Kris Rasmussen: October 2009 Archives

I can't say I celebrate Halloween much. I just never developed a fascination as a child with vampires, monsters, goblins, etc. I still like a few Halloween-themed movies that have become modern classics like "Monster House," "Monsters, Inc." and "The Corpse Bride" and end up on top Halloween viewing lists, including Movie Mom's, but I have gone in search of some unusual movie choices for DVD watching this Halloween. Not all of these movie specifically reference Halloween , or even creatures from the beyond, but they have a mix of fun and humor mixed with a bit of darkness that make them interesting viewing alternatives for Halloween.

Any other untraditional. spooky but entertaining films I might be missing? Let me know!

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events
Somehow I think all of Tim Burton's masterpieces have overshadowed this movie as a just-scary-enough movie choice for the whole family. I love Jim Carrey's performance as Count Olaf, a man who plans to outsmart three orphaned children so he can gain their inheritance. Meryl Streep's performance in this movie as Aunt Josephine is one that is often overlooked as well.

Bubba Ho-Tep
I stumbled across this cult classic over at Netflix and couldn't believe I had never heard of this very dark comedy about two retirement home residents (Ossie Davis and Bruce Campbell) and their battle again an evil spirit - and giant bugs. This movie was shot on almost no budget so it is a no-frills campy thriller that still has a surprising amount of heart.

While headlines about Tom Cruise or John Travolta's involvement in Scientology are nothing new, probably more than a few celeb watchers were surprised by today's news that Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis ( "Crash") is leaving Scientology. Ex-Scientologist Mark Rathbun posted a letter on his blog that is said to be written by Haggis (Rathbun cites confirmation from third parties that the letter is authentic). The letter is directed toward Scientology spokesperson Tommy Davis and explains that the cause of the split between the director and Scientology has to do with Scientology's refusal to protest California's Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage. He also describes a rift that Scientology caused with his wife's family as another reason he longer wishes to be affliated with the religion.

One of my favorite movies of the last few years has to be the indie music/romantic comedy
"Once." One of the best things to come out of the movie is The Swell Season - a.k.a. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo that starred in the movie. While promoting the movie "Once" through a series of concerts, the duo decided to come up with the name The Swell Season and start a recording career. Their follow up to the movie soundtrack, which included their hit song "Falling Slowly," is entitled "Strict Joy." While "Strict Joy" is not available for sale just yet, it is available for streaming in an exclusive feature over at NPR. Reminding me once again why this is the best year for indie music in a long time, "Strict Joy" has fantastic acoustic melodies and mesmerizing vocals and is unabashedly romantic without being sappy or angst-filled.

Suri Cruise probably can't read or write a single letter just yet, but just going to preschool is enough to cause all kinds of speculation around Tom Cruise and Kati Holmes's little princess. While movie star daddy is shooting a flick in Boston, sometimes-still-an-actress- mom has supposedly decided to enroll Suri in a Catholic pre-school. Now tabloids and newspapers are crying out that such news is not only a decision about where Suri should learn her ABCs , but an indication that Katie is distancing herself from Scientology. In fact the Daily Mail is citing sources that the two have had a huge disagreement about where Suri should go to school and that Holmes herself has not been near the Church of Scientology in months.

While we here at Idol Chatter have certainly had some fun - as well as some intense debate - discussing TomKat's connections to Scientology, I have to say this time around I don't exactly think this news is nearly as prophetic as some might want it to be.

I wasn't going to post anything more on Michael Moore's latest movie "Capitalism: A Love Story". Regular Idol Chatter readers are already plenty familiar with my opinions on his movies. Besides, despite all the hype, after a good opening weekend in limited release, the movie hasn't exactly been doing boffo box office as was expected, so I think that is its own message to Moore right there. But then I happened to catch Moore's interview with Sean Hannity over on Fox the other night, and I have to say it was the most entertaining television I have seen all week, mainly because both Moore and Hannity lead their debate about the philosophical views behind Moore's movie by talking about their respective Catholic faiths.