[7/18/2002 8:00:53 PM | Andy Kovacs]
It might seem a bit nit-picky, but I hate it when people say that they are Lactose Intolerant. Why not just come out and say, "Milk makes me fart"? I mean, which really sounds worse? I think Lactose Intolerant makes you sound like a politically correct wuss who doesn't want to offend those who are Gastro-Intestinally Superior. I wouldn't be caught dead saying I'm Lactose Intolerant.

Me? I'm simply Allergic to milk.
:oÞ

-andy



[7/18/2002 8:45:28 PM | Andy Kovacs]
Lilo and Stitch

Lilo and Stitch is one of the few Disney Movies in recent years (and by recent years I mean since the Little Mermaid) that I have had the patience to watch. When The Little Mermaid came out in 1989, it was like a revival of classic Disney feature cartoons. It was an all-around wonderful movie: The animation was brilliant and vibrant, the characters were interesting, the songs were catchy, the villain was one that you loved to hate.

Next came Beauty and the Beast. I liked that one even more (even though I really dug the seashells, if you catch my meaning). The two sides to the Beast's personality was done almost perfectly.

Then there was Aladdin. Aladdin was awesome. The way the computer graphics were seamlessly integrated into the other animation added to the magnificence of the animation, the songs, Robin Williams as the Genie and Gilbert Gottfried, the perennial late-night co-keeper of the worst movies ever made, as Iago. The movie was hilarious!

I think that Aladdin was the last good animated movie Disney had made.

Let's see, what came next?

There was the Lion King, then came Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I did not like a single one of them. They were crap. It was like Disney had turned into a cartoon-mill of sorts, like back in the old studios in the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was a joke. Each subsequent animated film was a crude bastardization of some classic story or worse, of some History. Excuse me, but Pocahontas must have been smoking some pretty powerful peyote if she was seeing Colors in the Wind and talking to animals. What's next? Thomas Jefferson singing about the woes of his opressed countrymen to a dancing alligator? The only slightly credible films of the aforementioned animated movies are the Lion King and Fantasia 2000 because they were both original (my problem with the Lion King is that it seemed to take itself a bit too seriously, even when it was trying to be funny).

Now there's Lilo and Stitch. All I can say about this movie is: I loved it!!!

This movie was totally original, it rarely took itself seriously AT ALL, the characters were fun and they were believeable, with exception of the aliens, of course. No characters sang stupid, sappy songs, and the movie lampooned - or paid homage to - other summer movies of years past.

The animation was excellent. And the feminists should love this movie because, not only are the 2 main characters female, they are both strong-willed, smart and not built like supermodels, thereby showing little girls that it is normal and okay for women to not look like a lifesize Barbie doll or Britney Spears (just watch out for the blonde lifeguard - she could suffocate you with her quadricep).

The musical score is average, but the songs are what gives the movie additional flavor. I am an Elvis fan, so I am a bit biased, but it just added to the total experience.

I'm not going to give anything away, plot-wise, but I will tell you that it is a whole lot of fun and if you do go see it, make sure that you see it in the afternoon on a Saturday or Sunday when the theater is filled with kids. I saw it on a Saturday night. The theater wasn't filled with kids, it was split maybe half-and-half, adults/kids. But hearing the kids getting into the movie only made the exerience better for me.

I am going to give this movie **** out of 4. This is the best animated movie Disney has put out since Aladdin. This is a Must Own. Enjoy!

-andy


[7/18/2002 10:10:04 AM | Andy Kovacs]
I was watching TV the other day and some local company was advertising that if you come in for their sale they will give you a "free gift." Aren't gifts always free? If they aren't, they certainly should be!

Can you imagine your birthday party at age 7 if all of your friends came over with gifts for you but wouldn't hand them over unless you paid them?

That only happened to me once, but I was 11.

-andy


[7/18/2002 9:41:28 AM | Andy Kovacs]
"I bet what motivated the British to colonize so much of the world is that they were just looking for a decent meal."
- Martha Harrison


[7/18/2002 10:55:07 AM | Andy Kovacs]
Now it's time to play: Truth or Fiction!

The rules are very simple: I'll write a story and you post your comments under Comments and tell me whether you think the story is Truth or Fiction!

Ready?! Here goes...

My mother did in-home day care while I was growing up. She took in twins from up the street, David and Laura. My older sister and I nicknamed her 'Juicy' because she always only wanted to drink juice. We couldn't think of anything cute to call David, so we just called him 'Sandwichy.' Hey, it made sense back then... I was 5 when they were born. We took care of them for about 10 years.

Dave and I played all the time (as a baby, he used to fall asleep with his eyes open in his highchair. it was creepy). When he wasn't at my house I would sometimes go to his house to ride bikes or play He-Man, Transformers, G.I. Joe, or any one of lots of popular mid-80's toys (Thundercats, Mask and Voltron included).

I guess we got bored with the same old thing, because one day we decided to form a club with my friend, Ray. I don't think we had a name for it, but it was fun. We went around the neighborhood on our bikes and collected 'protection money' from the other kids. "Protection from whom?" you ask. Well, protection from other kids in the neighborhood, of course! And protection from us in the event that the kids in question didn't want to pay us.

There you have it, folks! Is this story Truth or Fiction? Remember to post your guess to Comments to let me know! I'll post the results within a couple of days, depending upon the number of responses I get!!! Till then,

-andy