Movies That Improve on Multiple Viewings: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Some films set their sights very high, others very low. Napoleon Dynamite, for example, is an extremely unambitious movie and it actually succeeds because of that. It’s not pretentious, but soft spoken and light-hearted. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, on the other hand, has lofty ambitions to be a great film and succeeds in spite of that. It’s trying so hard to be strange and ironic, but it comes across as quietly charming when it finally calms down. Continue reading →

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Joke of the Week: Pillsbury Doughboy

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

What would the Pillsbury Doughboy be if photos of him were constantly being put on magazine covers?

The answer is… Continue reading →

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Bad Movies with Great Music: The Last Starfighter

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Heaven help me, I love The Last Starfighter. For all its over-the-top, gee-whiz, Star Wars-lite tomfoolery, it’s actually a really fun movie. It encapsulates many of the things I love about films from the 1980s: The big hair, fun-loving teenagers, exciting action and, most of all, great music! None of this makes it a good movie, but it comes close.

A Video Game… in Space!

The Last Starfighter, appropriately enough, feels a lot like a video game. If you don’t believe me, go back and play Battle Clash on the Super NES (you know, the game that used the Super Scope) and you’ll feel like Alex Rogan in the cockpit. In that game, you shoot missiles at various robotic enemies and you have to shoot enemies’ missiles before they hit your robot while someone else pilots your robot. That actually sounds a lot like Robot Jox, except with a copilot. Continue reading →

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Joke of the Week: The Lord of the Rings

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Why did Gandalf think Frodo wanted to send a ninja to Mordor to destroy the One Ring?

The answer is… Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Tron: Legacy vs. The Dark Crystal

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Tron: Legacy is a good movie. I haven’t watched TV for the past five years and I don’t pay attention to movie hype, except what I see on IMDB. So when I first saw Tron: Legacy for the first time, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hoped it would be good because I grew up loving the original Tron, but I didn’t know how they would live up to that film’s originality. It turns out they didn’t, but that’s actually not a bad thing.

As I walked out of the theater with my wife, she pointed out that Tron: Legacy had a lot in common with its predecessor – similar lines of dialogue, visual designs and plot points. But I had a nagging feeling that it reminded me of another movie even more than Tron. And, coincidentally, it was another movie that came out in 1982 – Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. Continue reading →

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Joke of the Week: Plumber

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

What did the plumber say when he walked up to his customer’s sink?

The answer is… Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Starman

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Starman is a forgotten classic. If you’ve already seen it, I applaud you. If you haven’t, I suggest you check it out. This movie never got the attention it deserved, possibly because it came out just two years after another movie about an alien who comes to earth and gets the help of humans to return to its ship. With any luck, Starman won’t stay hidden for long because we’re going to bring this would-be classic to light at long last.

Starman or Star Trek?

I’ve heard this film compared to E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, but I think it more closely resembles the season-two episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled “The Child.” In that episode, a being of pure energy comes aboard the Enterprise and, in order to fully understand humanity, it enters Counselor Deanna Troi and is born as a human child. The child ages rapidly and grows close to his mother (or as close as he can in a 42-minute episode). But when he discovers he’s putting the ship at risk, he leaves, never to return. It was a pretty substandard episode, but Starman takes the same material and turns out a very good movie. Continue reading →

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Joke of the Week: Pepsi

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

What do you call the President and the CEO of Pepsi?

The answer is… Continue reading →

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What the Star Wars Prequels Did Right

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

The Star Wars prequels are not great films. Many people have gone into great detail about what those films did wrong. So, instead of repeating all of their problems, I’m going to talk about what the Star Wars prequels did right.

Twentieth Century Fox Distributed

20th Century Fox logo, Deja ReviewerGeorge Lucas is a savvy businessman. When he inked his contract to make the first Star Wars film, he famously gained exclusive rights to all merchandise. But many people don’t know he also gained control of all sequels, prequels and spinoffs. Because of that oversight, Twentieth Century Fox had to negotiate to be the distributor for each new Star Wars movie. They did have one important bargaining chip, though: Fan expectations. Continue reading →

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Joke of the Week: Stephen King

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

If the author of The Shining made an information technology company, what would he call it?

The answer is… Continue reading →

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