Month: October 2013
ARMY OF DARKNESS
Army of Darkness (aka Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness) is a continuation of Evil Dead II where our, er, hero Ash is trapped in The Middle Ages in some bizarre, frenetic, hilarious, cheesy stuff.
There are a couple of endings, depending on where you watch it. I prefer the ending where Ash oversleeps, but the S-Mart ending (where he has to fight the shoppers, undead, whatever, hard to tell the difference most days I’m guessing) was seen as more positive by Universal. Director’s cut has both alternate universe endings.
Bruce Campbell (Weird Science, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Xena, Hercules, Bubba Ho-Tep, Spiderman, Evil Dead I & II, Charmed, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, American Gothic, My Name Is Bruce, Burn Notice, Fargo and well, everything) is an amazing, under-rated actor. Superb comedic timing and just really cool.
A perfect Halloween treat or trick depending on your point of view.
Edward Scissorhands
I sat watching Edward Scissorhands in 1990, mesmerized.
I laughed, I cried, I sighed, I railed against the injustice, and gave my heart to Johnny Depp. No worries, I’d given it before and since; it’s still in good working order. I’m sure he’d reciprocate if he knew I existed…or not.
Themes of bullying, prejudice, isolation, teen angst, self-awareness, hope, pain, betrayal, lies, dignity, honour, and love weave a dazzling web of stunningly brutal tragedy, comedy, and enchantment, in and out, in and out, each thread of this film somehow masses together in utter brilliant film magic.
The castle is gothic and delightful, but a place of secrets and loneliness.
The suburban neighbourhood is weird and flawed, but with creepy optimism and veracity.
The contrast shows that hope and love can flourish anywhere, as can pain and deceit.
Lauded, loved, mocked, hated, and parodied (best, when Depp reprised his role on Family Guy…you have to see it to believe it). And still it has stunningly stood the test of time.
Caroline Thompson, Stefan Czapsky, as well as the astonishing cast and crew did a superb task of articulating Tim Burton’s vision of Edward and his challenges and his triumphs. This film is truly a gift.
Vincent Price is categorically flawless in what turned out to be his last performance on film, ending a dramatic and spectacular career as the great gentleman of horror.
When Winona Ryder (Kim Boggs) is dancing in the ‘snow’ that Edward creates from the angel ice sculpture, it’s so heart-cutting because their love can never be, but they will always know it really is. Perhaps it’s so poignant because Depp and Ryder were a real-life couple at the time…and not meant to be.
This is a perfect movie for Halloween, Christmas, or any day of the year.
Love, love, love this movie. Did I mention I love it, not sure if that was clear.
The Walking Dead Again
AMC’s huge success, The Walking Dead 
is amazing, but if you get a chance, check out Boris Karloff in the 1936 film, The Walking Dead. 
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
One of the images that pops to mind when I think of Halloween is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 
Not the movie, although it was funny, the Joss Whedon series that was ubercool and scary.
This series was all about the writing. It was quick, clever, droll, goofy and wicked cool.
Buffy had it all: bad vamps, good vamps, sexy vamps, tall dark and brooding vamps, 
Drusilla, Spike, zombies, spirits, demons, witches, Faith, warlocks, geeks, pop culture, gypsies, computer nerds, dysfunctional family units, ghosts, goblins, gym, ghouls, librarians, magic, love, The Master, death, sex, hope, The Bronze, friendship, Dracula, teenagers, The First Evil,
Nathan Fillion (who first auditioned for the part of Angel in 1996), bullies, field trips, Watchers, The Council, high school, werewolves, lifestyle choices, hope, fear, horror, laughter…everything you could want in a show and of course, slayers.
Although Sarah Michelle Gellar was the star of the show as Buffy, she was nothing without her Scooby Gang and all the other amazing characters, fiends, villains, supernaturals, paranormals, other dimensionals, and of course, her wardrobe, which was quite extensive.
This is a Halloween must see. Watch it for the coolness, return for the witty. Whether you like it or not, it’s all good, 5 by 5.
It’s interesting that Buffy has become such a cult classic because it didn’t always have the top ratings at the time, of course we were watching it on the WB, but it sure had a lot of hardcore fans. It’s really shape-shifted TV.
My fav Buffy character is still always Xander. Who’s yours?
Stuff I Learned From It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
This is what I learned from watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown way too often.
1. A young child can stay out all night alone, with no adult supervision, as long as it’s on Halloween night, in a pumpkin patch, waiting for someone to meet them…
2. Jumping into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker is a bad idea. Tried it once, turns out, very bad idea.
3. Charlie Brown should have gotten some candy at Halloween. I wanted to give him some of mine, what about you?
4. Pigpen, the child who walks around in a cloud of dirt is more likable than Charlie Brown.
5. If someone moves a football each time you go to kick it, Good Grief, stop believing them, it’s a theme. Same goes for many situations.
6. A person can have moral standards. Sally agrees to sit in the pumpkin patch with Linus, but threatens to slug him if he even tries to hold her hand.
7. Lucy actually cares about her little brother, Linus (even more than their parents). She goes and gets him from the pumpkin patch at 4am and sweetly puts him to bed. She gets him extra candy while trick or treating. It’s a whole other side of Lucy.
8. Charlie Brown is a hopeless optimist. No matter how people in his ‘community’ ignore, hurt, or bully him, he keeps believing and keeps trying. Or maybe he just has low self-esteem.
9. Dogs like to dress up as World War I Flying Aces for Halloween and fly around on their Sopwith Camels aka dog houses fighting the Red Baron. Who knew?
10. A signed contract doesn’t always mean what you think it means, there could be a loopholes.
11. It’s ok to give a child rocks for Halloween instead of candy. I’ve never tested this one.
12. Schroeder was a talented little dude, I always hoped he’s make it big until I realized he was just a cartoon, then I still hoped he’s make it big.
13. Linus wrote to The Great Pumpkin saying everyone tells him TGP is a fake, but he believes in him. He adds if TGP is a fake he doesn’t want to know. Is this denial or trying to hold onto his beliefs? People do it all the time, with politicians, God, family members, spouses, etc. Even if we know something is not true or wrong, we often don’t want to know.
I guess that’s why we love the sweetness and gentleness of things like Snoopy cartoons. We remember fondly those times when things were simple, when you could believe, trust, and hope. Life has become complicated. Peanuts is simple fun.
Happy Halloween!
THE HILARIOUS HOUSE OF FRIGHTENSTEIN
I loved this show when I was young. It was on Saturday mornings before they were more commercials than shows.
Let me warn you, the only frightening part about this show was it’s complete cheesiness.
Vincent Price (I’m guessing they spent most of their budget on him) did the opening, closing and some bits crushed in between.
All 130 episodes were taped in a few months in 1971.
It had quirky sketches like The Librarian where a scary old guy (Billy Van, really, most of the characters were him) in a dusty library read horrifying stories except they were more like ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘Henny Penny’ and then he’s say, wasn’t that terrifying? Hmmm, maybe you had to see it.
They also had the Dr. Pet Vet, Igor, The Grammar Slammer, The Professor – U.S. physicist Professor Julius Sumner Miller (Mickey Mouse Club’s Professor Wonderful), Gronk,
Grizelda the Ghastly Gourmet, The Mosquito, Count Frightenstein exiled to Castle Frightenstein in Frankenstone, Canada for failing to revive Brucie J. Monster, a Frankenstein-like monster.
Soooo campy, but it was awesome!
I watched it years later to see if I only enjoyed it because we had very limited TV. No, still peculiar, clever, lots of slapstick, and so bad it was good.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
No Halloween would be complete without TRHPS.
When I was young I enjoyed going to the theater, bringing my toast, newspaper, lighter, fish nets and loudly yelling, “Borrrrriiinng!” when the Narrator/Criminologist came onscreen, etc.
Now I’m soooo much older and way more mature, so I fondly smile at the astrophysically campy antics of Dr. Frank N. Furter, Brad, Janet, Magenta, Columbia, Eddie, Rocky, and sigh, Riff Raff, but on occasion, I still jump to the left, then a step to right…
Nothing beats a cheesy B-grade movie shared with friends.
If you haven’t seen this, you’re not interested or missing out…
I’d also like to wish Tim Curry a full and speedy recovery from his stroke earlier this year.
LOST
Lost, yes, I was most of the time.
Thought this might work for Halloween since it had supernatural elements and turned out to be a ghost story. Sigh.
Started well and then dragged us around until I just didn’t care much anymore.
Though I’m still worried about the polar bears.
BEETLEJUICE
I remember the first time I saw this at the theater, mouth agape in between fits of laughter. Strangely, I feel the same today.
This movie is timeless. Just the right amount of serious and funny, lessons twirled in with candy-coated hilarity. Hard to believe it’s been 25 years. 
There was always talk of a sequel, but as a fan I have to say, no thanks. When the first one is this perfect why ruin that legacy?
The cast really makes this movie, each plays their part to eerie fulfillment.
The writing is gruesomely amusing.
The direction of Tim Burton, a strange, mythical creature who entertains and astonishes, is sublime.
There is nothing I would change about this movie.
Described as comedy/horror/fantasy I can see how it’s all those things, but more.
A Halloween or anytime movie for the ages.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetleju…
DONNIE DARKO
The moment you fall into this movie you know you went down the wrong rabbit hole.
Beyond the obvious shivery moments there are way too many splinters of that’s-creepy-beyond-what-I-want-to-think-about-in-a-film-or-anywhere-else.
In the end it’s a movie about choices. Choices are important, like not making a stupid sequel like S. Darko. Poor choice.
This is one to curl up with in the dark, just be aware what’s in the shadows.
This sci-fi classic is rich and dark and smooth, like a delicious chocolate bunny that is pure evil.
Kind of Harvey gone really, really wrong.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
One of my fav Halloween flicks. Madcap and macabre, it gives laughs, groans, and an appreciation that some of the best movies were made long before you were born.
Released in 1944 (although filmed in 1941 due to Cary Grant’s availability) this film has withstood the test of time. Based on Joseph Kesselring‘s play; both the play and movie are ghastly joys, in their own ways.
Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster gives a stunningly awkward and charmingly frenetic performance.
Josephine Hull and Jean Adair portray Abby and Martha Brewster, Mortimer’s darling Aunts who also happen to be serial killers for a good cause, “It’s one of our charities”. They’re like the Dexter of their day. Their explanation of their murderous ways? They stop the suffering of lonely old bachelors by poisoning them with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch of cyanide” disguised in elderberry wine.
Uncle Teddy (John Alexander) who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt unwittingly aids the Aunts by digging graves in the basement, thinking he is digging locks for the Panama Canal and burying yellow fever victims. Hull, Adair, and Alexander reprise their 1941 stage production roles.
Mortimer, whose ultimate dysfunctional family causes no end of headaches explains to his hapless new bride – “Insanity runs in my family, practically gallops!”
Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey are so sublimely creepy they really are Halloween.
Firefly
Why? Why? Why???
This was an awesome show, can’t say enough about how amazing it was.
Cast was unbelievable, story was ripper, and it was brilliant.
So why did this astonishing show only last one season? We do know Fox likes to cancel some well-loved shows. Even cancelled Family Guy then picked it up again later when they finally figured out people liked it, duh. Perhaps Whedon’s on-going widescreen battles (I agree, it’s a Western, just in space), or the order of episodes, or concept.
In the end, whatever the reasons, only 11 out of the 14 episodes ever aired. Maybe people just weren’t ready for it or it was a stupid decision to cancel it. I can think of others, Terra Nova…
It has since become a hit, beloved by many, missed by the few who first watched it…It’s had its imitators, but none can capture the passion of the original.
I did like the tip of the cowboy hat in the Castle Halloween episode where Nathan Fillion wore his Mal outfit…but it’s not the same.
Joss Whedon you are astonishing, and thank you for at least giving us Serenity as a consolation prize.
Shatner’s World: We just live in it
I don’t care what anyone says, I adore watching William Shatner, in just about anything.
Sure he’s narcissistic, but he uses his superpowers for good, not evil.
He’s also funny, silly, asinine, but always charming. If you can see this one-man show live, awesome, luckily there’s also a DVD.
Dressed casually Shatner leads us on a magical tour of memories, ours and his.
He shares very personal stories, famous encounters, ridiculous exploits, and talks about Star Trek (of course) all in that oddly heartening, exaggerated style that’s so many have mocked over the years.
It might be his age, but in this one-man show (then again, isn’t that everything he does, really?) Shatner ponders death, those he has lost as well as his own mortality. Yet somehow it’s all comforting and poignant, not morbid. “Love is the difference between the cold light of the universe and the warmth of the human spirit and life doesn’t have to end when love is present.”
If you’re a Shatner fan you’ll enjoy the well over an hour of Trek talk, how his kidney stone became $25,000 for Habitat For Humanity, picking out a pine casket for his father because he thought his Dad would appreciate the thriftiness, his, er, singing career, broke living in his truck, meeting Koko the signing gorilla, acting with Christopher Plummer and James Spader…
If you’re not a Shatner fan, watch something else.
The whole show was pure Shatner – eccentric, engaging, and egocentric, but with a heart as big as his head (tough to do). He makes me smile.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
I went to see this movie on opening day 1993 and a few more times in the following weeks. I had no children with me. I also bought the VHS tape when it came out, the soundtrack, and later the DVD. I may or may not have some small toys from the movie and a few TNBC T-shirts over the years, one possibly bought as recently as today.
To say I love this movie is too serene.
Like most Tim Burton films TNBC is funny, dark, deep, and stabbed full of obvious messages.
The main character is a skeleton named Jack Skellington.
He’s the Big Mouldy Cheese of Halloween Town, he’s the Pumpkin King, he has it all, fame, fortune, adulation. But he’s bored with his job. He wants more.
He discovers Christmas Town and sees it’s marketing potential. He figures this must be what he was destined to do.
So he rebrands himself and retrofits Halloween Town to do this new gimmick, Christmas.
Things go terribly, dreadfully, horribly wrong, of course.
The day or should I say eve is saved, mostly with the help of Sally who has loved Jack just as he was.
The Christmas brand is salvaged, as is that of Halloween.
Short story extended, Jack realizes he had everything he needed to make him miserably happy in Halloween Town all along. Cue a gruesomely romantic scene.
Crushed into all that? Lots of cool songs by Danny Elfman (sigh, I still love Oingo Boingo), mayhem, fun, drama, lots of funny lines…one of the best films every made.
I can’t make decisions by myself!”
~Mayor of Halloween Town
It’s a marketing dream in one nightmare.
The making of this film is almost as interesting as the film itself. Astonishing. 
Many have poached from, peeled back, and tried to copy the mastery of this movie in the 20 years since it’s release, but this masterpiece is incomparable.
Makes sense that it’s really just a remake of another perfect classic, Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Can’t see it? Think about it.
TNBC combines Christmas and Halloween so naturally, I’m in.
Grey’s Anatomy
they pull me back in.”
~Michael Corleone (Godfather Part III)
I want to dislike this show.
The characters are annoying, whiny, narcissistic, First-World-problem babies who cause most of their own problems. I guess I just explained why I can’t stop watching it, it’s a microcosm of society, exaggerated, like any good soap opera.
Note, spoilers coming on…
Maybe I should have stopped when Denny died.
Or George. Or McSteamy.
Sigh. Or maybe I’ll just tune in to watch the endless droning ‘soapy‘ lather play out.
ZOMBIELAND
Another buddy road trip movie, with zombies. Dark comedy with lots of funny lines, interesting zombies and of course, Bill Murray as a, how do I explain this without spoilers, er, celebrity?
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin make up the merry band that proves a zombie apocalypse makes for strange bedfellows as they trek 
across America to find a sanctuary without biters.
Shaun of the Dead set a gold standard for the funny zombie movie and to me, Z-Land takes a good nibble at the edges, but not quite a full bite.
The rules of survival are a running gag of this movie and even though we don’t know all the list, the accumulation of the list itself is important.
Funny as a comedy, Z-Land also has some very deep moments all mixed in with the absurd and gross.
Global Garbage Can
The final phase is here, we’re officially living in a dystopian world.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared outdoor air pollution a carcinogen.
The air we breathe is now officially on the list with: Arsenic and inorganic arsenic compound, Asbestos and mineral substances that contain asbestos, Diesel engine exhaust, PCBs, Plutonium, shale oils, tobacco and radiation, etc. Lovely.
IARC, the cancer agency of the World Health Organization, after study and consultation has basically said we live in a sci-fi dystopian movie. Not so entertaining when it’s our air.
My first reaction was, this isn’t news, we kinda already knew this, didn’t we?
But these studies, panels, declarations are needed to make governments admit there is a problem and maybe do something about it.
Will it work? I doubt it. Big business runs our governments and they don’t care about who gets sick, who suffers, or who dies as long as they make money. You’re disposable – 7 billion other potential customers.
There are many possible variables to cancer: genetics, exposure to dangerous substances, lifestyle choices and now, the air we breathe. 
So while we’re going for an allegedly healthy walk we’re really exposing ourselves and our children to the possibility of lung cancer.
While you’re sitting in traffic, commuting to your job, guess what?
We scream for more oil to make more gas.
Remember years ago when there was an oil storage and governments, etc. used to urge people to conserve gas, to use only as needed, cut back, etc.?
Now our governments spend millions to promote oil so we can drive more.
We build more factories to produce more goods we don’t need.
All this so we can suffer and watch loved ones suffer, even die. I really don’t see how it’s worth it.
The rich are destroying us and we’re letting them.
Just think, we’ll watch the Hunger Games movies and the next generations will live them.
“The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread…” ~John Milton (Lycidas)
Shaun of the Dead
One of the funniest movies every made. The British have such a unique sense of reality vs reality, it makes their comedy dark and delicious, but never dank.
A buddy/romcom film with so much heart the zombies are a delightful side note.
There is no way to describe how witty, silly, droll, sweet, and stunning a masterpiece this is without showing the movie.
Plenty of pop culture zaps, tons of dysfunctional family and friend interactions while trying to fight zombies, and too much energy to contain.
This film sets the gold standard for any zomcoms to come.
Lots of nods to George A. Romero’s zombie flicks, including the title.
Romero, flattered and impressed, offered Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright cameos in 2005’s Land of the Dead.
They’re zombies, see if you can find them.
Malala
We take so much for granted.
Here in the West too many of young girls pay more attention to their: hair, make-up, clothes, shoes, boys, shopping, how many pictures of themselves posing in front of a mirror in sexy outfits making duck lips they can post online, and other such frivolities than education.
They don’t know or understand that girls from other countries are dying for the education too many Western girls ignore in favor of more trivial pursuits. They don’t get that girls around the world want to be educated, free, not sold into slavery of one kind or another.
This book, I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai makes your heart-break and sing all at once.
Her story is well-known. A young Pakistani girl whose amazing father instilled the love of learning into his beautiful daughter. He could have seen her as a bartering chip toward a good arranged marriage; instead, he cultivated her mind and knew she could be anything she wished. He gave her choice. The first hero of the story. Malala spoke up for Pakistani girls to have an education.
Knowledge is the key to happiness. She knew this and wanted to help others.
However, in speaking out she attracted the attention of the Taliban who believe the same things she does, knowledge is power. So they tried to silence her, with a bullet. Malala and two other girls were shot on their school bus. All survived.
History repeated itself, in trying to silence her voice they made it louder. And stronger. And heard by so many more.
Malala has since toured the world with her message of hope and learning. She’s only 16, but she’s co-authored a book, continued her activism, won awards, and has the ear of world leaders. She has triumphed in the face of adversity and has fought back to spread her message of hope and education far and wide.
I hope Moms and Dads will read this book with their daughters and sons. Instead of yet another trip to the mall, new cell phone, tickets to see Justin Bieber, or more clothes, read it with your children and talk about what it means and what they can be. I get saying Malala is a role model, not Miley Cyrus.
Having a uterus shouldn’t decide what a woman will be. We need more people to help this world, repair the problems, to make it better, not just more people. Everyone should have choices.
Enjoy this book. It is a beacon of light in an often foggy world.
Murdoch Mysteries
Difficult to believe I’ve been watching Murdoch Mysteries for going on 7 Seasons (we need more!)
The books by Maureen Jennings are great, but the series is fantastic.
This Canadian drama stars Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch, a complicated police detective working in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 1890s to early 1900s. It’s absorbing, a little daft, but always intriguing and keeps you mesmerized.
Brilliant job of combining ‘The Gilded Age’, a time when the world seemed to have so much promise with hints of amazing things to come, with a splash of reflection on how things started or went wrong; hindsight being 20/20 and all that.
Valuable lessons, drama, murder, mystery, romance, laughs – Murdoch Mysteries has it all. The only thing that could make it better, perhaps a recurring role for Paul Gross. Just a suggestion.
This remarkable drama has caught on worldwide, with good reason. Enjoy!
Flight of the Conchords
This show was so over the top, but so funny.
This witty (some might say witless) New Zealand-based twosome generated by Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement describe themselves to being New Zealand‘s 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, but they are so much more and less.
One or both or three or none of the actors may have also appeared in: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Men In Black, Dinner for Schmucks, The Muppets, Star Trek After Darkness, Man of Steal, Ironic Man 3, Diagnosis: Death, etc.
The allegedly impromptu musical numbers are awesome, Frodo Don’t You Wear That Ring, I Told You I Was Freaky, A Kiss Is Not A Contract, and The Humans are Dead are so painfully curious and catchy.
Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) was scary and hilarious as their Number One Fan.
Rhys Darby (remember him as Jim Carrey’s quirky boss in Yes Man?), was outstanding as their manager.
Some of my fav TV scenes of all time took place in Murray‘s (Rhys Darby) office during band meetings.
This show is a rare treasure that the world wasn’t quite ready for just yet, but I will keep it in my brain.
Zombies Vs Unicorns
Zombies vs Unicorns
by Holly Black
(Margaret K. McElderry Books)
I’m going to plunge into the fray on this one.
Zombies are cooler and all symbolic of our decaying society and consumer culture thingy.
Unicorns definitely have the whole magical and purity thing down.
There I stated my opinion, what’s yours?
The Blacklist
Would this TV series be that good without James Spader?
Who knows?
We don’t have to find out ’cause it has James Spader.
Delicious. A chill and a half with some hot sauce.
Kind of like Silence of the Lambs with the serial killer part replaced by spies, government agents, terrorists, and bad guys.
POLTERGEIST
Over 30 years later and I wondered if I still would like Poltergeist.
I did.
I still got chills.
I know there have been creepier, more gruesome and violence horrors films since, but nothing will replace this spooky classic.
The reboot of this film series is set to come out in 2014 or 2015. I can’t see how or why they would redo this.
After all, Family Guy did such a fantastic parody in 2006 (Season 4, episode 26) with Petergeist, it was almost difficult to watch the real Poltergeist without giggling. I’ll never look at clowns the same way again.
The plot is like any good fairy tale, a young girl is the unwitting cause her family’s trauma and they do anything to help her; showing that love conquers all.
Does anyone remember the Poltergeist curse? Fuelled by real skeletons being used in the climatic scene, as well as Dominique Dunne’s murder, Heather O’Rourke’s death, and several other incidents the legend of the curse grew, which equals great publicity.
There were 2 more in this series.
2nd was bad, the 3rd horrible.
So the only real curse was trying to milk a series, gee, not like Spielberg’s ever done that …cough, Indiana Jones, cough, Jurassic Park, cough, cough.
Note, no one died in this movie, not one character, even the family dog, E-Buzz survived (I don’t think we can count the canary at the beginning).
And they still scared us silly.
They’rrrre heeeerrre!!!
What About Bob?
I think What About Bob? is one of the funniest movies ever made.
Never ceases to crack me up.
- “I feel good. I feel great. I feel wonderful.”~Bill Wiley
Bill Murray is delightful as the multi-phobic, charming psychiatric patient, Bob Wiley, and Richard Dreyfuss is fantastic as Dr. Leo Marvin whose inflated ego makes him a bad doctor, father, and husband.
Bob follows Dr. Marvin on vacation and it becomes the ultimate anti-buddy film.
I just need to think the words, Baby Steps or Death Therapy or even see a goldfish and I get an internal chuckle.
The greatest lessons of this movie? Everyone has something to offer and lighten up, have some fun.
I will warn you, prepare yourself for sore ribs from laughing.
AMERICAN GOTHIC
No, I’m not talking about the showdown between the Democrats and the Republicans…although there are similarities.
I mean the short-lived, but much-loved TV series, American Gothic, brainchild of Shaun Cassidy.
Wow, being Joe Hardy on the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries sure messed him up.
Or maybe having David Cassidy for a bro. Or was it Da Doo Ron Ron?
Whatever, this show was seriously hair-raising (see what I did there, back to Shaun Cassidy and his big hair) and wickedly cool. 
Gary Cole was evil, but in a you’re-hot-way, as Sheriff Buck.
The cast was impressive including:
Gary Cole (Office Space, The Brady Bunch movies, VEEP, True Blood, The Good Wife, Chuck, Hop, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby),
Jake Weber (Elementary, Medium, House, Pelican Brief, Pushing Tin),
Lucas Black (X-Files, Jarhead),
Paige Turco (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, All My Children, Damages),
Brenda Blakke (The Mentalist, CSI, Star Trek: TNG),
Sarah Paulson (12 Years A Slave, Serenity, American Horror Story – Murder House, Asylum and Coven),
Nick Searcy (Justified, Cast Away, The Ugly Truth).
Bruce Campbell sure got bugged.
22 episodes was not nearly enough.
This show was sadly way ahead of its time.
Replay this now and it would be a huge hit.
Supernatural amusement that should have gone on and on and on.
yadadarcyyada 