Those who know me well have probably wondered why I haven’t mentioned this movie already. But then again, they may just be sick of hearing about it from me, and are glad I haven’t.

But seriously, if you were to ask me what my favorite movie of all time would be, I would tell you, “I don’t really know.” But I would follow that up by saying that “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” would definitely be in my top 10. And it’s a great movie for a summertime Friday Night Flick…

There are so many things I’d like to tell you about this flick, but frankly, it’d just take too long. The stunts, the background, the cast, particular scenes – I just couldn’t do it. Suffice it to say that it was the inspiration for the dramatic musical production Leona and I created a few years ago called, “One Mad Christmas.” That should tell you something, right there.

Now here are some things to keep in mind about this movie:

• You must watch it in a “wide screen” version. Really. It’s not optional.

• This is a long movie that includes an intermission. It moves along at a steady pace, however, so fear not.

• I personally like the longest version of this movie, but you may have trouble finding it.

• If you have kiddos, it’s important to know that there are some fight scenes and a couple of curse words like “h-e-double hockey sticks.”

• There’s a scene that includes a 60′s chick in a 60′s bikini. Just so you know.

• It includes an “all star cast” and cameos galore from the biggest names in comedy at the time. You may or may not recognize them, but if you do, it will greatly add to the fun of watching it.

• Do not confuse this movie with the movie, “Rat Race.” I haven’t seen that flick, but my understanding is, there is no comparison.

• Jonathan Winters single handedly destroys a gas station in one scene. With gas prices as they are today, I just thought I’d mention that.

• You can find better reviews/thoughts about this movie on the web, and here’s a good example.

• Proverbs 23:4-5 and Proverb 10:22 are good verses to read after watching this movie.

Here’s a “fan made trailer” I found on YouTube that I think captures the flavor of the movie pretty well:

One more thing. “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” premiered in 1963, but believe it or not, there is actually a sequel to this movie in the works. It’s hard for me to imagine it being anything but terrible, but here’s hoping…

Well, from the looks of this post, it seems I took too long, anyway. But as always, if you watch it because you read about it in a “Friday Flicks” feature, I’d love to hear about it.

Up until about 2 months ago, my kids had never seen “Star Trek.” No “Next Generation,” no “Deep Space Nine,” no “Voyager,” no “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and none of the movies. Heck, I haven’t even seen the last few Star Trek movies, myself. But recently, the original Star Trek returned to our T.V. stations, and it has made for some pretty fun family time.

We’re talking Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty. The classic. The original. My favorite.

The show my own family watched over supper when I was a kid. The show from which Leona’s mom never could quote lines correctly. Like the time she was trying to quote Kirk’s famous line, “Beam me up, Scotty!” and instead she used the unfortunate expression, “Spark me up, Bob!” Hilarious.

But before they even knew what “Star Trek” was, my kids saw Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy” video, with the line, “The only question I ever thought was hard was ‘Do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?’” And before they knew who Spock was, they saw the horrifying video of Leonard Nimoy singing the “Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.” Strangely, that may have actually piqued their interest in seeing the show.

So it’s been fun seeing my kids discover the fun of that original series- with the great relationships of the characters, the quirkiness of the sets and costumes and the fun, quotable lines.

Not too long ago, we even watched the T.V. episode that set up who “Khan Noonien Singh” was and then watched the movies, “The Wrath of Khan,” “The Search For Spock” and “The Journey Home” in order. Hmm….”White and Nerdy” is kind of stuck in my head, now.

But I’m really not a Trekker.

And I wouldn’t even think about attending a Star Trek Convention. (If you click on the link, be warned that there are a couple of mild curse words in the video.)

But I am really looking forward to the new Star Trek movie that is in the works with a scheduled release for December 25, 2008  May 8, 2009.

And I’m very glad to hear that it is being produced and directed by J.J. Abrams, creator of the T.V. shows, “Alias” and “Lost.” Simply titled, “Star Trek,” the story will involve the original characters’ first adventure together.

The movie, “Lost in Space” was pretty bad. But the creator of “Lost,” in “space,” directing a new Kirk and crew could be a good thing if it means a great story with great action and great characters.

According to Abrams (via Entertainment Weekly):

“It’s a story that even non-Trekkers can enjoy. ”On the one hand, for people who love Star Trek, the fix that they will get will be really satisfying,” he says. ”For people who’ve never seen it or know it vaguely, I think they will enjoy it equally, because the movie does not require you to know anything about Star Trek. I would actually prefer [that] people don’t know the series, because I feel like they will come to it with an open mind.”

Now for a twist:
Don’t stretch this too much. But if you change the words “story” and “movie” to “service,” the word, “non-Trekkers” to “lost people” and the words “Star Trek” to “the Gospel” in this quote, suddenly it describes a pretty cool church service…

Whoa.

Beam Spark me up, Scotty Bob.

I’m really looking forward to the newest Spiderman movie that opens on May 4th, 2007, and have been following the blog for months, now.

What’s that you say? You didn’t know that Spiderman3 has a blog? Well, indeed they do and it’s worth a visit.

Check it out here: Spiderman3movieblog

There you’ll find many “behind the scenes” and unseen preview videos, like this one: National CineMedia Spider-Man 3 piece

Enjoy.

After that last post, I figured it was time to lighten up a bit…