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Herbie Goes Bananas

Written by Don Tait, based on the novel Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford

Directed By Vincent McEveety

USA, 1980, imdb

Listen to our Mousterpiece Cinema Herbie Goes Bananas podcast or read Josh‘s extended thoughts about the film.

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Some films acquire a bad reputation that sticks like a bad smell, driving potential viewers away before they ever see it. Everyone knows that Alien³ and Alien Resurrection are terrible even especially those who have never seen the film. This fate happens particularly to notorious bombs – especially to films that (temporarily) kill off franchises. There is a perverse feedback loop in place, the film bombed because no one went to see it, and since the film bombed it must be terrible, so no one wants to watch it.

But this is confusing quality with popularity. They can be linked, but films bombing may result from any number of factors...

This Friday sees the release of the first "Planet of the Apes" film in a decade, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" starring James Franco. We'll have our review of the film up on Friday, but to help set the mood, here is a revised and updated version of a feature we first brought you in 2008 on the 40th anniversary of the original "Planet of the Apes." Below you'll find a guide to all six previous movies, with synopses, spoilers, continuity errors, and a celebration of all the high-minded social commentary and low-brow schlocky ape masks that make the "Apes" films one of the most satisfying of all sci-fi franchises.

Please note: Most "Planet of the Apes" films have a "shocking" twist that everyone at this point already knows. However, if you have somehow extricated yourself from forty years of pop culture references, by all means be wary of Spoilers ahead.

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I admit it — I’ve escaped for 10 days to Italy and I highly recommend it. Here’s why!

There’s maybe one bonus to the still-slow world economy: The high priced Euro — which made it impossible for all but the richest among us (and Lindsay Lohan) to visit France, Spain, Italy, etc. for years — has finally dropped into an affordable range. Hotels, restaurants and shopping are all reasonable!

Here are four major reasons why You should get yourself to Italy Asap:

You need a brain break. And you can really get one if you don’t just escape from the office, but also from the world of wi-fi. I didn’t actually mean to do it. I had every intention of staying connected to HollywoodLife.com Until I discovered that the specially purchased, supposedly “Italy-friendly” Sim card for my iPhone that I pre-purchased in NYC didn’t work. Then,...