Planes: Fire & Rescue

Planes: Fire & Rescue ~ I saw this one as part of a double feature at one of the state's only surviving drive-ins, the Delsea Drive-In in Vineland NJ. It was paired up with Guardians of the Galaxy, which was the second time in two days The Bride and I had seen that. If I'm being honest, I think the drive-in experience itself was far more interesting than the Planes flick.

Let's be honest, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a sequel to a sequel/spin-off that was meant only for DVD release but got pushed into theaters because of the success of its forefather, Cars and its official sequel Cars 2. We're seriously treading on King Kong Lives territory here. This can only be so good, and from what I saw, it's serviceable.

To be fair, I have to say we came in late as the folks at Delsea had to search our car to make sure we didn't bring in any outside food contraband, so we missed the first five to ten minutes of the movie. It's the same old story, old plane teaches a new plane new tricks, and learns a lesson himself as well. Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Wes Studi, and Patrick Warburton are fun as the voice cast.

I enjoyed the original trailer for this flick as it didn't betray right away that it was either animated or part of the Cars world right away. I kinda wish the movie had taken some of that tact. I liked the use of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" here, a nice touch. I did doze off a couple times, and while I could blame that on being tired, it should be noted that I did not blink during Guardians of the Galaxy.

I also have to admit that the viewing of any movie happening in the Cars universe bothers me somewhat as I wonder what happened to the people. I highly suspect that this world exists in the aftermath of Stephen King's "Trucks" short story, and is sorta hinted at in Jon Negroni's Pixar Theory. I also can't help but wonder if Thomas the Tank Engine is also part of this world... brrrrr...

The Frankenstein Theory

The Frankenstein Theory ~ Shot similarly to The Blair Witch Project, a documentary crew follows the obsessed Professor John Venkenheim to the Arctic where he intends to prove that Frankenstein was not only true, but about his ancestor, and to vindicate his reputation once and for all. He believes he can find the Frankenstein monster.

This is a fascinating concept, and the film moves between actual movie and shaky cam documentary style well. Writer/director Andrew Weiner's background is in Troma and low budget horror, but this is a step above. I liked it.

Kris Lemche plays Venkenheim with perfect obsessive creepiness, but just enough compassion that you care about him. It's just this side of pity, but you do care for the buggy little fella. Joe Egender does him one better as the antsy paranoid meth-head and witness to the monster's present day shenanigans.

Tiny role, but camera crewman Brian Henderson made me laugh doing a funnier Dane Cook than Dane Cook. Timothy V. Murphy playing the wilderness guide who channels Robert Shaw in Jaws wonderfully is pretty entertaining too. I absolutely love him and his campfire story. Beautiful.

Granted, the film does fall apart a bit toward the last act, but there are enough good parts here to push it above say, Sharknado. I really kinda dug it, recommended for horror fans.

Planes

Planes ~ I was hesitant to jump back into the 'World of Cars,' because of the revelation I made while watching Cars 2, you know, that the 'World of Cars' is actually occurring in the aftermath of Stephen King's short story "Trucks." I know, scared the crap outta me too. But The Bride wanted to see it, so I went along.

This one is similar to Cars 2, in that it's about racing, and in this case, planes. Dusty Clodhopper - voiced by Dane Cook, who is much less annoying when all you hear is scripted and you don't have to see him - is a small town cropduster who wants to be a racing plane in the big leagues and enters a race around the world. Underdog makes good, that kind of thing.

We have seen this before. Good voice cast, lots of clichés with fresh takes, and jokes for the kids and the adults, Planes is a good hour and a half of harmless entertainment. There's nothing really new, nothing to make us go wow, or how did they do that? A good Pixar flick, originally made for direct-to-DVD, so to do so well in theaters, it must have something. Enjoyable.

The Death of Freedom of Speech

Apparently freedom of speech is politically incorrect. I knew that having a sense of humor, especially a sick one, was, but freedom of speech?

Apparently the KKK or the Neo-Nazis can gather and speak their mind with police protection on most occasions, but if you put a witty if sick phrase on a t-shirt, you’re public enemy number one.

T-Shirt Hell is closing. It’s not because of the economy, like everything else closing of late, it’s because of wrong-minded idiots who refuse to let folks have freedom of speech in America. They are being forced out of business because some people not only don’t understand the Bill of Rights, but they also don’t get that everyone doesn’t have the same sense of humor. Apparently it’s wrong to be stupid or silly or politically incorrect – unless you’re a Klansman or a Nazi. And you folks out there know damn well if Dane Cook or Jim Carrey said some of the things on these shirts you’d laugh, but somehow it being on a shirt and for sale is wrong.

And it’s not like T-Shirt Hell is a fly-by night operation either. They’ve been around forever and have been featured in publications such as Penthouse, FHM, Maxim, Stuff, Playboy, Esquire (yes, Esquire), and on the Howard Stern Show. Granted, it’s niche, but it’s big. And they ship thousands of products every week (still) and to locations all over the world. Seems like only a pocket of vocal people here in the States are the only ones without a sick sense of humor.

Here’s what the owner and creator of T-Shirt Hell, Sunshine Megatron, had to say about this: http://www.tshirthell.com/goodbye.php and also from a soon-to-be-laid-off employee of T-Shirt Hell: http://www.tshirthell.com/goodbye2.php.

So freedom of speech with a sense of humor only has a week to live on the intrawebs, but not on your shirt. The sale is on. Get out there and buy and wear your right to free speech.