A brief and rather lazy offering this week as I just returned from a vacation. I went down to Orlando with some of my family and the 10-plus hours car trip was not nearly as entertaining as the one in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION or even the one in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. But once we were there we had a good time, after all, we were in Disney World, the happiest place on earth. And of course there was no shortage of movie-related attractions.
I was really looking forward to the rides I liked as a kid. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty much as I remembered it but I was a little disheartened by the new Johnny Depp Captain Sparrow animatronic puppets that periodically sprang up. (While riding in a boat past drunken scallywags, I couldn't help but think of Jeff Goldblum's line from JURASSIC PARK when everything is going haywire: "When the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.")
The Haunted Mansion, another favorite from my youth was exactly as I remembered it, and thankfully there was no sign of Eddie Murphy.
I haven't seen any of the TOY STORY movies but the fun Buzz Lightyear ride was like a moving video game and, I'm proud to say, I had the high score for the car. Take that, Grandpa!
And in case you were wondering whatever happened to Rick Moranis (and I bet you were) he's still on screen every night at Epcot in the 3-D production of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.
We also went to Universal Studios where, obviously, there were lots of movie-themed rides.
Revenge of the Mummy was great and certainly much more entertaining than the movie(s) it's based on. Jaws was fun if a little campy but because JAWS is one of my favorite films I had to go on it. The Men in Black ride was as lame as those movies and E.T. was cute.
And after seeing various characters like the Cat in the Hat and Captain America capering around I was reminded of an episode of The Simpsons when the family attended Itchy and Scratchy Land and Bart and Homer get put in "jail" for messing with the people in costumes:
Homer: But Marge, I was a political prisoner.
Marge: How were you a political prisoner?!
Homer: I kicked a giant mouse in the butt, do I have to draw you a diagram?
And then, while waiting on line for The Simpsons ride, they played that clip from the show. Wow, art really does imitate life. Or something like that.
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| Movie Musings |
Every other Tuesday
Thoughts, observations, conjectures, complaints about movies and mostly how they relate to me personally. If you're looking for something a little broader, try Ebert.
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| Tim Josephs |
Born to write (literally – much to the displeasure of his mother, he emerged with a pencil clutched in one tiny fist), Tim spends most of his days crafting epic monosyllabic poems, new comical titles to his favorite Beatles' songs (Hey, Dude), and angry letters to local businesses that have wronged him in some way. He's really an okay guy once you get to know him.
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