Let's go for something a little different tonight, and watch the 1996 Disney Channel Original movie starring Katherine Heigel (who I feel needs no introduction), and Danielle Harris (Who was most notably Eliza from the Wild Thornberries). The two play sisters, who get an an argument, "wish upon a star" and switch bodies.
Look, even in 1996, this is idea was done to death..a few I found from 1996 were:
"18 Again" (1988)
"Alison Birthday" (1981)
All of Me (1984)
"Farligt venskab" (which translates to Body Switch) (1995)
"Dream a Little Dream" (1989)
"Freaky Friday" (1976)
"Freaky Friday" (The 1995 tv movie)
"Like Father Like Son" (1987)
"Prelude to a Kiss" (1992)
"The Immortalizer" (1989)
"Vice Versa" (1988)
And that's just what I found with the first search I did, I'm sure I could find more, but you get the point. It's none a new concept, it's an overdone concept. The concept can be done well....yes. But it rarely is. (Shaggy Dog, anyone?)
I couldn't find much information about Wish Upon a Star, which makes me question if the movie is any good, but even a movie with a lot of information about it can suck...
So, without further ado....1996's Wish Upon a Star
We open with Bubblegum pop music, because that's what teens love.
Alex, Katherine Heigel is your average "pretty girl" who spends all of the morning in the bathroom, and oogling over her boyfriend's picture...and Danielle Harris, Hayley, is the younger sister, who is the shadow of her older sister....hm, what could go wrong here?
(Also, for whatever its worth...and probably nothing unless you're on Jepordary, Dannielle Harris, who plays the younger sister is actually a year and a half older than Katherine Hiegel)
The parents (Scott Wilkinson and Mary Parker Williams) decide the best way to stop the girls from fighting, and to get Alex to dress more modestly is to stop having so many rules. I reiterate, what could possibly go wrong?
At about 13 minutes, Hayley makes the wish while looking through a telescope, because if she can't be pretty like Alex, she's going to be into science.
We're now about 30 minutes into the film. I wouldn't consider it a bad film, I've seen worse. I wouldn't consider it a good film, I've seen better. It's a boring film. A very boring film. Now, part of that could be what I've already mentioned, the body switching thing is overdone, even in 1996, but even an overdone concept can be pretty decent if the writing is good....and it's not particularly bad here, but it's nothing special. It's
forgettable.
Nothing of importance in the movie has happened since Hayley made the wish back at 13 minutes in.
Another thing about this movie, I have two younger brothers...I get the "Sibling Rivalry"dynamic of the household, but even when me and my brothers would fight (and still do) at the end of the day we're still friends, this movie doesn't have any of that, and if it does, it's trying to pull a fast one on our parents that are dumber than Chief Wiggum, it doesn't paint an accurate picture of the typical family. Okay, what do I expect from a movie about sisters swamping bodies? Well, it can still be done with a theme like this.
I was trying to pinpoint what was wrong with this movie, it fails on all the levels that original Freaky Friday succeeded on. I think I have a theory, in FF, you knew Mom was actually the Daughter and vice versa, and while I don't really like the Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan version, you could tell there. This movie, yeah...you know they're supposed to be in each others bodies, but you can't really tell a difference between the sisters, because they act the same way they did prior to the wish. I think this is most obvious when they try to decide who's room to sleep in that night. I'm sure there's other problems with this film, aside from what I've mentioned....we still have 51 minutes left. But, I think that's what makes this movie so boring, and helped FF succeed. :)
Actually, I think this movie could work...if you got a pair of twins, and did the "I hate my life, let's be each other for the day" which every show with twins, has done....and is still an overdone concept. But it could work that way...maybe not well, but that's the only way I really see this movie working.
So, we now begin day 2...AKA "Let's ruin each others reputation" day.
However, about 15 minutes of run time, they discover that Alex is a virgin, and have an awkward bonding moment, and realize that they'll help each other. Specifically, getting Hayley back into the science fair which was taken away from her for....well...plot convenience, I guess.
The girls camp out in the backyard to wait for a shooting star, but decide to go as each other for one more day, so that Alex's teachers can be convinced that she's not an air head, and that Hayley can get a boyfriend. I guess the writers just needed to fill an extra 30 minutes of the movie that weren't about if Alex was a virgin or not.
At the end of that night, Alex...er...Hayley makes the wish, but nothing happens. So, Hayley..er Alex, must present the real Hayley's science project, and Alex...er...Hayley, must be Alex in some prom queen thing....
Turns out, it didn't work because when the real Hayley made the wish in the beginning of the movie, so did the real Alex, so they both have to wish for it in order for it to be reversed. Okay...I guess. Spoiler alert, it works. Also, shooting stars seem to happen an awful in "insert city here" And, spoiler alert...Alex wins the prom queen thing, because nobody saw that one coming.
The movie ends with Alex giving Hayley the tiara for winning the prom queen thing.
Okay, the movie is boring and incredibly predictable, unless you just seriously love "body swap" movies, don't bother.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Daddy Day Care (2003)
I think I need to predicate this review by saying something I know will probably loose me some followers. I don't think Eddie Murphy is funny.I think he has (some) good movies, yes. But honestly, the characters he plays in any movie could be played by ANYONE else who was even the slightest bit relevant at the time.
I do like (most of) Eddie's standup, but even that I have to take in small amounts.
So anyway, let's look at 2003's crapfest Daddy Day Care (and maybe one day look at the even crappier sequel)
We open with Eddie Murphy (Charlie) at his job, where he is a product developer of some sort, and is trying out a new vegetable flavored breakfast cereal, and then wonders why the kids turn on him in his big giant stalk of broccoli suit. No, seriously. I don't even have kids, and I know how dumb of an idea it is to even try that. AND, Charlie has a kid. I guess it would make somewhat sense, if he was childless, but he's not. And, how did he manage to "catch" Regina King?
Because "vegetable o's" was such a big flop, Charlie and Phil (Jeff Garlin, who I have never found to be funny, ever). Get laid off, and eventually decide to open up a "Daddy Day Care" Center, because the one led by Mrs. Gwenneth Harridan is too expensive on one income. Oh, and Mrs. Gwenneth Harridan is played by Anjelica Houston, who I really like....but I wonder how in the world she got roped into this....well, to be fair...she was in the Addams Family movie(s), which let's be honest...might be a guilty pleasure, but compared to the tv show (which I loved growing up, because I swear...I was born in the wrong decade) they suck.
But I digress. I will say one bright part to this movie is Siobhan Fallon, as Peggy. (She was most recently Fred's mom, in both Camp Fred, and Fred the tv show...but probably even more notably for her work on SNL from 1991-1992, and she was also the bus driver in Forest Gump...remind to make a review of what I don't like that movie. ) But even she's only in it for about 3 minutes. and there's also Max Burkholder, who you might recognize from NBC's "Parenthood". But Max Burkholder got a rather sucky role, as most children do.
I feel like this movie was "Let's see how many nut shots we can cram into one movie".
So, they open the daycare center, after people stop freaking out about the fact it's 2 guys....and everything goes haywire the first day. Yeah, I'd leave my kids with these goons.
The first day, as you could expect goes crazy, children climbing on drapes, managing to work large pieces of machinery (a riding lawn mower)..and just all around crazy. And how to two parents, not know that large amounts of sugar would cause the kids the explode with hyperness? Seriously, are you that stupid? Apparently.
When Mrs. Harridan's school starts to drop in attendance, she makes an anonymous complaint to children services, but Charlie and Phil manage to get everything up to code within about 6 hours.
As someone who taught Pre-k for awhile, I find it rather insulting. Not just that scene, but this whole movie in general. But hey, it's Eddie Murphy, so I wasn't exactly expecting gold, especially given where in career was in 2003.
There's also a poop scene, where Phil's kid has diarrhea but misses, so does the joke of Charlie freaking out about his bathroom to the "shower scene" music from "Psycho"
The comedy here, doesn't work. It tries. But I honestly can't tell if it tries too hard, or doesn't try enough. It fails, almost on a level of "Master of Disguise." And to be completely, MoD works better, it got a few smirks from me. DDC has yet to make me even smirk, and we're roughly an hour into the film. But if you consider the fact that our director, Steve Carr also directed Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It's not a stretch that DDC wouldn't be very funny.
Okay, moving on.
Enter Marvin, played by Steve Zahn (who has his funny moments in the film, but I wouldn't watch the film, specifically for his humor). He's from the business that Charlie and Phil got laid off from, and stops by...to...plot convenience, I suppose.
Charlie and Phil now have 11 kids under they're care, and regulations can't allow more than 5 kids per adult, so they hire Marvin, or they shut the business down, but letting Mrs Harridan win, the professional, would be a crime. So, Marvin agrees.
One of the mothers, honestly...I can't keep them apart, so...mother #1 stops by to write a check, "Dreamweaver" plays in the background, which is the universal sign for love. Here is what I mean by failed comedy.
Mom #1: *talking to Marvin* Are you the new daddy?
Marvin: I'm your daddy......*awkward pause*....I'm not your Daddy, I'm your baby's daddy...*awkward pause*.....I'm not your baby's daddy, but I will be...I'm...uhh....
Phil: You're Marvin.
It just doesn't work, at. all.
and for our next bit of failed comedy, they finally start to get their act together, with the help of Marvin, and a "focus group" and have a pet show and tell day, well..one of the little girls, again, I can't keep them apart. So, girl #1...brings a tarantula, and...you guessed it, it goes missing....and...you guessed it.....Phil finds it on his head. and...you guessed it....a lot of running around in panic ensues. The only time I have ever seen the tarantula gag work, was in the first Home Alone movie.
Kevin Nealon plays Bruce, Charlie and Phil's former boss, on a golf course. Cause ya know, bosses playing golf is cliche. Turns out, Bruce is the father of Crispin, one of the kids at daycare. Nobody saw that coming.
Mrs Harridman makes a complaint again, prompting child services for about the 4th time during the duration of this movie, in the meantime, Marvin has lost "The Flash" a kid who refuses to take off a "Flash" costume. They find the costume, but not the kid...who is eating a cookie, without the costume on. They tried to make it funny, by looking in places like the trash cans, toilet, washing machine, but come on...a missing child isn't very funny.
Anyway, he took the costume off, because he doesn't want to be Flash anymore, he wants to be Tony (and not Tony Stark)
Well, state regulations say that an in home daycare can't have more than 12 kids, and they have 14. They look at a new, bigger, permanent place, but that takes money, so they have a carnival, which Haridman sabotages. She then offers, if Daddy Day Care were to close down, to buy all his kids from him.
It does shut down, because Charlie is offered his job back, along with Phil, and Marvin, who apparently worked there too...apparently. But he realizes he made a huge mistake about 30 seconds later, when he sees a picture tucked in a folder that Ben (his own kid) drew.
So, they go round up the kids from Mrs Haridman's pre-school, and reopen Daddy Day Care in the new building, and yeah..the end.
Oh, and Haridman's becomes a traffic guard, and Jennifer (her assisstant) now works for DDC.
I think the movie had a good idea, they just went about it wrong, the gross out humor wasn't funny, and the sugary-sweet family-movie crap, was still over the top, and not really worth anything.
Steve Zahn does add something, but even he's not worth it to watch the entire movie.
I say don't bother, and the sequel "Daddy Day Camp" is even worse.
I do like (most of) Eddie's standup, but even that I have to take in small amounts.
So anyway, let's look at 2003's crapfest Daddy Day Care (and maybe one day look at the even crappier sequel)
We open with Eddie Murphy (Charlie) at his job, where he is a product developer of some sort, and is trying out a new vegetable flavored breakfast cereal, and then wonders why the kids turn on him in his big giant stalk of broccoli suit. No, seriously. I don't even have kids, and I know how dumb of an idea it is to even try that. AND, Charlie has a kid. I guess it would make somewhat sense, if he was childless, but he's not. And, how did he manage to "catch" Regina King?
Because "vegetable o's" was such a big flop, Charlie and Phil (Jeff Garlin, who I have never found to be funny, ever). Get laid off, and eventually decide to open up a "Daddy Day Care" Center, because the one led by Mrs. Gwenneth Harridan is too expensive on one income. Oh, and Mrs. Gwenneth Harridan is played by Anjelica Houston, who I really like....but I wonder how in the world she got roped into this....well, to be fair...she was in the Addams Family movie(s), which let's be honest...might be a guilty pleasure, but compared to the tv show (which I loved growing up, because I swear...I was born in the wrong decade) they suck.
But I digress. I will say one bright part to this movie is Siobhan Fallon, as Peggy. (She was most recently Fred's mom, in both Camp Fred, and Fred the tv show...but probably even more notably for her work on SNL from 1991-1992, and she was also the bus driver in Forest Gump...remind to make a review of what I don't like that movie. ) But even she's only in it for about 3 minutes. and there's also Max Burkholder, who you might recognize from NBC's "Parenthood". But Max Burkholder got a rather sucky role, as most children do.
I feel like this movie was "Let's see how many nut shots we can cram into one movie".
So, they open the daycare center, after people stop freaking out about the fact it's 2 guys....and everything goes haywire the first day. Yeah, I'd leave my kids with these goons.
The first day, as you could expect goes crazy, children climbing on drapes, managing to work large pieces of machinery (a riding lawn mower)..and just all around crazy. And how to two parents, not know that large amounts of sugar would cause the kids the explode with hyperness? Seriously, are you that stupid? Apparently.
When Mrs. Harridan's school starts to drop in attendance, she makes an anonymous complaint to children services, but Charlie and Phil manage to get everything up to code within about 6 hours.
As someone who taught Pre-k for awhile, I find it rather insulting. Not just that scene, but this whole movie in general. But hey, it's Eddie Murphy, so I wasn't exactly expecting gold, especially given where in career was in 2003.
There's also a poop scene, where Phil's kid has diarrhea but misses, so does the joke of Charlie freaking out about his bathroom to the "shower scene" music from "Psycho"
The comedy here, doesn't work. It tries. But I honestly can't tell if it tries too hard, or doesn't try enough. It fails, almost on a level of "Master of Disguise." And to be completely, MoD works better, it got a few smirks from me. DDC has yet to make me even smirk, and we're roughly an hour into the film. But if you consider the fact that our director, Steve Carr also directed Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It's not a stretch that DDC wouldn't be very funny.
Okay, moving on.
Enter Marvin, played by Steve Zahn (who has his funny moments in the film, but I wouldn't watch the film, specifically for his humor). He's from the business that Charlie and Phil got laid off from, and stops by...to...plot convenience, I suppose.
Charlie and Phil now have 11 kids under they're care, and regulations can't allow more than 5 kids per adult, so they hire Marvin, or they shut the business down, but letting Mrs Harridan win, the professional, would be a crime. So, Marvin agrees.
One of the mothers, honestly...I can't keep them apart, so...mother #1 stops by to write a check, "Dreamweaver" plays in the background, which is the universal sign for love. Here is what I mean by failed comedy.
Mom #1: *talking to Marvin* Are you the new daddy?
Marvin: I'm your daddy......*awkward pause*....I'm not your Daddy, I'm your baby's daddy...*awkward pause*.....I'm not your baby's daddy, but I will be...I'm...uhh....
Phil: You're Marvin.
It just doesn't work, at. all.
and for our next bit of failed comedy, they finally start to get their act together, with the help of Marvin, and a "focus group" and have a pet show and tell day, well..one of the little girls, again, I can't keep them apart. So, girl #1...brings a tarantula, and...you guessed it, it goes missing....and...you guessed it.....Phil finds it on his head. and...you guessed it....a lot of running around in panic ensues. The only time I have ever seen the tarantula gag work, was in the first Home Alone movie.
Kevin Nealon plays Bruce, Charlie and Phil's former boss, on a golf course. Cause ya know, bosses playing golf is cliche. Turns out, Bruce is the father of Crispin, one of the kids at daycare. Nobody saw that coming.
Mrs Harridman makes a complaint again, prompting child services for about the 4th time during the duration of this movie, in the meantime, Marvin has lost "The Flash" a kid who refuses to take off a "Flash" costume. They find the costume, but not the kid...who is eating a cookie, without the costume on. They tried to make it funny, by looking in places like the trash cans, toilet, washing machine, but come on...a missing child isn't very funny.
Anyway, he took the costume off, because he doesn't want to be Flash anymore, he wants to be Tony (and not Tony Stark)
Well, state regulations say that an in home daycare can't have more than 12 kids, and they have 14. They look at a new, bigger, permanent place, but that takes money, so they have a carnival, which Haridman sabotages. She then offers, if Daddy Day Care were to close down, to buy all his kids from him.
It does shut down, because Charlie is offered his job back, along with Phil, and Marvin, who apparently worked there too...apparently. But he realizes he made a huge mistake about 30 seconds later, when he sees a picture tucked in a folder that Ben (his own kid) drew.
So, they go round up the kids from Mrs Haridman's pre-school, and reopen Daddy Day Care in the new building, and yeah..the end.
Oh, and Haridman's becomes a traffic guard, and Jennifer (her assisstant) now works for DDC.
I think the movie had a good idea, they just went about it wrong, the gross out humor wasn't funny, and the sugary-sweet family-movie crap, was still over the top, and not really worth anything.
Steve Zahn does add something, but even he's not worth it to watch the entire movie.
I say don't bother, and the sequel "Daddy Day Camp" is even worse.
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