Month: April 2018

THE MONKEY’S UNCLE (1965)

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My parents had a few volumes of Disney classic songs that I LOVED to listen to growing up. On one of the volumes was the song “The Monkey’s Uncle”. I had no idea where this song came from but I liked it. Well, now I have seen the movie from which the song came and I must say that it makes a lot more sense now. We didn’t realize that this was actually a sequel until after we starting watching it…ah well. Merlin Jones has adopted a monkey and is using him to test his latest invention, a machine that teaches you any information while you sleep. So when the football team is in trouble because two of their greatest players are going to flunk out, the college turns to Merlin to help them cheat honestly. Uh..yeah, ok.. What is with this “honest cheating” thing in these college movies. Remember The Absent Minded Professor? Cheating is cheating people. The movie is fine for a one-time viewing and to know where the song I had heard my whole life is from.

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DARBY O’GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE (1959)

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Who knew that Sean Connery was ever that young. Crazy. Darby O’Gill is pretty much branded the town idiot and doesn’t help matters when he tells everyone how he has outsmarted and captured the King of the Leprechauns. The thing is, he has actually captured the King of the Leprechauns and needs him to grant him his wishes so he can make everything in his life right again. You see, he is about to be replaced as caretaker for a Lord’s estate by a young Sean Connery. This movie is pretty much all the stereotypical Irish persona, myth and folklore rolled into one. Why yes, there is a banshee in the movie. The movie as a whole wasn’t great. There are a couple things here and there to chuckle at but all in all, you don’t have to see this. The most interesting thing about this movie was watching the “how they did it” bonus content. They showed the making of the movie and how they used the power of perception to make the leprechauns look so small next to humans. That’s right. They didn’t use fancy CGI. It is all forced perspective. Pretty neat.
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THE ROCKETEER (1991)

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During WWII, Nazi spies in America are trying to steal an object that will help them take over the world. But never fear, a young good-looking man will swoop in and save the day and get the girl. Think I am talking about Indiana Jones? Nope. I am talking about The Rocketeer. This movie tried so hard to be another Indiana Jones but didn’t quite make it. A young pilot comes across a jetpack that allows him to fly, save the day and become The Rocketeer. Of course, Nazis and gangsters want the jetpack for themselves and so the battle for the machine ensues. The movie was pretty predictable and we got bored after a while. While it was fine for a one-time viewing, I don’t need to see it again. Disney wanted to turn this into a franchise and do more films and it never came to be. That is just fine with us.
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A FAR OFF PLACE (1993)

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Little Reese Witherspoon!! This movie was another one of those pleasant surprises. Neither one of us had seen this and had no idea what it was about or if it was any good. Nonni and Harry just met and are from opposite worlds. But after poachers kill their parents, they must trek across the Kalahari Desert with native African, Xhabbo, to safety before the poachers hunt them down as well. We got into it. We had to see if they would make it. While it isn’t a movie that I would scream at everyone absolutely must see, see it. Elephant lovers be warned that I was crying, a lot, within the first 5 minutes.

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SACRED PLANET (2004)

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A nature documentary with a slightly different twist. This movie focused on the diverse landscapes of our planet and tells stories of the different people that inhabit it. It was interesting to see how some of the ancients tribes that were shown were living. So vastly different from our lifestyles in modern America. With such interesting content, I am not sure why the movie still felt like it dragged. We got a little bored. I think maybe it seemed too forced or fake when it could have just flowed naturally if they let it.

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MR. MAGOO (1997)

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A live-action adaptation of the classic cartoon character. It’s about an old man who gets into trouble due to the fact that he needs glasses but won’t wear them. This is one of those movies that you can’t take too seriously. It is all about physical comedy and crazy situations…the more outrageous the better. But even putting that into account, it still isn’t a great movie. We got bored and to a point where we just didn’t care much about what happened to the characters. Kids may think that the physical comedy is entertaining but adults will probably want to take a pass. We are fine with seeing it once but never need to see it again.

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II (2002)

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In this sequel, Quasimodo meets, and falls in love, with a circus girl who is forced by her boss to trick Quasimodo so he can steal a bell from the bell tower. The whole movie is pretty ridiculous and the animation is cheap looking. There really was no need for this movie to be made. Now it is nice to see that Quasimodo finds someone he loves and someone that loves him back, but the rest of it was just hard to get through. While kids I am sure will be entertained, no one really needs to make the effort to watch this one.

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STANLEY’S DINOSAUR ROUND-UP (2006)

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Now since this movie was made for Disney Junior, it was pretty hard for us to get through. We assume young kids would love it. They would love seeing Stanley learn about dinosaurs and see him finally get brave enough to ride a horse. But adults, you do not need to watch this. I feel for parents who have young kids that watch these kinds of things over and over, and parents just have to try and live through it over and over. Now while there were moments that made us laugh and once we just let ourselves accept that everything was going to be ridiculous so let’s just make fun of it, it wasn’t awful.

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