Air Bud

Meet the golden retriever, Buddy, in a series of releases of the movie “Air Bud.”

The plot revolves around a 12-year-old boy, Josh Framm, who has an interest in basketball. After the death of his father, Josh moves with his family to Washington State and is too shy to try out for his middle school’s basketball team and too shy to make any friends. Through a series of coincidences, Josh meets Buddy (Seagal), a Golden Retriever who escaped his cruel owner, an alcoholic clown Norman Snively. Josh soon learns that Bud has the ability to play the sport of basketball.

Buddy becomes the mascot of Josh’s school’s basketball team and begins appearing in their halftime shows. But just before the championship game, Buddy’s original owner, Snively steals Buddy from Josh. Josh then infiltrates Snively’s backyard where Buddy is. Snively can’t see him due to a stack of cans on his windowsill. The stack of cans then falls and Josh is caught infiltrating Snively’s backyard. Josh gets Buddy off the chain. Snively then chases Josh in his clown truck. The chase rages on to parking lots near a lake. The van’s steering wheel is then acidentally taken off and rolls across a few parking lots. Snively and his own clown truck falls in the water but doesn’t drown. A few minutes after the chase, Josh then decides to set him free to find someone else. Initially, his team is losing at the championship until Buddy shows up. When it is discovered that there is no rule that a dog cannot play basketball, Buddy joins the roster to lead the team to a come from behind championship victory. Snively sues the Framm family for custody of Bud. It is decided that the dog will choose who will be its rightful owner at the suggestion of Josh’s coach, a former Knicks player. Buddy attacks Snively and runs to Josh causing the judge to grant custody of Buddy to Josh while Snivley is dragged away by the police.

As of now, AIR BUD has come up with 6 sequel movies, and collecting all these is still a dream (they’re all in my Amazon wish list). I have seen three of them in AstroVision, on sale at P99 each. I want to have them all. I know I will, soon.

That’s how I’m crazy ’bout Buddy.

Snow Buddies

Life may take you to where you least expect, but you have to have faith that you are where and what you’re meant to be.

This quote was the last line in the movie “SnowBuddies,” which I watched before hitting the sack last night. It’s a Disney movie, yes. But somehow, I find a good dose of emotional relief when I watch Disney movies. I don’t know, that “kid” in me may have remained to some extent. I have tons of Disney movies in my collection, and I watch them when I feel that life is confronting me with shit at a particular moment.

So here they are, the SnowBuddies.

The adorable pups of the famous Air Bud are back. This time, these five pups with personality find themselves in an adventure really far from home - Ferntiuktuk, Alaska to be exact. Thanks to Budderball’s big appetite for ice cream, the pups end up in this arctic location and must figure out a way to get back. Not long after their unexpected arrival in Alaska, the pups meet Shasta, a husky pup, and his owner Adam. Adam is a young boy with a big dream - he wants to mush! He has some obstacles to overcome if he is going to make his dream come true, though. His parents think dog sledding is too dangerous, and he also lacks five dogs. But, when the Buddies find out that winning the big dog sled race could be their ticket home, RoseBud, B-Dawg, Buddha, MudBud and Budderball vow to team up with Adam and Shasta in a race to victory. The journey is dangerous, but with a lot of courage and a little help from a legendary old Husky named Talon, they just might have what it takes to make it.

A story of courage, bravery, and determination. Plus a good view of Alaska and its snow.

Everything just made my night.

DVD Marathon

Yesterday, i had to be on leave as I was groggy with antibiotics. Lucky as we may have it, my DVD player suddenly worked after a long period of tantrums. So I was able to enjoy some films I bought at Video City during the Jan 31-Feb 1 SM 3-day Sale.

Combining elements of a road movie, love triangle, and coming of age tale, the film follows Tenoch (Luna) and Julio (García Bernal), two teenage best friends from Mexico City whose girlfriends have just gone travelling. Left at the peril of their hormones, the boys lure beautiful Luisa (Verdú), the discontented wife of Tenoch’s cousin, away on a trip to an imaginary beach. In the process they discover things about themselves and each other that they least expected. Even from the connotations of its title, “Y Tu Mamá También” is certainly not coy about the more explicit things in life. The unflinching opening sex scene and other tumbles throughout the film would court controversy were it not for the fact they are totally organic to the film as a whole.

Eddie Murphy is a real estate agent working in tandem with his wife, Marsha Thomason. One day she receives a call from a mysterious stranger asking her to check out some property he wants to put up for sale. Even though the caller specifically asks that she come alone, Murphy decides to go along with her, bringing their two young children as well. When they arrive on the scene, the family finds a mansion replete with all the paraphernalia common to a conventional haunted house - sliding panels, hidden passageways, a graveyard in the backyard, an eccentric owner, a creepy butler (played with delicious relish by Terence Stamp) and, of course, a houseful of unruly and unsettled resident ghosts. Once ensconced inside, the family discovers – much like homeowners in a buyer’s market - that it’s always easier to get into a haunted house than it is to get out of one.

So that was it for one lazy weekday.

Jennifer Lopez: Selena

An original DVD brought home by Mom from the States, the movie portrays the bittersweet life of singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez. With Jennifer Lopez as Selena and Jon Seda as Chris Perez, the husband, plus the quality music and sound the movie has to offer, the DVD was played in my new home maybe a dozen times. Needless to say, I did all that watching as actor Jon Seda got me head over heels. Jennifer Lopez’s performance here was commendable; it showed she really internalized Selena’s character and portrayed it perfectly, including her singing and dancing style.