The Haunted Mansion doesn’t look very good to me, but it looks like the perfect movie to nod out to after a gynormous Thanksgiving dinner. Fall asleep if you like! You’re guaranteed to have a perfect antiseptic experience.
The fact that Eddie Murphy is tied to this movie and that it’s a Disney production screams “PLAYING IT SAFE!” The fact that is was directed by the guy who did the two Stewart Little movies tells me there won’t be any genuine thrills, unlike that OTHER Disney ride based feature, Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, I was pleased to see Rick Baker doing makeup on the project. That guy always produces quality work.
Murphy, on the other hand, is a performer whose stock went way down for me after he started making kiddie flicks like The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle. In a way, I kind of feel sorry for the guy.
He tries slipping into the old Axel Foley mode in movies like Metro and Showtime, but audiences have decided for him what roles they want to see him in. They want him to baby-sit their kids. Hence, The Nutty Professor II and Dr. Dolittle II.
As for me, probably the only role I found him remotely interesting in the last 15 years was his duel role of Kit Ramsey/Jiff Ramsey in Bowfinger – a highly underrated film if there ever was one.
Part of me thinks we might still see The Haunted Mansion just to see if they can pull one out of the hat. Plus, Cami and I love Disney World. It’s a guilty pleasure kind of thing. I’m curious to see how close they can get to the “feel” of the ride – which is one of my favorites in the park.
Of course, either that, or I can hang around the house and play more Final Fantasy X-2.
I wanted to take a minute to call everyone’s attention to two great web comics. The first one is Overcaffinated, a great comic about geeks and the coffee that fuels them. The writing is really sharp. You can tell the guys behind it are operating a few notches above the rest. Plus, it has a great site design. I guess creator Sergio Villarreal is a web designer. It shows. That site runs like a dream.
The other site I wanted to point you to was Taking the Bi-Pass. I’m kind of ashamed that I didn’t link to this one sooner. Dave has done some great guest comics and fan art for us in the past, and I guess I thought I had always had a link to his site. It’s been fun watching Dave’s art and writing evolve. He comes up with some of the best jokes entirely out of left field.
As always, if you have a site and would like to trade links, please let me know.
I know our Canadian neighbors have already celebrated the holiday, but for everyone in America, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a safe holiday. Be sure to check the site on Friday for a special Thanksgiving-themed comic!