Weekend movie reviews

I'm pretty busy, but here are the three movies I watched this weekend, in order from worst to first (very light on links, sorry). I was surprised at how strong this group was:

American Pie Presents Beta House
This is something like the 3rd movie they have made that went straight to video, and they have all been good. The other two have good stories, but this one was lacking. I'm willing to overlook that, as there were lots of times I laughed out loud during this one. If you are also in a perpetual state of immaturiy and enjoy movies about fraternity rivalries (even though I wasn't in a frat), you should get a kick out of this one.

The Simpsons Movie
I thought this movie was very funny, and it's only not in the top slot due to the other movie's surprising greatness. I went in with moderate expectations, as Simpsons fans I know crapped on it. I could have done without all of the environmental hippie-ness, but they did it in a funny way. Matt Groening and crew had a very difficult job in making this movie, as they wanted it to feel bigger than a TV episode but not over-the-top in silliness. I think they succeeded. Plus, the animation was outstanding.

Kickin It Old Skool
I'm not completely surprised at how funny this was, but I didn't expect it, especially since it started pretty slowly and had some weak moments. It was also very formulaic. The great moments were enough to overcome that, however. Plus, it's a formula for a reason: it works. I loved Malibu's Most Wanted, so I figured Jamie Kennedy wouldn't give me a metaphorical pile of poop. He didn't.

I originally wrote the things I liked about this movie in paragraph format, but it was very poorly written. Here's a list:

1. The cast was excellent, and the female lead was played by the comely Maria Menounos. Also included was Shooter McGavin, Forman's mom, Juwanna Mann, and (very briefly) Cameron.

2. There was tons of great 1980's music, including Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" being played about 10 times and a crapload of old rap.

3. There were lots of references to 1980's toys and other cultural stuff in the dialogue, as might be expected when the movie is about a 32-year-old man who woke up from a 20-year coma in 2006.

4. The breakdancing scenes were quite enjoyable.

Quote of the movie: "They also made jeans washed in acid. Which is AWESOME!" (Maybe you have to see it in context.)

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough if you like some combination of the things I described in the list above. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

OK, I had to find some pictures: