I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Death to Smoochy (2002) Director:  Danny DeVito Writer: Adam Resnick Cast:  Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Pam Ferris, Danny Woodburn, Michael Rispoli, Harvey Fierstein, Vincent Schiavelli Synopsis: Popular children's show host Rainbow Randolph (Williams) is fired after being arrested for taking bribes. To rebound from the controversy, network executives Frank Stokes (Stewart) and Nora Wells (Keener) seek a replacement that is above reproach. They find their man in the squeaky-clean Sheld Mopes (Norton) and his character Smoochy the Rhino. Sheldon soon learns about the seedy underbelly of children's television and must deal with jaded execs, shifty agents, corrupt charities and the Irish mob to boot.  First Impressions : Pretty sure I saw this in the theater, though I don't recall for certain. I know I was super excited to see it because the movie's marketing touted that it was from the director of Throw Momma From the Train,...

Throw Momma From the Train (1987) Director:  Danny DeVito Cast:  Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito, Kim Greist, Anne Ramsey, Kate Mulgrew, Branford Marsalis, Rob Reiner Writer:  Stu Silver Synopsis In this re-imagining of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train , writing professor and struggling author Larry Donner (Crystal) gives one of his students, Owen Lift (DeVito) some advice on writing. When Owen misunderstands this advice, he murders Larry's hated ex-wife, Margaret (Mulgrew). In exchange, Owen wants Larry to kill his mother (Ramsey), who has made his life miserable. Hiding out and on the lam, Larry agrees to help Owen out, but Momma Lift is much harder to kill than they thought. First Impressions I saw this movie for the first time when I was about 12 years old and I thought it was frigging hilarious. The movie is what one would call a "dark comedy" but it also had its share of slapstick humor, which is probably what appealed to me when I was a kid. I was a lit...