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.

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.

DVD Collection #7: 48 Hours and Another 48 Hours (so it's not exactly in alphabetical order)

This was the movie that defined the mismatched buddy action comedy movie in the 1980s. Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and a convict forced to work together to solve a crime...if that's not a 80s movie in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

This is one of Eddie Murphy's best movie series if you haven't seen it...not like the crap he makes now. He was my favorite comedy actor during that time when he also made such movies as Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, The Golden Child, and Coming to America. He was big into his standup comedy routine at that point as well...funny stuff, but also considered controversial. Not by today's standards. And what happened to Nick Nolte? Notice Eddie gets top billing in the sequel? Hmmm.

DVD Collection #6: American Pie, American Pie 2, and American Wedding (spoilers, but who really cares)

I admit to having fun watching these movies, even if all they are is a series of raunchy sex comedies...or maybe BECAUSE of that. But seriously people...after the trilogy (if I dare call it that) did we really need loosley related sequels like American Pie presents Band Camp, American Pie presents The Naked Mile, and American Pie presents Beta House? Isn't that last one just a ripoff of that classic 1978 movie Animal House?

I happy to be able to say that I've never watched any of the "presents" movies and I never will. Now I must post the next movie in my DVD collection immediately so this will be knocked down an entry and you might never see it.

TELEVISION: Nostalgia TV...Knight Rider and 90210 (2008)

I'll just get it over with and admit it right away...I'm watching both of them...the new Knight Rider and the new 90210. They're not on Pay Per View...they don't cost anything. What have I lost by watching them (aside from a little dignity and self respect)?

90210 has had what, 4 episodes now...I already don't care about the new characters, but I want to know where the old characters are...how some of them have grown into the new characters (in case you weren't sure, it's true)...and how they interact with each other. This is more of a sequel than it is a remake, which I prefer honestly. The same is true of Knight Rider. The new guy...Mike Tracer is Michael Knight's son...brought home by the fact that The Hoff himself was in the pilot and says as much. They should just get a jump on things and call it Season Six of Knight Rider, because essentially that's what it is...a continuation of the original with more bikinis thrown in for good measure (at least so far into episode 2). And now...creativity being what it is...Mike Tracer, like his dad before him, has faked his own death and become Michael Knight. Only his face hasn't changed at all. He still looks exactly like Mike Tracer, so good luck to him in keeping his secret identity. It doesn't matter...I'll keep watching because unlike most people, I enjoy watching a continuing story, even if it's not so great.

MOVIES: Undead (2003) - Just Watch It

119 Days ago, a movie was released that would revolutionize the way zombies are presented on screen. Undead was not that movie, but it came out on the same day.

Instead of taking itself too seriously, Undead finds a way to make a zombie plague amusing. It was exactly what the filmmaker wanted it to be...a B horror movie that would make you laugh. My cousin David and I enjoyed it...Katharine hated it...my cousin Judith slept through it. If you like Grindhouse type horror movies, you shouldn't miss this one. If you'd prefer to get a second opinion first, see what Katharine had to say.