July 31, 2009

Defining Films of the Decades - The 40's

Here is Part 2 in this 8-part series:

Runners Up



The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Henry Fonda’s moving portrayal as beaten but not bowed Tom Joad reflected the plight of millions of Americans in the forties who were still suffering the effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.




Citizen Kane (1941)
Quite simply, a textbook for modern, expressionistic filmmaking. Director Orson Welles innovative work in cinematography (including his use of deep focus and low angle and crane shots) was daringly bold, as there was no way to know what critics and audiences would make of it. Welles broke similar ground in the art of film editing (using it to compress time) and sound mixing (as a way to provide continuity and demonstrate contrast.) The end result was a film of unmatched technical achievement that presented its characters and story in ways audiences had never experienced prior.


Double Indemnity (1944)
Billy Wilder’s classic was one of the most critically acclaimed and influential of the film noir (“dark film”) genre that turned the movie industry on its ear by challenging Hollywood's Production Code and presenting stories that explored murder, sex, adultery, and other elements of society that until that time, had either been romanticized or ignored by filmmakers.


It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
This movie’s theme and storyline has been borrowed for dozens of subsequent films (Mr. Destiny, The Family Man, Click) and TV shows (episodes of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Cheers, Married With Children, and Moonlighting) and it’s been a beloved holiday classic for decades.

THE Defining Film of the 1940's:

Casablanca (1942)
One of the most overrated films of all time that’s still somehow left an indelible impression on our popular culture -- in part due to Humphrey Bogart’s iconic characterization of boozy, cynical club owner Rick Blaine; the classic Herman Hupfeld composition “As Time Goes By”; and the film’s enduring quotability (“Of all the gin joints…”, “Here’s looking at you kid”, “This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, etc.)


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July 29, 2009

Family Guy's Funniest Pop Culture References

One of the things that makes Family Guy so great are the hilarious references to other TV shows, classic movies, hit songs, TV commercials, toys, games and other pop culture phenomena.

Whether they're imagining Optimus Prime as a Jew, the dad from Eight is Enough as an abusive father, or Stewie rocking out to Scandal's "The Warrior" in his own iPod commercial, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and his writing team consistently come up with the most creative parodies and send ups ever. That being said, here are some of Family Guy's funniest pop culture references.

Meg dates The Count from Sesame Street.



Darth Vader is a meter maid and is having a very bad day.


Peter stumbles upon a different type of Breakfast Club


Peter creates his own sitcom with an intro reminiscent of Laverne & Shirley, Family Ties, Three's Company, Bosom Buddies, and more.


Chris wanders into a-ha's "Take On Me" video.


Why ghosts choose Jennifer Love Hewitt to be their whisperer.


Peter joins The Electric Company.




July 26, 2009

Defining Films of the Decades - The 30's

Was listening to Bill Simmons' podcast recently, as he spoke with writer/reporter Chris Connelly. The two were debating what they believed to be "the defining film of this decade", with the criteria being excellence, re-watchability, and creativity. Simmons mentioned Almost Famous -- which is positively ridiculous. Think about it, the defining movie of this decade is set in the 1970's?...  

I'm hereby adding new criteria to the mix -- to "define" a decade, a film needs to be in some way inherently "in and of" that particular decade. In some way, it needs to reveal or reflect the decade's current events, social issues, trends, tastes, mores, creative sensibilities or significant artistic styles. Don't get me wrong, I'm not specifically excluding historical dramas, period pieces, or any other films, but come on... a decade's "defining" film should have qualities that identify or represent the prevailing nature, qualities and characteristics of that decade (or at least the prevailing nature, qualities and characteristics of filmmaking during that decade.)

With this in mind, I'm starting a new series with my own list of the defining films of the decades, beginning with the 1930's.

Runners Up 


King Kong (1933) 
The giant ape on top of the Empire State Building is one of the most enduring film images in all of early cinema. King Kong pioneered the use of special effects (including miniatures, rear projection, and the stop-motion animation) that would eventually evolve into today’s CGI and dazzled audiences in the process. The film was also one of the very first to feature a completely original score.


Top Hat
(1935)
 
The 30's were the golden age of the grand Hollywood musical. Top Hat was the classiest of these and introduced the song "Cheek to Cheek" by legendary composer Irving Berlin. 


Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
 
Taking a stand against government corruption and bureaucracy, Jimmy Stewart, as in many of his films, was the personification of the 1930's everyman. 


Gone With the Wind
(1939)
 
When you adjust for inflation, remarkably, this 70 year old epic is still the highest grossing movie of all time. 

THE Defining Film of the 1930's:


The Wizard of Oz
(1939) 
A nearly perfect film in every respect, from the casting, to the costumes, to the score, and it’s lasting moral –- no matter where you go in life, there’s no place like home. 

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July 19, 2009

"The Ultimate 80's Movie Quiz"

Sorry I've been away from the blog so long, but in my defense, it was my first lapse in over six months. Anyway, now that I'm back, prepare to take the Ultimate 80's Movie Quiz! 

A word of warning, this Q&A is not for the faint of heart. None of these questions are easy, so unless you've seen the movie in question multiple times, you're gonna have a tough time. And while some of the answers can be found by Googling, for others, the internet won't help you at all. Lastly, for questions marked with an asterisk, the answer can be found somewhere in a post on this blog (browse the site or use the search tool if you like.) Good luck! And now:

The Pop Culture Fiend's Ultimate 80's Movie Quiz

1. What high school do the guys in Porky’s attend?

A) Jefferson High
B) Cocoa Beach High
C) Rydell High
D) Angel Beach High

2. While presenting at the Oscars, actress Kim Basinger scolded the Academy for failing to nominate this 1989 film for Best Picture:

A) Driving Miss Daisy
B) Batman
C) Do the Right Thing
D) Field of Dreams
3. Which co-star of The Legend of Billie Jean is best known for voice characterizations on a popular TV series?
4. “Two dollars!” is a line repeated in which 1985 teen comedy?
5. “The Sorels” are a fictional singing group in this movie:*

A) Streets of Fire
B) Eddie and the Cruisers
C) Grease 2
D) The Blues Brothers
    6. In All the Right Moves, Brian (Christopher Penn) gets a scholarship to play football at what college?


    7. This guitarist in a popular 80's band had a cameo delivering a singing telegram in a 1986 comedy. Name the guitarist and the movie.

    8. Laurence Fishbourne plays the same character in the movie Hoodlum as he does in this 1984 film.

    9. On the current TV show Chuck, Tony Hale plays the Buy More’s efficiency expert Emmett Milbarge, which is a mash-up of two characters’ names from this 1985 film.*

    10. Complete these character pairings from Top Gun:

    Maverick and __________ 
    Iceman and ____________ 
    __________ and Wolfman

    11. In Die Hard, what does Chief Robinson (Paul Gleason) say after the two Agent Johnsons’ helicopter is shot down?

    12. In Back to School, Thornton Mellon (Rodney Dangerfield) recites a poem by this author:

    A) Dylan Thomas
    B) Longfellow
    C) Robert Frost
    D) Kurt Vonnegut

    13. This film featured Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez and Meg Tilly and was based on a book by S.E. Hinton.*

    14. This mid-80s film had the same title as a Beatles song and starred Keanu Reeves:

    A) "Can't Buy Me Love"
    B) "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
    C) "Lovely Rita"
    D) "The Night Before"

    15. This actress was originally cast as Vicki Vale in Tim Burton’s Batman, then later feuded with the director when she was passed over for the role of Catwoman in the sequel.

    16. At the beginning of Back to the Future, this rocker has a cameo as the faculty member that rejects Marty’s band because they’re “too darn loud.”

    A) David Bowie
    B) Huey Lewis
    C) Sting
    D) Ringo Starr

    17. “Isn't that just like a wop?... Brings a knife to a gun fight.” is a line from this 80's gangster film:

    A) The Untouchables
    B) Prizzi's Honor
    C) Once Upon a Time in America
    D) Scarface

    18. This film was the first theatrical release from Tri-Star Pictures.*

    19. What 80's film starring Carl Weathers was also the name of a popular action figure from the 1970s?

    20. In Caddyshack, Ty (Chevy Chase) tells Danny he had a college roommate named:

    A) Mitch Cumstein
    B) Mike Hunt
    C) Dick Hertz
    D) Spalding

    21. In On Golden Pond, what’s the name of the fish Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda) has been trying to catch for years?

    22. In A Fish Called Wanda, Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) can’t resist when Otto (Kevin Kline) speaks this language:

    A) French 
    B) Italian
    C) Spanish 
    D) Portuguese 

    23. In The Natural, what team does Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) play for?*

    24. The forgotten 1981 film Neighbors features John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and what other Saturday Night Live alumnus?

    A) Tim Kazurinsky
    B) Kevin Nealon
    C) Jane Curtin
    D) Julia Louis-Dreyfus

    25. The "Duke of New York" is a character in this film:

    A) The Pope of Greenwich Village
    B) Escape from New York
    C) Wall Street
    D) Desperately Seeking Susan

    26In The Naked Gun, what’s the name of the opera singer Frank Drebbin (Leslie Neilsen) impersonates?

    27. Curiously, this martial artist had one of their first onscreen roles in a 1984 breakdancing movie:

    A) Steven Seagal
    B) Cynthia Rothrock
    C) Jean Claude Van Damme
    D)
     Chuck Norris

    28. This 80's comedy was remade years later with the title Love Don’t Cost a Thing.

    29. In Diner, Boogie (Mickey Rourke) makes a bet he can get his date to "touch his pecker” in the movie theater. What’s his date’s name and what movie are they watching?


    30. In Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, this Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress plays a student who explains to the teacher (Ben Stein) why Ferris is absent.

    A) Charisma Carpenter
    B) Kristy Swanson
    C) Alyson Hannigan
    D) Eliza Dushku

    31. What was so unusual about the zebra ridden by Tanya Roberts in 1984's Sheena?

    32. In Youngblood, how many hockey goals did Dean Youngblood (Rob Lowe) supposedly score in the junior leagues?

    33. In Airplane, after someone declares, “The fog is getting thicker," what is Johnny's (Stephen Stucker's) response?

    34. List all of the James Bond movies released in the 1980's.

    35. In A Christmas Story, what does the secret Little Orphan Annie message turn out to be?

    36. In No Way Out, Kevin Costner's character Tom Farrell is actually a Russian operative named ______________.

    37. In 48 Hours, what Police song does Reggie (Eddie Murphy) sing in his jail cell?

    A) "Every Breath You Take"
    B) "Don't Stand So Close To Me"
    C) "Message in a Bottle"
    D) "Roxanne"

    38. In the early 80s this tough guy actor came out of 20+ year retirement to play his final role as a police commissioner. 

    39. The 1985 film Visionquest featured this #1 hit by Madonna.


    40. What's the name of the male stripper in Bachelor Party?

    July 5, 2009

    Al Franken Wins Senate Seat (Finally)

    I missed a lot of news over the past week or so, including the fact that the Minnesota Senatorial race was finally decided. (Are you kidding -- it took eight months to settle this thing?!... Only in America.) 

    Anyway, for those who weren't aware, they've been trying to figure out who won this Senate seat since way back on election day in November. Turns out, it was one of the closest elections in the history of American politics, with less than 300 votes finally separating the two candidates. Then there were recounts, and protests, and more recounts, and then it went to the courts and now, finally, your newest United States Senator is... former Saturday Night Live writer and cast member Al Franken... 

    Who?... 

    Exactly... I barely remember this guy from SNL but I dug into the Pop Culture Fiend Archives and found this clip from 1988 that refreshed my memory. In it, Franken plays televangelist Pat Robertson -- ironically enough, at a time when Robertson himself was running for office.

    July 2, 2009

    Is an All Star Michael Jackson Tribute Concert in the Works?

    As far as the rumored All-Star Michael Jackson Tribute Concert is concerned, right now I'm still trying to separate fact from fiction. I'll stay on it but in the meantime, if there is a show, here's a few things it must include:

    Sheryl Crow performing "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", the song she and Michael dueted on when she sang backup with him on the Bad tour.


    Mariah Carey crooning "You Are Not Alone".

    Usher recreating the Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance.

    Madonna doing anything (because she can.)

    A tender performance of "Gone Too Soon" by John Legend.

    The Jonas Brothers trading verses on the "I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save" medley.

    Bono doing "Man in the Mirror".


    Seal covering "The Lady in My Life".

    A bluesy John Mayer version of "Who's Loving You".

    Black Eyed Peas taking on "Wanna Be Starting Something".


    Prince, Slash and Eddie Van Halen ripping it up on "Beat It" and "Black or White".

    Alicia Keys playing and singing "She's Out of My Life".

    Lady Gaga doing "Smooth Criminal".

    Diana Ross holding back tears on "I'll Be There".

    Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie closing the show and leading everyone on "We Are the World".

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    July 1, 2009

    The Real Reasons Why Michael Jackson Was Important

    Everyone from my generation remembers where they were when certain life-ending events occurred. JFK and MLK were assassinated before we were born (or at the most we were toddlers.) We were a little older when Elvis Presley and John Lennon passed, but we missed seeing them in their primes and didn't fully understand their significance and their impact on the culture until later. We were grownups when tragic accidents took Princess Diana and JFK Jr., and yes, that was sad. But for my generation, the deaths we remember most... the surreal ones... the ones that touched us to core... the ones that stopped time... the Challenger explosion, 9-11... and now this... Michael Jackson.

    Of all the passings I mentioned above, Elvis's best approximates what my generation is experiencing with the news of Michael Jackson. In many ways, the two events are startling similar. Two individuals that were immensely talented singers and performers, but who were also transcendent artists that became absolute phenomenons. Each branched out beyond the world of music to make their marks in television, movies and, in Jackson's case, music videos. Each saw their careers dip sharply in their later years. And sadly, each contributed to their own demise through excess, drug abuse, and increasingly eccentric behavior. Elvis and Michael both died unexpectedly, and at the time of their deaths, left legacies as the best-selling artist of the rock era and the greatest entertainer of all time.

    I'm not going to go on and on and provide a retrospective on Jackson's life and career. (There are a hundred websites and TV programs that will continue to do that over the next several days and weeks.) Instead, I'm blogging this largely for the young people out there, many of whom I suspect, don't fully understand the impact Michael had on music and our popular culture. The same way my generation couldn't fully understand Elvis' impact, anyone under the age of 30 probably doesn't fully understand Michael's.

    To correct this, I won't rehash the usual list of stats and achievements (this many million albums sold, this many number one hits, this many Grammys.) Again, I'll leave that to others. Truth be told, there've been a lot of artists who have reached the top, sold millions, won countless awards, and will be long-remembered. But Jackson's uniqueness, the "how's" of his revolutionizing of the music world, the way he and his music uniquely resonated with Americans and others all over the world, and the ways in which he continuously broke new ground during his career -- that's what needs to be underscored right now.


    The first thing that needs to be discussed, is that the word I mentioned earlier, "phenomenon", is not one to use lightly. As far as the music world is concerned, the Spice Girls and New Kids On The Block tours broke box office records; Bruce Springsteen was on cover of Time and Newsweek; Mariah Carey recently signed a record-breaking $80 million dollar recording contract. But when it comes to actual "phenomenons", there was Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson.

    So how did these phenomenons come to be? Well, Elvis was at the forefront of popular music's defining movement of the 20th century -- rock and roll. In the mid and late 50s, Elvis succeeded in rising above contemporaries like Chuck Berry (who was actually more deserving) to become the face of rock and roll -- the genre that would come to dominate American popular music.

    The Beatles were a little different. One of the definitions of phenomenon is "an unsually significant, often unaccountable occurrence." The key word in this instance is "unaccountable". In no way am I disparaging the band or dismissing their talent, but the Beatles phenomenon began, in many ways, as a case of "right time, right place", as the charismatic group inexplicably captured the imaginations of first Germans in Hamburg, then their fellow Brits, and finally Americans.

    The Michael Jackson phenomenon has similarities to both The King's and the Fab Four's. Jackson came along at a time when the new medium of music videos was fundamentally changing the way artists were performing, connecting with their fans, defining their images, and marketing themselves and their music. Many of the top acts of the time (Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne) as talented as they were, struggled with how to leverage this new medium to its fullest. But Jackson's natural ability and creativity as a singer, dancer and performer gave him the total package and he alone emerged as the single greatest artist of MTV's golden age (1981-1991.)

    Indeed, Jackson revolutionized the music video, taking it from its primitive beginnings as simple live or studio performances (sometimes enhanced with cheesy special effects) to expressionistic narratives with creative art direction and cinematography and elaborate choreography. With "Beat It" and "Thriller", Jackson pioneered the "performer out front with backup dancers" style of video, which became the paradigm for many other artists from the 80's (Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield"), 90's (Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation"), 2000's (Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again") and even today (Beyonce's "Single Ladies".) 


    Also with regard to music videos, Jackson's "Billie Jean" (along with Prince's "1999" and Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue") were the first videos by black artists to be played on MTV. A gifted dancer from birth, Jackson enhanced this natural ability by adding in double and triple James Brown-like spins, as well as pops, locks and moonwalks he borrowed from 80s B-boys. The result was Jackson forever raising the bar for what we could expect from artists in concert. Singing AND dancing became much more of an expectation, and Michael represented the zenith of the multi-talented performer, paving the way for the likes of Madonna, Paula Abdul, M.C. Hammer, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Shakira, and countless others.

    Right around the same time that MTV and music videos were taking hold, radio was also changing. FM had recently surpassed AM as the dominant band, and stations were still scrambling to define their formats and find their niche among listeners. Radio though, was still sometimes segregated. As far fetched as it may seem these days, the fact is that right until the early 80's, there was much more of a gulf between the musical preferences of whites and blacks. "White music" and "black music" and "white radio stations" and "black radio stations" were often mutually exclusive. This is not to say that black artists weren't played on white radio (Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and others certainly were) but as he did with MTV, Michael Jackson, moreso than any other, was the artist that contributed to erasing any remaining color lines once and for all. Tracks from his debut solo album, Off the Wall dominated Top 40 stations. In an era when the public was railing against disco, Jackson was able to blend it with elements of other traditionally black music (pulsing R&B, horn-driven funk, lush Philly soul) and inject it with a pop sensibility that appealed to a wider (and "whiter") cross section of listeners. Radio stations, which typically leak singles out six to eight weeks apart, took Off the Wall and ran with it, and "Rock With You", "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", "She's Out of My Life", and the album's title track all got airplay concurrently. Tracks from 1982's Thriller and 1987's Bad would get the same treatment. 

    His ability to cross color lines, songwriting ability, mellifluous voice, dancing ability and other considerable talents aside, there was also something undefineable about Michael Jackson. Despite his shy personality, he was tremendously charismatic. Even going back to 1968, when he was signed (along with his brothers) to Motown, Suzanne DePasse, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, and others at the label agreed that the group had talent -- but ten year old Michael had "it."

    Jackson was long considered a prodigy, but by the time he was twenty-one, he would exceed everyone's expectations by breaking free from both his brothers and Motown and proving himself one of the best voices and creative forces in the business. Everyone recognized this, even his peers and the most famous names in music. During the last three decades of the 20th century, many of the top singers (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men), producers (Quincy Jones, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, David Foster), and studio musicians (Rod Temperton, Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson, Toto's Steve Lukather and Steve and Jeff Porcaro) collaborated with Michael on projects. And when Michael enlisted axemen Eddie Van Halen and Steve Stevens (Billy Idol's guitarist) to play on "Beat It" and "Dirty Diana", respectively, many fans were introduced to hard rock guitar licks for the very first time.

    Pop culture figures outside the music world also teamed with Michael on various projects. He shot videos with Marlon Brando, Michael Jordan, Naomi Campbell, Eddie Murphy, Martin Scorcese and John Landis; made movies with Academy Award winners Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas; performed onstage with Diana Ross, Cher, and James Brown; and launched the careers of Siedah Garrett and Sheryl Crow (whose first big break was as a backup singer on the Bad tour.) Little sister Janet owes a debt to Michael as well. Her career was floundering (with a mediocre debut album and an even less successful sophomore effort) until the fallout from Michael's fame helped refocus attention on her and her Control album.

    As I suggested in a previous blog post, there often comes a time when a man meets his moment. For Michael, that moment was at the Motown 25 TV Special, where he reunited with his brothers onstage for the first time in eight years, and then brought the house down with a solo performance of "Billie Jean." Though the show included performances by legends like Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, all anyone could talk about the next day was Michael. It was this performance that precipitated Michael's instantaneous ascension into the pantheon of not just pop music but pop culture as a whole. 

    It's hard to deny that Michael was an icon of the highest magnitude. He had the highest selling album of all time and was featured in his own animated TV series. He starred in his own prime time variety show and had Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire publicly marveling at his dancing ability. He was honored by President Reagan at the White House and guest voiced on The Simpsons. And, lest we forget, Michael was also one of the creative forces behind U.S.A. for Africa and co-writer of "We Are the World". Indeed, Michael contributed so much time and money to charities and humanitarian causes that the Guiness Book of World Records honored him as the "Most Charitable Pop Star of All Time."

    For the last week, I've listened to the MJ tributes on radio stations and watched retrospectives on BET, MTV, and VH1. What sticks out to me and offers the most consolation for this loss is the stunning amount of music Michael left behind. I'm staggered by both the volume and quality of the music he produced with the Jackson 5, The Jacksons, and on his own. 

    And it's great that Michael is being shown so much love. It seems very few are remembering the negative about him, including those disturbing allegations of child molestation. I, like most, certainly haven't forgotten about that, or the fact that in this, the age of steroids, philandering politicians, and rampant corporate corruption, you simply can't believe in anyone anymore. (In light of the prevailing evidence, the claims made against Michael may very well be much more than just "allegations.")

    We also (regrettably) have to acknowledge, the way he destroyed his face and body with cosmetic surgery. (It's sometimes difficult to even view pictures of him in his later years.) And we all remember the sham of a marriage to Lisa Marie Presley (which then and now seems like a clumsy attempt at damage control) and all those disturbing eccentricities -- from allegedly seeking to purchase the Elephant Man's bones, to dangling his baby over the balcony.

    But through all of this, what we'll rightfully remember most about Michael Jackson is his music, his amazing voice, and all the good memories... J5... Motown... The Ed Sullivan Show... "I Want You Back"... "I'll Be There"... the giant afro... "The Robot"... The Jacksons... Thriller... the glove... the moonwalk... and on and on... 

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