FAN: RIP John Hughes

Wow. I was sad to hear this news today. Depressed really. The movies this man made while I was in my teen years will never be forgotten. I am hopping over to Kevin Smith's website to see what he had to say since Hughes is one of his idols. Please check out this video clip, it put a smile on my face....especially starting at around 4:20. Too bad the individual who created this didn't know the correct title of the song. Someday when my daughter is around 14 or 15 I think I'll buy her the Hughes collection and start watching them with her. I saw The Breakfast Club about 15 times before I was 20. Everyone I knew could recite line after line..... Call them what you will, make fun of them if you like, but to someone between 10th and 11th grade at the time, those movies were gold. Some Kind Of Wonderful was grossly underrated in my opinion of all his work. To this day, Planes, Traines and Automobiles is still one of my all-time favorites. Sigh. It sucks getting old (older).

FAN: Movie Prices

Just three months ago I posted this about movie prices. Yesterday I took Still A Stroke to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and I thought it would be terribly crowded and maybe I shouldn't walk in with a Big Gulp. I decided to throw caution to the wind and use the snack bar instead. I told her we would share a beverage of her choice and she chose water. Cool. I wasn't even looking at prices. She chose a bag of fruit snacks and I grabbed a box of chocolate covered raisins. When I asked for a bottle of water the dude said the large bottle was only a quarter more so I approved the upgrade. I told Stroke the total would be $10. Not understanding the economics of rape, she guessed $3. $11.50 said the dude. I watched him ring in $3.50 twice for the candy, so that means the water was $4.50? How much is the water? $4.50. I just started started laughing out loud. I couldn't help myself. I expect to pay more there. Absolutely. But they have now taken America's favorite cheap option off the table as a cheap option. True, it was a huge bottle, 1 full liter. Still, the liter should cost about .79. We've bought cases of water on sale for $1.99. I wanted to scream "Fack you and your overpriced movie snacks you pimply faced little dweeb....." but I didn't. The movie is two and a half hours long. We will both be thirsty. Sigh. I guess next time we go back to the big shoulder bags and hidden snacks. The easy solution is to only watch movies at home, but I am a fan of the whole experience. I actually like going to the theater to see popular new releases on the big screen. I love the smell of popcorn and the way my feet stick to the floor after I take my seat. If I owned a theater, I think for one month I would make the prices more inline with a convenience store to see if I would garner more money by selling more product at lower prices. The fact that it's dark inside really encourages people to bring their own. I heard more than one canned carbonated beverage open while in there. I'm not the type to bring food into Magic Kingdom in a backpack. Again, I'm there to take it all in and not have a care in the world. At Great Wolf Lodge, I'll pay $4.50 for a hamburger in order to not have my daughter popping open a can of microwaved mac-n-cheese to eat a room temperature like we saw some families doing the last time we were there. Once the lights go out at the movies? It's on.

FAN: Torture, Death and Revenge

Any Dad with a bit of an angry streak should check this movie out. The plot is simple. Girl is kidnapped, Dad seeks revenge. If you want to scare your teenage girl from trusting anyone, let her watch this. I personally loved it that Dad showed no mercy while tracking her down. He got what info he needed and killed anyone who got in his way. He even left an Albanian dude hooked up to electricity and walked away after getting the information he needed. Superb. The writer also took a shot at France for allowing sex slave traders to operate within France's borders. The torture scene may have been a political statement as well. It answers the question "When is it OK to torture to somebody?". The answer is obviously whenever you take away a Dad's little girl.

Roy Scheider Bites It

Scheider (1932-2008), best know for his work in Jaws passed away today. Upon seeing his body, the funeral direcor declared...."We're going to need a bigger box". Sorry. I came up with that line at lunch today and it killed. Speaking of sharks, check this ugly thing out....