Rating: 9 on the Spiff-o-meter Okay, I’m going to say the unpopular opinion first and get it out of the way. I liked this movie; in fact, I liked it more than the movie it’s a sequel to, The Mummy. What I really like about the Mummy Returns is that it’s not trying to be completely serious. It’s downright hilarious. The two characters that hooked up romantically in the first movie are now married and have a kiddo. Wow, just like real life! The kid is by far the best part of the movie. He might be of the Jake Lloyd school of line delivery, but that’s exactly where he needs to be for this movie. This movie is fabulously campy, and has pretty eye candy special effects. This movie lacks the suspense of the first movie, which is just FINE by me. I didn’t have to spend massive parts of the movie closing my eyes. This movie is not devoid of suspense. I screamed at one point because it surprised me and scared the living daylights out of Zack, who I went to see it with. I like the filling of the back-story of the mummy from the first movie. In fact I felt really sorry for the mummy. You’re not supposed to like the bad guys, right? Oh well . . . I know the next question on everyone’s mind now that I’ve said I like this movie better that the Mummy is going to be "Did you like the Rock’s performance in it too?" To this I have to answer, there wasn’t enough of a performance to tell. He looks big, strong and menacing and babbles in a fake Egyptian language. *shrug * The CGI Rock at the end is pretty lame, though, I will admit. But overall I really enjoyed this movie, and if you haven’t seen it you should.

Josie and the Pussycats

Rating: 6 on the Spiff-o-meter Well, let me start by saying Archie Comics sure has some interesting standards. Melissa Joan Hart can’t have pictures taken of her half nekkid, but Melody, at the beginning of the movie, can hold up a sign with the last four letters obscured reading "Honk if you love pussy." Of course, the sign really reads, "Honk if you love pussycats." I was amused. The film opens up with a fictitious boy band named Dujour. They sing their song "Backdoor Lover" and board their plane. Yes, the song is EXACTLY what it sounds like. I’m WAAAAAAY too entertained by this song. It is SOOOOOOO wrong. You need to hear it. Anyways, Dujour’s on the plane and their record label guy and the pilot jump out. This establishes the first bad guy. The record label guy Wyatt is a bad guy. What happened to Alexandra? Just wait, I’ll get there. After you see Dujour’s plane start to go down, all of the sudden you flash over to Josie and company. They look very glamorous and the credits go rolling by. As the credits end, it reveals that the girls are actually playing at the bowling alley. Well, to make a long story short, they run into Wyatt who convinces them to sign with his label Mega Records. Meanwhile, back in New York in Mega Record land, Fiona the head of the label is showing people the secret behind the music * insert ominous music here* subliminal messages. That’s right, boys and girls; we’re all being brainwashed by the record companies. If that was possible, they certainly would have no MP3 fiasco would they? * smile * Yes, Alexander is still the Pussycats’ manager, and yeah, he comes along. But I think it was best stated when Alexander asked Alexandra why she was coming along, "Only because I’m in the comicbook." I kid you not... there is more than one blatant break of the movie, where it’s admitted it is a movie based on a comicbook, that had a cartoon also based on it. It’s cute the first few times but it gets a little old after that. Alexandra annoys me to no end. She’s no beautiful vixen who disses the Pussycats and tries to steal Alan M from Josie. She’s obnoxious and in dire need of acting lessons. If you’re gonna have her being sarcastic, at least have her be able to be deadpan about it. Sarcasm and perkiness just don’t work; I’m sorry. Overall it’s a pop movie and it’s cute. It lacks the Archie comic feeling. I did enjoy the music; however, fair warnngs it’s pop, it makes no sense, and it’s catchy as all get go. Carson Daly as the psycho-killer helping the brain washers was amusing and watching Carson Daly get beat down by Melody was pretty funny. Dujour was one of the most hilarious things in the movie. No, I’m not telling you anything more about why Dujour is great, you’re just gonna have to sit through the movie yourself. :P It’s worth renting when it hits video stores. Do I regret seeing it in the theater? No. It was a fun experience, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I warn you all; it’s pure fluff.

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