May 29, 2009
The Star Trek Reboot Brings Back Memories
May 28, 2009
The Death of Freddie Mercury and How Great Was Queen?
Was listening to "Don't Stop Me Now" and other Queen tunes recently and reflecting on what a great band they were. Americans never fully embraced Queen or gave them their due the way the Brits did. In England, Queen is absolutely revered, and the group is generally considered second only to the Beatles as the greatest band of all time. But in the U.S., it seems like Queen is sort of lumped into a category of "good" rock bands (in there with Rush, Heart, and other 70s-era groups) who, though they're certainly respected, still take a back seat to acts like the Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and U2.
This represents a huge oversight. When you think of all the things that make a band great -- songwriting, musicianship, vocals, live performance, creativity, etc. -- Queen comes in as a top ten band of all-time -- right up there with the Beatles, Earth Wind & Fire, Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys and Chic.
One of the major reasons Queen ranks so highly is because of their innovative, diverse and eclectic sound, evidenced on songs like the operatic "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "It's a Hard Life"; the staccato, pause-heavy, and uniquely arranged "Bicycle Race"; the stripped-down, haunting, R&B-influenced "Another One Bites the Dust", and the anthem-like sing-alongs "Radio Ga Ga" and "We Will Rock You". With Queen, you got track after track of songs that didn't sound like anything else you'd ever heard before.
And then of course, there was lead singer Freddie Mercury's amazingly distinct vocals. Mercury had one of those voices that you would hear and immediately know who it was -- similar to Sting, Stevie Nicks, and Bono, except Mercury's voice and vocal range was much richer than any of theirs.
You ponder these things and then you begin to think about how and when Freddie died. In my case, I happened to be watching and recording a show on MTV and the VCR was still going when Kurt Loder came on with this shocking and sad story. You have to remember that this was the early 90's before everyone had access to the internet, before news and information was ubiquitous and instantaneous. Also, Freddie was able to keep his HIV/AIDS diagnosis secret, so most didn't even know he was sick until his own public acknowledgement which took place just a day before he died. This was a truly sad report:
(From the Pop Culture Fiend Archives)
May 27, 2009
UPDATE: This Relationship Makes No Sense
Just a quick update on a post from back in February...
Apparently Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima is now pregnant by her husband of three months, NBA (and I use this term loosely) "star" Marko Jaric. This news is distressing, not just because this is possibly the most ridiculous pairing since some numb-knut decided to put broccoli on pizza, but also because it kind of ruins things. Allow me to explain as I address Adriana personally:
Adriana, please understand that supermodels like you have an obligation to stay single for as long as possible, so that regular schlubs can somehow feel like you're available. Yes, we all know there's absolutely no chance in hell the aforementioned schlubs will ever come within a thousand yards of you, much less meet or have a shot with you... but to quote Anthony Michael Hall in Weird Science, "Why are you messing with the fantasy?"
Also Adriana, beautiful women like you, who get pregnant and then have babies, are like pristine new sports cars that get into a massive crash. Sure you can have it repaired and it may even run just the same, but in the back of your mind, you always know...
So Adriana, Heidi, and all of the rest of you, please, knock it off with the marriages and pregnancies!
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May 22, 2009
The Evolution of the 80s Teen Movie - How Bob Clark, Gen X, and Home Video Changed the Landscape of American Cinema
Part I
There was a time when Hollywood wasn’t producing very many movies about or starring young people. From the mid-50s (with films like Rebel Without a Cause and The Blackboard Jungle) all the way through the 1970s, only a handful of pictures were being made featuring teenagers (or early twentysomethings) in starring roles. Typically, rather than offering an examination of young people’s lives (in either a real or imagined way) these films were quick, lightweight attempts to cash in on a young star’s presumably limited fame and box office appeal. This was most evident during the 1970s when Jodie Foster, after her strong performance as a 12-year-old prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, went on to appear in the saccharine Disney family-comedy Freaky Friday, and the gimmicky Bugsy Malone, a gangster movie spoof featuring an all children’s cast.
In other instances, teenagers appearing in feature films were mainly there to support established adult box office stars. Tatum O’Neal, for example, gained fame after her Academy Award-winning performance alongside her father Ryan in Peter Bogdonavich’s Paper Moon. Moreover, through the remainder of the decade Tatum's best roles were in The Bad News Bears with Walter Matthau, International Velvet, opposite heavyweights Christopher Plummer and Anthony Hopkins, and the disappointing Nickelodeon (1976), once again starring Tatum’s father (along with the country’s number one leading man at the time, Burt Reynolds.)
Most of the aforementioned films from Foster, O’Neal and other young actors judged worthy of "above title" billing -- e.g., Kristy McNichol (Little Darlings, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia), Scott Baio (Bugsy Malone, Skatetown, USA), and Brooke Shields (Tilt, Just You and Me Kid) -- were box office and/or critical failures. As a result, Hollywood remained hesitant to script and produce films that explored the world of teenagers in a meaningful way. In an era where most of the top production executives were holdovers from the Hollywood’s old studio system, “star power” was still something of a prerequisite for getting pictures green-lighted and “kid actors” were viewed as not having enough of it to be anything more than risky box office draws. Case in point, even when casting the (what would prove to be wildly successful) frat comedy Animal House, the filmmakers turned to 30-year-olds Tim Matheson and Peter Riegert, and the established 29-year old star of Saturday Night Live, John Belushi, to portray the college-age protagonists.
But as the 1980s rolled in, Hollywood’s attitude towards writing and producing films about young people (and examining their lives and experiences using real teen actors) was about to change -- and the film that would initiate this change would prove be a most unlikely entry.
Porky’s was a low-budget high school comedy written and directed by Bob Clark, a 40-year-old Hollywood veteran whose best known work had been as a writer for The Dukes of Hazzard TV series. Porky’s was produced for a meager $4 million, but would prove to be groundbreaking in a number of ways, including its subject matter. Unabashedly raunchy, even by today’s standards, Porky’s follows a group of high school boys as they play practical jokes on each other, spy on the cheerleaders in the shower, and torment the girls phys ed teacher, Miss Ballbricker. The story centers on the boys’ attempts to gain entry to a local strip bar and their subsequent confrontation with the bar’s owner (the eponymous "Porky".) Some of the film’s more hilarious scenes involve the guys enlisting the services of a prostitute, two gym teachers having loud sex in a laundry room, and one of the boys teasing the girls with his penis before having it nearly yanked clean off by Ballbricker. Interestingly, even amidst all this highly-charged sexual humor, Clark manages to work in a redeeming social message, as one of the boys learns a lesson about racial tolerance.
Make no mistake however, Porky’s is first and foremost a riotous, rude comedy about a bunch of guys trying to… well… get laid -- a plot that would be repeated ad nauseum in teen films throughout the 80s, 90s, and into the next millennium. Porky’s however, was one of the very first to tread this ground, and in doing so, became a huge hit.
Another significant aspect about the movie was the fact that it featured a cast of unknowns. Porky's box office success flew in the face of conventional wisdom by proving that when it came to the teen movie genre, star power was of little importance. On the strength of the teen and twentysomething dollar, Porky’s grossed nearly $60 million at the box office. Hollywood took notice and a fundamental philosophical shift occurred, as the already few and far between “coming of age” stories like Breaking Away (1979), Foxes (1980), and Endless Love (1981), that sought to honestly explore all sides of the teen experience, both serious and comedic, were quickly passed over (by both producers and consumers) in favor of bawdy teen sex romps. Indeed, the success of Porky’s triggered a frenzied race among production companies and major studios to cash in by duplicating the film's formula. As a result, the next two years brought a slew of Porky’s clones, most of which featured similar casts of unknowns and offered little more plot-wise than a bunch of pubescent boys out for sex. The Last American Virgin (1982), Goin’ All the Way (1982), My Tutor (1983), Private School (1983), Spring Fever (1983), Spring Break (1983) and Losin’ It (1983) are prime examples. All of these, however, failed to match the success of Bob Clark's film.
Despite this, the new genre of the teen movie would not be short-lived, as the film industry pleasantly realized it had two additional sources of revenue for their movies—cable television and home video. These two new outlets would prove pivotal to the success of teen movies, and would fuel Hollywood’s continued exploration, expansion, and diversification of the genre through the remainder of the decade.
May 20, 2009
I told ya!... Shawn Johnson Wins Dancing with the Stars
Hate to toot my own horn here but... BEEP-BEEP!
As I predicted way back on March 9, Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson won Dancing with the Stars last night. Here's what I said back then:
Shawn Johnson – The multi-medal winning Olympian has a lot going for her. She’s cute, used to competing, and her gymnastics background gives her all the athleticism, conditioning, discipline, balance and grace she needs to win. It’s all just a question of how well everything translates to the dance floor. Any way you slice it, she’s gotta be the favorite and I can’t see her missing the top three. Odds: 3-1
Pretty damn accurate if I say so my damn self.
Also, actor Gilles Marini came in second, one spot higher than I predicted. For verification purposes, simply check the post below.
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May 18, 2009
Seating Arrangements for The Brady Bunch?
Something has been plaguing my mind lately... How the hell did the Brady Bunch fit nine friggin’ people into their station wagon for that cross-country trip they took to the Grand Canyon?
Granted, I haven’t seen the episode in question in several years, but if memory serves, I believe it was Mike, Cindy and Carol in the front seat… but then it gets fuzzy. How did they get six more people in that damn car? A coworker just told me that back in the 70s, station wagons used to have TWO back seats, in addition to that cargo area in the back. But I found the above ad for a Brady Bunch-era station wagon that's remarkably similar to the one used in the show and it has no such "jump" seat. Even if it did, it still seems like it would be awfully crowded for nine people (plus their luggage and camping equipment) on the long journey from California to Arizona. Maybe they got out a lot to stretch their legs... They also probably got a nice break when they stopped in that ghost town to hang out with Jim Backus, but still…
May 12, 2009
Rastapiece Theater
This week marks the 28th anniversary of reggae legend Bob Marley's death. I think of him whenever I watch this clip of Rasta-Man from "Rastapiece Theater" talking about I Dream of Jeannie. (In case you're wondering, this clip is from the early 90's HBO comedy series, Hardcore TV.)
May 10, 2009
Bring Back… Hardbodies
The feature film (and 80s Cinemax classic) Hardbodies was released 25 years ago this week. There's nothing really remarkable about this movie but it may deserve at least minor cult status thanks to its classic 80's-brand of raunchy humor, gratuitous nudity, and plain ole watchability (this in spite of the film's bad acting and dopey story.)
Like other movies of its ilk and era (e.g., The Malibu Bikini Shop, Hot Dog: The Movie, Fraternity Vacation) Hardbodies wasn’t very successful at the box office, but began to catch on after runs on late night cable. The film even earned a sequel (Hardbodies 2) which curiously was set in Italy, had almost an entirely new cast, and almost nothing to do with the original.
Hardbodies' plot centers on Scotty Palmer (Grant Cramer), a popular soCal surfer dude who’s enlisted by three middle-aged guys (a hairy guido, a southern good ole boy, and a fat loser) to help them score with the resident young beach babes.
Cramer later had a nice run on The Young and the Restless but is also known for his role in the comedy-horror cult classic, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. The only other memorable Hardbodies cast members are Courtney Gains as Scotty’s friend Rag (who portrayed teenage preacher Malachi in Children of the Corn) and the then unknown all-girl 80's band Vixen. The group appears in multiple scenes performing the songs "Computer Madness" and "Mr. Cool" but later had legit top 40 hits with "Edge of a Broken Heart" and "Cryin’".
As for those dozen or so beach babes (who naturally appear in various states of undress throughout the movie) true 80's cinephiles may recognize actresses Teal Roberts (Scotty’s girlfriend Kristi) as the stripper in Beverly Hills Cop II; Kathleen Kinmont from TV’s Renegade and the aforementioned Fraternity Vacation; perennial bikini contest competitor Leslee Bremmer; Kristi Somers from Tomboy, and Darcy DeMoss from Can’t Buy Me Love.
All in all, Hardbodies is (at best) a bad movie but a guilty pleasure and one that many who were teenagers in the 80's might want to see again for old times sake. Unfortunately, it’s currently unavailable on DVD so let's hope that whoever holds the rights (RCA/Columbia Pictures?) will get their act together and bring Hardbodies back soon so we all don’t have to start trolling eBay for a used VHS copy.
Finally, if you're in the soCal area, the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles is having a one night only screening of Hardbodies on June 8th. In the meantime, enjoy the theme song -- it's painful to listen to but will still somehow get stuck in your head!
May 7, 2009
Actors Who Were WAAAAY Too Old for Their Roles
Here's a countdown of ten that were pretty egregious:
10. Tim Matheson
Veteran actor Matheson was already 31 when he portrayed college lothario Otter in the classic Animal House, and was a weathered-looking 37 when he played essentially the same character in 1984's Up the Creek.
9. Stacy Dash
Gorgeous though she was, Dash was 29 when she played high-schooler Dionne, best friend to 18-year-old Cher (Alicia Silverstone) in 1995's Clueless. Remarkably, four years later, at age 33, Dash was still playing the same role in the Clueless TV series.
8. Ralph Macchio
Macchio was a noticeably paunchy 27 when he reprised his role as teenager Daniel LaRusso in 1989's Karate Kid Part III.
7. Clint Eastwood
In the Line of Fire was a great thriller, but as part of its romantic subplot, we're forced to watch a grizzled 62-year-old Eastwood make out with Rene Russo -- who was young enough to be his daughter... Nauseating.
6. and 5. Lorna Luft and Stockard Channing
With their crow's feet beginning to show, Luft and Channing were 29 and 34, respectively, when they took their turns as Pink Ladies and Rydell High seniors (Channing in 1978's Grease and Luft in 1982's Grease 2.)
4. Lorna Luft (again)
It's also hard to buy a 31-year-old Luft as spring breaking college coed Carole in Where the Boys Are '84, particularly in her "Hot Bod Contest" scene and others where she plays opposite twenty-something co-stars.
3. Roger Moore
In his last two turns as James Bond, 1983's Octopussy and 1985's A View to a Kill, the mid-fiftyish Moore had visibly thinning hair, an abundance of wrinkles and liver spots, and needed a stuntman for just about every scene that required him to do anything more strenuous than get out of a chair.
2. Robert Redford
In The Natural, Robert Redford plays baseball prodigy Roy Hobbs, who returns from a mysterious 16-year absence to lead his team to the pennant. And though he's middle-aged throughout most of the film, in early scenes, we're supposed to buy a 47-year-old Redford as the 22-year-old version of Hobbs.
1. The entire cast of Mamma Mia
The film's central character, bride-to-be Sophie, is twenty. But instead of actors in their early 40s (which would have been consistent with the chronology of events presented during the film's exposition) we get 58-year-old Meryl Streep as Sophie's mom, and 54 year old Pierce Brosnan and 56 year old Stellan Skarsgard as two of her possible dads. (They'd have been much more believable as Sophie's grandparents.) Rounding out were cast were 57-year-old Julie Walters and 55-year-old Christine Baranski, and watching this group of near 60 actors dance and frolic onscreen to ABBA songs, is downright embarrassing.
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May 4, 2009
Breakin' New Ground
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the seminal street dancing movie, Breakin'.
Though it's now often mocked on pop culture "nostalgia" shows like I Love the 80s, Breakin' was a very important film. Prior to its release, there had been small, independent productions (like 1982's Wild Style) that had explored hip-hop culture, but Breakin' was the first mainstream Hollywood film to do so. Significantly, the film's low budget and the tidy profit it earned led to the birth of a new sub-genre of American film -- breakdancing/rap/hip-hop movies, which included the likes of Beat Street, Body Rock, Rappin', Krush Groove, the House Party movies, and the oft referenced, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, which, in an effort to capitalize on the success of the original Breakin', was scripted, shot, edited and readied for release in barely 5 months. Without Breakin', there would have been no Stomp the Yard, no Honey, no Step Up series.
Intended merely to capitalize on the breakdancing craze that was peaking in 1983-84, Breakin' starred Adolfo ("Shabba-Doo") Quinones, who was already a street-dancing legend and had been an original member of The Lockers, an LA-based "pop-locking" dance group that also counted singer/choreographer Toni Basil as a member. Quinones would go on to other movie roles (Tango and Cash, Lambada), music videos (Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You"), but found his greatest success as a dancer and choreographer for major artists, including Madonna on her "Who's That "Girl" tour.
Breakin's other two stars were Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, who had been featured in the street dancing documentary, Breakin' and Enterin'; and Kansas-bred Lucinda Dickey, who (like her character in the film) was a classically trained ballet, tap and jazz dancer. The film also introduced us to many other less famous but equally talented b-boys (i.e., breakdancers) along with rapper Ice-T, actress Lela Rochon, who appears briefly (wearing a red jacket) in the film's opening sequence (below), and even Jean Claude Van Damme.
But above all else, Breakin' provided one of American film's first acknowledgements of hip-hop culture and that its artistic expression through dance, graffiti art, deejaying and MC-ing.
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May 1, 2009
Summer Movie Season Arrives Earlier (and Earlier, and Earlier...)
The release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine today marks the start of the summer movie season. But the interesting thing is, today is May 1st and we're nearly two months removed from the official start of summer (June 21.) We're also nearly a month ahead of Memorial Day, which used to be the date the studios looked to as their jumping off point for summer releases. But as everyone seeks to get a jump on the competition, release dates are now sliding further and further up on the calendar. Somewhere along the line, the studio execs figured out that from Christmas-time through April, audiences are so starved for decent movies, that if a big-budget sequel, action or super-hero pic arrives in theaters in early May, it's likely to earn big box office. Moreover, the success of recent late March and April releases like Anger Management, Blades of Glory, and Baby Mama, has proven that even marginal pictures can do well so long as they have a decent marketing push behind them.
I'm not complaining though. In the 80s and 90s you had to wait until close to Memorial Day for blockbusters like Return of The Jedi (released May 25, 1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (May 23, 1984), Mission Impossible (May 21, 1996), and The Lost World (May 22, 1997). Nowadays, the release dates of some of summer's most highly anticipated films creep closer to the beginning of May.
Which is why this decade we got Star Wars: Attack of the Clones on May 16, Van Helsing on May 7, and Spiderman 3 on May 4. The studios now understand that getting their film out in early (as opposed to late) May (when there's more competition from both other movies and from summer activities like going to the beach) can potentially add more than $100 million to their picture's gross.
Look at last year's Iron Man, which was an entertaining film but by no means one of the best summer movies in recent years. It became a $300 million dollar blockbuster, largely due to the fact that its May 2 opening beat everything else out of the gate. Folks were so starved for a decent movie and so amped up for summer that they flocked to theaters to see it.
And now, with today's opening of Wolverine, we've reached the limit of the May release. Wolverine is sure to have a huge weekend, and I predict that very shortly, maybe as soon as next year, one or more of the studios will dip their toe in the water and release one of their summer blockbusters in April. Even as I'm writing this, I'm looking at my calendar and I see that in 2010, April 30th is a Friday... Seems inevitable doesn't it?
Who knows what's after that. Easter could become the new Memorial Day. Studios might want to take advantage of the fact that many kids are on spring break around that time, and many adults get (or take) Easter Monday off so they can have a 3-day weekend.
In any case, enjoy your summer movies and maybe I'll see you on line for Wolverine... or Star Trek... or Terminator Salvation... or Year One... or Transformers 2... or Public Enemies... or G.I. Joe... or Inglorious Bastards... or...
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