Suburban Commando-1991

Image via Wikipedia

I watched this with the girls last night. 

Suburban Commando is a movie starring Hulk Hogan.  Hogan plays a character on the run from intergalactic bounty hunters.  His space ship lands on Earth and it is going to take a month for it to recharge so he can leave. 

According to IMDB, this move was originally pitched as a follow up for Danny Devito and Arnold S.  after the success of twins.  I wonder what that version of the movie would have been like.  It didn't pan out and the rights went to another company looking to profit off of Hulk Hogan's popularity coming off of No Holds Barred. 

This movie didn't really have a budget.  It was a kids movie and I am not talking teenagers, I am talking 6-12.  There is some humor thrown in for adults, but it is entirely a kids film.  That being said, my kids thought it was funny.  They are vaguely aware of who Hogan is, but got excited when they noticed the Undertaker.  My oldest said that Triple H should have done this movie.  I don't think she realized how old it was.

I have kids, so I watch a lot of kids crap.  This was mildly entertaining in a three ninjas type way.  If you don't have kids, I would give this one a pass. 

I Saw Tangled and It Was SciFi

We all know the story of Rapunzel.  I even know the original version that is much more violent.  I have never thought of it as science fiction, but Disney's movie Tangled may have changed that.  Warning, here there be spoilers.

I finally got around to watching this.  I was on a father/daughter date with my youngest (the oldest is mad because she wanted to see it too), and I kind of wanted to see something else.  Boy was I mistaken.  It might be my new favorite Disney Princess movie.  Tangle was very good and very funny. 

On the way home, as my daughter was nodding off, I came to the conclusion that Tangled was a scifi movie.  "A drop of the sun" falls from the sky and up blooms a "magical" flower.  The flower makes the witch young and is found and harvested to save the life of the pregnant queen.  The queen is healed but the baby is born with a head full of blond hair (king and queen are dark headed).  Turns out the hair is "magical as well."  You have to sing to the hair to make it heal.  If the hair is cut, it dies and the hair still attached the the head turns brown. 

A drop of the sun is obviously a meteorite with a seed of a otherworldly flower.  Singing to the flower makes it happy and it then releases some sort of rejuvenating radiation.  When the flower is turned to tea, the organism living in the flower's DNA is released and embeds itself in the fetus of the queen.  Rapunzel has a symbiotic organism that lives inside her.  I guess the alien symbiote needs its own oxygen or it uses photosynthesis to live as it expresses itself through the hair.  As these tendrils are cut the whole branch dies.  When all of Rapunzel's hair is cut the organism can no longer exist.  It dies, but with its remaining strength forces some healing essence through a tear drop. 

Want more proof?  The hair grabs and lets go of things.  It is able to move on its own.  Usually only when Rapunzel wants it too.  So the symbiote is acting in concert with Rapunzel's wishes.  A side effect of the symbiote would be Rapunzel's ability to talk to chameleons. 

Sure the movie takes place in the fantasy kingdoms of Happily Ever After, but that does not change the fact that it is a scifi movie.  Arthur C. Clarke said it best, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  What the characters see as magic is really just an alien organism.

In closing,  Tangled is a great movie whether  it is SciFi or not.  It is clever and funny and just a whole lot of fun.  Disney hit a home run on this one.  I would suggest going to see this one and you don't even have to have a kid with you.

Gift Idea-Sofia's Dream

Over at Alex Cavanagh's site he is highlighting a children's book.  Yep, the kind with pictures.  As a Scifi dad, I totally support this book.  Head over to Alex's site and comment to have a chance at winning the book and to read the full story including reason's to buy the book from two little girls.  Here is what the book is about:
     "Anyone who reads sci-fi knows there are plenty of books in which the hero has left Planet Earth because humans have destroyed her. That explains why we’re writing about a kid lit book called Sofia’s Dream, in which a little girl visits the Moon and after seeing the planet from the Moon’s point of view, is inspired to do what she can to protect the world."

Aliens in the Attic (2009)

Cover of Aliens in the Attic

I watched this movie with the family and although it only gets a 5.3 at IMDB and a dreadful 29% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes, we found it funny.  The reason for the low reviews, it is a kids movie. 

The plot is nothing to right home about, kids discover an alien invasion that is starting in their attic.  The kids can't go to the adults because the aliens have a weapon that only works on adults. 

The acting was pretty good.  The show had a great line up including kids from popular kids shows, Doris Roberts, Andy Richter, and the voice of Thomas Hayden Church.  The visual comedy was well done.  No points lost on acting. 

Visually, the movie is just right.  They had some cool weightless scenes, the aliens are kind of cartoony, and the action was fun, but not distracting. 

The thing that makes this movie stand out to me was the Kung Fu Nana scene.  This scene had Doris Roberts being controlled by a remote in the hands of a couple of 12 year old video gamers fighting another person being controlled remotely by an alien.  My kids couldn't stop laughing. 

This is a great family movie.  It isn't going to win any awards and it isn't cutting edge, but it will bring your family together with laughs.  Give it a look if for no other reason than to see Doris Roberts doing flying kicks. 

Dick and Jane and Vampires

I don't know if you have seen the classic reading primer turned into a book about vampires, but it is at every bookstore. 

I detest this book.  At best it is apologetics for vampires and at worst it is indoctrination that vampires are your friends and that they want to help you and play with you.  Some pro vampire publisher is trying to get your child comfortable with vampires so that your child will invite them into your home and make you easy pickings. 

This book is irrisponsible, insane, and really cute. 

My youngest read it, laughing the entire time. 

X-Men the animated series

I believe I was in 9th grade when this show came on originally. I loved it. I can say with certainty that this show started me collecting comics. It was awesome. All of my friends watched it and we couldn’t wait to meet up and talk about the show later that Saturday. I remember being at a boy scout derby car race one Saturday morning and that none of the kids wanted to be there because they were going to miss X-Men. The elk lodge or VFW had a TV though and we all gathered around to watch Professor X and his protégé defend a world that hated and feared them against evil. It was awesome.