When I heard about this movie's premise, I thought it had the potential to make a fine flick. It's a nice twist on the E.T. template. Might go see it mah-own-self, and I don't even have a kid.

Any Disney movie that includes an AC/DC track in the trailer is a must-see for me!

And the trailer with Aladdin & his girlfriend in it is hysterical by itself.

Your Star Wars piece was right on.

I saw it first at the age of 24; I had just broken up with my girlfriend. I was at loose ends.
I was miserable. So I did what I always do when it gets that bad.

I went to the movies.

I wandered down to the theater to see what was
playing. It was Star Wars. Not sure it was the
opening weekend, but it was close. It was sold
out; I finally got a ticket from someone on the
sidewalk outside the theater (who knows, maybe HE
had broken up with HIS girlfriend, too...) I loved
it.

RE: "Lilo and Stitch"
I cannot remember laughing this hard at a Disney
movie since "Alladin".

Just a few of my favorite parts [spoiler alert]:

Lilo's explanation about Pudge and the tuna
sandwich --

The voodoo-dolls-in-the-pickle-jar scene("My friends need to be punished.") --

Other things I liked about the movie:

The interplay between the sisters was very realistic; not at all sanitized -- or worse, Disney-ized.

The screaming argument on the stairs followed by them screaming into their respective pillows -- doesn't get more real than that.

Ultimately the genius of the movie is in the easy
graceful way it swings from comedy to pathos
without banging you over the head.

Disney has always gone for the tears; in latter
years it got better at the comedy (long the
exclusive province of Looney Tunes).

In this movie it gets them both right.

For example, when Lilo stands outside the school
and the little brats all have their Barbie dolls
(the byplay between the little girls is so realistic!) Lilo has her own little handmade...doll, remember?

She launches into this long elaborate story about
a bug laying eggs in her dolly's ear? And she
looks up and the girls have split?

Remember what Lilo does?

She slams her dolly on the ground and stomps off.

There is a brief moment when the frame empties out and there are no characters in sight except the inert figure of the abandonded doll. You feel bad. Had the scene ended there, it would have said a lot.

But the scene doesn't just end there.

Lilo comes BACK and picks up the doll and gives it
a brief hug that is so tangible and so breath-
takingly full of desperate emotion. The whole
sequence is over in a blink of an eye. But that one short, brilliant scene captures so much
about the sad little girl with the tough exterior.
How can you not love her for life, right then and
there?

Then it goes back to comedy -- the scene
where she locks herself in her room ("Go away, I
want to die") and lip-synchs to Elvis--

Then pathos -- when Lilo says her family is
broken...ah, it breaks your heart.

Of course the character of Stitch is totally
original. Had they made him into another ET, well,
you might have excused them. Wouldn't have been
the first time a recent Disney movie made
extensive use of contemporary cultural references.

But no! What a whack job he turns out to be!
Absolutely, brilliantly destructive, he's a weird
cross between Harpo Marx and the Tasmanian Devil.

The scene where he emerges from the spaceship,
laughing maniacally, shooting at every raindrop.
Truly inspired!

Then when the truck runs over him and instantly
develops 52 flat tires -- hooha!

The scene in the dog pound is unbelievable! When
you see the dogs hanging from the rafters in
terror -- My son and I laughed so hard we couldn't
breathe and then we laughed some more.

Even the throw-away bits are stunning. Remember
the opening sequence when they summon Stitch and
ask him if he has anything to say for himself?
Whatever it was he said, they all recoiled in
absolute shock and horror.

But if you watched carefully, one of the
characters, a robot, throws up over the balcony;
funny enough, but the vomit comes out in the form
of **nuts and bolts**. Brilliant bit, most people
miss it, but that attention to comedy detail
defines the movie.

Ah. What a great movie. I laughed, I cried, I
laughed so hard I cried, then I cried for real and
then I laughed again. I was exhausted.

I'd see it a third time.

BTW, the early returns on MIB II are not great.
I'll probably go with my kids this weekend anyway.

Also BTW, saw Will Smith on "The Actor's Studio"
will that obsequious James Lipton (he grew up in
Detroit did you know that?)

Anyway, Lipton says: "Tonight for the first time
we have an actor on our stage that has the unique
distinction of having invented a word that is now
in the dictionary."

And Will Smith blinks and looks genuinely
surprised: "Oh yeah? What was the word?"

"Jiggy."

Smith has the cool and the grace to allow Lipton
to get the laugh. Then he says, "Great. Now I can
look it up and find out what it really means."

Bwahahaha!

Heh. Right on, Ara.

You know, I've shared that retelling of the first Star Wars movie (young boy, wizard, magic sword, dark knight, etc.) and I kid you not, someone said, "Man you make it sound so lame!"

Right on with all your comments on Lilo & Stitch. It really was a very pleasant surprise. I think it's the best thing Disney's done in many, many years )Pixar releases excepted. Gosh I loved Monsters, Inc.).

Truely tremendous blog!