Do you want to see a movie that makes you wish you were a kid again? Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is the film to see if you do.

I happened to catch this while flying to or from the US (I don't remember which) and was thoroughly delighted by the premise. A 243-year old genius runs a magical toy store and has decided it's time for him to depart the world, even though he's perfectly healthy.

While the story seems to revolve around the toy store more than the characters, it's not until the end of the movie when you realize it has been revolving around the magic that's in each living person. There are only four main characters and the film uses their screen presence wisely.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Zach Mills. Here's the trailer:

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What will you do when you have your midlife crisis? The members of the suburban Wild Hogs "gang" decided to take a motorcycle road trip from Cincinnati, Ohio, to the U.S. Pacific coast.

Along the way, they kept getting in trouble, one way or another. Particularly amusing was the intrusion, on 2 occasions, of the gay cop. It all culminates in a street brawl between the 4 members of Wild Hogs and a real biker gang. The story is played for laughs all the way through, which is what any good comedy should do.

Wild Hogs stars Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and others with a special appearance by Peter Fonda. Here's the trailer:

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Shrek is the animated feature that set a new standard for CGI-driven animated movies. It won an Oscar in 2002 for "Best Animated Feature", as well as other awards and a whole slew of nominations.

In this film, Shrek gets invaded by fairly tale creatures after Lord Farquaad banishes them from the kingdom of Duloc. To fix the problem, Shrek sets out to rescue Princess Fiona from a fiery dragon so that she can wed Lord Farquaad. Along the way, he picks up an unwanted companion (Donkey). On the way back, he falls in love with Princess Fiona, who turns into an ogre herself during the night. The rest of the story is animation history.

Shrek stars the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow and many, many more. Here's the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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The "runt" stole the show in Chicken Little. I laughed so hard at some of the routines, I cant believe this didn't get better ratings. I'm not telling any more than "the sky is falling". You have to watch it to enjoy it as much as I did.

Chicken Little stars the voices of Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Don Knotts, Patrick Stewart, and many others. Here are a couple of teasers/trailers. Have fun!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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From the same people (and starring some of the same actors) that brought you "Shaun of the Dead" (which I haven't written about yet), this is "Hot Fuzz".

Simon Pegg does a great job as a police officer reassigned from London to a small village because he's making everyone else in his department look bad. I don't know if you'd call it "deadpan" acting, but he played the part fairly straight and it just made it all that much funnier. Never mind that it's a murder mystery as well as a comedy. The last 15 minutes or so had me laughing so hard my sides ached.

Hot Fuzz stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and a whole slew of others. Here's the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I whipped out Jerry Maguire in July and watched it with my son, who had never seen it before. I had the VHS tape copied to DVD a couple of years ago, but I hadn't watched it since the day I bought it.

Responsible for "show me the money", "you had me at hello" and "you complete me" becoming part of the American culture, it won a whole slew of awards for both the film and the actors involved.

Jerry Maguire stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. (who won an Oscar) and Renée Zellweger, with some notable appearances by Beau Bridges and Jerry O'Connell. Instead of presenting you with a trailer, I'm going to present a National Geographic slideshow that uses Bruce Springsteen's "Jerry Maguire" version of "Secret Garden" as the music. I heard this quite a few times before I ever saw the movie:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Normally, I'll have to watch any movie that parodies (even in the smallest way) other movies several times before I catch the references. "Flushed Away" was filled with them. It started near the beginning. The main character, named Roddy, is voiced by Hugh Jackman (Wolverine of the X-Men movies). When Roddy is deciding on what clothes to wear, he ponders over a Wolverine costume. They keep popping up from then on. I didn't even recognize Nemo at first. I had to pause and back it up a notch.

"Flushed Away" stars the voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, and Ian McKellen. Here's a trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I've seen a lot of movies with dragons in them and I like most of them. This one was great and a lot of fun. "George and the Dragon" is a delightful, comedic action adventure about a knight who unwittingly becomes involved in the rescue of a princess who was kidnapped by a dragon. His efforts are assisted and then hindered by a rival knight who has his eye on the kingdom. To say any more would give the entire story away, so I'll stop right there.

"George and the Dragon" stars James Purefoy, Piper Peraldo, Patrick Swayze and Michael Clarke Duncan. There's even a short appearance by Val Kilmer. I recommend it as a family feature. Here's a trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Sure, The Last Dragon is an older movie, but it's great fun. It's a martial arts comedy played completely straight the entire time. I haven't seen anything quite like it since. The spoof movies can't compare.

Taimak as Leroy Green, actually knew martial arts, but I don't know about the guy that played "Sho Nuff". Vanity, the damsel in distress, went onto other things besides acting and music although I don't care to know what.

The Last Dragon stars Taimak, Vanity, Christopher Murney, Julius Carry, Faith Prince, Leo O'Brien and others. Here's a trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I just watched "Modern Problems" for the first time since I accidentally saw it at a drive-in. Back then, it was a double-feature and I had to wait through this one to see the one I had gone to see. Although I remember this movie from back then, I don't remember what the second movie actually was… wait… I think it was… nope, still can't remember.

Anyway, I digress. "Modern Problems" was a pretty tame comedy about an air traffic controller (in L.A. no less) who has a couple of extremely bad days. While driving, he gets splashed by nuclear toxic waste (yeah, right) from a vehicle ahead of him and develops telekinesis. He then uses that power to exact revenge on those that are interfering with his love life.

There are very few, yet intensely funny, scenes to make you laugh. You can tell this was NOT a high-budget movie even though some well-known stars were in it.

"Modern Problems" stars Chevy Chase, Patti D'Arbanville, Dabney Coleman, Mary Kay Place, Nell Carter and more. Here's a poor copy of the trailer:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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