When I first started Two Cent two and a half years ago, it was originally called Quickie Reviews and then Fast Film Reviews. Zoom got a a couple paragraph review back on Twitter in 2020. This is a more expansive upgrade of my previous review originally posted to Twitter and Instagram way before this site ever existed. Enjoy!
What’s a movie from your childhood that you can guarantee no one’s ever heard of? Allow me to introduce you to Zoom. Where else can you see Monica Gellar have a Major League crush on Tim ‘The Tool Man’ Taylor? It’s a sitcom crossover before crossovers were a regular occurrence!
Once there was a group of superheroes including Zoom and his brother Concussion. All was well, until Concussion turned to the Dark Side due to Gamma 13 injections gone wrong, went rogue, and killed off his team, leaving his brother to be the last man standing.
Jack (Tim Allen) is a retired superhero and is living a simple life as a mechanic in the middle of nowhere. He had it all back in the day including the powers, comic books, and the fame to go with them. Now, he’d rather be left alone. Unfortunately, for him, a new threat is on the rise, and he’s dragged out of retirement to train the next generation of superheroes. He’s paired with Zoom-obsessed fangirl and psychologist, Dr. Collins (Courtney Cox) to bring out the best in their four recruits. They don’t have much time to whip their new team into shape before they’re forced to battle against Concussion who’s back to finish what he started 30 years ago and finish Jack off for good. Will this quirky team of misfits be able to save the day? Well, it is a movie meant for kids, so the answer is always yes!
This is one of my favorite Tim Allen movies and one of my favorite family movies overall. I prefer it over similar movies from around that same time like the Spy Kids movies. It’s definitely a product of the mid-2000s right down to the horribly outdated CGI and Smash Mouth soundtrack. It’s super cheesy and super fun. I wish there were more movies like this one! They sure don’t make them like they used to, and I miss it. There’s zero language and a couple of adult jokes and references. It’s a perfect movie to get your kids into superheroes especially if you’re not ready to let them watch the MCU yet. Stream it now on HBO Max.
When I first started Two Cent two and a half years ago, it was originally called Quickie Reviews and then Fast Film Reviews. Puss in Boots got a two or three sentence review back in 2020. This is a more expansive upgrade of my previous review originally posted to Instagram way before this site ever existed. Enjoy!
Betrayal, heartbreak, and revenge. Sounds about right for a family-friendly animated flick! Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) was first introduced in Shrek 2 and was a mysterious enough character to be given his own movie back in 2011.
Puss is an outlaw on the run in fear of being caught for a crime he didn’t commit. It was a combination of wrong place wrong time and misplaced trust in his former best friend Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). Now, he’s on a mission to hunt down the famous magical beans that will lead him to the Golden Goose who lays the Golden eggs. But he’s not the only one after the beans of legend. Cat Burglar Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) is also after the beans. It turns out she’s teamed up with the egg who betrayed him which leads to Puss giving Kitty his entire backstory from his time at the orphanage and his friendship with Humpty all the way to the crime that tore the two unlikely brothers apart.
It takes convincing, but against his better judgement, he teams up with his old friend and potential love interest, and they embark on their crazy get-rich-quick scheme. Their goal is simple: Steal the beans from Jack and Jill. But everything is not as it seems, and history has a way of repeating itself. Puss in Boots is a great story about how outlaws can be heroes and even bad eggs can be redeemed.
Did we need a Puss in Boots movie? No. But I’m glad we got one anyway. A great cast plus fun action-packed story equals a solo outing that puts the original Shrek to shame. Especially when it comes to content issues which this movie doesn’t really have. There’s one innuendo and one partial misuse of God’s name. That’s it. World’s better compared to the original Shrek with all of its language problems. I’m excited to check out the sequel! The original can be rented from online retailers. And libraries still exist. Check it out!
If Pinky and the Brain was ever turned into a live-action show, it’d be What About Bob?
Neurotic Bob Wiley (Bill Murray) is a hypochondriac who’s scared of his own shadow and can’t leave his house without chanting a mantra of “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.” His case gets handed off to Dr. Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss right before he’s set to go on vacation with his family. At their first appointment, he hands a copy of his best-selling book, Baby Steps, about breaking down big things into small things in order to mentally and emotionally handle life. Its methods are something that Bob immediately takes to heart. He also forms an immediate emotional bond with his new therapist leading him to take baby steps to follow Dr. Marvin and his family on vacation. Bob’s actions drive the doctor to insanity and could potentially lead to explosive consequences for them both. What About Bob? is a laugh out loud funny movie and one of Bill Murray’s best where surprisingly you learn there’s more in his acting wheelhouse than the ability to play insufferable jerks. Like in a certain Christmas film that is best left nameless. What About Bob? is a great enough movie,and outside of a couple strings of Tourette’s inspired expletives, is nearly enough to make me forget the aforementioned nameless Christmas disaster. Colorful expletives your young children will learn include dickhead, son of a bitch, numbnuts, and shit for brains among others. And if your little angels ever tell you to burn in hell, you’ll know from what movie they got it from.
They’re Pinky and the Brain Yes, Pinky and the Brain One is a genius The other’s insane.
What About Bob explores the question of the above lyrics. The answer may surprise you. You can can buy or rent What About Bob from any online retailer.
They don’t make them like this anymore. No, really. They don’t. After years of trying to find this movie, I finally found it. On Youtube in all of it’s low VHS tape quality, blurry and with heads chopped off out of frame exactly how it was meant to be enjoyed. I’ve wanted to watch this movie for the better part of a decade and thankfully it was worth the wait. Hallie Richmond (Elizabeth Harnois) wants to live the normal teenage life including the ability to go out on dates. The only thing. getting in her way is that she’s the preident’s daughter with the Secret Service on her tail at all time. Duncan Fletcher (Will Friedle) is a geeky magician whose friends have dared to find a date for the Spring dance. So he heads to the mall in search of a date. He runs into Hallie who’s run off from the Secret Service, and not knowing she’s the President’s daughter, he asks her out. She agrees and after meeting Presidential approval, they head for the dance, but Hallie’s more interested in a night on the town that includes going clubbing and to the bar. They wind up in more trouble than they both bargained for but end up having the night of their lives anyway figuring they might as well live it up since they’ll be grounded for life when their parents finally catch them. 90’s Disney Channel Original movies did it better. And the guys were cuter too. I loved this movie so much and wish I’d gotten to see it sooner! I wish they’d played this on Disney Channel when I was a kid. I feel robbed! It’s a fun little story that feels more grounded in reality than people bursting into song every few minutes. I’d rather rewatch this than High School Musical or even Camp Rock. It’s a shame it’s Out of Print or I’d buy it. It’s even more criminal that it’s not on Disney Plus! It’s one of the best DCOMs I’ve ever watched and I highly reccommend watching it on Youtube before some idiot takes it down. It’s so worth it!
Predators and prey naturally don’t get along unless those predators and prey are the stars of a Disney movie.
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) dreams of becoming a cop and moving to Zootopia where predator and prey live together in harmony. Her parents try to discourage her, but she hops on a train anyway to pursue her lifelong dream. Not even being demoted to meter maid can keep her down for long. Not long after arriving in Zootopia, Judy gets hustled by sly fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). To get back at him, she threatens him with a tax evasion charge unless he helps her to crack the case of missing otter, Emmet Otterton. The two become unlikely allies and friends with crackling chemistry and witty banter that will appeal more to parents than to children.
The closer they get to cracking the case, the more it threatens their relationship with each other due to the mistaken prejudice that predators can’t be trusted and that they’ll revert back to biological impulses that threaten to destroy Zootopia’s utopian ideals. Judy realizes a little too late that she’s become part of the problem instead of the solution, walking away from her career to try to correct her mistake and repair her relationship with Nick. Realizing they’re better together than apart, they team up to solve the mystery and expose the political corruption that threatens to tear their society apart. As all good family movies should because there’s nothing more appealing to a child than stories of prejudice, political intrigue, and societal upheaval.
Zootopia is one of Disney’s best releases in recent years. It’s funny and entertaining, and there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy. (Honestly, I wish we’d get more stories like this instead of stories that focus on female puberty, but nobody asked me)The world of Zootopia is huge and you could tell many stories in that world which is why I was so excited when Disney finally announced a sequel after nearly seven years. It’s a fascinating world with amazing characters I can’t wait to revisit! It also has a wonderful message about letting our differences unite instead of divide us, finding the determination to not let anything get in our way of pursuing our dreams, and not judging others soley based off of their catagory and position in society. More stories like this please! You can stream Zootopia now on Disney plus.
In 1993, a new show moved in on the TGIF block: Boy Meets World. The show focused on Cory Matthews and his relationships with his family, friends, and Mr. Feeny, his 6th-grade teacher, and next-door neighbor. The show, especially in season 1, is from Cory’s POV as the middle child and his feeling like he often got overlooked by his family. (Think Home Improvement if that show had been from Randy”s POV) Though at times it feels like Eric is more like the middle child with as much attention his parents give him. (Think Home Improvement if that show had been from Randy”s POV) I know the show is about Cory, but Eric often gets the short end of the stick. I’ve been listening to Pod Meets World alongside this recent rewatch, and Will Friedle is often hard on himself for his acting ability, but I’ve always thought he was amazing in season one. Credit must be given where credit is due. While Cory could be annoying at times, like your typical 11-year-old boy, Ben Savage was perfect in the role and definitely having a show built around him which Boy Meets World was. It was even referred to originally as The Ben Savage Project before officially settling on Boy Meets World as the official title.
The show starts with one of the best pilot episodes I’ve ever seen and keeps going up from there in terms of quality. It’s laugh-out-loud hysterical and more often than not, more serious in tone when compared to shows like Home Improvement or Full House. They even tackle racism only 8 episodes in. There are times when the show falls into typical sitcom tropes and cheesy jokes, but I actually like some of those moments and episodes best of all. Except I’m glad when they gave up on trying to force a catchphrase for the show. They were trying way too hard with that. YOU DO was especially annoying. I’m glad that never stuck. Ugh! So cringe.
One of the things that set the show apart from most sitcoms, past and present, is how well they handled the parents and teachers. Alan and Amy are amazing parents and feel very similar to my own. Mr. Feeny was amazing right out the gate and was a teacher that demanded respect and that actually could be respected unlike most teachers and authority figures on TV who are played as pathetic as possible and are often treated as the butt of the joke. Several former favorite Nickelodeon shows make me cringe for this exact reason. A lot of the show’s moral lessons are taught by Mr. Feeny and William Daniels knocks it out of the ballpark every single time! Another thing Boy Meets World tried to do was give Cory a second BFF alongside Shawn. They try this for several episodes and several unsuspecting child actors fell victim to what they refer to on Pod Meets World as the Death Chair. Once their butts hit that cursed seat, they were booted from the show. The show finally started to hit its strides when they gave Rider Strong more to do which allowed him to have standout performances in Santa’s Little Helper and The Fugitive.
Cory is as clueless as every other 11-year-old boy when it comes to love and relationships, but that doesn’t stop the show from setting up what was back then probably only a possibility and never actually set in stone: a potential love interest in Topanga Lawrence. Originally, only meant to be a one-off appearance, the character became reoccurring, and eventually, Danielle Fishel was made a series regular. And Cory and Topanga would become the central relationship and the very heart of Boy Meets World. But once again, I’m getting ahead of myself. It always surprises me how weird Topanga was at the beginning. She’s a free-spirited, goddess-channeling flower child that is completely different from who she becomes later. It’s no wonder Cory has a hard time understanding her at first and she can come across as scary at times especially whilst channeling the aforementioned goddesses and other dead guys as Cory refers to them. She has two iconic moments in her first episode, Cory’s Alternative Friends: She performs an interpretive dance while drawing a heart in lipstick on her face and kisses Cory against the lockers in what is probably one of the most iconic kisses in television history.
My introduction to Cory and Topanga was actually through Girl Meets World when I was 18. The buzz around these two characters was so intense, naturally, I assumed that Topanga was on Boy Meets World from the very beginning. So I was surprised when she didn’t show up until episode 4 and wasn’t even a major character until much later!
Another standout performance and character was Minkus played by Lee Norris. Minkus was a brainiac kid who was often teased for being a nerd by Cory and his friends. This would come off more like bullying except Minkus wasn’t passive and often wouldn’t let himself get walked all over. And at times he gave as good as he got like in Santa’s Little Helper when he was a complete jerk to Shawn when he couldn’t help pay for Mr. Feeny’s Christmas gift. Lee was soooooo good that I’m convinced an actual was committed when he wasn’t allowed to move on to season 2 with the rest of the cast. As someone who looks younger than my age, I felt bad for Lee when I learned that was the reason he got cut. Oh, well. Missed opportunities abound with that poor decision from the network.
Younger sister Morgan rounds out the Matthews family and is played by one of the most adorable child actors ever! Lilly is so cute and one of the funniest characters on the show! Her performance is very reminiscent of the Olsen Twins when they were that age and maybe she would’ve gone on to be just as popular as them if the poor kid had any actual interest in being an actor. As good as she was, thankfully no one forced her to do what she didn’t want to do. Some of her best scenes were with Eric and had Lily continued to play Morgan, it would’ve been interesting to see how Eric and Morgan’s relationship would’ve developed in future seasons.
Special guest star shoutout: Jason Marsden is one of my favorite actors, and I love everything I’ve heard and seen him in! He’s my favorite guest star from this season playing a fictionalized version of himself in the role of Eric’s best friend. He stole the show in every episode he appeared in, and it’s too bad they didn’t keep him around. You don’t see Eric with any other guy friends til Jack Hunter shows up, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Season 1 is full of hits and there isn’t an episode I didn’t like. Those don’t start popping up until next season, and I could easily place the pilot in a list of my top favorite pilot episodes, but that’s another post for another time.
This is the most fun I’ve had writing anything in a really long time so I think I’ll be doing more of these. I plan on writing season-by-season reviews for the rest of the series and maybe eventually doing a series of blogs on Home Improvement as well. Until next time, Blog Dismissed.
Penelope’s a modern day fairy tale based off of Beauty and the Beast. Penelope, (Christina Ricci) is an heiress who, due to an old family curse, was born with a pig’s snout. In order to break the curse, she must marry “someone of her own kind” AKA a fellow blue-blood. Her mother tries finding Penelope a match, but all suitors run at the sight of her.
The only suitor who doesn’t run is “Max” (James McAvoy) a gambler, who in a case of mistaken identity, is pulled into a media scheme to reveal the the Wilhern family secret. They fall in love, but Max beaks it off because he knows he can’t break the curse. In the end, Penelope ends up breaking the curse by accepting herself for who she is not for who others want her to be. The curse is broken, and she gets the guy. A happily ever after all around.
This movie was cute. I really enjoyed it! So much in fact that I bought myself a copy off Amazon after streaming it. It reminded me of Ella Enchanted; it has the same kind of tone and a similar story.
Typical of PG rated movies, there’s a couple “mild” curse words and a sexual innuendo or two, but no major content concerns. It’s a fun movie with a great message about self-acceptance. I recommend it. I better, since I did buy it. 😂
Ashley (Lindsay Lohan) has been lucky all her life. Everything goes her way. Taxi cabs, job promotions, and hot guys are easy to come by and nothing ever goes wrong. Jake (Chris Pine) is Ashley’s complete opposite. He’s unlucky when it comes to everything, a complete klutz, and everything he touches, instead of gold, turns to crap including his hopes of being a successful manager for up-and-coming band McFly. Thanks to a fortune teller’s interference at a masquerade ball when Jake and Ashley kiss, their fortunes are switched. Ashley’s life is turned upside down, and Jake’s life is finally turned right side up. When Ashley discovers what happened, she goes on a kissing spree to get her luck back. She’s unsuccessful until she and Jake cross paths again. She falls hard for him and must decide what’s most important: Luck or love? Maybe, if she plays her cards right, and all the stars align, she can have both.
Just My Luck was soooooo cute! It was also the funniest movie I’ve seen in a while and had me laughing out loud several times even when some of the situations were predictable. The tarot card, astrology thing is gonna be a turnoff for some but makes sense and is needed to move the plot forward. It’s like a slightly more mature version of Freaky Friday. If you enjoyed that, you’ll like this too. Plus Chris Pine is always fun to stare at. Looks especially hot with glasses 😍 but that’s besides the point. I totally watched it because he was in it. My only regret was I didn’t watch it sooner. The only issue was the language which included several misuses of God’s name, shit, bitch, asshole, dammit, hell, pissed, and bollocks. You can stream it on Hulu. I think I found a new favorite romcom. 😍
Yes. I know The Incredibles isn’t a Valentine’s movie, but I also like to take time this month to focus on other types of love besides romantic and always have a couple of movies that focus on the love between family and friends.
Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) has settled into life as common civilian and family man after a career as a superhero. All supers have been forced underground since people started considering supers more of a nuisance than a help, but Bob longs for the glory days and does a bit of hero work on the side without his family knowing. He winds up getting into more than he can handle when he ends up working for supervillain Syndrome who’s been hellbent on revenge since Mr. Incredible rejected him as a sidekick years earlier. Helen AKA Elastigirl (Holly Hunt) and the kids get pulled into Bob’s mess when his superhero side hustle is accidentally revealed forcing him to realize that he can’t continue to go it alone and must rely on his family to save him and their city from being destroyed. After all, the family that stays together saves together.
I love this movie! It’s one of my favorites from Pixar and the first superhero movie I ever loved. It’s perfect for both kids and adults. It’s mature in tone since it focuses a lot on marriage and honesty in relationships, but has enough action and adventure to keep the kids entertained. It also has great messages about valuing life and family. It’s great if you want something for your kids that focuses on superheroes, but you’re not ready to let them watch the MCU yet. And they still get to experience the awesomeness that is Samuel L. Jackson in a family friendly movie. God’s name is misused twice. I can’t recommend this movie enough. Stream it now on Disney Plus.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“Valuing life is not weakness and disregarding it is not strength.” ~ Mirage
That’s how many weddings that Jane (Katherine Heigl) has been a bridesmaid and she has 27 dresses in her closet to prove it. If Always the Bridesmaid never the Bride were a person it’d be her. She loves weddings and wants one of her own someday. She has sights set on her boss. That is until her little sister comes to town and ruins everything by stealing Jane’s dream guy away from her. Kevin (James Marsden) loathes weddings as much as Jane loves them. Too bad his job is as a Commitments reporter meaning that weddings unfortunately are his thing. When he runs into her at a wedding, her second of the night, he discovers her chronic bridesmaid status and wants to right a cover story on her in the hopes of being able to move beyond Commitments and onto something more meaningful. He pencils himself into her life to do just that, and in typical rom-com, they fall head over heels for each other…eventually.
James Marsden as always is so fun to watch and the best part of the movie. The best scene was the montage of her trying on all 27 dresses and modeling them for Kevin tied with them getting drunk and singing on top of the bar. The worst scene of the entire movie was Jane’s witch of a younger sister cutting up their mother’s wedding dress knowing that Jane wanted it for her wedding day.
Some conversations featuring sexual exploits and how to score with bridesmaids and groomsmen occur throughout the movie and add nothing to the story other to show that Jane and Kevin’s friends are sexually loose indivuals. There’s one kinda-sorta sex scene in the back of a car. Kevin and Jane make-out and try to undress each other. You see nothing else. Language includes Shit, Misuse of Gods name, Bitch, Hell, One partial M-effer, Ass, Asshole, Whore, damn, and dammit.
This movie was so much fun! I loved it and wished I watched it sooner. Another Rom-com to add to the favorites list! You can rent 27 Dresses on iTunes or Amazon.
2¢ Movie Reviews 