Apparently, Hollywood doesn't have any original ideas anymore. You just can't get away from the remakes, which are all the rage these days. I just saw a trailer for the new version of Footloose. It started out in the same vein- a small town with a bunch of grumpy adults who won't let the kids... Continue Reading →
Tangled Up: What Ever Happened To Steve From “Blues Clues?”
Remember Blues Clues? The Nickelodeon kids show with that guy and the animated blue dog? Who could forget Blue? Who could forget Steve? But then one day, he was inexplicably gone, and we were left with...Joe. Hey, who's this Joe guy? Where's my buddy Steve? The show itself was rather tight-lipped about all that. Whatever... Continue Reading →
Charlie Brooker Is The Devil
Always on the lookout for new points of view, I stumbled upon a documentary series called How TV Ruined Your Life. Written and presented for BBC Two by British journalist Charlie Brooker earlier this year, each episode provides an extremely pessimistic take on how television has changed different aspects of modern life. Love, money, fear,... Continue Reading →
The Mysterious Legend of “Cry Baby Lane,” Part II
Yesterday I wrote about the made-for-cable movie Cry Baby Lane. Aired only once by Nickelodeon in late October of 2000, it received enough calls from parents complaining about its content that the movie was shelved indefinitely. It was considered to be a lost film. Now 11 years later, through the power of the Internet, the... Continue Reading →
The Mysterious Legend of “Cry Baby Lane,” Part I
In October of 2000, Nickelodeon aired an original horror movie for the Halloween weekend called Cry Baby Lane. The cable channel received a surprising number of calls from parents complaining that the movie was too disturbing. Nickelodeon never aired the movie again, and it was not made available for home video. Cry Baby Lane was... Continue Reading →
Battle Royale vs. The Hunger Games
The other day I mentioned in a post that I was reading The Hunger Games series. Angela commented: "Enjoyed the premise. But, the writing. BL-EH. No real mystery. Over explained. Nothing for the reader to figure out. Indicative of juv fiction or just bad writing? The whole over-dramatic love triangle...Ya, yah, it’s juvenile fiction. But,... Continue Reading →
Dadutainment Takes On Film: Monsters by Gareth Edwards
[Note: Potential minor plot spoilers below. If you have not seen this movie, be warned.] THEN: Six years ago, proof of alien life in the universe was found. A probe was sent into space to get samples. It crash landed over Mexico on its way back. The Mexican and American militaries have great trouble containing... Continue Reading →
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