Movie nights...

Our neighbor, Gaye Foote, brought back some DVDs for us from her recent visit to the States. We got The Simpsons Movie, Shrek the Third, and Underdog. So for three nights in a row we had a family movie night. This is usually a fairly rare event and we have certainly never done three nights in a row.

Noah picked the order of the movies, and of course he picked the Simpsons first (for Thursday night), even though that was the only of the three movies we have seen. It was funny and I picked up quite a few gags I hadn't noticed the first time in the theatre.

Friday night was Shrek the Third. I loved the first two Shrek movies, but this one not so much (though Kathy thought it was much better than the second). I thought it just ambled along without much of a plot. Also, did anyone else notice that Shrek has gone from a solid green to kind of a pale yellow? Noah liked it.

Tonight was Underdog. I wasn't even aware that this movie was coming out, mostly because it doesn't even open here in Europe until next month. I had no idea what to expect, although I had assumed that it would be a completely computer generated movie like Shrek or Toy Story. I was a little disappointed that it was live action with humans (if Jim Belushi qualifies as human) and a lot of CGI. I didn't care for it, but I doubt 49 year old males were the demographic the movie was shooting for. Noah loved it.

The movie did remind me of the old cartoon. I used to watch it at home during lunch (yes, I walked from school to home every day to have lunch). I never thought of Underdog as a great cartoon in the same league as Rocky and Bullwinkle or Johnny Quest, but it was OK. I had forgotten about the speaking in rhyme, Sweet Polly Purebred and Cad.

So, Noah decided that the Simpsons and Underdog were tied as his favorite, with Shrek not far behind.

Movie nights are a great family activity and I relish them while I can. It won't be many years before the last thing Noah will want to do is spend an evening with his parents watching a movie.

Funniest. Movie. Bit. Ever...

It's Friday and I needed a bit of the old Inspector Clouseau humor.

Who composed "Spider Pig"?...

Today Styopa left a comment regarding the version of the Spider Pig theme that I called "Tim Burton-esque" saying that it was composed by Danny Elfman (who wrote the Simpsons theme song, as well as the theme song for Desperate Housewives). But I looked up the credits and found that, while it is true that Elfman wrote the Simpsons theme song, Han Zimmer wrote the original soundtrack for the Simpsons movie, and that would inlcude the more layered version of the spider pig song.

He has had quite a successful career (see below) and now is working on the original soundtrack for the next Batman movie - The Dark Knight.

Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957) is a German composer, best known for composing film scores.

Born in Frankfurt, Zimmer began his musical career playing keyboards and synthesizers with, among others, the bands Ultravox and The Buggles ("Video Killed the Radio Star"). In the 1980s, he started composing and producing soundtracks for movies. His breakthrough came in 1988, with the theme for Rain Man, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Since then, Zimmer has composed music for many major movies, such as Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Crimson Tide, The Rock, True Romance, Driving Miss Daisy, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Pearl Harbor, The Thin Red Line, The Last Samurai, Cool Runnings, Black Hawk Down, King Arthur and Batman Begins. In 1995, he received an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the animated movie The Lion King.

Awards and nominations:

Academy Awards

1989: Rain Man
1995: The Lion King (won)
1997: The Preacher's Wife
1998: As Good As It Gets
1999: The Prince of Egypt
1999: The Thin Red Line
2001: Gladiator

Grammy Awards

1991: Driving Miss Daisy
1995: The Lion King
1996: Crimson Tide (won)
2001: Gladiator
2007: The Da Vinci Code
2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Golden Globe Awards

1995: The Lion King (won)
1999: The Prince of Egypt
2001: Gladiator (won)
2002: Pearl Harbor
2003: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (nominated for best song)
2004: The Last Samurai
2005: Spanglish
2007: The Da Vinci Code

Here comes Spider Pig...

In my review of the Simpsons Movie I mentioned a Tim Burton-esque version of the spider pig song that is played at the end of the movie during the credits. Well, ask YouTube and you shall receive. Here is the song over some stills from the movie.

Simpsons Movie first look - from Prague...

I'm not sure why the Simpsons Movie opened 30 hours earlier in Europe (or at least in Prague) than in the US, especially since Transformers hasn't shown up here yet. But it did, and I was at the 6:10 PM showing in the Slovansky dum cinema, just down from the Mustek metro stop.

The movie is showing on about 25 screens around the city and this is the only one where it is in the original English and not dubbed into Czech. To end the suspense, I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars. I had high expectations and I wasn't let down. I mark the movie off only for a couple of slow spots and the lack of more guffaws.

The story in the movie is like it is in the TV show - preposterous and of little consequence. Albert Brooks does a very nice turn as the greedy and evil head of EPA, of course in the Republican administration of Arnold Schwartzenegger.

The residents of Springfield have been naughty boys and girls, polluting Lake Springfield almost beyond saving. Lisa convinces the town (with her presentation "An Annoying Truth") to mend their ways and not pollute the lake anymore, but Homer can't control himself and dumps a silo of bad stuff into the lake rather than at the EPA-approved drop off site so he can get a doughnut giveaway.

Homers waste tips the scale and the lake generates mutant squirrels, resulting in the EPA encasing the town in a glass dome (see what I mean about the plot?). Because no one can leave the town due to the dome things get pretty bad in Springfield. And when the town figures out that Homer was the cause of their misery they take matters into their own hands.

As you might expect, Homer has an opportunity to make amends late in the film and things end happily. All of the old favorites are there, but most only briefly (since there are about 300 characters). Alas, there is no Kang or Kodos. I recall Patty and Selma showing up in Marge and Homer's wedding video, but not speaking (maybe I missed something). There are also a couple of new characters - a new Irish boyfriend for Lisa and an Inuit wise woman who Homer calls "Boob Lady".

Stay through the credits and you will be treated to a fantastic, Tim Burton-esque version of the spider pig song (spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does), as well as Maggie's first spoken word.

The Simpsons may have degraded a bit since their prime in the early to mid 1990s, but it still delivers the goods. Go see the movie if for nothing else than to make your family seem sane.

The Simpsons Movie in Prague...

Today (Thursday) is the premier of The Simpsons Movie in Prague. According to the internet (so it must be true) the movie doesn't open until tomorrow in the US. Of course, the challenge here is finding it in English. Although it might be amusing to watch it in Czech, I would prefer the original voices, and a language I understand.

So I went to www.expats.com and started checking the web sites of the individual movie theatres, of which there are many. Starting at the top and working my way down I kep seeing the same words - Český dabing (dubbed in Czech). Doh!!! One after another, only Český dabing. Ah, but one theatre with three screens showing The Simpsons Movie actually had, in English no less, "in original language"! I'm saved. The theatre is Slovansky dum, where Kathy and Noah and I have gone for a couple of movies as part of a group from the international school.

So, tonight at 6:10 I will be in my comfortable stadium seat with my tub o'popcorn and 2 liter cup of Coke Lite all settled in to enjoy the movie. I will try to post my review tomorrow.

Note: It's been a long time since I have been to a movie where I have had great expectations. The more recent movies I have seen I expected to be bad, so that when they sucked less than I expected I judge them as being pretty good. I have the bar set pretty high for The Simpsons Movie.

More vacation stuff...

The visit in Minnesota continues. It now looks like I will gain about 20 pounds during my 14 day stay since I have been doing nothing but eating in restaunts with friends, or eating movie popcorn.

Saw Transformers today in East Bethel (aka The Other Side of the World) with Noah and 30-year friend Styopa (see link to his blog) along with his kids Griffin and Maggie and straggler neighborhood kid, Parker.

The consensus review from the three 9-year old boys is two thumbs way up. Non-stop movement and things exploding with giant robots that transorm from (into?) cars and trucks. What is there for 9-year old boys not to like?

I actually enjoyed it, too, but my expectations could hardly have been lower. I remember the original cartoon and thought it was lame. But the special effects were quite good, and Steven Speilberg was the executive producer and Styopa convinced me that Speilberg had some influence on what ended up on screen. There are a few references or inside jokes to Speilberg movies like Close Encounters and ET (but they are pretty subtle).

After the movie Noah and I ended up at a new Brunswick bowling center on highway 65. It has a decent arcade and you use cards that you charge with points. It's much like Dave and Buster's - but with fewer games that cost more to play. It will be back to D&B next week.

Since I have been back in MN I have taken exactly zero pictures, so there is nothing to post but lame stock photos that I find on the internet (like these).

Making movies in Prague...

I am a big movie fan so it is interesting to me that there are a lot of Hollywood movies that are made in the Czech Republic. Casino Royale was partially filmed here, as was one of the Mission: Impossible movies and The Chronicles of Narnia series. Starting this week Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman will be in Prague to film the upcoming spy/assassin movie, Wanted. [Again with the spys in Prague. I don't get it]. Filming here will take about six weeks. Part of Angelina's contract calls for her hubby, Brad Pitt, to get lessons in flying a helicopter while she is busy working.

Why come here to research a spy movie?

Last week we had acclaimed film director, writer and producer Michael Mann at RFE/RL to do research for an upcoming spy movie that he is working on. For those who are not familiar with Mann, he wrote, produced and directed the movies "Miami Vice" (2006), "Heat" (1995) and the upcoming "Arms and the Man". He also produced "The Aviator" (2004) and directed the Tom Cruise movie "Collateral" (2004) as well as "Ali" (2001). His TV credits are too numerous to mention.
From Prague he was travelling to Moscow to continue his research. I'm not really sure what he was looking for at RFE/RL, because while the CIA did fund operations for many years, that ended in the 1970s. Since then RFE/RL has been publicly funded by Congress.