Hollywood Bites Reviews: "Yogi Bear," and Picnic Pockets

It's getting to be the time when people start compiling lists to mark the year that's past. Awards are handed out, successes are heralded, the best and brightest are toasted, but it also means we have a chance to reflect on the low points of the last twelve months.

With Oscar races just beginning to be handicapped, 'tis the season to ordain which films were the worst of 2010.

While we'll never fully recover from the horror of "Sex and the City 2," littered with puns like "Lawrence of my labia," we think the battle royale for the top spot is ultimately between Julie Taymor's ghastly adaption of "The Tempest" and Warner Brothers update of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Yogi Bear," opening on Friday.

Since both have so much wrong with them, it's hard to narrow the argument, we've decided the real question at hand is this: What's worse, attempting to make something noble, high-brow and artistic and turning it into a meandering, nonsensical bore that transported us back to the nap time also known as 10th grade English class, or taking a beloved childhood treasure and making it a screeching, blathering disaster that insults the intelligence of children and adults alike and defiles the memory of a cartoon adored since 1958?

Word to the wise; don't screw around with childhood memories! "Yogi Bear" is our official choice for Worst Film of 2010.

A 3D mix of live action and CGI animation, the film follows Yogi (voiced by Dan Aykroyd), Boo-Boo (Justin Timberlake), Ranger Jones with a serious Just For Men dye job (Tom Cavanaugh, who some may remember from the TV show "Ed") and his obligatory love interest, Rachel (Anna Faris, who one of our fellow journalists thought decided to play the role as if she had special needs) as they fight to save Jellystone Park from an evil mayor who’d like to see it sold to loggers.

You know you're in trouble about 20 minutes into the 82 minute movie (including credits, which makes us wonder if it even fully qualifies as a feature film) when you realize you'd rather be watching "Meet the Deedles," a 1998 romp about surfer park rangers defending Yellowstone from a demented former ranger (played by Dennis Hopper), because at least then you'd get to ogle a shirtless Paul Walker and/or bikini-clad A.J. Langer.

Even worse than Alvin and his "Squeakquel," can someone please explain why Justin Timberlake signed on to this mess? From terrible direction, laughably flat CGI, horrific writing and appalling acting, this is a career Boo-Boo for all concerned.

written for NBC's Popcorn Biz

It's been pouring rain in LA this week, which I love but is definitely not pic-a-nic weather. The other day I was craving a taste of summer and came up with these super fast and delicious little bundles of joy which require no more work than pulling a Yogi and going the lazy route by making a quick trip to Trader Joe's.

Picnic Pockets
serves four
1 package Trader Joe's potato salad
1 package Trader Joe's pulled BBQ chicken
1/4 cup cilantro
1 package Sonoma carb-cutting torillas
2 limes, quartered
butter flavored cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, combine potato salad, BBQ chicken, and cilantro. Mound small handfuls (about 1/4-1/2 cup) of filling into center of tortilla. Fold ends and sides over filling to create a sealed, rectangular package.

Place pockets on a lightly greased sheet pan and spray with cooking spray.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until puffed, golden and slightly crisp. Serve with lime wedges.

May Movie Predictions

May kicks off Summer Blockbuster Season with some of this year’s biggest tentpole offerings including the return of Iron Man, Carrie Bradshaw and Robin Hood minus the tights.

Here are my predictions for which films will rock and which will suck so you don’t go wastin’ your $15 bucks.

See It:

May 7-Iron Man 2 (Paramount)

You know him, you love him, and this time he’s rocking out to the sounds of AC/DC. Robert Downey Jr. is back as everyone’s favorite billionaire inventor turned superhero, Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow also returns as Pepper Potts, while Don Cheadle steps into Terrence Howard’s role after some well-publicized bad blood. Filling in the role of resident baddie is Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash who’s out to destroy Iron Man. That is, if the US military doesn’t get to him first. It’s not quite as rollicking as the first one, but whenever you can spend two hours in the dark with RDJ, it’s a good time.

May 21-Shrek Forever After (Dreamworks Animation)

The fourth Shrek installment, this time in 3D, finds Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) sick of domestic life with Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and their kids. After asking bamboozling Rumpelstiltskin to help him get back to feeling like a real ogre again, he finds himself in an alternate version of Far Far Away where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona have never met. All alone once again, he sets out to restore his world.

May 27-Sex and the City 2 (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Bust out your Manolos, Carrie Bradshaw is back. And, this time, so is Aidan! That’s right, Sex fans, John Corbett’s beloved character returns in this sequel to the hugely successful 2008 film adaptation of the HBO show starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. This time the ladies leave Manhattan (gasp) and head to Abu Dhabi for some R & R. Although the first film was so terrible, I call it “The Godfather III for Women,” redemption is just a cosmo sip away.

May 28-Micmacs (Sony Pictures Classics)

From the director of Amelie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, comes another fantastical, breathtaking jaunt. Bazil (Dany Boon) is the son of a bomb disposal expert who died on a job in Morocco. Years later, after he’s struck by a stray bullet which remains lodged in his head, him assembles a motley crew to exact revenge on the two weapons manufacturers who made the bullet that almost killed him. No one does magical realism like Jeunet.

See It…If Everything Else is Sold Out:

May 21-MacGruber (Rogue Pictures)

It’s not often a Saturday Night Live sketch successfully survives the trip from small to big screen. With the exception of The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World, most attempts have been disastrous (Superstar, A Night at the Roxbury, It’s Pat: The Movie). With any luck, Macgruber will join the leagues of the former, rather than the later. First time director Jorma Taccone has been very successful with SNL Digital Shorts, but will that translate to this rip off of MacGyver starring Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer and Ryan Philippe?

Be Warned:

May 14-Robin Hood (Universal Pictures)

Sherwood Forest just got a little grittier. Don’t expect any merry men in tights or Bryan Adams power ballads now that Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have arrived in Nottingham. Robin Hood gets the Gladiator treatment in this retelling of the expert archer (Crowe) toward the end of the 12th century who assembles a gang of mercenaries to rise up against a tyrannical sheriff (Matthew Macfadyen) and the ruling class. The rumblings I hear around town say it’s skip-able at best, laughable at worst.

Why See "Sex and the City 2"? Because Aidan's Back!

Let's be frank, "Sex and the City: The Movie," sucked.

I call it "The Godfather III for women" because it defiled the glory that came before and it's better if we all pretend it just doesn't exist. But I can't help but have hope for "Sex and the City 2." Especially now that the new trailer shows Aidan is returning and sparks are a'flying.