. But that doesn’t mean we have to forget it happened, and the original franchise has a lot of history.

So this documentary has been created that looks at the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street covering how it came to be, the cultural impact of the franchise and the films themselves.

Check out this clip with Wes Craven talking about his inspirations in creating the now iconic Freddy Krueger.

I am on my way to see Nightmare right now, and I love most of the series. I hope this lives up.

Via

The Federal Trade Commission has a terrific new online game for kids that will teach them to understand the difference between someone trying to tell them something and someone trying to sell them something. It’s called Admongo.

The FTC’s message to parents:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has created the Admongo campaign to help teach kids about advertising. The campaign has four parts:

* a game-based website at Admongo.gov;
* sample ads that can be used in the classroom;
* a free curriculum for use in the 5th and 6th grades, developed with Scholastic, Inc. and
* teacher training videos.

Together, these tools can help teach kids basic ad literacy skills.

As a parent, you can be a valuable partner in this campaign to help equip your kids with the critical thinking skills they need to be smarter consumers. With your help, kids can learn to ask three key “critical thinking” questions when they encounter advertising:

* Who’s responsible for the ad?
* What is the ad actually saying?
* What does it want you to buy, do, or think?

By applying the information they learn through this campaign, your kids will be able to recognize ads, understand them, and make smarter decisions as they navigate the commercial world.

The site also has resources for teachers to help them include media literacy in the curriculum.

The game is not enough to teach kids the difference between genuine opinion and advertising, but if it inspires conversations with parents that are reinforced throughout the week as we model our own responses to the messages in the media, that will remind not only kids but the rest of the family of how insidious these messages can be.

Many thanks to Pat Goslee for showing me this site.

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The Federal Trade Commission has a terrific new online game for kids that will teach them to understand the difference between someone trying to tell them something and someone trying to sell them something. It’s called Admongo.

The FTC’s message to parents:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has created the Admongo campaign to help teach kids about advertising. The campaign has four parts:

* a game-based website at Admongo.gov;
* sample ads that can be used in the classroom;
* a free curriculum for use in the 5th and 6th grades, developed with Scholastic, Inc. and
* teacher training videos.

Together, these tools can help teach kids basic ad literacy skills.

As a parent, you can be a valuable partner in this campaign to help equip your kids with the critical thinking skills they need to be smarter consumers. With your help, kids can learn to ask three key “critical thinking” questions when they encounter advertising:

* Who’s responsible for the ad?
* What is the ad actually saying?
* What does it want you to buy, do, or think?

By applying the information they learn through this campaign, your kids will be able to recognize ads, understand them, and make smarter decisions as they navigate the commercial world.

The site also has resources for teachers to help them include media literacy in the curriculum.

The game is not enough to teach kids the difference between genuine opinion and advertising, but if it inspires conversations with parents that are reinforced throughout the week as we model our own responses to the messages in the media, that will remind not only kids but the rest of the family of how insidious these messages can be.

Many thanks to Pat Goslee for showing me this site.

Read this post »

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has announced its nominees for the TOADY award (Toys Oppressive And Destructive to Young Children). Anyone can vote to select the worst from candidates that include a Halo toy for children promoting a violent M-rated video game. Visit the website to vote — you may win one of four un-TOADY toys.

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Ass-Kicking PartnersAs far as comic book heroes making that contemporary leap to the silver screen goes, at DC’s end, The Dark Knight did it over Batman Begins. At Marvel’s, Iron Man joins the ranks of its other A-listed heroes Spiderman and X-Men in having its second film trounce the first. Actor-Director Jon Favreau lived up to the hype and expectations of the Iron Man sequel and delivered

Amara played by Tonto Dikeh is her mother’s main worry. She is jobless, disrespectful and will not listen to reason. Her sister ChiChi played by Eve Esin on the other hand is the exact opposite. Not only does she work long hours as a nurse but then she comes home to do the cooking and other household chores. The concern for Amara increases when she decides to go and live with her friend Nkiru in the city. They are dead set against it but cannot do anything to stop the stubborn and strong willed Amara. She ends up in the city but life brings her than she bargained for.