DVD Collection #10: Bad Boys and Bad Boys II: Whatcha Gonna Do?

The Bad Boys series of movies came about at the end of the "buddy cop" era of movies. Will Smith plays the rich playboy Miami cop that has so much money that he doesn't really need the job, and Martin Lawrence plays the family man that needs the job, loves his family, and always seems to find himself in situations that jeopardizes both while blaming Smith's character. The first Bad Boys movie gave you hope for this genre in a time when that particular type of movie had been done so many times already...it was a fun movie with plenty of action. The second one brought back a lot of the same characters...threw in a bit MORE action...a little bit over the top humor, hooked Smith's character up with Lawrence's sister for some additional tension between partners, but still managed to maintain itself as an enjoyable movie.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith could go back and make a third Bad Boys movie if they wanted to, but they should probably leave it alone before it turns into the later Lethal Weapon movies where both of the leads are "too old for this shit". If you're a buddy cop action movie fan, you should definitely check this out.

Halloween in Salem

Last Friday evening, Katharine and I went with my cousins to Salem on Halloween night. If you're from this area, you might think I'm crazy. There were over 100,000 people in Salem that night...it would take hours to get in there and then, where would you park. In reality, thanks to the fact that my cousins know that area really well...it took minutes to get in there and we parked immediately...only blocks from the action.

See the Boston Globe Article here

There were three types of people in Salem that night. People in really cool and original costumes, such as the woman without a head, the giant Frankenstein, and the Mad Hatter with Alice in Wonderland. There were the slutty people...those that wore something slutty, just because they could get away with it on Halloween night (their parents must be proud). And there was us...those that left their costumes at home for a night of watching the other groups of people.

We made our way into the crowd of thousands, and worked our way clear across to the other side until there was no more crowd. We watched people take pictures with characters of all kinds and even took a few ourselves. We stopped to listen to the Halloween band playing in the street. It was quite an experience and if you ever get a chance, you should take the opportunity to see it for yourself. Next year, we're going back...we've already started to think of the perfect costumes. You must be original to stand out and have people want to take their picture with you. That would make the night all that much better knowing that you have a costume that others admire. We'll see...next year, maybe I'll be posting about that experience.

DVD Collection #9: Back to the Future (The Trilogy)...Great Scott! That series is over 20 years old!

Remember when Back to the Future was brand new and it wasn't yet a trilogy? But you knew it was at least going to have a sequel because of the way the first one ended...with a big old To Be Continued as Marty and Doc Brown blasted off into the future? How old were you when that came out?

I have to admit, that my favorite of the two sequels was Back to the Future III. I thought the old west storyline was much more interesting and less confusing that all that jumping around they did in the second one. And who saw the end of the second one coming...Marty gets a letter from Doc Brown in the Old West. Classic movie moment. Did you know that Marty McFly's girlfriend was recast for the 2nd and 3rd Back to the Future movies? It's true. I love these movies and can't wait for Back to the Future IV. Come on...Indy did it...Rambo did it...you know it's coming.

DVD Collection #8: Armageddon

How appropriate only a few days from election day that Armageddon would come up on the list. One of our candidates is like an asteroid and could destroy the world...or at least our country. But I don't want to get political. Armageddon...this is that movie where Bruce Willis and his band of raggedy oil riggers team up with astronauts to save the world in a way that only John McClane...uhm...Bruce Willis could do.

A sarcastic man in an unlikely situation that saves the world. Think Die Hard in space, where the big old asteroid is the bad guy...throw in a bit of Affleck, Aerosmith, Billy Bob, and Buscemi and you've got a great action flick that is SO not Deep Impact, which came out right around the same week....I think there was a volcano movie too...and a volcano movie without Tommy Lee Jones. I don't have any of those.