There’s a new poll out today that says we’re so worried that no one can pull us out of the current economic crisis, that we’re thinking about which former President could help us.

Keep in mind, these people are no longer alive, but we would like to bring back.  Zombie presidents?  Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far. Here’s what the 60 Minutes/Variety Poll said:

36 % said they wanted the Ronald Reagan to lead America out of the economic crisis

29 % picked Roosevelt

14% picked Thomas Jefferson

8% picked Roosevelt’s successor Harry Truman

1% chose William Henry Harrison, who was inaugurated in March 1841 and died one month later.

For me, I’d choose a President that never dies to fill the role.  That would be a president from the movies. Here’s some good choices:

Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt from Night At The Museum – Quite bronze and fearless.

Harrison Ford as President James Marshall in Air Force One - He’ll punch ya in the face.

Morgan Freeman as President Tom Beck in Deep Impact – Com’mon.  It’s Morgan Freeman.

Harry Shearer as President Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Simpsons Movie – He’ll terminate high interest rates.

Here’s some of the fun facts about this spooky day:

-43.9% of Americans plan to dress up this year.

- 76% of all young adults plan to deck themselves out.

- On average, they’ll spend about $63 on their look.

-U.S. consumers spent more than $2.5 billion on costumes this year.

- The average household has shelled out $21.05 in Halloween candy alone.

- The average child collects an estimated 3,500 and 7,000 calories on Halloween night.

- A 100-pound child who eats 7,000 calories worth of candy would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours to burn those calories.

- Meanwhile, 14.7% of Americans will dress up their pets.

- Nearly half of American consumers (49.5%) are expected to decorate their front yard.

- Many (32.9%) will take their kids trick-or-treating.

- Most of us (73.5%) will hand out candy to them.

- Nearly half of Americans (47.8%) will carve a pumpkin.

- Some (22.9%) of us will visit a haunted house.

- 22% of consumers will spend an average of $59 to throw a party.

Thanks to The National Retail Federation and The Wall Street Journal for the data.

Cousin Adam reviews the new Johnny Depp film/Hunter S. Thompson novel adaptation:

Rated R – 1h59

Looking through glassy eyes, it’s hard to find focus, even if your intentions were to have a good time. It’s the same story for Johnny Depp’s toast to Hunter S. Thompson in The Rum Diary. The heart is in the right place, but this one stumbles around a little too much.

The film is based on the long lost novel of the same name that Thompson wrote in the 1960’s, but didn’t publish until 1998. Depp supposedly found the material amongst Thompson’s things and has since been key in getting the film produced.

The story involves journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) who takes a job at the San Juan Star in Puerto Rico. His sleazy editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) immediately sets the tone of the film by asking Kemp if he’s drunk and how much he drinks. Kemp replies in a Thompson-esque voice “The high end of social.”

From there, Kemp is wooed by Sanderson, (Aaron Eckhart) a developer who has plans to get rich by developing the lush island. It’s Sanderson’s attempt to control the media in his favor.

The film is somewhat autobiographical because Thompson did apply at the San Juan Star, but didn’t get the job. It’s completely autobiographical in regards to how Depp, for a second time, entertains by channeling Thompson. It’s a treat to hear the witty dialogue come rolling off his mumbling tongue.

Another standout is Sanderson’s fiancee’, played by the luscious Amber Heard. Her character Chenault is like a beautiful tidal wave. She’s literally the girl that talks you into speed racing the brand new car you’ve just been given by daddy.

If there was a main point, it’s how Kemp tries to use his righteous journalistic integrity to save the people of Puerto Rico from a greedy American developer. Still this is more of a rum fueled exercise in functional alcoholism. I feel like they touched on everything that Thompson was, but didn’t deliver that gonzo element.

It’s just about Halloween, so for your eerie pleasure, I present my Top 10 Spooky Movies of All Time. I put a lot of thought into this and these are movies solely ranked by how much they made the hairs on my neck stand up straight.

10. Open Water – Two scuba divers left stranded in the ocean only to face a slow death by sharks. I’m already quivering. freaks me out.

9. Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In) (2008) – Nevermind the 2010 Americanized remake called “Let Me In.” The original is in Swedish, and is a freaky and sad story about vampires.

8.Rosemary’s Baby - Roman Polanski is creepy enough, but even after it’s 1968 release, this one still holds up. It’s not so much scary things that are happening in this one, but rather how freaky the characters act.

7. Jaws - The sharks again…freaking me out! Watching Robert Shaw slowly slide down the deck of his boat and into the shark’s mouth has damaged me for life.

6. Silence of the Lambs - It puts the lotion in the basket. Also, this movie makes me hungry for fava beans

5. Anything George Romero, but specifically Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – Romero is the king of the living dead. His movies always have a lot of dread and gloom in them. You also get a subtle message about society hidden in each one. Gore + social conscience. Fun!

4. Alien - It may seem like it’s an action movie, but really it’s more of a scare fest. I’m getting indigestion just thinking about it.

3. Misery – Steven King. Ouch, my ankles hurt just thinking about it.

2. Poltergeist – It’s time to sell the house when you slide into your unfinished swimming pool hole and skeletons pop up out of the water. That and having a big skeleton head jump out of your closet. They will certainly bring your property value down.

1. Psycho - Even with all the scary monsters out there, nothing is actually scarier than a real person who is off their rocker.

Charlie’s Cousin Adam reviews the new spooky movie Paranormal Activity 3. How scary is it?

Rated R – 1h23

Packed with plenty of gotcha moments, Paranormal Activity 3 will make you jump several times. The problem is, we already know the formula and that takes a lot of the frightful edge away.

Set in 1988, we again get a home video obsessed guy who must catch on VHS, the things in his home that are going bump in the night. The added twist of the backstory of the original Katie from Paranormal Activity 1 is a wasted point.

To set up the scary faux-documentary, we’re to believe that were looking back on real archival footage. Dennis, a wedding videographer, has moved in with hot 80’s mom Julie. They live a happy life with Julie’s two daughters Katie and Kristi. One night, Dennis accidentally catches Kristi’s imaginary friend Toby on camera and becomes infatuated. Things escalate poorly for the family.

With just a few exceptions, I almost never recommend the 3rd chapter in a film franchise. That rule is still in effect here. I will admit to jumping several times. That’s the point of watching a movie like this.

In fact, based on this movie, PA1 makes much less sense. SPOILER AHEAD: In this film, young Katie from 1988 befriends the mysterious demon. Are we to assume that her demon friend is the same one that possesses Katie from 2009? The older Katie is more a victim of her boyfriend’s misguided actions. Did the demon and Katie’s relationship mean nothing all those years?

There was something fun I took away from this film. It was in the technical use of a surveillance style point of view, where the camera pans back and forth. I am a lover of puzzles where you have to figure out the difference between two pictures. In this case, the viewer’s perspective pans to the left, so look for the thing that sticks out in the frame. Pan to the right, then back to the left and see what’s spookily changed. I am a film technique lover, so I actually enjoyed this.

Still, would you go see a movie based on someone’s thrill that the camera panned back & forth? I don’t think so. That’s something for movie nerds like me.

The bottom line is, you will be scared with PA3, even if it’s for the lack of creativity.

The Thing?  Another remake!  Yeah, Charlie’s Cousin Adam lets you know if it’s worth your time.

Rated R – 1h43

It’s not like the world was begging for a remake of the 1982 John Carpenter film, but in the world of sci-fi horror, it’s not a grave mistake to bring this pronoun of a story back.

The Thing (2011) is set in 1982. Confused yet? Graduate student Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is recruited by a Norwegian scientist for her necropsy skills to a base in the Antarctic. There she and a team of about a dozen recover an alien creature that’s been frozen in the ice. It comes back to life and possesses the power to morph into it’s victim to conceal it’s own identity. It’s a similar plotline to the 1982 version with some detail changes.

Note: The 1982 John Carpenter was a remake of a 1951 movie The Thing From Another World, which was also based on a short story.

There are a few fright factors that work in this movie. The toothy creature is quite gruesome and disgusting, but in a fun scary movie way. Since it also has the ability to hide itself within the group of survivors, paranoia drives the suspense.

One semi-intense moment involves a tooth check of the humans to determine if anyone has been body snatched. The imperfectness of the life and death test ratchets up the intensity mid way through and was enough to keep my interest going. There’s also a nice dark ending to look forward to.

Where The Thing doesn’t work, is how it all plays out. This is a run of the mill, scary things jump from the shadows movie. The little soldiers fall one by one, building up to a final showdown. The redeeming factor is that creepy aliens are sci-fi gold and it’s fun to watch these kind of scary movies.

Logically speaking, you could easily shred the movie. Why would the alien reveal itself one person at a time? Why would the alien have teeth like the Sarlacc Pit? Why does an Antarctic base have military grade flame throwers? That’s all beside the point.

This is more about a good run-for-your-life gore festival. So, was the remake necessary? No. Is it mindless escapism? Yes. More please.

When you see a movie trailer…do you have the expectation that the movie will match it?

I take the approach that the trailer is just a pitch for you to buy a movie ticket. I don’t necessarily take them at face value, nor do I think they are the complete story. They’re just teasers. Just like my lead in sentence in the blog was a teaser to keep you reading.

A Michigan woman says yes, they should be truthful. She’s suing her local theater chain and the company that made the trailer to the recent Ryan Gosling movie “Drive.”   She says the trailer looked like a car chase movie, but says that wasn’t how the movie played out.  She wants her ticket price back and wants to make sure future trailers are more truthful.

I agree with her. That movie seemed a little devious, because the trailer showed a lot more car chasing that what was actually in the film.

I say more power to her, but I don’t think I support her plight.

By the way. Here’s my review plus the trailer.