Movie Monday: Spooky Buddies

With a nod to the holiday, today’s Movie Monday feature is Spooky Buddies.

You might have been hoping for something a bit scarier this Halloween. If that’s the case, I highly recommend stopping by KellyVision where gal pal Kelly routinely talks about scary films and thrillers, particularly at this time of year. As for me, I have a seven-year old son who is still young enough to be a member of Disney’s straight-to-video target market and this is as scary as it gets. My apologies.

For better or worse, I have seen all the movies in the Air Bud franchise. Of course, my son was just a twinkle in my eye when the original came out in 1997, but my youngest brother was a fan of both sports and big dogs (our family only ever had dogs of the 15 pounds or less variety). We’ve long since moved on to Air Bud’s offspring. My son was a little young for Air Buddies in 2006, but was easily hooked on Snow Buddies in 2008. Santa Buddies and Space Buddies followed in quick succession. This latest outing has the pups celebrating Halloween.

We’ve also left behind any semblance of realism. Sure, you have to disregard the puppies talking in earlier films, but it seems possible that they could get dognapped or accidentally end up in a frozen shipment of ice cream to Alaska. There are no magical elements. That grip on reality starts to loosen in Santa Buddies and is summarily tossed out the window completely in Spooky Buddies as we start the film in 1937 Fernfield with a dark magic warlock and a puppy ghost named Pip.

Okay.

But I honestly have to say the film does get better when it comes back to present day. The child acting is… not good. But the puppies are cute (as puppies tend to be) and dressing them up in matching costumes with their owners manages to be adorable without being completely over the top. The plot is really just an excuse to put the kids and puppies into funny, unusual situations and it works. My son and I were chuckling along with the film in all the expected moments. There’s the requisite happy ending. And it’s always awesome to watch a Halloween movie where everyone in the town is so into the holiday with lavish costumes, huge parties and highly decorated homes. I would love to live in a town that put so much effort into Halloween!

Favorite moment(s): A creative Frankendude costume was the highlight for me, while my son exploded with laughter when Budderball fought evil with a fart. 

Bottom line: If you’re watching along with a younger child, it’s worth a $1-rental from redbox. 

Scaring Up Some Fun in Frederick

Oh, look! It’s another post about something that happened almost two weeks ago! Cool!

My family went to “Into the Night”, Frederick’s October edition of First Saturday. It had a fun Halloween theme and at the last minute, my parents decided to join my son and I for the fun.

Our first stop was Flights of Fancy, where my son decorated his treat bag for the evening.

They had an awesome Dr. Seuss window display.

In fact, the display was so awesome that it took me a while to figure out that the characters were made out of pumpkins!

If you’ve never been to Downtown Frederick and you’re in the Maryland-area, you really should go. It’s full of awesome shops and the First Saturday events are always a fun time. Plus, there are lots of pretty spots like this one, near Carroll Creek.

For October, the town was celebrating an early Halloween. Merchants were giving out candy for kids to trick-or-treat. There were different “Spooky Stations” throughout the town where kids could reach into a box and try to discover which body part Freddy Frederick had lost along the way.

Some of them were pretty gross… Perfect for Halloween!

While my son and I were bopping around trick-or-treating and discovering missing body parts, my parents were hitting the antique stores. Their big find was a plate from 1976 (the year I was born) to add to their collection.

At First Saturday, there are always street musicians. No matter what type of music you like, you’ll find something to match your tastes at First Saturday from a capella groups to funk DJs. Here’s a pop cover band in front of Urban Cottage, one of my favorite gift shops.

After much debate – there are just so many good places to eat in Frederick! – we decided to grab a bite at Bushwaller’s Irish Pub.

We entertained ourselves while waiting for dinner by playing with some of the cool figures we had picked up at Flights of Fancy earlier in the evening.

After dinner, we went on a Ghost Walk. It was long. But also awesome. And our guide was a pretty creepy dude, which is pretty much exactly what you want on a Ghost Walk. My son was reasonably convinced that he was an actual ghost.

There are many spooky spots in Frederick. Even if they don’t photograph well at night with my cell-phone camera! Below is the Barbara Fritchie House where the old lady’s spirit is said to still roam.

One of our favorite stories was the Tyler Spite House, which was built by Dr. John Tyler to stop the city from extending Record St. through his property. Not sure if it’s a ghost, but that top window looks pretty supernatural to me!

And as always, no post is complete without an unflattering photo of me – enjoy!