Best movies on netflix

Cathy’s Take on ‘Bring It On: All or Nothing’

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Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) – Cheerleading | Choreographed Acrobatic Stunts

Directed by: Steve Rash

Starring: That White Girl in Remember the Titans and Beyonce’s Sister

How I Watched: On TBS

It’s that time of the month again. Just like last week presented the fall of some mighty good cinematic masterpieces, this week sees a whole new list of lovable flicks entering everyone’s favorite film streaming website. I see it as a monthly rejuvenation device, like a device that will rejuvenate you every month, and May 2016 has quite a few delights under its belt.

New this month is one of my all-time favorite films. It has humor and it has heart and it has Cathy screaming for excitement every time I see it playing on TBS.  If you know me, you know that I love cheerleading movies. There is just something that gets my blood pumping every time some teenage girl gets thrown into the air and caught by some burly kid. I love the cheers (“Boom-shaka-boom-boom” is my personal fave. Be sure to comment with yours) and I love the choreographed acrobatics.

So there is no reason, why I shouldn’t love Bring It On, a film that came out in 2000, which I remember because I went to see it with Phillip and Phillip broke up with me because of 9/11 in September 2001.  He said a love like ours couldn’t exist in a post-9/11 world, but I personally think his mom was pressuring him. But by then, Bring It On was out on DVD so I didn’t take it too hard. Cathy always survives.

But we aren’t reviewing Bring It On this week (we will save that for a ‘Film Favorites’ column), we are reviewing the third film in the Bring It On pentalogy and also the third film in “Cathy’s Ranking of Best Bring It On Films.” This is a review of Bring It On: All or Nothing. Much like the other films in the illustrious series, this film focuses on cheerleading. This film isn’t about white cheerleaders stealing routines from black cheerleaders, and being forced to come up with an original routine, and thereby winning the respect of the black cheerleaders. This film is about a white girl who has to GRADUALLY earn the respect of black girls, and she does so through the art of krunking.

Truth be told, I knew next to nothing about krunking before I saw this movie. And I presume you will know the same, so I will explain it to you. Krunking is a dance style, not unlike the fight dance style of Kevin Bacon in the film Footloose, but instead of fighting with a bunch of imaginary people around you, you mostly just fight yourself. It is a lot of stomping and a lot of grunting and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think my upstairs neighbor was a krunker (LOL I am just joking with you, Bets, if you are reading this. I love you.)

But in the end, not to spoil anything, the white girl, played by the white girl in Remember the Titans, gains the respect of the black girl, played by Beyonce’s sister. It is a family friendly romp with lots of heart. If you watch no other Bring It On film, watch this one. Or the original.

That is on Netflix also.

Cathy Gives It: I give this film 10/10 pom-poms, which are the fuzzy things cheerleaders wave around.

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Similar Films: Bring It On, Footloose (the old one, not the new one, it was gross), That one movie with Channing Slater

Cathy’s Take on ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’

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Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) – Cute | Laugh Riot

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Starring: Rick Moranis and Dee Wallace

How I Watched: The Rex Drive-In Movie Theatre

My name is Cathy Salinsky. One of my favorite movies in the whole wild world is Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  It is a really funny family romp that asks the question, what if Rick Moranis shrunk his family and then had to answer to his wife, played by Dee Wallace. Anyway, when I was twenty-five, that movie played at the Rex Drive-In Movie Theatre. Double billed with All Dogs Go to Heaven. I didn’t prefer that one as much although I do love the part where all the dogs went to heaven.

When I first saw Honey I Shrunk the Kids, I was amazed by the science fiction writing and the cool special effects, but what really amazed me is that Rick Moranis and his wife and half of the kids that got shrunk (the oldest girl and the brown haired boy) all have the surname Szalinski, which sounds just like my last name. Although, not quite spelled the same. But I went on ancestry.com and found out that our names came from the same area of Poland back in the 1880s (I checked ancestry.com more recently. Obviously it did not exist in 1989, when Honey, I Shrunk the Kids came on the scene). But can you just imagine, little old Cathy Salinsky from Auburn, WA being related to a famous movie family. That got me thinking. Boy, that must be a sign if I ever heard one.

Ever since then I have been OBSESSED with movies of all kinds, from A Walk to Remember to You, Me, and Dupree and everything in between.

I ain’t no Hollywood insider and I certainly don’t have a film critic degree. But I love movies, always have (ever since Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). And if you’re like me, you can’t afford to go traipsing outside everyday to catch a flick at the cineplex. It’s like $12 for a movie ticket and then you got to get popcorn cause no movie is complete without popcorn and that’s another 15 or so dollars and it just isn’t realistic for people anymore. And the people at Netflix realize this.

With Netflix, I can watch whichever movie I want. For a reasonable monthly fee. I can go down to the Grocery Outlet and buy a box of popcorn for like $2.49 or splurge for the good stuff at $2.99 and I can share it with Carmen, my mutt puppy (who rescued who?) and we can watch back to back to back to back movies on a Friday night. Sometimes I get naughty and add another movie for fun. Carmen falls asleep but I don’t mind being alone if a good flick is on.

I have gotten to know Netflix inside and outside. And I thought to myself, Cathy, you can’t keep all this priceless knowledge and movie recommendations to yourself. I started off my printing out recommendations at work and putting them on the bulletin board, but Anton, my manager, stated the bulletin board is for work specific pieces of information. So, I thought, why not write for a movie weblog. Who better to share my expertise (I always loved that word) with people who really love movies and want to read about good movies on the internet? So this is that weblog. Welcome to my column, Cathy’s Guide to Netflix.

Enjoy. I know I will.

Cathy Gives It: 10/10 Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

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Similar Films: All Dogs Go to Heaven, Honey, I Blown Up the Kids, Dee Wallace Movies