That was a good one. My favorite moment was the one by the fence when they were talking about the cell phone, realized what had happened to it, and heard it ring. They turned, and there's the Spinosaur. :eek:

And that they could hear the cell phone ring right through the spinosaurs belly. 8D

I've seen both Gulliver's Travels and Hoppity Goes To Town. Both extremely nicely animated (Gulliver himself was rotoscoped); what was wrong was story development. Whoever wrote the script for Gulliver just watered down Swift's tale with some trite dialogue and no direction. Hoppity just seemed to drag. The Fleischers could do longform--the Popeye two-reelers are testiment to that. (TRIVIA: King Features Syndicate never saw a dime off the Popeye cartoons that Fleischer and Famous made as the two studios bought the rights to the characters.)

What did the Fleischers in was that Max and Dave split from each other in acrimony in 1941, leaving Max to run the studio which Paramount Pictures (distributors of their cartoons) now controlled. True, the poor timing of the release of Hoppity Goes To Town was a contributing factor in the demise of the Fleischer Studios by name; Paramount would oust Max and rename it Famous Studios (named for their music publishing arm) with Max's son-in-law, Seymour Kneitel helping to run it.

Ah, thanks for clarifying that for me, Ccook. I'd known that Max and Dave had quite a nasty rift during the production of Hoppity, and that this was a contributing factor toward their decline - irony is that Max did apparently become friends with his former adversary Walt Disney in the aftermath.

And I agree - the film itself was nicely animated, but could have done with a slightly more substantial storyline. I still feel quite sad for it, though, given the circumstances.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Death to Smoochy

Truth be told, the Mummy "3" pretty much served up everything I expected it to serve. I wasn't surprised but I was by no means disappointed either. It was a great action movie and despite being made by a different director, it still felt like a "Mummy" movie and was quite enjoyable.

The new older Alex O'Connell was a great addition, he looks JUST like Brendan Fraiser and Jet Li made a bad ass new mummy villain. The final mega sized un-dead fight was especially kick ass. On the downside, I really miss Racehl Weisz, this new girl isn't bad but she's nothing to brag about either. Also, I felt the abominable snowmen were kind of stupid and felt unnecessary.

All in all, a good movie that was VERY enjoyable and well worth seeing.

Mamma Mia!

Super cheesy but super fun. It's certainly not going to win any awards for narrative unpredictability, but that scarcely seems relevant - the real joy here comes from seeing how all the familiar Abba numbers are staged and choreographed throughout, the results of which are utterly irresistable. The film doesn't take itself any more seriously than it should, and most of the cast, particularly Meryl Streep (who is awesome) get into the spirit of it really well. It goes without saying of course that you have to like the music of Abba, and lucky for me I do. For the record, my favourite Abba song is "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight)", but I felt that "Take a Chance on Me" was the best used and staged within the film itself. Of course the "Dancing Queen" sequence was great too.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

My most favorite. :)

My favorite parts are when the released dinosaurs destroy the hunters camp, when the T-Rex rampages through San Diego, knocking over the 76 gas station sign and scaring away the police cars and the animal control truck. 8D

It

The two-part TV movie from 1990, based upon the Stephen King novel of the same name and no doubt responsible for inspiring an entire generation of coulrophobes. I watched both parts over the weekend for the very first time, not entirely certain what to expect, and found that it was actually really good, although it must be said that the two halves themselves are not equals - the first is definitely a heck of a lot stronger than the second, which kind of falters.

The former is brilliantly taut - aided by the input of a surprisingly strong ensemble of child actors, including a young Seth Green, (and all those "special appearances" from Tim Curry, of course) it sets the scenario and builds up the tension supremely well, cumulating in a truly chilling and unexpected climax which instantly has you wanting more. The second...well, it's entertaining enough and certainly has its moments. Problem is that it never really lives up to the high expectations set by its predocessor (that, and that it contains quite possibily the most annoying cliche you could find in a horror movie, but I'm willing to let that slide). I've never actually read the original Stephen King novel, so excuse my inability to compare, but I found the climax to be a bit disappointing:

Spoiler Below

Well, as with every good horror movie, the true delectability is to be found in the anticipation, and even if that anticipation finally falls short of any particularly satisfying fulfillment, the build-up is just too much fun to be missed. Recommended to all, except for the most emotionally fragile of coulrophobes. Oh, and folks who really love clowns. If you do, then I have a feeling that Pennywise here could seriously ruin your fun.

Spoiler Below

That is so true!

"The Demented Cartoon Movie."

It's hilarious. :P