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June 25, 2009
Rest in Peace Michael Jackson
So very, very sad about Michael Jackson. I'll have a lot more to say and share later but wanted to get this up for now -- Michael's performance from Motown 25, circa 1983. This was the performance that took him to the level of being an absolute phenomenon. Whatever else you want to say about him, he was the rarest of talents... More to come...
June 24, 2009
Commercials We Loved - "Terry Tate - Office Linebacker"
This one is for Reebok -- "Terry Tate - Office Linebacker" -- from the 2003 Super Bowl. The acting in this is great, especially the guy wimpering behind the recycling bin, and also the guy who plays Terry, Lester Rasta Speight, who I remember was also very funny when he appeared as a semi-regular on My Wife and Kids.
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June 23, 2009
What Puts Your Butt in the Movie Seat?
Came across an interesting article written by Scott Mendelson over at the Huffington Post asking the question, "Is Megan Fox the Main Draw for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen? Mendelson correctly points out that as far as the advanced hype for the film goes, "pretty much everything is Megan Fox-related."
I couldn't agree more. Each day, there seems to be new Megan Fox news, whether it's an interview in Entertainment Weekly, her comments on her relationship with Brian Austin Green, comparisons to Angelina Jolie, or photos of her at Transformers' UK, German, and LA premieres.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. When it comes to Megan Fox, I was in on the ground floor (all the way back to her days on Hope & Faith.) And for the record, I agree with the rest of the universe that she's pretty much the hottest thing walking.
But back to Mendelson's article. He makes an interesting point when he suggests that Fox may prove an exception to the rule that, "women will see a film just because a guy in it is cute, but men rarely do the same for actresses." I pondered this for quite a while and decided Mendelson's premise was true. Through the history of American cinema, whether it was Rudolph Valentino, Troy Donahue, Elvis Presley, or Zac Effron, women have a history of shelling out to see their heartthrobs on the big screen.
Guys are different. I tried to think of the last time I ponied up for a movie ticket solely based on an actress I had a thing for, and well... I couldn't think of any such occasions. I thought harder and considered the objects of two of my biggest celebrity crushes, Cameron Diaz and Halle Berry, and whether or not I ever saw any of their films strictly based on the fact that they were in it... I hadn't...
Over the years, I passed on many of Berry's films, including Gothika, and even Catwoman, in which she's featured in tight spandex for much of the film. As for Diaz, I did pay to see the chick flicks The Sweetest Thing and The Holiday (but I actually really liked both of those, so I get a pass.) I'm also proud to say I stood my ground and drew the line on seeing In Her Shoes and also plan on missing My Sister's Keeper, opening this Friday. In fact, I'm much more likely to see a movie starring an older or less attractive actress I think is talented and/or has a track record of being in good movies -- actresses like Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Jodie Foster, Joan Allen, and Diane Keaton.
So what do you know?... I'm not shallow after all.
Feeling good about myself, I decided to dive deeper and think back to when I was younger. Turns out, I actually HAVE gone to see movies purely to check out a hot actress but with one small proviso... nudity.
As a pubescent teenager, horny college student, unemployed post grad with too much free time, and even subsequent to all of that, I paid to see certain actresses bare some skin. I then came up with a collective list of specific examples that included among others:
Demi Moore in Striptease...
Saved By the Bell's Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls...
and Elle MacPherson in Sirens...
I embarrassedly admit that like so many other males of my species I stood on line and paid hard earned cash to see all of these, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have if it weren't for the nudity. And yes, I've even made a mental note to check out two upcoming releases -- Fox plays a possessed cheerleader in Jennifer's Body and Jessica Biel is a stripper in Powder Blue...
Guess you can forget what I said about not being shallow...
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June 17, 2009
The Evolution of the 80's Teen Movie - How Bob Clark, Gen X, and Home Video Changed the Landscape of American Cinema - Part II
Below is Part 2 of a three-part article. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
When studio brass saw their films' viewer ratings and the corresponding audience demographics, a concerted effort was made to unshelve or acquire rights to (or otherwise script, shoot and release new) content that appealed to this key “Generation X” demographic -- and that content consisted largely of teen movies.
Risky Business also set itself apart from other teen movies with its artful cinematography (Lana’s first appearance; the train sequence) and an ethereal original score by Tangerine Dream that proved a big departure from the typical teen movie soundtrack full of contemporary pop and new wave hits. Still, while the well-received Risky Business and a handful of other films did much to establish credibility for teen movies, the unequivocal validation of the genre came with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders.
In the 1970s, cable television was largely relegated to rural or mountainous areas where home reception of broadcast television signals was difficult if not impossible. However, the 1980’s saw an explosion of American households in urban areas gaining access to cable television. During the decade, the number of cable TV households in the U.S. more than tripled, from 17% in 1978 to 57% by 1989.
The growth of cable television was greatly fueled by the development of premium movie channels (like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and The Movie Channel) and the continuous slate of popular films they offered. Prior to cable television, once a film completed its theatrical run, it was usually years before it made its way to network television where, if the film was exceedingly popular, it might be broadcast twice a year.
Meanwhile, as cable television was beginning to boom, sales of home videocassette recorders were spiking, thanks in large part to the American consumers’ resolution of the VHS vs Betamax issue and the Supreme Court ruling that home video recording was, in fact, legal and not a violation of copyright. (You can read the Court’s ruling here.)
In 1982, only 4% of American households owned a VCR. By 1988, the figure had reached 60%. No doubt, Americans were enamored with the VCR for its fundamental functionality that allowed one to record a show and then watch it later. But in addition to being able to “timeshift” their TV watching, VCR owners were also excited that they could now enjoy feature movies in the comfort of their homes, whenever they wanted. In response, Hollywood studios began scrambling to form home video distribution divisions for the huge catalogs of movie titles they owned. Concurrently, as these studios implemented the technologies, sales, marketing, and delivery methods needed to ready their pictures for public consumption on videocassette, large video rental chains (Blockbuster, West Coast Video, and others) were founded and fiercely competed with each other, along with the small mom and pop dealers that were springing up on every corner. Thus, between cable and home video, Americans now had the ability to see complete, unedited recent hits (Chariots of Fire, Taps, Kramer vs Kramer, Foul Play, War Games, Close Encounters, Poltergeist) that were long gone from cinemas but hadn’t made it to network TV quite yet. Fine films that were overlooked during their initial theatrical releases (Nighthawks, Blade Runner) were "discovered", as were cult and foreign films like Harold and Maude and Cat People. And of course, popular comedies like Arthur, Smokey and the Bandit, 9 to 5, Cannonball Run, and 10 were watched repeatedly and their laughs enjoyed over and over again. Studio executives quickly realized that a film’s success at the box office was no longer the sole factor determining whether or not their releases could be impactful and profitable. Films could now be remarketed (or in some cases, bundled as a group) and sold for broadcast on basic and premium cable TV channels. As this was taking place, market research began to show that a large part of the audience for cable TV movies (particularly repeat viewings of these movies) were high school and college youth, who had ample amounts of free time on their hands to sit around watching their favorite films. (On a side note, it’s clear that the American pop culture phenomenon of quoting movie lines first began with these teens of the 1980's who would watch (and re-watch ad nauseum), memorize and repeat dialog from 80's cable TV staples like Blazing Saddles, Caddyshack, Animal House, Stripes, and Airplane.)
America, and particularly Hollywood, was soon completely enamored with the teen movie genre. The profit margin (box office receipts now combined with cable TV revenues) of movies like Porky’s, Private Lessons, Homework, and The Last American Virgin proved very attractive to production companies and their investors. Particularly attractive were the low-budgets these films offered -- typically under $10 million and often less than half that. Teen actors almost always worked cheaply, as most were happy just to have a role in a Hollywood feature. Principal photography took place in cheap locales (malls, high schools), props were simple and inexpensive, and shooting schedules tight. Screenplays could be written quickly, with writers tapping into their own teenage experience (real or imagined) for material.
Soon, filmmakers exploring the teen movie genre became more creative. Writers and directors began to acknowledge there was more to teenage life than the neverending quest to get laid and began to make films that explored other aspects of contemporary youth. Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, though it failed to do much business upon its release in late summer of 1982, was nonetheless praised for it’s dead on depiction of contemporary teenage culture, customs, and mores. Much has been written about how screenwriter Cameron Crowe, in his attempts to make his script more authentic, went undercover at a southern California high school. But what’s more important is that it resulted in a teen movie rife with identifiable characters that, in between laughs, are dealing with real issues and scenarios. Let’s face it, as high schoolers, very few of us were seduced by our friend’s mom, road-tripped to a Mexican whorehouse, or wore dresses and makeup to sneak into an all-girls school. What was great about Fast Times was that the characters were placed in situations, some comical (Brad fantasizing about Linda while he watches her poolside) and some serious (Stacy’s pregnancy and subsequent abortion) that most of us, as teenagers, either went through ourselves, or knew someone who had.
In short, Fast Times at Ridgemont High resonated as the first authentic teen movie. Yes, there are secondary storylines involving Brad’s job woes and the antics of the now famous Jeff Spicoli. But while most teen films up until this time relied on an anecdotal series of gross humor and sexual gags to sustain their momentum, Fast Times, at its core, gave us a lovable, empathetic central character (Stacy) and a more meaningful and realistic series of events involving her search for a boyfriend and her relationships with her brother, and friends Linda, Damone, and Rat.
The legitimization of the teen movie continued in 1983 with Martha Coolidge’s sentimental Valley Girl, and Paul Brickman’s Risky Business, which broke the teen movie mold with its Revolutionary Road and The Graduate-like themes of rebellion against the supposed American dream of life in the suburbs, attending an Ivy League college, and landing a high paying corporate job.
Oklahoma-born S.E. Hinton’s first novel The Outsiders, chronicles the experiences of Pony Boy Curtis, a teenage “greaser” growing up in Tulsa, struggling with the death of his parents and searching for meaning in his life. In a period where juvenile comedies like Joysticks were in abundance, The Outsiders offered a serious and genuine examination of teen angst (similar to Rebel Without a Cause) as it explored themes like loyalty, friendship, jealousy, class warfare, and parental neglect.
Interestingly, one of Hinton’s later novels, Tex, had previously been made into a feature film directed by Tim Hunter and starring Matt Dillon. Tex, though, was barely noticed upon its release in the summer of 1982. Not the case when production began on The Outsiders. Director Francis Ford Coppola had won two Best Director Oscars for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and also helmed the critically acclaimed Apocalypse Now. As a result, the director had ascended to the pantheon of America’s greatest living filmmakers, so when he signed on to shoot The Outsiders, Hollywood took notice. Every young actor in the business pressed their agent to get them an audition for the film. Indeed, with a respected director like Coppola now working in the genre, teen movies now had Hollywood’s official seal of approval.
The Outsiders firmly established that teen movies could successfully extend beyond comedy so Hollywood quickly began cranking out more teen dramas (Racing with the Moon, All the Right Moves, Rumble Fish) and expanding teen movies into other genres like thrillers (The Boys Next Door, Out of Control) and horror (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Fright Night.)
But of course, what most of us remember The Outsiders for is that incredible cast of young actors, all completely unknown at the time, and each of whom would go on to become a bonafide movie star. Credit Coppola and casting director Janet Hirshenson (who incidentally, is still at the top of her profession -- she cast this summer's Angels and Demons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe) with recognizing the talent and charisma of Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, and Diane Lane. Within two years of The Outsiders release, each would be a lead actor with above the title billing. This group would go on to star in some of the most popular and signature films of the decade, including The Karate Kid, The Breakfast Club, Top Gun, Dirty Dancing, and Rain Man. Like American Graffiti, which ten years earlier had kickstarted the careers of Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers and others, The Outsiders served as a launching pad for some of the coming decades' biggest stars.
Next:
Part III - The Brat Pack and the Legacy of 80s Teen Movie
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June 12, 2009
10 Reasons We Love Al Bundy
10. He takes no crap from anyone (especially fat women.)
8. He turned us on to Psycho Dad
9. He's a real All-American guy.
Al's the kind of guy we'd enjoy hanging out with -- he drives a Dodge, drinks beer, likes sports and John Wayne movies, and he frequents a local strip bar called "The Jiggly Room."
Al's favorite TV show glorified guns, violence, and matricide. Sadly, a Congressional hearing in season 9 led to its cancellation.
7. He's got cool friends.
Where would Al be without his running buddies, Jefferson, Griff, Ike, Bob Rooney, and Officer Dan?
6. Chicks dig him.
Pamela Anderson, Heather Parkhurst, Renee Tenison and Bobbi Brown (all pictured below), Shannon Tweed, Neriah Davis, Vanna White, Tawny Kitaen, Donna D'Errico, Shae Marks, Jerry Hall, Petra Verkaik, Brandi Brandt, Meilani Paul and the Swedish Bikini Team all guested on Married and shared scenes with Al.
5. He's great with the insults.
4. His daughter is hot!
3. He's the founder of No Ma'am.
With their motto of "Carpe Mammarium" ("Seize the hooters") the National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood does more fine work than Greenpeace, Feed The Children, and the Red Cross combined.
2. He scored 4 touchdowns in one game!
1. He makes us feel better about ourselves.
No matter how lousy our lives are, Al's is just a little bit worse. His neverending misery somehow cheers us up.
June 10, 2009
Beatles Rock Band is Best at E3
Hello PopCultureFiend readers! Oh wait, I almost forgot, NO ONE READS THIS BLOG.
But on the off chance that there is someone out there who may be wondering why I was only able to get one blog post up last week, it's because, well... I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake... A terrible flood!... Locusts!... IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!!!!
No seriously, I was preoccupied with E3 and other miscellaneous crap.
And speaking of E3, with all due respect to Microsoft's motion sensing controls, the PSP redesign, and the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMOG, the news and game that created the most excitement at E3 was when Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr made a brief appearance to plug The Beatles: Rock Band.
By all accounts, the game offers much more than simply adding Beatles music to the Rock Band franchise (although that in and of itself would more than satisfy many.) Gamers will get brand new Rock Band graphics and menus, incredibly detailed 3D avatars of the Fab 4 that change their look and dress based on the era (mop top, psychedelic, Abbey Road, etc.), and even new instruments, including replicas of John Lennon's Rickenbacker guitar and Paul's Hofner bass. Beatles: Rock Band will also be the first game of its type to allow more than one singer at a time, thereby giving players the chance to imitate the band's signature rich, intricate harmonies.
Judging from the opening cinematic and gameplay trailer (below), the game's look is absolutely stunning. Plus, Beatles Rock Band was created with cooperation and input from Paul, Ringo, and John Lennon's and George Harrison's widows, which should give an indication of what to expect from the game in terms of quality since the four have been notoriously protective about how the Beatles' music, likenesses and brand are used.
Songs from the Beatles' catalog that will be part of the game include "I Saw Her Standing There", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Day Tripper", "Octopus’s Garden", and "Here Comes The Sun" (with the rest of the Abbey Road album to follow shortly after the game's release), plus 40 more tunes. Personally, I'm crossing my fingers for "Helter Skelter", "Nowhere Man", "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and "Yer Blues".
In anticipation of the game's September 9th release, I've create this official Beatles: Rock Band countdown clock.
June 9, 2009
Things That Bug Me About Teen Wolf
At the end, when Scott (Michael J. Fox) is taking the foul shots, why was that guy allowed to stand right underneath the basket?
First of all, it's made quite clear that it's the guy's 5th foul... I mean, the guy had fouled out... You have to leave the court when you foul out. My 7-year-old son knows that. Did none of the movie's writers, producers, cast or crew have any familiarity at all with the rules of basketball? Couldn't someone (even a janitor who was mopping up the sweat on the gym floor) have stepped up and said, "Hey, you know guys, if that was the guy's fifth foul, then he'd really have to go to the bench"?
And to make it worse, there was no time left on the clock, so the ref (correctly) clears the court. But for some reason, he allows this one guy (Mick) who, once again, had fouled out of the game, to stand right underneath the basket during the foul shots. The ref even has to tell the kid to "Get back." This really irritates me because it's just completely unrealistic. "More unrealistic than a teenage werewolf playing basketball," you ask?... Yes, I think so.
Whatever happened to that girl who played Boof?
Susan Ursiti is one of those 80s actresses that was in one movie and then you never saw or heard from her again. Kinda like that really hot girl who played Cookie in One Crazy Summer. Or the one who played Scotty Palmer's girlfriend in Hardbodies (Teal Roberts)... Or Amanda Peterson from Can't Buy Me Love...
What happened to these women? Did they get married and quit the business?... Or were they sucked into that same Hollywood actress black hole that claimed Mary Stuart Masterson?
Anyway, I looked up Susan Ursiti on IMDb.com and she has a handful of other TV and movie credits (a Charles in Charge episode, a 21 Jump Street in 1987) but nothing memorable... Oh well...
How does Stiles not lose his footing while standing (and dancing) atop a moving van?
This stunt defies gravity and several other laws of physics. Later in the movie, The Wolf is able to do it, perhaps due to his enhanced animal agility and balance. But Stiles?... No way.
How the hell did Chubby even make the basketball team?
I would more likely believe the existence of real-life werewolves than this fat load being on the court making sky hooks.
Why is there a body double for the girl who plays Pam?
Watch the scene below very carefully. As Pam seduces Scott, she takes off her bra, and then there's a weird cut, after which we only see the girl's back... Looks like a different girl to me. The actress playing this part is named Lorie Griffin and I'm wondering, when they were casting, why didn't they just tell her, "Look Lorie, there's a scene where you'll have to take your top off; it won't be shown, but we need you semi-nude for this one scene."
So what happened? Did she agree to take her top off and then changed her mind last minute? This ain't exactly a Lady MacBeth kind of role; they could've gotten a thousand actresses for this part. So why not just hire an actress that had no problem with the nudity and just pay her, instead of having to pay Lorie AND a body double?... Just a thought...
Why'd they make a sequel?
The infamous Teen Wolf Too starring Jason Bateman shares the title of most unnecessary comedy sequel of the 80s with Short Circuit 2 and Mannequin 2: On the Move.
Why can't you get that song that plays at the end of the movie?
No, not "Win in the End", which is the song that plays during the basketball game montage where Michael J. Fox does the same behind the back pass and the same layup twenty-five times, but rather "Shootin' for the Moon" by Amy Holland, which is one of the most underrated movie songs ever. Everyone who's seen this movie, LOVES that song. And yet, because the Teen Wolf soundtrack is otherwise unremarkable and now out of print, it's nearly impossible to get a clean CD-quality copy of "Shootin' for the Moon". (And you can't get it by recording the audio from the DVD either, because there's a bunch of crowd cheers and dialog on top of it.) Amy Holland recorded several CDs and some are still available on Amazon, but none of them have "Shootin' for the Moon" on them...Totally unacceptable.
And finally, why does becoming a werewolf make you a better basketball player?
Makes no sense whatsoever on any level -- physiologically, psychologically, or zoologically.
June 2, 2009
Who was the Greatest Athlete of the 80's?
This music video clip from the Pop Culture Fiend Archives asks that very question. So let's break it down and come up with the answer:
Navratilova dominated women's tennis during the mid-eighties, but in the early part of the decade, she battled Chris Evert for supremacy and by 1988, Martina had been overtaken by Steffi Graf.
Forget the 80s, had his career not been cut short by injury, Bo Jackson might very well be considered the greatest athlete of all-time. Still the only player to reach All-Pro level in two sports (he was elected to the MLB All-Star Game in 1989 and the NFL Pro Bowl that same year) Bo also won All-America honors and a Heisman trophy while at Auburn University. Unfortunately, all of this happened too late (1985 or later) for him to be considered the greatest athlete of the decade.
Tyson was ferocious beast, a knock-out machine the likes of which boxing had never seen. But like Jackson, Tyson was virtually unknown prior to 1985. And although he would win his first heavyweight championship the following year, Tyson fought in an era where that division was grossly short on talent.
No doubt Jordan was spectacular in the 80's. At the University of North Carolina, he won a championship, was a two-time All-American, and the Naismith Award as College Player of the Year in 1984. As a pro during the 80's, Jordan was first team All-NBA three times, and won four scoring titles, on his way to becoming the greatest basketball player of all-time. But its worth noting that he won exactly ZERO NBA championships in the 80's.
So the winner here is Gretzky. During the 80's, "The Great One" won seven NHL scoring titles, four championships, and an amazing nine MVP awards. In the process, he obliterated a host of major NHL records, including most points in a season (215 in '85-'86), most goals in a season (92 in in '81-'82), and longest consecutive point scoring streak (51 games in '83-'84.)
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