Category Archives: Movies in Bed
Movies in Bed: The World’s End
Post by Mark T. Locker.
If you are not a fan of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, the words “Cornetto Trilogy” will probably mean nothing to you. Which is a shame. These are three fun, ridiculous, hilarious, and action-packed movies that fans of zombies, cops, and satire are sure to enjoy. The first installment, Shaun of the Dead, came out in 2004 and is a brilliantly hilarious zombie apocalypse movie. Three years later, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost released Hot Fuzz about an uptight cop being transferred to a sleepy rural village. Their third installment came out in 2013 and is called The World’s End. Simon Pegg plays Gary King, a washed-out 40-something-year-old who realizes his greatest failure occured on the evening of his and his friends’ failed pub crawl in their hometown of Newton Haven twenty years earlier. Before reaching the last pub in the Golden Mile, The Word’s End, things fell apart. In order to recapture the possibilities lost that evening, Gary goes out and brings everyone back together, albeit reluctantly. Unlike Gary, everyone else has grown up and moved on. But they give in.
What nobody expects is that the town of Newton Haven has been overtaken by weird robot look-alikes of everyone they used to know. What to do? Well, naturally they need to finish the pub crawl. No matter what. You can imagine things get pretty hairy and pretty silly from there. This is not the greatest movie in the trilogy; there is great debate over whether that honor belongs to Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead. (There’s no debate for me: it’s clearly Shaun of the Dead.) Nevertheless, this is a fun and action-packed movie that is great to watch on a weekend evening.
Movies in Bed: I AM ZIM!!!!!!
Post by Mark T. Locker.
Invader Zim has been around for a long time. Zim-related products have overwhelmed the Hot Topic employees for years. Everyone who has watched the show knows it’s because GIR is amazing. Zim is pretty great, but GIR is where it’s at.
This Nickelodeon cartoon was created by Jhonen Vasquez, which seemed highly unlikely seeing as he was previously known for his very good, but very disturbing comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Zim is a horse of a different feather. He is a very egotistical but highly inept alien from the planet Irk. Their purpose is to dominate other planets. Eager to get rid of Zim for good, this leaders, the Tallest, send him on a wild goose chase to the far end of the universe. Each invader is armed with a robot warrior servant but in Zim’s case they filled its head with garbage. And so is born GIR, the dopiest, funniest, cupcake-loving robot companion you ever will see.
When they arrive on Earth, Zim disguises himself as a human child “I am normal! Nothing to see here! I am a normal human doing human things!” and GIR as a dog, zipper visible in the front plain as day. The only thing stopping him from taking over is Dib, the one person who sees through Zim’s disguise.
This is a super fun cartoon for grown-ups and adults alike. Word of warning though: if you are squeamish, there are a few episodes with a very high “ick” factor, so beware. My son loves this show but to be honest, I was watching it years before he was born. Available streaming on Amazon and surely for sale as well. Enjoy!
Movies in Bed: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb
Post by Mark T. Locker.
I know we have all been waiting for so long, and the third installment in the Night at the Museum series has FINALLY been released for home viewing! One of those special evenings after too much activity in the day and everyone is worn out, what better way to wind the evening down than with a movie, all cuddled together on the couch? Or on the bed, which is even better because you can just drift right off.
Which you might do when you watch this movie unless you’re a kid. It’s a perfectly fine movie but has become something of a tired instrument by this point. I like the first one; I thought it was genuinely unique and funny and interesting. The premise, if you’ve missed the series, is Larry Daley is the new night watchman at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. What he doesn’t know is that everything in the museum comes to life at night. His posse includes Theodore Roosevelt, played by Robin Williams (rest in peace) along with Sacagawea, a tiny Wild West cowboy and his buddy a tiny Roman centurion. Plus a cheeky monkey and Genghis Khan. In this movie, the magic tablet that brings them to life is failing and they must bring it to the British Museum to speak with the Egyptian Pharaoh who made it to discover the secret of the tablet.
My son thought it was a great bit of fun. It wasn’t awful but as is the case with so many movies like this, the original remains the best. But if you’re looking for something harmless and funny, full of pratfalls and silly characters, you could do worse. Word of warning: there is a little bit of sad stuff that happens and there was a moment that my boy was in tears. But it all ends up okay in the end. Spoiler alert.
Movies in Bed: Back to the Future
Post by Mark T. Locker.
1985! 1985! Such a cool and modern time! That was thirty years ago. THIRTY YEARS AGO. We had a sick day earlier this week and were looking for something awesome to share with the boy. I’d been thinking about Back to the Future, since, as we all know, this is the year that Marty and the Doc travel to in Back to the Future II. People have been scrambling to make that future vision a reality, from really unimpressive hoverboards to Nike’s Air Mag with self-tying laces. All that is well and good, but if you are going to start fresh, you have to start at the beginning.
November 5, 1955!
I can’t say how many times I have watched that movie. Apparently a lot because I can recite most lines from memory. I like this movie because it’s totally fun and it’s harmless. There are a couple words in it I had to gently remind my child that he is not allowed to say. But overall the whole time travel/awesome car/action movie was not lost on the kid at all. He even has a puffy vest like Marty McFly is wearing when he goes back to 1955! Whenever he wears it, I say, “Hey kid, why you wearing a life preserver?” It’s great fun.
If you haven’t watched it in a while, Back to the Future is still a pretty fun thing to watch. It’s classic Steven Spielberg good times, from the same era of E.T. and The Goonies and Raiders of the Lost Ark. What better way to wrap up a long day than with a trip back in time, in a meta-nostalgic movie, in a sweet DeLorean?
Movies in Bed: Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
Post by Mark T. Locker.
There are a lot of things to be amazed by in this movie. Or rather, in the fact that this movie even exists. This is the fourth movie in the Spy Kids franchise. FOURTH! Amazingly, Robert Rodriguez is still at the helm of this sinking ship. Okay, let’s be fair: kids will probably like this if they like Spy Kids. It’s full of kids single-handedly battling malevolent forces. It’s got potty humor. It’s got gadgets. My son thought it was a perfectly acceptable movie. The premise is that Jessica Alba is a retired spy, trying to raise a baby and be a good step-mom. Unfortunately, the bad guys have their own plans and what was supposed to be quick drop-off turns into a disaster when the children come under attack. So clock-faced criminal who is striving to control the flow of time is after them and needs the pendant Jessica Alba gave her step-daughter in an attempt to connect with the surly adolescent. It’s more than just a pendant. It’s something very powerful and the baddies are determined to get it. Action ensues. The faithful dog begins talking because he wasn’t actually a dog at all! He is voiced, inexplicably, by Ricky Gervais. I wonder what crime he committed to be committed to this movie. Also surprising is the other actors who agreed to be in this. Joel McHale, Jeremy Piven. Even Carmen from the original movies returns, this time as an adult.
It’s available on Netflix and if you have a restless kid trying to while away the hours during a spring rain shower or two, you may as well put this one on.
