MamaPop™

Dear Hollywood, Back Off of My Berenstain Bears. Please?

It seems many of Hollywood's recent movie hits are remakes and/or ripped from our childhoods, which I know is nothing new, but I kinda want them to back off my beloved memories a wee bit, yanno?

Confession: I wish Where The Wild Things Are had remained a classic book.  (Which yes, it still is, but the movie is so scary I won't take my 5 year old son to see it. It really should have remained a book where a child could fill in the blanks with his imagination.  I never imagined any chicken's arm getting ripped off, did you?)

Now I'm hearing rumblings about bring the beloved Berenstain Bears to the big screen. My Berenstain Bears.  *sob*

Spike Jonze Slaps Kanye West

Well, not really, but in a viral promotion video for a short film collaboration between the two, Jonze answers the eternal question that Rick James reportedly posed to Charlie Murphy one night, long ago, in the China Club. That question, of course, being, "What did the five fingers say to the face?"

The Worst Witch: My Halloween Ritual

Before Harry Potter took over the world, there was a small, made-for-TV movie based on a series of children's books called The Worst Witch. It featured some well-known British actors (Diana Rigg and the fabulous Tim Curry) and a young, up-and-coming actress named Fairuza Balk. HBO started playing it throughout October in the mid-to-late 80s and it was an instant favorite of mine.

6 Murderous Psychopaths: A Halloween Gift From MamaPop To You

As an extension of MamaPop's ongoing effort to bring you the best in wholesome, family-friendly fun, we'd like to offer you the following list of some of our favorite murderous psychopaths. Some you may know, some you may not... but all of them deserve a very dark, twisted and frightening part of your life.

"Powerful... So Powerful. Sensitive... So Sensitive." Happy Birthday, Rebel Without A Cause!

By Michael Roe

54 years ago, today, Rebel Without a Cause was released, a film since deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. It was James Dean’s second film (and his second-to-last), and the movie that made the young man an icon. 

Fresh Hell: Mall Cop Director to Remake Short Circuit

Here's some input I didn't really need: Steve Carr, the d-bag responsible for Paul Blart: Mall Cop, has been signed by Dimension Films to direct a remake of Short Circuit, the 1986 sci-fi-lite flick in which a robot out-acted Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy, which is almost an impressive feat.

Happy Belated Birthday to IMDb

If anyone deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, it's the creators of the Internet Movie Database. Can you imagine how many arguments have been settled because of that site? And would you believe that it's been around 19 years as of this past Saturday?

Where the Wild Things Are Review

A rough day. Disappointment. Some shouting. Going too far. Slamming doors. Desperate escape from life. Sometimes, it's really hard to face how alike childhood and adulthood are.

Best of the Worst - A Personal Top 5 Horror Films for Your Halloween (Dis)Pleasure

When I was a boy, my parents would sometimes send me, usually late at night, down the hill behind our small farmhouse to close the chicken coop.  Fucking foxes would eat the chickens, other, less carnivorous animals would eat the eggs.  So, there's my 9-10 year old self, flashlight in hand and a silent scream in my throat.  Legs tense, ready to bolt at the fist sign of the Boogieman or Frankenstein Monster or the crazy, toothless guy that sold firewood around the area.  It was commonly know that he ate children.  That didn't stop us from pelting his old beat up truck with snowballs in the winter though.  Everyone knows that child-eaters fear a well packed snowball.  It's their Kryptonite. 

Going Bump In The Night: Six Movies For Your Hallowe'en Viewing Pleasure

 In a stunning piece of news that might've slipped beneath your usually impeccable radar, it's October. I'm not even kidding — you could look it up. In even more stunning news, the end of October means Hallowe'en, a night of trick-or-treating fun and stupid-ass parents who like to pretend they're stuffed scarecrows sitting in a chair next to the front steps until some cute little kid comes along and suddenly they jump up and scream bloody terrifying murder and scare the living bejeezus out of some sweet boy or girl who's been waiting all year to go out as a fairy princess or Superman. I fucking hate those parents.

What were we talking about? Oh, right... Hallowe'en, October... blah blah blah. More pertinently, October is the month where all right-thinking Americans (and the occasional right-thinking Canadian) choose to celebrate the dimming of the day and the fleeting popular embrace of ghosts, witches, demonic were-creatures and other critters not usually welcomed into genteel society by engaging in the time-honored tradition of watching lots and lots of horror movies. Why? Because, unlike children, we can make the conscious choice to be scared — because we understand and experience it as entertainment, as 90 minutes of escapist fun that frees us from the dreary bonds of our day-to-day and provides us with the vicarious thrill of gambling with our lives.

Awesome Documentaries about Very Specific Things

Because I am a frazzled working mom, I'm often way behind on seeing movies with smaller releases. This obviously applies to documentaries since I'm not in a huge release market and these things tend to fly through theaters anyway.

Thankfully, Netflix (and other such services) exist, so I'm able to catch up on some of the awesome stuff that I miss. Most recently, I rented and adored two documentaries that are about subjects so very micro that they're almost ridiculous: Helvetica (the font) and Donkey Kong.

Disney's "First Black Princess Movie": Should We Be Worried About This?

In a word: no. Or at least, probably not, but from the looks of the first five minutes of Disney's upcoming The Princess and the Frog - the movie that's being called its "first black princess" movie - it seems that Disney might come out okay on this one. Sure, it's just five minutes - which leaves somewhere in the area of 75 to 90 minutes for Disney to trip-up with some dodgy racial sterotypes - and we are, after all, still talking princess movie -  but these are a pretty good five minutes.

Watch them after the jump:

Can You Picture Robert Pattinson as Prince Harry?

Can you see Edward Cullen - I mean Robert Pattinson - cast as Prince Harry? Me neither, but it might happen.

Peter Kosminsky is working on casting his new movie called "The Spare" about Prince Harry's life.

There is nothing like a bio-pic of a 25 year old that hasn't actually done anything yet. It sounds fascinating.

Also considered for the role:

Roman Polanski is a Rape-Rapist

*Disclaimer:* This article describes sexual violence that may be triggering to some readers. 

Quick poll: what word or phrase would you use to describe the act of inviting a 13-year-old girl to your friend's mansion, giving her champagne and quaaludes, and then penetrating her anally and vaginally while she protests and drifts in and out of consciousness? I'm guessing a lot of you would categorize those acts as rape. Some of you might actually not be able to form words for that sort of thing, because you're too sick to your stomach imagining such a thing happening to your child or the child of a loved one. 

Now let's say you're Whoopi Goldberg. Well, then I guess your answer is something like, "it wasn't 'rape-rape.'" Interesting.

Diablo Cody to Write and Produce Sweet Valley High

The Wakefield twins are about to be back, this time with wittier repartee and pop culture references. Diablo Cody, she of the Juno and The United States of Tara awesome (can't speak to Jennifer's Body; haven't seen it yet) will be adapting the Sweet Valley High books into a screenplay and producing the big-screen version.

A Review of 'The Boys Are Back' And Screening Tickets To Win!

I'm going to start off this review of Clive Owen's new movie "The Boys Are Back" the same way I started it off when I told my girlfriends about it: Clive is HOT.

That should convince 85% of the women reading (and a percentage of the men as well) so here's a review for everyone else.

Based on a true story, "The Boys Are Back" follows the life of sportswriter Joe Warr (Owen) and his journey to rebuild his world and conquer the challenges of single-fatherhood after the death of his beloved wife Katy.  The film is directed by Scott Hicks (he directed the amazing 'Shine') and is set against the breathtaking landscapes of Australia. Did I mention Clive was pretty breathtaking, too?

Paranormal Activity Trailer

I've heard whispers about this movie for a while. Called the next Blair Witch Project and already rife with lore such as how it scared the crap out of Steven Spielberg to such a degree that he was convinced there was something actually demonic about his DVD screener, the thing looks it might be the genuine, terrifying article.

Trailer after the jump. You might wanna brace yourself a little.