Schwing Time! "Wayne's World"

Wayne's World (1992)

Rated PG-13

Starring Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere

Directed by Penelope Spheeris

The Story:

Wayne (Meyers) and best friend Garth (Carvey) host a local cable access show from Wayne's basement in Illinois.  When a sleazy businessman (Lowe) gets designs to use their show to promote a local arcade, will success go to the boys' heads?  Or will they stay true to themselves and stick it to the man?

One of many brilliant late 80's / early 90s Saturday Night Live skits that spawned catch phrases into pop culture consciousness and followed with one of the most successful SNL movies of all time.

No way!
Way!!

The movie still is amusing and holds up reasonably well for closing in on 25 years.

25 years?!

Let that one sink in for a moment.

The movie has pure moments of brilliance surrounded by pockets of amusement.

Which, at the end of the day, that's not a bad thing for any comedy.


Meyers and Carvey make the most of their dimwitted duo, and Rob Lowe proves to be exceptionally slimy as the villain of the film.

If it's been a few decades since you last gave it a whirl, well, what are you waiting for?

Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Still mostly holds up, but not a huge rush as it's not a definite crowd-pleaser at my place.

The Touching Tale Of A Girl And Her Dog... "Lilo & Stitch"

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Rated PG for violence

Starring the voices of Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Ving Rhames

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

The Story:

Experiment 626 (Sanders) is destined for banishmen due to his destructive behavior, but escapes to Earth instead.  Meanwhile on Earth, Lilo (Chase) is having a hard time fitting in, being raised by her sister, Nani (Carrere) who faces the prospect of losing custody of Lilo by the new social worker, Mr. Bubbles (Rhames).  Landing in Hawaii, he is adopted as a dog by Lilo and renamed Stitch.  However, the galactic empire is coming to get Stitch back, dead or alive.

You know those critics that proclaim Frozen as the greatest film in a generation?

Let me offer up 2002's Lilo and Stitch as rebuttal.

Hogwash!

While this came after the Disney renaissance of The Little Mermaid-Lion King era, it more than stands on its own as one of Disney's best efforts at a time when every Pixar movie was a mega-hit and Disney was quickly becoming an afterthought.

Mixing several story modes at first might seem like a jumble, Sanders an DeBlois adeptly weave the tales of:

Galactic Prisoner Escape!
A Girl's First Pet
Custodial Issues
Despair Over Job Issues
Discovering Family

Into a charming, funny, and yes, sometimes even sad, tale that whisks the viewer into Lilo's world and holds you until the end.

Wisely, the movie was not a cutesy musical, but instead relied on Lilo's love of Elvis to provide musical narration for some classic comedy or cinematic narrative moments.

Also, the Hawaiian Roller Coaster original song during the surfing scene is a nice touch, again, a musical number without making the characters burst into song, nicely done.

The voice work is very well done, no distracting celebrity voice to possibly distract from the characters.

The great part about having kids of multiple ages, when you rediscover the good animated fare that you may not have seen for awhile as some of the kids have grown up and moved on.

Nice to see these two again after a few years!

Available for streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I already own it, but I'm glad it's streaming, that's what got it back on the radar!

A Romantic Comedy WIth No Romance? "You May Not Kiss The Bride"

You May Not Kiss The Bride (2011)
Rated PG 13 for language and violence

Starring Dave Annable, Katharine McPhee

The Story:

Bryan (Annable) is a pet photographer who accidentally injures a cat that belongs to the wife of a Croatian crime boss (Ken Davitian).  Well, perfect timing because he is having troubles getting his daughter Masha (McPhee) citizenship.  So he tells Bryan he must marry her and then divorce her in a year so she can marry Brick (Vinnie Jones), his right hand man.  Oh, he also better keep his hands off his daughter as well.

Another gem dug up through Netflix!

I try and sort through the romantic comedies periodically to find something that is suitable for a date night or fun for the whole family.

I offer to let them watch horror films with me, but no takers thus far.

So this was the next one that Netflix said was the most enjoyed by the fans, so I gave it a whirl.

I was not disappointed.

Even better: Neither was anyone else in the house! 

Win-win!

Not watching a whole lot of television, I was not too familiar with either of the leads.

So...We're Married Now...

No, all of the names (or faces) took all of the smaller roles.

Mena Suvari is Bryan's assistant who becomes obsessed with him once he announces he's not interested in her.
Kathy Bates kills it, too briefly, as Bryan's mother.
Then there's Tia Carrere who doesn't look a day older than when I last saw her in True Lies (1994!).  Playing her cousin, Rob Schneider in probably his most subdued comic role ever.

Jungle Fun For The Whole Family

Lots of other familiar faces sprinkled throughout.

It's a cute little movie, and I'm glad we saw it.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I see this one being added to the library before too long...