Bubble Boy is supposed to be a movie about a boy who is born without an immune system and thus can be killed by a single germ. If you believe that, you may also be one of those people who believe it is also a remake of the Travolta film. It isn't. Sure, that is the basic pretext of it, but the real story here is about overcoming obstacles, being who you want to be, taking risks, following through to the very bitter end even if you think the end is not going to be any good . Like the ending to this movie.

Bubble Boy is a good movie for what it is: a kind of slapstick comedy. It sure in hell wasn't as goofy as I thought it was going to be. It was tender and sweet. In many ways it reminded me of Pee Wee's Big Adventure (which for Paul Reubens after his child porn case comes to trial might be Pee Wee's Big Adventure in the Jail House).

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Bubble Boy, the poor kid who grew up in a plastic bubble with nary a friend until the sweet Chloe (played by Marley Shelton) moves in next door and becomes his companion. Due to his physical limitations, their relationship never blossoms beyond friendship and he is unable to tell her how he truly feels about her so she goes off to marry a scumbucket.

The story is a hero's journey, kind of, as Bubble Boy treks across the country via a bus driven by a cult led by Fabio, a motorcycle, a scooter, freight train, ice cream/curry truck, taxi cab, and finally biplane. It is stupid fun. Along the way he meets up with all sorts of people, all weird and wonderful in their own special way. There aren't a series of lessons, thank god, only one big obvious lesson at the end as he takes the final risk, taking off the bubble suit, risking his life, in order to kiss the woman he loves.

It is Thursday which means in this apartment it is bad movie and pizza night and the movie I chose was this one: Vampires - Los Muertos. I was prepared for a stinker. Even though Carpenter's name is on it, the property was just licensed from him or some such thing. I settled down with a beer and pizza and watched the film unveil itself as Jon Bon Jovi works for a mysterious Van Helsing Group and gets hired to take out a 'colony' of vampires by an anonymous source. He suspects it is the Catholics because they lost quite a few hunters a few years before (a not so subtle nod to the first movie.)

His mission is to put together a vampire hunting unit. In a nice turn of events, all the guys he is supposed to gather get killed or are dead. The monastary he visits to find the priest from the first movie (who died before he got there) gets wiped out by the vampire and only one survives. Yada yada yada, the movie goes on and he collects a rag tag group of unlikely hunters (a vampire who is on a drug that allows her not to be a vampire, a 16-year-old boy, the "priest" who hunted maybe once, and a big black guy the Van Helsing Group sent to help him.) Who are the turncoats? You know somebody has to, I'll leave that part a secret.

The movie kind of revolves around the Black Cross yet again and a Master Vampire wanting to be able to move around in sunlight (kind of like that medicine the vampire chick is taking...hmmm.)

There are some great moments in the movie though. In the beginning Jon is driving this jeep with a surfboard in the passenger seat. It seems odd until he has to clear out a church of vampires and we discover the surfboard is actually the case for his wooden lances and other weapons. It's cool because it made me think of a cartoon that could stem from this: Jon Bon Jovi and his Surfboard of Doom!

All in all I like this kind of movie, not a lot of thought, just enough twists that they aren't 100% predictable and unlike Blade II where he knows who the traitors are, poor Derek Bliss (JBJ) finds himself befuddled.

The movie played out like a bad rpg video game, though, collecting characters, having little asides, watching expendable characters die on cue and putting in the predictable little twist ending. What twist, yeah right, as if you couldn't guess that Jon Bon Jovi would make it through the movie without ... well, I guess you'll have to watch it to find out.

To be honest, I don't know why I wanted this book. I had been spending a lot of time at ImprovOlympic and was even thinking about taking classes there, but I feared my wit wasn't up to snuff. Maybe I thought the book was a surrogate method of learning.

What I discovered is the book was a wonderful manual not only to 'how to improvise' but 'how to brainstorm', 'how to work in groups', and 'how to lead.' Little things like, never deny the reality being created and always add something, the 'Yes, and...' of the book, could be applied to many crisis management situations. Never debate what has been stated, always move forward.

Where is the comedy? That was something I was amazed to learn from this book. Don't worry about it. Sometimes people won't laugh, what is important is what is being created right there at that moment on the stage with the other actors.