Who hasn't heard of Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light"? At one time, and still to some extent, his work could be found on everything. Furniture, rugs, throws, coffee mugs, stationary, ballpoint pens, embroidery kits, T-shirts, purses. Pretty much anything that can hold an image. I myself still use a Kinkade Bible cover and my … Continue reading Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Movie
Get Out of My House
Come on in... We all know that moving is a stressful business, especially after a big life change like a divorce. No one expects to add a home invasion to the mix, though, but that's what happens in 2000's Panic Room. Brought to us by screenwriter David Koepp and director David Fincher, the former of whom … Continue reading Get Out of My House
Pick A Parody, Any Parody. Well, Almost.
We haven't had a bad movie on here in a long time, and in this case I mean bad. I don't know how 2004's Miss Castaway And the Island Girls came up in my Tubi feed, but there it was, and even though I could tell it was awful, I was strangely intrigued by Michael Jackson's disembodied head … Continue reading Pick A Parody, Any Parody. Well, Almost.
Spin Off With the Scorpion King
Hello there... Dwayne Johnson's time as The Rock is so far back it's pretty easy to memory hole it, but all of a sudden the guy was an actor instead of a WWF fighter, and one of the first instances of this was when he played the Scorpion King in the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies. In … Continue reading Spin Off With the Scorpion King
You’re A Really Good Songwriter, John
A John Denver biopic? Far out! Oh, wait... Ah, biopics. As we all know, no one is really safe, especially musicians. Oh no. Songs and creative bursts make great filler, not to mention great fodder for montages. And we also all know that sometimes the results come out better than others. The 2000 TV movie, … Continue reading You’re A Really Good Songwriter, John
Hollywood Goes To Ferndale
Say what anyone will about Jim Carrey, in his heyday he made some fine films, and one of my favorites is 2001's The Majestic. It's not just a straight-ahead, old-school feel-good movie, but a lot of it was filmed in Ferndale, California, an absolutely gorgeous town in Humboldt County. The movie opens at a concept meeting, … Continue reading Hollywood Goes To Ferndale
Two Marriages, Two Divorces
Curtain... Norman Jewison's filmography is nothing if not diverse, and one of his early 2000s credits is 2001's Dinner With Friends, which was a TV movie for HBO. Based on the successful 1998 Donald Margulies play of the same name, the film follows two couples as infidelity and divorce become part of the conversation, and then … Continue reading Two Marriages, Two Divorces
The Merry Housewives of Stepford
The Stepford Wives is rather infamous. As we all know, "Stepford wife" is part of the American cultural zeitgeist, denoting something so perfect as to be secretly nefarious, and Irving Levin's novel has been brought to the screen in both 1975 and 2004. Thing is, though, I've never seen either version until now, and was … Continue reading The Merry Housewives of Stepford
Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving
Hi there, neighbor, going my way... Who doesn't remember when Jennifer Garner was best-known for starring on Alias? That's one of the reasons 2004's 13 Going On 30 made such a splash with the public--we got to see Jennifer smile and enjoy herself. Well, that and 13 is a cute, fun movie on the line of Big. It's hard … Continue reading Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving
The Worst Titanic Movie Ever Made (So Far)
This isn't the first time I've reviewed a Titanic film for Taking Up Room, or for a So Bad It's Good Blogathon (Remember that Asylum monstrosity where the Statue of Liberty was facing the wrong way? Or how about Raise the Titanic? Yikes.). It is, however, the first time I've reviewed a Titanic film with a dog that … Continue reading The Worst Titanic Movie Ever Made (So Far)
As It Happened
President Kennedy, I presume... The assassination of John F. Kennedy is one of those events that made such an impact, everyone who was alive and aware during that time remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about it. While there's no way to recreate that time exactly, the … Continue reading As It Happened
We’ve Been Here Before. More Than Once.
It's a busy week on Taking Up Room and off of it, because not only will we have a post almost every day this week, but it's Conference Week at one of the two schools I serve in my job. It happens every November, and things get crazy because the elementary and middle schools get … Continue reading We’ve Been Here Before. More Than Once.
Airing Dirty Laundry
Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters... The Ephron girls were told all their lives that everything is copy. Everything that seemed like a tragedy could be turned into a triumph in which the victim becomes the hero. They were to take notes in case something could be turned into the written word later. … Continue reading Airing Dirty Laundry
On the Road Again
Who's missing summer? I am but I'm not because working is nice. Still, vicarity is fun, especially with Labor Day upon us, and I decided to revisit 2006's RV, which I haven't seen in a lot of years. Because I'm me, though, and Taking Up Room is what it is, well...just wait. Bob Munro (Robin Williams) … Continue reading On the Road Again
My VR Will Go On
Birdemic is not James Nguyen's first movie. Oh heck, no. Seven years before that classic so-bad-it's-goodness came about, there was Julie and Jack. It's a romance. Yeah, that's it. The movie opens with footage of clouds. Lots of clouds. Two minutes of clouds. And then a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge and a guy driving … Continue reading My VR Will Go On
Welcome To Camp Knockoff
Ah, summer camp. Ah, movies that rip off movies about summer camp. Ah, movies that rip off movies about summer camp while also ripping off movies about singing, dancing high schoolers. And mean, snobby high schoolers who need to learn manners. Oh, and there's a big wakeboarding competition, too. Buckle up, campers, because we're about … Continue reading Welcome To Camp Knockoff
Austen Goes To Amritsar
*opens book* We all know that of Jane Austen's six novels, Pride and Prejudice is probably the most frequently adapted (see some of the other versions here). And why not? It's got lots of intrigue, it's got love and the promise of love, it's got family drama, and it's got biting wit and intelligence. Oh, and it … Continue reading Austen Goes To Amritsar
Taking Up Room 