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Review: You've never seen 'Sound of Music' like this
Cleveland R&B vocalist to make Akron debut
Actor Bernsen enjoying ride of derby movie project
End of an era: Oprah ending show after 25 years
Ohio native takes second place on 'Project Runway'
'New Moon' casts spell on fans
'The Blind Side' scores as feel-good crowd-pleaser
'Planet 51' is sci-fi animation lite
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Angel Food Ministries helps stretch grocery dollars
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Blogs:
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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 13-47
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
By Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
Published on Thursday, Aug 06, 2009
Discarded Fox ideas for an ad campaign for the kiddie feature Aliens in the Attic:
''Aliens in the Attic: At least it's not I Love You Beth Cooper!''
''Aliens in the Attic: Cheaper than G-Force 3-D.''
Or ''Aliens in the Attic: See it or we'll make a Chipmunks sequel!'' Sadly, those were not to be for this movie, which wasn't previewed for critics. A children's movie mix of live-action and animation, it has a few positive messages, a few laughs and a few comic throwdowns, one involving Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond going all Crouching Tiger on an alien-controlled frat boy.
Hilarious? No. But will you hate your kids for begging to see it? Nooooo. Can't say that about G-Force.
An extended family gathers in a big Victorian rental home in the country. There's Tom, the ''Math-lete'' (Carter Jenkins), Jake, the alpha male (Austin Butler), Tom's dating-a-college-guy sister (Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical), baby sister Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) and The Twins (Henri and Regan Young).
They're the ones who stumble across four diminutive aliens (animated) who have landed in the attic as the vanguard of a Zirconian invasion force.
The adults (Roberts, Kevin Nealon and Andy Richter among them) are out of the loop. So's the sheriff (Tim Meadows).
It's up to the kids — who can resist the alien mind-and-body control ray that turns select adults into zombie puppets to save the Earth.
Stupid movie, right? But kid-friendly, as the children work out weapons to fight with, ways to fend off the beasties (Thomas Haden Church, Josh Peck and J.K. Simmons do voices) and funny things they can do with the adults who no longer control their actions such as manipulate granny (Roberts) into a serious knockdown drag-out with Robert Hoffman, who plays the frat-boy love interest for Tisdale's character. Hoffman steals the picture, turning himself into a human marionette who wears one extreme goofy expression after another as he hurls himself into this role as if his career was on the line.
No, there's not much of a movie to steal. But parents will chuckle at kids who can't fathom how to use a rotary phone (sloooooow dialing) and who relate everything to a video game.
''This isn't X-Box, it's real! Like Wii!''
And you can't fault a movie that makes the merits of scholarship clear when you're at war with creatures that can control gravity.
''You messed with the wrong Math-lete!''
Discarded Fox ideas for an ad campaign for the kiddie feature Aliens in the Attic:
Get the full article here.
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