The funny thing is that when I saw the trailer for “Daddy Day Camp” I actually laughed a few times. Now, granted, they try to show you the funny moments (sometimes the ONLY funny moments) in the trailer. But I bring this up because with many of these movies, I found the trailers to be really, really dumb: “Balls of Fury” (although that’s probably not “family accessible”), “Freaky Friday” (with Jamie Lee Curtis), “RV” (with Robin Williams), and just about any Tim Allen movie. So I guess my initial instinct was surprise because I actually found that “Daddy Day Camp” might be funny.

It’s interesting you mention “Cheaper by the Dozen” because I agree with you: people really pounced on that movie (like I think they’re doing with “Daddy Day Camp”) and while I agree that Martin’s flick was a bit formulaic to the extreme (and a remake in name only), it definitely did have some genuinely funny moments. (The sequel: not so much for me.)

All of this said, I haven’t seen “Daddy Day Camp” so I really shouldn’t say too much one way or the other. For all I know, this truly is a bomb. The reviews certainly seem to indicate that. But, then again, “Cheaper by the Dozen” was supposedly a bomb by the standards of a lot of critics (and apparently the viewing audience). I guess that’s why I’m always skeptical, particularly with comedy.

I hope they keep making “family accessible” films but I definitely agree that they might want to lose a bit of the moralizing and maybe rethink some of the more formulaic stuff. I also agree about Pixar: I hope they don’t change too much. Their stuff is pretty much always fantastic, for adults and children.

I have an 11 year old daughter so I’d love for there to be more family oriented comedies, but they have to be worth watching. For example people dogpile on “Cheaper by the Dozen”, but that was actually funny. And look at everything Pixar puts out. Sure, it’s animated, but they’ve all been suitable for the entire family and they’re always funny as hell. :-)

Vic

Peter correctly listed “Daddy Day Camp” as “accessible family comedy” and that’s what “Vacation” was billed at. So, um, yeah it would compare very much, at least in style, if not in content. That was what my point was: I’m glad people still make that style of film, particularly in this age of massive CGI effects, monsters destroyed cities (sick of hearing about “Cloverfield” yet?), or serial killers.

Um, no, it wouldn’t. THAT movie was actually funny at the time it came out.

Vic

I see your point but when films like “Saw” and “Halloween” are so heavily anticipated, I at least appreciate that people do try to make something that’s a little more accessible instead of people getting sliced open. Plus comparing something like “Daddy Day Camp” to “The Bourne Ultimatum” strikes me as a little bit biased, to be honest.

Like I said, I do sort of get your point about these movies though, in case I’m coming off like a jerk. For example, the Robin Williams movie “RV” comes to mind as being in this category and so does most every Tim Allen film. Then again, National Lampoon’s “Vacation” would sort of fit in this same category today.

It’s good ol’ fashioned American capitalism at work. If you were a producer or otherwise in a high-finance, high-return business, wouldn’t you try to milk a title or any product for whatever you could before letting it die out?

Sad how Hollywood works, ne?

Vic