I have always liked Mr. Bean. His innocence, his naiveté, and his bizarre creativity in the face of adversity are nearly as genius as the genre’s first great star, Buster Keaton. Combine his Keatonesque ability to get into trouble with is perfectly non-Keatonesque expressions (I swear Rowan Atkinson‘s face is made of silly putty) and you get the genius that is Mr. Bean.

Bean would be quite at home in a silent film, but he’s even funnier with sound. He never really talks other than a rare monosyllable like, “Bean!” But his non-verbal expression is hilarious, from frustrated sighs and bored moans to shocked squeals and frantic babble.

Let’s be honest, a lot of people hate Bean. If you don’t “get” his humor, he can easy come off as gratingly fatuous. And his first U.S. released movie, entitled simply, “Bean”, really was bad. If that was your only exposure to Bean, please give Mr. Bean’s Holiday a chance.

In 1997’s Bean, they tried to frame a decidedly American movie around a decidedly British character. It just didn’t work. He talked too much. The plot was contrived and stretched. It wasn’t really Bean.

2007’s Holiday, on the other hand, is exactly and perfectly Bean. The only time I recall him speaking more than one syllable was when he said, “Gracias.” The wackiness is just the right length, never stretched or overstated. It feels very much like his TV shorts, stitched together with a believable plot (ok, believable enough). In short, it works.

Holiday also scored with me on two other points. First, it’s rated G. Yes, G. Remember G? In a time when even cartoon features are coming out as PG-13, it’s nice to know someone understands entertainment for a “general audience”. I can’t remember there being any foul language (although there may have been something in one of Willem Dafoe’s stereotypical, Hollywood-snob rants).

Second, there were gags in the trailers that I didn’t see in the movie, and (more importantly) there were many many things to laugh at in the movie that were not in the trailers. That’s a serious pet peeve of mine so here it becomes praise-worthy.

Okay, this is getting long winded. Let me put my grins where my mouth is. (I think I’ve used that before. Hmm.) I give Mr. Bean’s Holiday a well deserved four grins.

P.S. There are a few of Mr. Bean’s TV shorts on YouTube. Check them out!

This post has been sitting in my “ToDo” queue for ages. I just jotted down some notes on each title in case I forgot too much before I got around to writing the actual reviews. Well, let’s hear it for foresight, cuz I barely remember some of these. Shame on me. Besides, my jotted notes were pretty interesting anyway. So here it is, barely edited and not ready for prime-time.

Mr. And Mrs. Smith
Better than I expected. A little over the top on the action. Not the slap in the face of marriage I expected. Actually made some good points about keeping marriage honest and exciting. 3 grins.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Entertaining, funny, but a little too much sex, even if it was the Friends/Seinfeld style sex-for-laughs. I’d be embarrassed to watch it with my youth kids. 2 grins.

Everyone’s Hero
What’s this? An indy CGI feature film?!! Loads of star power. Surprisingly good, even though it’s about baseball. 3 grins.

Music and Lyrics
Follows “Romantic Comedy” plot step for step, but Hugh Grant’s character has enough witty one-liners to keep me interested. And then there’s the Drew Factor. 3 grins.

Finding Neverland
Jonny Depp rocks, as usual. That chick from Titanic really can act. (Who knew?!) Good show. Touching. 4 grins.

There you have it. Now I can check that off my list.

My NetFlix list has finally finished Monk season one, so I’ve put some good flicks and things I’ve been wanting to see in the queue before I move on to Monk season two. That means more reviews in the near future!

On a much happier note, I went to Weinberger’s for lunch today. At first it was sad, but then it got tons better. Let me explain.

Today was the second time in the last month that I’ve gone to the deli to find the door locked and a hand written note taped up saying that the power was out. I peered through the window and saw the employees sitting around, filling ketchup bottles, etc., killing time during the outage. I knocked on the window and asked, “But, were do I go for lunch now?”

The owner, Dan, opened the door and made a couple of suggestions, but I was really hankerin’ for a deli sandwich. As I pouted, he took pity and said, “Well, I could make you a cold sandwich.” I lit up and slipped inside. I said, “But your register won’t work.” Dan smiled from behind the counter, “I know your good for it.”

It is so cool be a regular!

All my favorite sandwiches involve something grilled or melted: Rubens, hot pastrami, melted swiss, etc. As I went over the menu with, “What about this one?” and “What about that one?” Each was answered with bad news. Then Dan said, “Wait. If I do cold salami instead of hot pastrami…” The sandwich master’s wheels were turning and I stood back and watched the magic.

While he was making me up a new creation, the rest of the lunch crowd hit. At least 20 people dugged on the door and walked away downtrodden. Dan handed me my lunch and I thanked him and looked out at the sad non-deli-lunch-having public. I thought, “I can’t walk out there now! There’ll be a riot!” I waited for a break in the crowd and rushed out the door like a secret agent evading the Russians.

Now I’m enjoying a brand new sandwich and it’s awesome! Man, I love that place. I’m going to recommend this one makes it on the menu: “Trint’s Lights Out Special”

Cold genoa salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, italian dressing, oregano, and mayonnaise on an untoasted hoagie.

Weinberger’s web site is now online. They have a menu and online ordering! Woohoo!

For my readers with lower than average GQ, allow me to explain the significance of this movie. George Lucas (the guy that created Star Wars) did a short film in college called THX1138. Later, after he achieved some professional fame (but before he started filming Star Wars), he stretched it into a full length movie. The real significance to a geek like me is that THX1138 influenced much of Lucas’ later work. He hid* “1138” throughout the Star Wars movies. Also, “THX” is the name Lucas gave to the surround sound system his team developed. These days it’s pretty ubiquitous with theater surround sound.

I was pretty excited to find THX on Netflix. Here was a chance to see into the past; to see into the mind that created Star Wars; to see where Star Wars was born. I watched the DVD extras first (cuz I’m geek like that) and most of it talked about the experimental nature of the sound effects. Some of the sound effects were recognizable from Star Wars (the squawky nature of the ship-to-ship radio). Others were created with techniques that were similar, but less mature than when Star Wars was filmed (The light saber sound grew out of the sound effect for “shock sticks”, futuristic tasers).

Now, enough about the geekness. How was the movie? Well, to put it gently, it sucked. It sucked hard. It feels exactly like a film school short stretched to feature length. There’s about 15 minutes worth of story and about 60 minutes worth of brooding, 1984, Brave New World, thought police, big brother, ooh-scary-too-perfect-future. Blah blah blah. There was absolutely nothing creative about it. The acting was sub-par considering the talent (Robert Duvall, for crying out loud!). The effects and cinematography had that funky, 70’s, experimental feel, but it wasn’t enough to carry the horrid script.

The longer Lucas has dragged out the Star Wars franchise, the more I’ve come to realize that he’s really not that creative. Star Wars will always be a classic, but it’s turning Lucas into a one-hit-wonder in my mind. Yeah, you had a great idea, but come on, man. It’s been over 30 years since that idea struck. How about trying something new? I know, I know. Indiana Jones, American Graffiti, whatever. Lucas has been riding the Skywalker wave too long and it’s ruined my opinion of him.

As for THX, unless you are a hard-core, Star Wars geek, don’t bother. One grin for you, Mr. Lucas.

* “Hid” may not be the best term here. 1138 is plastered all over the Star Wars movies.

There have been a glut on CGI animated features in the last two years. Everyone wants to jump on the Toy Story wagon and get their 100 gazillion dollars. But guess what happened. Most of those movies are crap. Lo and behold animating a bad story, no matter how amazing the animation, produces a bad movie.

I can count on one hand the number of movies I’ve quit watching half way through. Now, among those infamous few, I can include “Happy Feet“. Warner Brothers must have had a colossal advertising budget because the hype for this movie was truly Titanic. But when it came down to it, it was boring! And I don’t mean boring like there was too much time between the good parts. I mean boring like I made it over 30 minutes into the show and there were no good parts. No continuity, no laughs, and no “toe tapping” despite the promotional claims.
I may be in the minority on this one. It did win some awards and what not. But I really thought the whole story was just dumb. The music was … nice … I suppose. I’m not a real fan of musicals, but Tammy is and she was even more disappointed than I was. The characters were very one-dimensional. Rather than try to develop the characters, the script relies on caricatures, so you just know that the Elvis-sounding dad is a fun loving guy who’s not very reliable. You just know that the gang with Mexican accents are party animals. Yeah. Well, that doesn’t really work for me. And the whole “ugly duckling” rip-off plot line was just too weak to support an already weak script.
The animation… one word: Amazing. It’s really beautiful. But like I said, pretty pictures do not a great movie make. Happy Feet made me sad, and for that it gets one grin.

Disney’s latest entry, “Meet the Robinsons“, was less dazzling visually. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still really well done. It just doesn’t raise bar as every previous Pixar movie has. I like the animation. It’s much more classically cartoonish. It doesn’t pretend to be real. It’s just fun. But it didn’t blow me away.

Even without jaw dropping technology, this was a really fun movie. It was fast paced, very witty, full of action and laughs. The complete opposite of Happy Feet. Even though the root moral of the story was the same (Be content to be who you are. Don’t try to be something you’re not.), Robinsons was fun. It was original. It let us be silly. Happy Feet, perhaps, was just too serious all the time. There’s nothing wrong with booger jokes once in a while as long as there’s more to the movie that just booger jokes (*cough*Shrek*cough*).

The characters were pretty well developed (not great, but good enough) and the story allowed you to think a little. I had the “mystery” figured out after about 30 minutes, but that’s how I tend to be. It’s okay as long as I don’t tell Tammy how the movie is going to end when it’s less than half over. That usually gets me a very painful elbow in the ribs.

Over all, it was just what it should have been. A funny, clean movie, with a little suspense and a good moral. (I wonder how much of this improvement in morality stems from the absence if Michael Eisner. Just a thought.) Anyway, this movie easily earns its three grins.

I expected Dreamworks’ “Over the Hedge” to be 90 minutes of tree hugging and fart jokes. The commercials and previews did not impress me at all. But, when I went to the DVD kiosk at the grocery store, Happy Feet was taken. “Oh well. Let’s give it a shot. It’s only 99¢.”

The guys who marketed this should be fired. They lied to me. There was only one green skunk cloud in the whole movie and it was good for the plot, not just a crutch. I was completely taken by surprise. There was absolutely no explicit tree hugging or anti-suburbia finger waging. Instead it was a multi-layered, character heavy plot in which each of the ensemble of characters got their own development and their own chance to teach us a lesson. The over all moral of the story was great, but each character had a lesson to learn. Trust, honesty, self-esteem, tradition, self-control, pride… And to top it all off, it’s just laugh-out-loud funny!

I also didn’t know until I watched the DVD extras that Over the Hedge was based on a comic strip of the same name. That’s always a plus in my book because it usually means that there’s someone who loves the characters driving the creative process, keeping the script true to their original creation.

For once, Dreamworks has put out a movie that I will probably own in the same time frame as a Disney movie I probably won’t own. The animation quality was good, but again, not jaw dropping. They did some pretty impressive work with the fur, but that ground was broken in Monster’s Inc. What they did manage to do was get a lot of really talented comedic voice talent together with a brilliant script. The poked fun at things that are easy to laugh at without hurting anyone’s feelings. (America’s obsession with food and draconian housing associations are always fair game in my book.)

All I can say is that this movie really clicked. It has “it” and for that, I give it four grins.

I still don’t have a DVR, but this week, I got one step deeper into entertainment geekdom. I signed up for Netflix. I’ve now reviewed over a hundred movies (just a star rating, no write up) and my queue is up to 50 DVDs (most of those are TV shows, my “poor man’s DVR”). I just learned this morning about the “Friend” feature. Now we can all be Netflix friends and share our ratings and queues! Wheee! (Just don’t ask to borrow any of my clothes. That can ruin a friendship!)

Friend me!

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that Tammy and I are using the same account. “The Sound of Music” is not my favorite all-time movie, but it is hers. Don’t want you to think anything weird about me. I’m learning how to set up separate profiles, but I haven’t got it all straightened out yet.

I’ve had a sticky note on my desk for months with a list of movies I’ve seen and need to review. Get ready for another movie review purge.

Amistad – An eighteenth-century court-room drama about a slave ship mutiny. Well told story (though slow at times) that gives an honest (read violent and brutal) depiction of the slave trade. Mild nudity and and disturbing images are not for the kiddies, but I would recommend this for any high schooler who wants to get in the mood for a paper on slavery. I haven’t seen Amazing Grace yet, but I would think these two movies would make a good double feature. 3 grins.

I, Robot – I admit I have not read the book, nor anything by Isaac Asimov (who coined the Three Laws of Robotics), but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Faced paced and a real nail-biter of a plot along with some stunning cgi ranks this one among my favorites. 4 grins.

Lost In Space – I had high hopes for this movie despite the fact that it had a “Friends” actor on the bill. It started off well, if a little formulaic. But about 30 minutes into the movie, the plot jerks became annoying. The action sequences (which were not bad in and of themselves) ended abruptly and were not well balanced with the long, boring dialog sections. In the end, a great concept with good effects and tolerable acting was hamstrung by a plot line that could have come from junior high creative writing student. 2 grins.

The Terminal – Reviewers slammed this one so bad that I waited to watch it as a 99¢ rental. I think the reviews could not have been more wrong. I really enjoyed this movie. The DVD extras make it that much more fun with stories of the incredible set (the whole terminal is one giant set, but looks exactly like 80% of the airports in America) and the antics of the cast and crew. Tom Hanks turns in one of his best performances, better than Castaway IMHO. Most of all I like the messages of this movie: Doing what’s right is more important that doing what’s easy. If you want something badly enough, it’s worth waiting for. And most importantly, American’s have forgotten what it’s like to have morals and a strong work ethic. (No one in the airport can wrap their brain around this guy’s patience, drive, and ethical standards.) 5 grins.

More movie reviews on the way including a couple of this year’s computer animated heavy hitters.

I recently wrote a post about “Fox Faith”. I didn’t really state an opinion for or against. I just expressed my skepticism and left it at that.

RealLivePreacher, on the other hand, pulled no punches. I like, RLP, but in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I don’t always agree with him. He’s leads what I would refer to as a “hippy church” down near San Antonio. He’s got a pretty liberal, isolationist stance (speaking of Christianity, not politics). I like his style, but don’t always agree with his doctrine. With that said, take a look at his opinion of Fox Faith.

In the last couple of months, I’ve developed a new love affair. Don’t worry. It’s nothing that will threaten my marriage. I have discovered that I love a good deli sandwich.

It all started when a coworker, Bob the Cisco Ninja, invited me to lunch at one of his favorite places (he has many “favorite” places). It’s called “Weinberger’s Deli”. I was only able to find one good reference on the web, and it’s a review in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram. Weinberger’s is a Chicago style deli, with a real “mom and pop” feel. It’s really small, smells kinda funky, and the same people are always behind the counter, night and day. Oh, and by the way, their food rocks.

I have a to-go menu next to my phone and I’ve been systematically going through it, trying everything and, so far, everything is good. Here is a transcription of some menu items and my hand written notes next to them.

The Brat (Wisconsin Veal Brat, Brown Mustard and Grilled Onions or Kraut or both) “Good”
Da Beef (Italian Beef on Gonnella Bread, dipped in Au jus and served with either Green Peppers and Onions or the traditional way with Giardinerra) “Really Good, but hard to eat and Giardinerra peppers burn my tummy”
Totally Wicked Sandwich (Served on a toasted Kummelwick Bun, Hot Roast Beef or Hot Smoked Turkey Breast, covered in real Horseradish, Mayo, Sweet Onion and sliced Kosher Pickles.) “Awesome”
Texyorker (Hot Pastrami, melted Cheddar Cheese, BBQ Sauce, Sweet Onion on a Poppy Seed Roll) “HECK YA!”

A couple things to note about Weinberger’s: If you sit in the tiny dining area to eat, 1) you’ll have a constant line of patrons squeezing by your chair to place their order and 2) for the rest of the day your clothes and hair will smell like the smoke from a well seasoned grill.

Having discovered that deli’s are good, one night Tammy met me at the office and we went looking for somewhere new to eat. I saw McAlister’s Deli and thought we should try it out. It was great!

McAlister’s is the polar opposite of Weinberger’s. McAlister’s is a national chain and feels like one. Big dining areas, clean and bright, staffed by the latest crop of the high school work force. Still, their menu is diverse and, try as I might, I can’t find anything bad on it. They’re signature item is Southern style sweet tea. *moan* It is so good I can’t even express it.

Every time I go into McAlister’s I see several people staring agape at the huge menu (drawn on chalk boards to look more deli-ish) displaying to all the fact that they’re first timers. Several times I’ve offered these first timers advice, since I’m about half way through the menu now and can speak with some authority. That’s partially why I decided to do this post. To share the knowledge.

Taco Salad (Fresh greens, chili, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, jalapeños and black olives on a bed of warm tortilla chips) “Yum!”
The Reuben (Piles of thin-sliced corned beef topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing on rye) “Pretty Good”
The Patriot (Smoked Turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, Swiss cheese on Wheatberry bread with Orange Cranberry Sauce) “Sounds weird, tastes great!”
Muffuletta (New Orleans style muffuletta bread, ham, Genoa salami, olive salad and provolone cheese) “Not bad”
Delta Delight (Roast beef, ham, provolone cheese and sliced jalapeños and BBQ sauce on a 6″ hoagie) “HECK YA!”
The Big Nasty (Roast beef served open-faced on a toasted 12″ hoagie covered in McAlister’s “Come-Back” Gravy, topped with cheddar and Swiss cheese and green onions) “Whoa! VERY Yum, but big enough for three meals”

They also have a wide selection of baked potatoes (that I’ve seen on other people’s plates and they’re roughly the size of regulation footballs) but I’ve been avoiding those for the sake of my girlish figure. In the near future, I’d like to analyze my favorite deli delights in terms of nutritional concerns. I’m sure that these slices of heaven are laced with nutrition from hell.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my tummy is rumbling and my mouth is watering. I got to get out of here before I start chewing on my keyboard.

I got an email today alerting me to the release of a new “family friendly” movie coming out this week called, “The Ultimate Gift”. In perusing the website I noticed the link to “Fox Faith Movies”. And me thinks, “Wha? Faith? Movies? Is this Godlywood!?”

Sure enough, Fox has launched a “Christian” distribution branch and has a pretty nice site that highlight lots of “faith-based” movies.

You may notice I’ve used an unusually large amount of “quotation marks” in this post. That’s be cause I’m always a little “cautious” when it comes to “Hollywood” taking on the “Christian” moniker. That, and I’ve always enjoyed making “quoty fingers” when I talk.