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Some tips on getting SFC.EXE to work better. I’m using this now to try to un-do virus damage to my Windows. Silly my engaged in risky behavior that I had bad feelings about, and paid the consequences.
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Daily Archive
May 15, 2010
May 15, 2010
VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: National Lampoon’s Pucked (2006) – surprised us
Posted by Claire CJS under Carolyn, Clio, Media, Movies, People, Reviews, Video1 Comment
[IMDB link] [Netflix link] This got a 4.0/10 on IMDB.
PEOPLE: Jon Bon Jovi and David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married With Children) play the 2 leading characters. David Faustino is generally funny no matter who he plays opposite of, but having him opposite Bon Jovi is quite serendipitous casting! Other major roles are played by the big-lipped-but-hot Estella Warren (2001 Planet Of The Apes, and a special thanks in the movie Cry_Wolf for some reason), Saturday Night Live‘s Nora Dunn (Pineapple Express, Bruce Almighty, Three Kings, Zoolander). And then we have Curtis Armstrong (aka Booger from Revenge Of The Nerds 1 through 4, and Snot on American Dad) in a minor role, as well as Cary Elwes (Saw 1, Shadow Of A Vampire, Liar Liar, Kiss The Girls, or as most people know him: Westley from The Princess Bride). I think he was the douchebag lawyer with stupid hair. I didn’t recognize him.
QUIRKS:
1) Women’s Hockey. Yes — it’s a sports comedy. And you know what? I liked that aspect, even though I detest sports!
If women played hockey, I might actually be interested in it! Hockey is the only sport I have ever voluntarily watched more than once. During the year that they put computer-generated trails on the pucks when they were hit (1993?), I must have watched close to 3 games. :) (I watched a Superbowl once, but wont make that mistake again.)
So since I am very anti-sports, this didn’t offend me the way women’s hockey offended people in the movie. (People acted like it was a stupid idea. But Bon Jovi made it work — by getting 208 credit cards to pay for it.)
2) Credit Cards. Insane credit dependence. Bon Jovi is broke, lives with his sister (Nora Dunn), and keeps creating unsellable inventions — much like Jack Black in the recent movie Envy, except a total bum. He’s made $0 in 10 years. He doesn’t have a cent to his name. But then — he’s tricked into applying for a credit card. He eventually goes $300K into debt trying to make his woman’s hockey league work out.
3) A court battle. Yes.. this movie has hockey AND a court battle. And the court battle actually has a lot of valid societal commentary about the current state of credit card companies, and their practices!
VISUALS: Well — there is an all-female hockey team. There’s just enough boobies (i.e. a few seconds) to give it an R rating. Unlike most National Lampoon movies, this movie is not really strongly focused on sex.
MORALS: The greatest things in America… were built by dreamers!
POLITICS: Credit card companies can be deceptive…If you go with the flow, you may be committing fraud without even realizing it. It should not be so easy to unwillingly commit a crime just by going with the flow.
BAD STUFF: The movie is certainly predictable… But it’s the voyage, not the destination.
Also, the conclusion is pretty open-ended. It doesn’t conclude as much as one would like. But that’s okay, because again: It’s the voyage, not the destination.
CONCLUSION: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
While being a generic modern National Lampoon comedy in many ways … This also broke the mold and was more unique than most National Lampoon movies. Hockey? Court battles? No college kids? Hardly any sex?
While not generally being slapstick, there was a slapstick scene near the beginning that had us both in absolute stitches. It would NOT stop! And a little person was involved!
While not being over-sexed, I’m not going to be able to get Danielle James out of my mind for several days.
RECOMMENDATION: This is a good night’s entertainment. We’d been putting it off for awhile. It was much better than we expected. “Bon Jovi goes into credit card debt to finance a woman’s hockey league” is one of the worst summaries I’ve ever heard in my life; yet this movie rose way above that. It was actually socially relevant by the end! It surprised us with its uniqueness factor. If you’re a person who dislikes most movies, you wont like this. If you’re a person who likes most movies, you probably will.
SIMILAR MOVIES: Envy, with Jack Black and Ben Stiller, has a similar character dynamic as this movie. But Envy is about post-success, while this movie is about the rise to success.
COINCIDENCES: (Envy, National Lampoon’s Pucked) 2 movies in 3 days where inventors are pejoratively called “dreamers”, but then it is talked about how some of our great achievements are the result of dreamers. (more…)
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