Do you really want to see this movie?
Bad Movie
I hate to waste my time and money on movies that suck! When I was a teenager, there were a few movies that I looked forwards to seeing, spent the money for the movie and popcorn, only to walk out after the first 10 minutes (“The Barbarian Brothers” is a prime example). Back then, I was defenseless against such movies and ofter got crushed with disappointment!
Today, life is different because of my secret weapon (drumroll …) IMDB.com, yep that’s right the website IMBD.com – “Internet Movie Database” is my secret weapon to combat movies that suck, whether they are new original sucky movies or lesser quality remakes of the older movies.
It has saved me from re-made movies like “When Day The Earth Stood Still” and “The Pink Panther” etc…
So how does it work, you might ask?
Well it’s really simple, just type the movie that your thinking of seeing, and it will pop up facts about it and a ranking from 1 to 10 on how people like you and I feel about the movie. This is one example where the we (the masses) rule!
The one drawback (an one I consider worth taking) is that often times it’s best to wait at least a week after the movie has been released before going to see it. That way, the movie has a more accurate rating!
So what prompted me to write this? My kids want to see “The Karate Kid” remake, but it only has a present rating of 4.6 (as a comparison, the sucky movie “The Barbarian Brother” is rated at 4.1)?
The older version of “The Karate Kid” has almost a 7.0 rating! So why are we going to see a much lower quality version of the film instead of just borrowing the original from the library and watching that version instead?… The kids and wife, that’s why!
Since my wife and kids want to go, we’re going to an old fashion drive-in theater that is close by (cool experience with a decent movie). So here we go to watch a sucky remake instead of borrowing the original and watching an decent film. The best feature of the original was the chemistry between Daniel-san and Myagi. Shoot they don’t even have Myagi in the remake… instead the character is Jackie Chan playing Mr. Hans (or something like that)? Shoot, what made the original a good film was the portray of those two characters, not another action film…
Thanks for listening to my rant! Now you know one of my favorite weapons to combat wasting money and time on bad movies.
Do you have any secret frugal weapons?
-MR
Update: Okay, I’m back from the Drive-In, and as I expected the story wasn’t as good as the original. I think the rating is pretty accurate, it might float up to closert to a 5.0… The acting was just okay, and some scenes didn’t really transition well… The original “The Karate Kid” was definitely better…
Thanks for the tip! I’ve been to that site a few times but didn’t realize they had user reviews.
Sorry the movie wasn’t very good. I saw the trailer and it brought back some very fond memories of the first movie. I should’ve guessed that the remake wouldn’t be as good. Still, at least you saw it at drive-in! I have always wanted to go to one of those.
My secret frugal weapon is ordering our food to go at our favorite restaurants. Most restaurants, from chains, to mom and pop, and even the more fancier places, will let you order your food to go. Well, I guess ordering food isn’t very frugal but, sometimes we don’t feel like cooking, or eating fast food/take out. By eating out at home we save money on tips and drinks. And, as long as you pick a restaurant close by, the food tastes just as good.
Ahh, good frugal tip (weapon)! Sometimes it’s fun to buy a bottle of wine (cost the same a just a glass in a restaurant) and order the food to go, then eat out on the deck enjoying the summer!
So far we’ve only had lunch out on the deck, but that’s not the same as some good food and a drink out on the deck enjoying the quiet… 🙂
But the Drive-In is a great experience at least. I would be really mad if I was trapped in a movie theater watching garbage. My secret frugal method for the movies is my giant purse that holds all snacks and drinks! 🙂 (I think that most women employ that method.)
Did you see a double feature? The drive-ins around here used to always show two movies. Did the kids like it?
@Everyday Tips
Yeah, the Drive-In made it bearable, it’s always fun that way, even so-so movies…
Did you see a double feature?
We almost did, but the first movie didn’t get out until midnight (it was long), so we packed up and left.
The 2nd movie was “The Bounty Hunter”, so it really wasn’t a kid’s movie anyway…
I like the special big purse for the movie theater idea. We’ll have to employ that more often!
I’m shocked that some areas still have drive-ins! I wish we still had drive-ins where I live. My teenage memories of summer nights at the drive-in are such great ones! 😉
@Little House
Yeah, definitely good times!!! 😉
I think that there is a group that’s supporting it, because there is no way that it’s profitable.
Cool as hell though!!! The kids love it!
I’m not sure how long the Drive-In will stay open, but we will take advantage of it while we can 🙂
Ya know, I thought the Day the Earth Stoof Still would be a really terrible movie. But to my surprise, I enjoyed it! I would actually recommend it on a boring Sunday afternoon.
@eemusings
Did you see the original? I saw the original (although in DVD format, not originally…) and it was pretty good, considering the day and age that it was made.
I’m afraid that after seeing the original, I won’t get much out of the re-make… But since you said it was pretty good, perhaps I will borrow it from the library and give it a try after all.