South Park Essay

            One of the things that South Park writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always done is take a relevant issue and push it to such an extreme that it’s funny.  This technique can also show viewers how ridiculous the reality actually is.  Their TV show has tackled issues such as the government bail outs, hate crimes legislation, and global warming.  While many people can toss South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut aside as a stupid, foul mouthed cartoon, it actually deals with issues quite relevant in American society, such as censorship, parenting, how children participate in the political process, and political overgeneralization. 

            South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut revolves around the same 4^th graders as the TV show: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Eric Cartman (who is often referred to by his last name).  The group goes to see the new Canadian film, “Terrence and Philip: Asses of Fire” even though it’s rated R.  The foulmouthed vocabulary of the duo quickly rubs off on all the children of the small mountain town, which of course outrages their mothers.  Kyle’s mother, Sheila blames Canada for turning her son into a potty mouth, and recruits the others to form Mothers Against Canada.  Meanwhile Kenny dies after setting a fart on fire (an act inspired by Terrence and Philip) and spends most of the movie in hell with Satan and Saddam Hussein, but this subplot is not as important in terms of politics.  The end result is an all out war between the United States and Canada along with the planned execution of Terrence and Philip and it’s up to Stan, Kyle and Cartman to save the day. 

            As Stan says at the end of the movie, “This is about freedom of speech, about censorship”.  Take “the V chip” that is mentioned in the movie.  It’s a device that is installed in a child (in this case, Eric Cartman) and gives him an electric shock whenever he swears.  When you think about it, this is a very unconstitutional practice.  However, we do it in real life all the time even if not to the same extent as what happens in the movie.  Most people, even Americans who believe in free speech, will agree that certain “swear words” shouldn’t be used by children.  Children are scolded for saying such words, and adults are frowned upon if they use these words around children.  However, as Cartman says in the movie, “What’s the big deal?  It doesn’t hurt anybody.”  Plenty of adults, including those in the public eye swear all the time, if anything some are known for their bad mouths.  Why is it that adults can get away with saying words that children can’t even when the words really don’t hurt anyone?  And one would think such words are as hurtful coming from an adult as a child.  How old does a child have to be before they are allowed use as much potty talk as they please under the protection of the Constitution?  All are questions provoked by South Park:  Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.

            Parenting is another issue that is talked about in this movie.  As the 4 main characters say right before they go to see the Terrence and Philip movie for the first time: “Off to the movies we shall go/where we learn everything that we know/because the movies teach us what our parents don’t have time to say”.  It’s not that hard to believe that children use movies, TV and the internet to learn things their parents don’t teach them.  Another issue is parents who blame others for their kids’ misbehavior.  At the end of the movie Kyle tells his mother “…you never took the time to talk to me.  Whenever I get in trouble, you go off and blame everyone else.  But I’m the one to blame, deal with me.  You keep going off and fighting all these causes, but I don’t want a fighter, I want my mom.”  The movie has an all around message telling parents that keeping their kids under control is their job, and that if every parent made it their responsibility to take care of their kids and not blame society (or in this case, Canada) for messing their kids up, the world would be a better place.  This message is also evident in the scene where Kyle is trying to tell his mom to stop her crusade against Terrence and Philip and the rest of Canada.  She ignores her son to tell a crowd how important is to protect America’s youth, making her look rather stupid.  Parenting is so important because how parents treat their children is one of the main sources of political socialization.  Later, when the 4^th graders form “La Resistance” (a group intended to save Terrence and Philip) the three characters who start it (Stan, Kyle and Cartman) are all sons of Mothers Against Canada.  While both groups fought on opposite sides, the kids still followed their mothers’ example in forming a political organization to fight for a cause they believed in. 

            Another concept in this movie is political overgeneralization, meaning the tendency to disagree with large groups simply because of something a few members of this group said or did.  For example, it seems absolutely ridiculous for Sheila to blame the entire country of Canada for the potty humor of two Canadian citizens.  However, this happens all the time in America, a great example being the 2006 midterm elections.  Democrats won the majority in congress and many people believe it to be because of Republican George W. Bush’s unpopularity.  For a citizen to vote against all republicans because they don’t like the Republican president is actually quite similar to what Sheila did to Canada. 

            One of the things I learned and thought to be particularly interesting is how the children participated politically.  In fact, the movie even portrays them as being smarter than the political figures, who are portrayed as idiots. When President Bill Clinton announces that the U.S. has declared war on Canada, he says it’s because Canada has killed the Baldwin brothers.  The general of the U.S puts all the black soldiers in a battalion and expects them to be a “human shield” for the white soldiers.  When one of them asks if he’s ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation the general says that he doesn’t listen to hip hop.  Meanwhile, it’s the kids who realize just how crazy going to war with Canada over some bad words really is.

            I learned from South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut that kid play a crucial role in politics.  It is easy for many people to think kids are unimportant because they don’t vote, and voting is one of the main ways people get involved.  However, it is not only in the movie that kids participate in politics.  In both 2004 and 2008, popular children’s network Nickelodeon ran a campaign called “Kids Pick the President” where through TV and internet they encouraged kids to research the candidates and then cast a vote online (nick.com/kpp).  Over 2 million votes were cast in ’08.  The website was not just for voting though.  It included educational materials about the candidates and the election process itself, as well as messages boards for kids to express their opinions about the election. 

            Kids are also important in that they influence the way adults think, another idea portrayed quite well in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.  In one scene where Sheila debates with the Canadian Minister of Movies, the Canadian Minister says “Well the film is R rated and is not intended for children.” “But of course children are going to see it!” argues Sheila.  The Canadian Minister of Movies also says “The United States has graphic violence on television all the time.  We can’t believe that a movie with some foul language would piss you off so much.”  None if this would be an issue if Sheila didn’t have kids, or if say, there were no kids living in South Park.  The war with Canada is based entirely on the idea of protecting children, another theme common in American politics.  Countless political ads talk about protecting children, probably because it’s something few people can disagree with.  Whether it’s issues about education or spending money that the next generation will have to pay off, how different policies affect kids seems to be an ever-relevant issue.

            While the overall purpose of South Park: Bigger longer and Uncut it to entertain the audience as opposed to educate, this can actually be a benefit.  Because the movie was not necessarily written to give its viewers a new outlook on issues, but just to make them laugh, it can influence an entirely different group of citizens than a political movie.  If a film (usually a documentary) is produced solely to make a political point, oftentimes no one will go to see it unless they already believe in that point.  When people know ahead of time that a movie is going to preach to them, they will oftentimes make up their mind about the issue before the opening credits.  With South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, people who don’t vote, don’t get involved, and don’t even have opinions about politics will still see it just for the laughs.  It can reach out to people who don’t even care about politics and perhaps provoke political thought in this demographic.  This is how South Park can influence public opinion and convince viewers to consider such important issues like censorship, etc. and why it plays just as important a role in politics as more serious films.

So, any month can be a "watch a kick-ass movie everyday of the month" month but summer months work well because what else is there to do? First, I'm going to clarify the rules of "watch a kick-ass movie everyday of the month" months so if you decide to do this yourself, you can get the full experience. Section 1 goes over what does and doesn't qualify as watching a kick-ass movie everyday. Since "watch a kick-ass movie everyday" month is not only about watching kick-ass movies, but also about exposing yourself to a wide variety of old and new movies and experiencing everything cinema has to offer, Section 2 includes the "at least one" rules outlining what movies you need to watch during the month. If you have any questions about the rules, consult me.

SECTION 1:

1. Note that it's not "watch a movie everyday" it's "watch a kick-ass movie everyday." If you watch a movie that doesn't fit YOUR definiton of "kick-ass" you have to watch another one that day that does. Keep this in mind whenever you plan to watch a movie you haven't seen.

2. There is no rollover. While you are welcome to watch more than one kick-ass movie in a day, doing so doesn't mean you don't have to watch any another day. However, if you watch two or more movies in a day, you count as many as you like towards your "at least one" requirements that are listed in Section 2.

3. You can only count a movie once. You can watch it multiple times during the month, but you have to make sure you're watching another movie on the day you watch it. So there can only be ONE day when it's the only movie you watch.

4. The movie must both start and end within the 24 hour period to count as your movie of the day. So if a movie starts before midnight and ends after midnight, it counts for neither day. Consider this when you plan your movie sessions, especially if you want to watch a long movie.

5. You must watch the movie in it's entirety for it to count, even if it's one you've seen a thousand times and could easily skip 10 minutes without losing track of the plot.

6. The only exception to rule number 5 is if you're watching a movie on tv and the network has deleted some parts due to explicit content or so it can run in the time alotted. It's not your fault that tv networks are stupid like that. Anyway, watching movies on tv is perfectly fine as long as you watch as much of the movie as the network will air.

7. A tv special is not the same as a movie. If it's only an hour with commercials, it doesn't count.

8. If you're not good at multi-tasking during a movie, don't. There is a difference between watching a movie and being present while a movie is on. If you're so busy you can't get what you're supposed to get out of the movie, it doesn't count.

SECTION 2: During the month you must watch...

1. At least one movie you've never seen.

2. At least one comedy.

3. At least one movie that was made before you were born.

4. At least one movie you like but haven't seen in a year.

5. At least one movie that makes you cry (ignore this if you're one of those people that just doesn't cry during movies)

6. At least one movie where a good guy dies.

7. At least one sports movie.

8. At least one action/adventure movie.

9. At least one musical.

10. At least one animated movie.

11. If you're old enough, at least one sex scene. (Don't ask me about what does and doesn't count as a sex scene. If you can't figure out your own defintion of "sex scene", you're not old enough for this rule to apply.)

12. At least one movie about kids in high school.

13. Watch at least one movie of every rating you're allowed to watch (not counting NC-17 and/or X rated) So one G, one PG, one PG-13, and one R. If you can't watch R yet, make it one of each up to PG-13. You get the idea.

14. If you have one definite favorite movie, you must watch it during this month. If you don't, you have to watch at least one that's one of your favorites.

15. At least one new movie solely because a friend suggested it reguardless of whether or not it's "you're type of movie."

16. At least one drama.

17. So as to prevent you from locking yourself away and having no interaction with the world whatsoever, you are required to watch at least one movie with a friend.

18. At least one movie that centers around an animal (this includes mythical creatures).

19. A single movie can count for as many of the "at least one rules" as the given movie allows.

20. Imdb gets the final say on whether or not a movie counts for a specific genre.

21. If you have a favorite actor, you must include at least one movie starring that actor. Otherwise, watch at least one movie with an actor you really like (and make sure you've seen this actor in multiple movies and you don't simply like them because they're in one of your favorite movies.)

22. You are not required to see any movies in theatres unless there is one in theatres that you actually want to see. If this is the case, then see it dammit!
NEW THIS YEAR:

23.  At least one movie that you quote often.

24.  At least one series in its entirety (this does not mean every movie you watch that is part of a series must be followed by its sequels, it just means that you have to do at least one series, and a series can be as little as two movies.)

25.  For those who have done WAKAMEOTM before, at least half of your movies must be movies you did not watch last WAKAMEOTM.


So, I might add more rules as I think of them, but for now those will do. Anyway, here's my experiences thus far with "watch a kick-ass movie everyday" month.




JUNE 1ST: "The Breakfast Club" and "This is Spinal Tap"

So I watched "The Breakfast Club" because a friend endorsed it although I knew I wanted to see it even before that. I love how character driven this movie is. I'm really big on character development in books/movies. This one has a simple, not particularly inventive plot: 5 teens of different "cliques" trapped in detention on a Saturday. What makes the movie interesting is how you get to know those 5 teens during the movie. They appear to be high school stereotypes but they're more than that at the end of the movie. It's well written and well acted so yeah, this movie kicks ass.

"This is Spinal Tap" is an awesome movie, and I knew that already. I just felt like watching it. It's a mockumentary about the fake band Spinal Tap (a pretty standard '80s rock band), and it's hilarious. It's also an incredibly quotable movie and if you've watched it as many times as I have you will start saying things like "There's a fine line between stupid and clever", "The answer is none, none more black", "What's wrong with being sexy?", "St. Hubbins, the patron saint of quality footwear" "but these go to 11" and the list goes on and on. Oh, and everyone has British accents so that's a nice touch. And warning, you will never look at Stonehenge the same way again after watching this movie.


JUNE 2ND: "Vantage Point"

So I watched this one for the first time on May 31st and I knew I was going to have to watch it again to really get it. It's about an assassination attempt on the president followed by a bombing. They tell the same story over and over again from different "vantage points" (a secret service agent, a journalist, a random guy with a video camera, a local cop, the president, etc.) and you learn a little more about what really happened each time. It gets kind of boring since you're watching the same thing over and over again, but it is a cool story that has lots of twists and turns and isn't at all predictable. It's good, and it kicks ass, but maybe not as much ass as some others I will be watching this month.

JUNE 3RD: "City Slickers"

My softball game was rained out so I had time to watch a movie on tv in it's entirety. I had my choice between this one and "The Pacifier" which is also pretty good, but I'm glad I chose this one. It's been a lot longer since I've seen it and fufills my "haven't seen it in over a year" requirement. It's about three friends going through a mid-life crisis at the same time so they decide to go on a cattle run together for fun. It's one of those movies that's funny but also has a message and just makes you feel good. Bad things happen and good things happen and it's just an all around good (though bittersweet) movie.


JUNE 4TH: "A League of Their Own"

It's been a while since I've watch this and I totally forgot how AMAZING THIS MOVIE IS!!!!!! It's about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was started during World War II when all the male baseball players were overseas. The movie focuses primarily on two sisters: Dottie, who is widely recognized as the best player in the league, and Kit, who is good but desparately trying to get out of her big sister's shadow. Tom Hanks plays their manager, who's quite good at what he does when he lays off the booze (the character I mean, not Tom Hanks). For me, this might be the most relatable movie I watch all month. And it ended up fufilling my "must cry" requirement. I knew I liked this movie, but I didn't realize I'd be head over heels in love with it after watching it again.

JUNE 5TH: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
I think this is one of those movies where you either get it and you love it, or you just don't get it. I think it's hysterical, and like "This is Spinal Tap" it's quite quotable and everyone has British accents. "Are you suggesting that cocanuts migrate?" It's just a funny movie great for those times when you don't want to think too hard.


JUNE 6TH: "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"

This one is a Mel Brooks spoof on Robin Hood, and it's hilarious. I'd seen it before and I bought it on amazon just for this occasion. There's not that much to say other than if you feel like laughing, watch this movie.

JUNE 7TH: "Mean Girls"

So, this movie is about Cady Heron, a homeschooled girl who grew up in Africa but now has to attend an American high school. She is befriended by Janice and Damien, and the three of them decide to get revenge on Regina George, who's a life ruiner. She ruins peoples lives. So Cady starts hanging out with Regina and her shallow but popular girl clique known as the plastics and sabotaging Regina. I know that thus far it just sounds like a stupid movie about high school but it's so much more than that. It's not only funny but there is a moral that we shouldn't all judge each other and yadda yadda. They also don't bind themselves to all the high school stereptypes. Cady is a good looking girl who is also really good at math. One of the mathletes is also a bad ass MC. It's just a movie that kicks ass.

JUNE 8TH: "The Boondock Saints" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (again)

So due to the fact that my brother missed watching Men in Tights to go to the emergency room, we watched it again two days later. I didn't break any rules though, because I also watched "The Boondock Saints" which qualifies as a movie I watched solely because my good friend, Jessica, suggested it. And it was available for instant play on netflix. So basically, "The Boondock Saints" is about guys shooting other guys and yelling "fuck" a lot. I like that it made me think about the question "Is it o.k. to kill in the name of God?" because the protaganists decide to kill criminals instead of watching while they kill innocent people. In other news, I think this was my first Unrated movie. I like that I got out of my comfort zone to watch it and while it's not going to be my favorite movie of all time, I did like it and it did kick enough ass to qualify.

JUNE 9TH: "Pirate Radio"

This movie is about a bunch of people who live on a boat and run a radio station. I don't know that it's a classic or anything, but it's a fun movie that totally kicks ass.


JUNE 10TH: "Being There" and "Finding Nemo"

So "Being There" is a strange movie about a retarded guy who quotes the tv and talks about his garden and it had me saying WTF? so I watched a movie that I could trust to kick-ass called "Finding Nemo." This is a Pixar movie, and Pixar is usually pretty good about making kick-ass movies. "Finding Nemo" is not only a heartwarming tale that makes me happy, but also a visually beatiful movie with all the pretty ocean colors. And it got in my animal requirement. If you have not seen this movie, you should be ashamed of yourself!


JUNE 11TH: "School of Rock"
I love this movie. It's about Dewey Finn, a guy who dreams of rock glory who takes a job as a substitute teacher at a snobby private school. The school also believes he's his friend, Ned Schneebly, an actual substitute teacher. Dewey forms a rock band with his students and enters them in the battle of the bands. It's funny, it rocks out, and it teaches a valueable lesson about sticking it to the man.

JUNE 12: "Mulan" and "Fried Green Tomatoes"

So I watched "Mulan" as a kind of insurance movie in case I didn't like "Fried Green Tomatoes". "Mulan" is probably my favorite of all the classic Disney movies. It's when Disney was making female protaganists a lot less damsel in distress and a lot more badass. Mulan is a Chinese girl who goes to war pretending to be a man so as to save her father. That's pretty awesome. Turns out though, I really didn't need an insurance movie because "Fried Green Tomatoes" was pretty good too. There's two plotlines. The first one is about a miserable housewife who befriends an old woman in a nursing home. The second one is about the story the old woman tells the housewife: A woman goes on trial for a murder she may or may not have comitted. I thought the second one was much more interesting. There's some really funny moments and it's just an all-around nice movie.

JUNE 13: "Toy Story"

Abc family was airing these movies and Jake wanted to watch them so I thought we'd watch them on VHS and skip the commercials. There's something nostalgic yet obnoxious about a VHS. I took it out of our VCR and was all like "that's right, you need to rewind these things." Anyway, "Toy Story" is a fabulous movie that I haven't seen in a while and I even forgot most of it. I'm not going to explain the plot because you all should really know what it's about and if you don't go watch the damn movie. It's a classic. There's also a bunch of jokes I didn't catch when I was younger. Like when Mr. Potato Head was pressing his lips against his own butt to point out how Slink was being a kiss-ass. Things like that.

JUNE 14: "Meet the Robinsons" and "Toy Story 2"

So I was babysitting and "Meet the Robinsons" happened to be on Disney Channel so I watched it with the kids. It's a cute movie, although kind of predictable. Since Jake did not watch this movie, I watched "Toy Story 2" with him. It's one of the few sequels that I can say I like just as much if not more than the first one. The plot doesn't seem too forced. I mean it feels more like a natural continuation of the story rather than a movie that was made simply because the first one made a lot of money. Woody is kidnapped by toy collector Al, who plans to sell him to a museum in Japan with the rest of his roundup gang, inculding Cowgirl Jessie, The prospector and Bullseye, his trusty steed. It's up to Buzz and the gang to save Woody. However, Woody is conflicted when he befriends the roundup gang and must choose between them and the toys from Andy's room. I love Toy Story 2 and I think I'm going to see the third one on Monday.

JUNE 15: "Shrek"

Let's be honest. Is there ANYONE who doesn't think the original Shrek movie kicked ass? Didn't think so. I know it's gotten out of hand what with the three sequels and the Broadway version of it, but the original movie was incredible. It's hysterical, and as much as I like classic Disney I also love how this movie is just a big "fuck you!" to Disney. There's also a valueable lesson about not judging a book by its cover. As Jake pointed out, part of the problem was that the movie wasn't really written to have a sequel, but still I love this movie and I always will.

JUNE 16: "Angels and Demons" and "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

So, Jake read the book and when he found out this was available for instant play on netflix he said we had to watch it. He said they got some things in the book wrong but since I didn't read the book, I FREAKIN' LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! It was epic, it was awesome, there were funny parts but for the most part it was just a suspenseful thriller that held my attention for over 2 hours, which is no small task. It starts with two seemingly unrelated events: the death of the pope and the creation of antimatter. However when the illuminati, a secret society steals the antimatter and starts killing the cardinals favored to become pope and it's up to symbologist Robert Langdon (who Tom Hanks plays quite well) to save the day. There's plenty of twists and turns and I totally didn't see the ending coming. And it raises some interesting questions about science and religion. I found great enjoyment in it.

Oh, and after typing all that about the mind blowing movie that is "Angels and Demons" it occured to me that I also watched "The Princess Diaries 2" while babysitting. The first one was better, but the second one is still decent. I accredit this mainly to the fact that Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews are both superb actresses who portray their characters quite nicely in this movie. However, I can't get that into a movie centered around the plot "get married or forfeit the crown." This is one of those sequels that did feel kind of forced and not just a natural continuation of the first movie. With that said, the love interest was cute and there was a nice female empowerment message and it's not a movie that isn't worth watching just a movie that isn't as good as it could've been considering the acting talent they were working with.

JUNE 17: "The Rookie"

This is a great movie that I hadn't seen in a while. Dennis Quaid plays Jimmy Morris, a kid who dreamed of pitching in the big leagues until an injury ended his career. Now he's married, has 3 kids, and teaches chemistry at the local high school as well as coaches their baseball team. Most people would say he's too old to play competitively. But when he makes a deal with his baseball team that he'll try out again if they win the district championship, he has to try out again. It's just a great, inspirational baseball story that's pretty amazing and makes me feel good.

JUNE 18: "Fried Green Tomatoes" again and "The Blind Side"

So my mom didn't watch "Fried Green Tomatoes the first time and so I watched it again with her. It was better the second time. "The Blind Side" is a movie about real life NFL player Michael Oher and how he got to where he is today. The movie was not as focused on football as I thought it would be but still very good. It was well acted and I felt as though Michael really grew as a character throughout the course of the movie. It was inspiring and left me feeling good.

JUNE 19: "Daddy Day Care"

I spent the day at the softball park so I need a quick movie that I already knew rocked. "Daddy Day Care" fit that ticket. Eddie Murphey plays Charlie, the father of 4-year-old Ben. When Charlie is laid off, his wife goes back to work and he starts a day care center with his friend, Phil, who was also just laid off. Later, they add Star Trek junkie Marvin to the mix. Meanwhile, Anjelica Huston plays Mrs. Harridan, headmistress of Chapman Academy, which seems more like a college that teaches pre-school material. The plot is somewhat forced because no such academy would actually exist in real life but the movie is funny and well acted and has a great message.

JUNE 20: "The Simpsons Movie"

"The Simpsons" is one of my all time favorite tv shows and the movie is great too. There's explosions, a dome, dog sledding, an epiphatree, fishing with a bug zapper, nude skateboarding, Green Day, angry mobs, the green movement, Tom Hanks, President Schwarzenegger (yes, you did read that right), and of course, Spider Pig. Surprisingly, it all makes sense when you watch it. Our story begins when young Lisa Simpson convinces the town to take the issue of pollution in Lake Springfield more seriously (which she does with the help of her new love interest). The town decides to stop dumping in the lake. Meanwhile, Homer befriends the infamous Spider Pig and crams all of his leavings into a silo labeled "pig crap" (in cursive.) When Homer goes against his daughters wishes and dumps in the lake, our real troubles begins. The movie is funny and the writers took advantage of the extra time to do some character development they don't have time to do on the tv show. There are actually some legit sad scenes in this movie. I love it and it's one of those movies I can watch over and over again.
It made me laugh and didn't abuse my attention span. Thus, it kicks ass.

JUNE 21: "Toy Story 3"

I thought this movie would be good, I was afraid it would disappoint me and ruin the good name of Toy Story, but it kicked as much ass as any movie you will read about on this blog. This is the only movie series that has acutally gotten better with each sequel. Both this movie and Toy Story 2 do a better job of incorporating all the toys into the story, wheras the original Toy Story focused on Woody and Buzz and everyone else wasn't that involved in the adventure. I could totally relate to Andy and not wanting to give up part of your childhood. I cried at the end. But I also laughed a lot too. One of my new all-time faves.

JUNE 22: "The Princess Diaries" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show"

So, the kids that I babysit on some days said they hadn't seen the original "Princess Diaries" when we watched the sequel last week. So today, I brought it over and we watched it together. It's a nice movie. Like the sequel, it's well acted. Unlike the sequel, it's inspring. It's a plot I can get into. The character Mia is very relateable and it's a nice movie.

Because Jake didn't watch the "The Princess Diaries" with me, we also squeezed in a movie from the complete other end of the spectrum: "Rocky Horror Picture Show." This movie is strange just for the sake of strange. But it is funny and has some catchy numbers. And it got in my musical requirment. LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!!

JUNE 23: "Lilo and Stitch"

Lilo is one of my favorite protaganists of all time, she's hysterical, has morals, and I can totally relate to her. When she's with Stitch she's unstoppable. The movie is funny has a nice "awww moment" at the end, and taught me that Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind.

So I don't know what I'm watching tomorrow, but all my requirements are done so I can really watch pretty much any movie I want. I have "Up" and "Secondhand Lions" from netflix and both are pretty amazing.

JUNE 24: "The Shawshank Redemption"

My first real prison movie. Which also fufills my favorite actor requirement as Morgan Freeman is an incredible actor. The movie is primarily about Freeman's character Red, and Andy Dufrane, played by Tim Robins. Andy was wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and Red is known as the con who can get you things, cigarettes and chewing gum and the like. The movie is all about how their relationship grows over the years and the corruption of the prison. For example, Andy does taxes for many of the prison workers since he was a banker before he was convicted. He gets special things in return. The acting was great, the characters were great and it was a story that intrigued me and the ending was great.

JUNE 25: "Fired Up" "Up" and "A Bug's Life"

So, I watched "Fired Up" because I was bored. It's about two football players who decide to go to cheer camp so as to get laid. It's one of those movies that's funny and doesn't make you think too hard. It's predictable and doesn't have a real message or anything, but it's good for a laugh and I'd watch it again.

I also watched "Up" with my family. I was the only one who had already seen it, and I have to say this movie completely restored my hope in modern pixar. I didn't particularly like "Ratatoullie" or "Wall-E" and I was afraid pixar had lost their touch, but with this movie and "Toy Story 3" my hope is fully restored. It's a very original plot about an old curmugeony widower who uses balloons to fly his house to South America, where his wife had always dreamed of living. However, 8-year-old wilderness explorer Russell is inadvertantly taken for the ride as he tries to earn his assisting the elderly badge. The two have a fun adventure together including a dog that sort of talk and an exotic bird named Kevin. It's funny, it's heartwarming, and I reccomend it.

I realized that despite being a huge fan of pixar, I could not tell you what the plot of "A Bug's Life" was. I think someone dragged me into a theater to watch it when I was little but I didn't remember it at all. Anyway, the movie is about an ant colony that has been terrorized by grasshoppers for years. Our brave protaganist Flick decides it's time to stand up to the grasshoppers. Flick is one of those characters who means well but always ends up making things worse when he tries to help. I think most people (especially kids) can relate to that. Flick embarks on a quest to find warrior bugs who can fight off the grasshoppers, but after some mis-communication, he ends up with a circus troop instead. This movie is just another amazing one that Pixar can add to it's list of amazing movies.

JUNE 26: "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Superbad" and "Blades of Glory"

So I watched "10 Things I Hate About You" on netflix because I hadn't seen "Superbad" and needed an insurance movie. "10 Things I Hate About You" is actually based on Shakespeare's play "The Taming of the Shrew" where the younger sister, Bianca, isn't allowed to date until her older sister Kat does. The problem is, that while Bianca is one of the most desired girls in school, Kat is well..."the term 'hanis bitch' is used most often". So, Cameron, the new boy who wants to go out with Bianca, convinces Joey, a conceited model to pay Patrick, a boy who everyone is scared of, to go out with Kat. It's funny and cute, although a little predictable. It is a great movie though with great acting.

"Superbad" is a movie about teenage boys trying to get alcohol for girls so that they can get laid. It's funny, but I'm not sure it was as good as Jake said it would be. The ending is very anti-climactic, which kind of works and is probably the most realistic ending they could come up with, but not how I would've ended it. The actors do a good job but it just wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. I would be content to never watch it again, so I'm not sure it really kicks ass.

"Blades of Glory" doesn't really count for anything as it was from 11-1 on tv. It's about two rival male figure skaters who are banned from singles skating but find a loophole and skate pairs instead. It's funny and Will Ferrell does a great job as does John Heder. I would like to watch the non-tv version of it sometime.

JUNE 27: "Accepted"

On the 12th, I had my friend Ashley Rubilotta over to watch one of her favorite movies of which I'd never seen ("Fried Green Tomatoes"). Today, I had her over to watch one of my favorite movies of which she'd never seen: "Accepted". It's about a kid who gets rejected from every college he applies to so he decides to start his own college, the South Harmon Institute of Technology. It's hysterical and Justin Long does a great job in the lead role and there's even a good message at the end. It fufills my "favorite movie or one of your favorite movies" requirement because that's how much ass it kicks.

JUNE 28: "The Lion King"

It's a good movie that I'm not going to summarize because you have no adequate excuse for not having seen this movie. It's the kind of classic Disney movie that Disney was made to make, as opposed to more recent Disney, which kind of sucks. It's funny and heartwarming and teaches kids about Shakespeare.

JUNE 29: "Monsters Inc."

This one is shorter than "The Incredibles". I love how pixar comes up with completely off-the-wall yet relevent and relatable plots. This one takes the premise of monsters hiding in our closets to scare us and asks the question "Why do they do it?" the answer to that question: "Because it powers their town." Actually, scaring is a highly dangerous occupation for a monster since children are considered deadly. The movie focuses primarily on top scarer, Sully and his trusty assistant, Mike. Shit hits the fan when a human child, Boo, is let loose in the monster world. Sully takes a particular liking to the child and he and Mike embark on an adventure to get her home safely. I know I've been using this discribtion for a lot of movies, but this one is funny and heartwarming. It could just be that's the kind of movie that appeals to me, a comedy with those "awww" moments and strong characters. And "Monsters Inc." fits that bill.

JUNE 30: "Secondhand Lions"

The most memorable thing about this movie is the amazing characters that are portrayed. Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Haley Joel Osment all do spectacular jobs as the lead roles. Osment plays Walter, a young boy who is sent to live with his great uncles for the summer. Rumor has it that the uncles have a huge sum of money stashed away and Walter's mom wants him to find it. Caine and Duvall play the uncles, Garth and Hub, respectively. Garth is the more understanding, fatherly of the two (although not exactly the definition of either) while Hub is the tough, former war hero who considers Walter nothing but an inconvenience but eventually grows to like him. Throughout the movie you see the three of them grow closer and bond with each other and learn a little more about Hub's past. Watch it. You won't regret it.


So, I'm done. And I've had fun. I might need to make this a yearly thing. I will probably keep my movie watching up throughout the summer, just not with quite as strict a rules. I might even start a blog for those movies. Let me know if you think I should and we'll see.

Me in my YCP Hoodie!