MOVIE Review
Are We There Yet isn’t worth the trip BY JOSEPH SANTOS Daily Titan Staff
“Boring and “painful” are the only two words to describe the movie “Are We There Yet,” starring rapper/actor Ice Cube and Nia Long. Like most holiday family movies, “Are We There Yet?” makes an effort to be funny and entertaining by using painful stunts and child-like humor, but this attempt is ruined as the stunts are ridiculously unbelievable and dangerous enough to kill a human being. Additionally, the overall story and script is dull and un-original. Nick Persons (Ice Cube) is a sports memorabilia store owner/ bachelor who hates children. One day, he unexpectedly meets the attractive Suzanne (Nia Long), an employee of the party planning service across the street from his story. On a stormy night, he drives by Suzanne and her broken down car and offers her a ride. The couple hit it off and there seems to be good chemistry in the relationship until Suzanneʼs children come into
the picture. Suzanne is assigned to coordinate a party in Vancouver while her ex-husband is supposed to chaperone the kids and meet her there. Unable to make it, her ex-husband cancels on her and Suzanne is left with no one to look after them. Wanting to further their relationship, Nick agrees to take on the responsibility, even though he hates kids. Unfortunately, Nick does not know what he is in for. Suzanneʼs evil kids, Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and Kevin (Phillip Bolden), use tactics such as tripwire and throwing balloons filled with glue on Suzanneʼs dates to get the point across. Nick is no exception when they subject him to numerous painful events along the way to meet up with their mother. Nick tries to get transport them by way of plane, train, and automobile, each of which leads to painful mishaps for Nick. Many of them are unrealistic and even sadistic, especially when Nick is forced to jump from a mov-
Extreme DVD shows that pain is universal BY KYM PARSONS Daily Titan Entertanment Editor
A word of advice: Donʼt try to attempt or recreate any of the stunts performed on this DVD. With some of the most intense crashes, collisions, spills and wipeouts from some of extreme sports biggest stars, Slammed is likely to exercise your gag reflexes, make you cringe and make you want to cover your eyes all at the same time. Broken bones, busted teeth, fractured ribs, bruised hips and cracked skulls is all in a days work for these athletes who are willing to risk their lives to achieve their desired success. Through a series of skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX and motorcross video footage
Slammed shows extreme athletes taking some of the worst spills of their life. After witnessing what these professional endure on a daily basis, itʼs a wonder they keep doing it. But as video footage in intertwined with exclusive interviews, we learn that there is a psychology to the slam. While not for everyone, this DVD really goes above and beyond with itʼs portrayal of extreme athletes as passionate, and driven people. They fall down a lot and get right back up until they are the best at what they do. Thereʼs a lot of real trauma on this disc, blood, scars and pain, but itʼs the mentality that these athletes must maintain that really takes center stage.
Rob McEwan/Columbia Pictures Philip Daniel Bolden and Ice Cube star in Revolution Studios’ family comedy Are We There Yet?
ing train on to the cement platform. The entire adventure is filled with dangerous stunts that make the audience feel sorry for Nick. The saving grace of the movie
is the acting effort put out by Ice Cube. Despite Cubeʼs former serious movie roles, his portrayal of the bachelor turned patient caretaker
Nick Persons is carried out surprisingly, very well. Other than that, the movie is a far cry from being the entirely original holiday family movie it tries to be.
Flashback Favorite
Important life lessons learned through after school specials BY KYM PARSONS Daily Titan Enterainment Editor
Remember the good old days when television offered life lessons and left viewers with warm fuzzy feelings inside? Those days of coming home from school, pushing aside the homework and watching moralistic tales of teen pregnancy, suicide and drug abuse may be long gone, but they can now be revisited on DVD. “After School Specials,” which aired on weekday afternoons from 1974-1989, storylines which were adapted from young-adult novels and starred some of the most popular teen actors of its day.“After School Specials” became a favorite of parents and youth alike, by tackling issues that still affect todayʼs family. In case you may have forgot, hereʼs a recap: Pssst! Hammermanʼs After You (aka The 18th Emergency) - After studying about prehistoric man in school, Mouse Fawley (Christian Juttner)
makes the mistake of mocking school bully Marv Hammerman (Jim Sage) by claiming Marvʼs ancestors swung from the trees. Marv does not react well to the comment, and he makes Mouse feel his own pain the only way Marv knows how, by landing him with punches. Summer of the Swans - The summer doldrums have engulfed Sara (Heather Totten) who finds life in a small town increasingly irritating. When her younger brother, Charlie, disappears, Sara realizes the need to think of other people and not just herself. The Skating Rink - Living on a poor farm in the South, Tuck Faraday (Stewart Petersen) struggles with the insecurity caused by his stutter. Tuck is fascinated as he watches a deserted factory being transformed into an ice skating rink and is elated when Pete (Jerry Dexter) offers him a chance. While these overly dramatic tales didnʼt really didnʼt instill any morals into us as children, they sure did us keep us entertained after school.
Daily Titan January 31, 2004
FULL EFFECT
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