I'll tell you this much...they ain't getting the TV!

So tonight instead of fighting (and probably losing ) the battle with insomnia I decided to turn the TV back on and find something to the pass the time. Much to my delight, HBO was showing one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies...Mars Attacks...hence the title of tonights blog.

I have met very few people who are willing to admit this that they have seen and liked this movie. I absolutely love this movie! It is a pop culture geeks dream. The cast is amazing, the lines are funny and well written (well most of them), and it has martians! What is not to love? I guess that you either love movies by Tim Burton or hate them, even though he is obviously a genius.

It is hard to say what is the best part of the movie. I have listed a few of the great moments/lines from the movie that make it an awesome flick. (Other than the obvious parts such as Sarah Jessica Parker's head being attached to the body of dog or the senile grandma who is unaware that her retirement home is being invaded because she is jamming to her headphones.)

- Jack Nicholson. The movie would not have been great without him. First, he plays two different, yet distinctly Jack characters. The character Art was okay, but it was his role as the President of the United States that really kicked ass. After Congress is destroyed by the martians, he delievers what is probably the most famous line of the movie. In the role of President Dale, he tells his staff "I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for them, and that ain't bad." I would vote for Ole'Jack if he ever ran for President.

- Tom Jones (who is a guilty pleasure entirely on his own). Not only does he play himself in the movie, but he sings his signature "It's Not Unusual." So there he is, belting out his classic as the world is being invaded by martians. The stage lights dim and suddenly he is sharing the stage with two martians, who are grooving to the song! It is totally awesome! Later he joins forces with boxer Byron and starts shooting martians after proclaiming that he knows how to fly a plane. He finishes out the movie with in song with animals bobbing their head's to the beat of "It's Not Unusual."

- After the President orders a launch of nuclear weapons, the martians launch their own device that absorbs the nuke into a balloon looking thing. Then the head martian inhales the nuke like helium and talks in an even higher pitch voice, while his minions laugh.

- As referenced in the title of this blog, Mrs. Norris is in the process of loading her 12 gauge and utters my personal favorite line of the movie "I'll tell you this much...they ain't getting the TV." Now, if martians were attacking my home the TV would not be the first thing that I would fight to protect, yet I can't imagine that I would let it go without a fight. After all, I have learned more from TV than any other resource. (Sorry Mom and Dad but to quote Bart Simpson, "It spent so much more time raising us than you have.")

- As subtle as it was, one of my favorite parts is the fact that while the martians are destroying everyone and everything that they come across, one of them is carrying the translator around with him. So as his buddies are shooting and pulverising, you hear the translator saying "Don't run, we are your friends." Now, I have seen this movie at least a dozen times and one of the many times I watched it, it was a good friend named Kevin D and we argued over the intent of this part of the movie. I thought it was supposed to be ironic because they are expressing friendship as they are killing people. Kevin swears that is a reference to shoddy American made products (Kevin is a bit of a hippie). I don't know which one of us is right (probably me because it is my blog) but it is still funny.

Anyway...it is great movie, especially at midnight when you can't sleep and need a break from YouTube. If you do find yourself on YouTube, search for "Coast Guard Academy Fun" "Dancing Coastie", or "Coastie Prank 1" for a quick laugh. (The Coastie in me does not condone the behavior but is still funny.)