Richie Rich Trailer

Richid Rich (1994)

I've been spending an incredible amount of time going through all my stuff. I realize that I may have quite a small hoarding tendencies.Or I have a problem with letting go of sentimentality. Either way, I found that I have ALOT of Macauley Culkin movies. I must be a bigger fan than I thought.



In the middle of my ever growing pile of sorting stuff, I popped in my VHS copy of "Ricthie Rich" movie. I geared myself for a whopping dose of Disappointing Nostalgia.



Macauley Culkin plays the non-surprising role of major-super-duper-ridiculous rich child named Ritchie Rich. He is borne to super duper rich and sweet parents. They love, dote, and shower him with everything he needs. He should be a happy kid. Until he realizes that he has the one thing that money can't buy. Give you three hints.....
.....If you guessed love,no.He's just a kid. Besides you can still buy love...mmmhmmm
.....If you guessed humanity....Dude, it's a kids 90's movie. Way too deep
....friends?DING!DING! DING!



Pretty common story line in the 90s. There was alot of movie that stressed friendships, families, and love are more important than anything else. In a goofy/lighthearted way of course.Completely differently from the....movies of today.



At the same time that Ritchie is realizing his lack of friends, a family consultant is plotting to kill the whole family to get access into the family vault ( which is modeled like Mt. Rushmore but with the heads of the family instead), the murder plot is botched when Ritchie is left behind while his parents are caught in the plane crash (don't worry, they don't die). Now it is a rescue mission for Ritchie and his new found friends.l

I'm not too sure if this is common knowledge, this movie is  loosely based on the 1980's cartoon series. I remember watching them but not being too thrilled about them. I was more in "Rocky and Bullwinkle".

I loved this whole movie. From the absurd opulence of the rich family to the antics to save the family. I was pretty much raised in the lower income bracket and still do but I still love watching these ridiculously rich lifestyle. I will admit that I am amused by "Super Sweet Sixteen" and "Real Housewives:Beverly Hills"(the ONLY entertaining one) shows. It's not that I yearn to be rich but its interesting to see what rich people "value". When money is literally no obstacle in their lives. They can obtain any material or lifestyle they want. When given a choice of anything, it's interesting to see what results from it. Emotionally destructive people with pristine mansions? Hobo chic with snobbish minds? Screaming bitches with nothing to lose? That is entertaining. Trying to decide between a tank of gas or some ingredients for dinner makes for melodramatic centenary. I don't want to watch that., I want to watch glamorous flippantry! There must be a psychological reason for this.



For the kid in all of us, the montage scenes of Culking showing off his goodies to his new friends is still awesome.In hindsight, it's lame that the kids were easy to befriend him after seeing all that he could offer. But who can blame them?They come from a low income, blue-collar atmosphere and then they come to this:
* a kid-a-pault
* go carts
* a roller coaster
* a McDonalds


yes please. Yes damn well please.



Culkin is very,very believable as a rich kid. A rich kid with a heart of gold. Because Culkin is very, VERY rich kid indeed. He was already made famous by doing the "Home Alone" series. Every time I watch Culkin, I always felt that he would be a great kid to hang out. When I watched this movie then and now, I still have the same feeling. Huh, I think I just realized I'm a Culkin fan.

 The characters in this movie are just plain fun.I've always loved the scientific guy who comes up with all the experiments. If I had limitless resources, I would be thrilled to make a robotic bee. Except I would rather make a robotic cat. Or a robotic dragon. Ooo, that breathes dragons. The parents are so cute together! Quirky and in love. We see so few of these couples in movies.Most rich couples are despicable , cold, uncaring, and mean. I suppose that it's done to show how harsh money can make people. But not the Rich family. Their family is full of love and generosity. The villain is meh but the movie is not really about him.




All in all, I really enjoyed this movie again. I love that feeling when movies still hold up in my heart. Hoorah for Ricthie Rich!


Here's a fun rebuttal from the awesome Nostalgia critic:

'Rango' Trailer HD

Rango (2011)

I can't be the only person who shrugged this movie away. I know I'm not the only person who dismissed this movie due to the lack of the attention. I saw the poster of the chameleon with Johnny Depp in bold letters above his name. I did not carry one ounce of excitement for this movie. No one else did either. And it quietly shuffled away in the dark.

Dammit. I went along with the masses and almost missed this amazing gem of a movie. And damn you bad publicity. Oh how you have ruined so many first movie impressions ("First Class".....grrr...).


I am also really burned and bummed out from 3-D animation. I'm not impressed with it much anymore. I really miss 2-D animation. I really, really miss 2-D. So that just added to my aversion to the movie.
What saved this movie from sheer obscurity? Boredom and Redbox. Ahhh

"Rango" is a 3-D animated movie, as you might have gleaned. We are  introduced to a chameleon aspiring to be an actor. He is practicing a scene in his tank as he being driven along some non-descript desert highway. With the tank being precaroiously perched and roadkill, the car swerves to avoid being hit and the tank flies away. Disoriented, the chamelon stumbles around until he walks into a deserted town. After lack of attention, he decides to puff his character up by taking on the persona of  Rango, a tough gunslinger. Well, that will stir up a hella lot of trouble won't it? Pretty soon there's gonna be some gun fights, a town mystery, a bandana gang, water crisis, and one of the greatest chases I have seen on film.

3-D has become very innovative in its detail and ability to capture live motions. I have heard the praise that "Rise of the Apes" recieved for using realistic 3D apes instead of real ones. But damn this was amazing! I am a growing reptile lover. I own a couple and work with many of them. I know how soft and tough their scales can be. I have held onto a chameleonm they can be velvety soft. Every time I saw Rango onscreen, I could  feel his texture. That is so weird to write but thats how I felt with every character. Their visual details were stunning. And these were desert creatures!!! Wow!

The story was a great western story. A newcomer comes in, stirs up buried trouble, and saves the town. Except now you added a swollen ego chameleon, various desert creatures, and some dangerous predators all suffering from a water crisis(huh....humans are going through the same..thing...).

It's a great childrens movie but it's also a great movie for the adults. There are alot of jokes nestled in everywhere. The nod towards "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" cracked me up. The nod towards "Pirates" made me smile ( How sad is it that the "joke" worked better for this storyline than "Pirates"?).

Johnny Depp played Rango like a mish mash of Raol from "Fear and Loathing" and Jack Sparrow of "Pirates". It was an oddball mix of spazzy charisma. I loved so many of the characters.The Mariachi oqls cracked me up. Was it bearded toad? Whatever it was,I loved it.I forget their names but they all had their fun quirks and jokes.Jokes that are really adult in nature but sound so innocent. I love those.

The heart of the movies power comes from the super awesome chase scene with the water tank. I dare not describe it. I do not want to lessen the awesome feeling that you will get from watching it. It was exciting, it was breathtaking, it was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Seriously. This movie MUST be watched. It is too stunning to pass over.

Heaven Can Wait (1943) Trailer

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

I haven't been completely ignoring my classic film genre. It's just that there weren't any to excite me enough to write about. I think I was really lucky with my steady stream of enjoyable movies. Then I just hit dud after dud. Either they were too boring, too silly, too un-relatable, too this, too that. So I looked at other genres to pique my interests.

Once again,the random power of netflix came through! I love opening the red envelope and being surprised by the movie (I know that emails are sent of what movies are next on my queue- I make it an unconscious choice to ignore them).

This is a movie done by Ernest Lubitch. I know zilch about him, only that he's a very famous filmmaker.

We start at the modern and stylish office of the Devil. Oh yes, the devil, flames and all. His is visited by an elder gentlemen, named Henry.  Befuddled, the Devil wonders why. Henry then proceeds to tell his life story. See, Henry considers himself a heartbreaker and womanizer.He tells the story of each of the women he has come into contact with and the troubles he has put them through.

This sounds like it should set up the story of a complete asshole. Instead, I find that Henry was a sweet, romantic, and charming person. I love how the Devil describes it all in the end, that the woman were all happy that  they were in his life.


Such a sweet movie. So many moments that me laugh and tear up.No matter how much of a womanize Henry thinks he is, his heart always belonged to Martha. Martha played by mesmerizing Gene Tierney. They met when she was engaged to his cousin. I smiled at times that he ran away with his true love in front of her family. The time they slow danced before she passed away. Their love was so sweet. How she grew to understand him, at times hating him, but always loving him.

On a side note,  I was completely mesmerized by Gene Tierney. This is the first time I seen her in a movie. Wow!!! What a stunning beauty. I'm planning on reading "Leave her to Heaven" and then watch the movie of the same title that she gained her fame from. Seriously, wow. No wonder Henry fell head over heels over her.

Through it all , it is Don Ameche's charisma that shines. Despite his "misgivings", he is still a really likable person. He's the type of guy that you know will break your heart but you still want to be near him. The crush that stays within you no matter how improbable the relationship could be. I already loved Don Ameche from "Midnight". This makes me love him even more.

I definitely recommend this movie fro all the romantics. Just in time for Valentines. Have a great sexy time everyone.

[later side note: Just realized that Ameche was in "Cocoon"!!! ]

Hook - Trailer