It's been awhile since my first installment, so I'm back to revisit some movies that - good or bad - were integral parts of my pop culture education as a growing young man.  And coincidentally, this batch is all comedies. Club Paradise - Long before Robin Williams sullied his reputation in sub-par movies like Jack, RV, and License to Wed, he was sullying it with sub-par movies like 1986's Club Paradise.  I caught this on cable the other day for the first time ... Read on, Daddy-O

The fact that a movie like Tropic Thunder not only exists but is doing well at the box office is refreshing for two reasons - first because we live in age of political correctness run amok, where works of mainstream art are neutered beyond recognition lest they offend anyone; and because it's proof that genre spoofs don't have to be nothing but an endless parade of tired and already dated sight gags and pop culture references (I'm looking at you Epic Movie, ... Read on, Daddy-O

The most dangerous villains, the scariest ones to watch, are the ones with no clear reasons or motives behind their mayhem.  They enter from the darkest corners of our imaginations and exist solely to inflict pain on others.  They are not driven by greed, revenge, or lust for power. So how does someone (say, a hero or a district attorney) on the side of right stop such a villain?  How much are they willing to compromise themselves; and how much collateral damage is ... Read on, Daddy-O

This is shaping up to be a banner year for Batman.  The Dark Knight comes out next week, and I can't see any way it won't kick ass.  So to whet the appetite of the hardcore Bat-fan, this week marks the release of Batman: Gotham Knight, a direct-to-DVD animated adventure. But rather than being just another animated Bat-film, Gotham Knight is actually an anthology of six short films, all presented with different styles of animation.  Those six short films, and my take on ... Read on, Daddy-O

Courtesy the MTV Movies Blog, we've got four new stills from the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film.  I'm sure it will just as entertaining as the previous five movies, but you wouldn't know it from these shots: THRILL as Draco Malfoy broods in a corner! MARVEL as Harry Potter stares at a wand! GASP as Luna Lovegood blocks a doorway and wears funny glasses! VOMIT as Ron Weasley looks uncomfortable in a weird-looking Quidditch uniform! Like I said, I'm sure the trailers and the ... Read on, Daddy-O

I'll cop to not being a huge Pixar believer.  I've seen Toy Story, The Incredibles, and a few of their other features, but for some reason they've always left me a little cold.  Oh sure, they are marvels of computer animation technology, but I have always preferred the old school style.  It's hard for me to get emotionally invested in movies that look more like extended video game cut scenes. But I have to say that watching WALL-E got me about as close ... Read on, Daddy-O

The last James Bond flick, Casino Royale, kicked so much butt, not even a crappy title like Quantum of Solace makes me want to stay away from the next one.  It comes out in November here in the U.S. (October for my brothers and sisters across the pond), and here's the first teaser trailer... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HneIkRIO2pA[/youtube] Hot damn!  Secret Agents Gone Wild!  I'll be ready for this to come out, just about the time I'm coming off the high of the next Batman movie. Read on, Daddy-O

Purely by chance, I came across last night's airing on CBS of AFI's 10 Top 10, aka Summer's Here and This Oughta Kill Time Until Survivor Starts Up Again.  The gimmick here was that rather than lumping the so-called greatest movies into one list, they were broken into genres.  The categories for this list of lists were animation, fantasy, science fiction, sports, westerns, gangsters, mystery, romantic comedies, courtroom dramas, and epics.  And I got some problems here. First, notice anything missing?  I'll give ... Read on, Daddy-O

Due to time constraints I wasn't able to enjoy yet another Band of Brothers marathon over the Memorial Day weekend. But all was not lost as I finally got to catch a viewing of The Great Escape, which I had never seen before. And I'm pleased to say that for the most part, the film's reputation as a classic is well-earned. The basic premise of the movie is thus: It's World War II and the German High Command, tired of dealing ... Read on, Daddy-O

Despite the tragic death of Heath Ledger, the intense ad campaign for The Dark Knight continues. Most of these ads reflect the rather dark and disturbing mood the film is sure to revel in. And for many Bat-fans, this is how it should be. Batman is, at its core, a pretty dark and disturbing franchise about a kid whose parents are murdered and trains for years to become a high-tech vigilante. But it wasn't always this way. Despite the ... Read on, Daddy-O