Pixels and Thoughts » Movies

I was raised by HBO

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:33:10 +0000

So I was thinking the other day that I know a lot of 80′s movies for someone who was born in 1981 and some of them are strange choices for someone who would have been under 10 years old until 1991. When I was trying to figure out why it could be I started naming some of the weirder ones that I know I remember watching and it hit me. I’m pretty sure my parents had HBO when we lived in the house in Roswell, Georgia until 1991. Most of the movies that I would consider ‘too old’ or just ‘not interesting to a 10 year old’ were released from 1986-1988 so they would have been on HBO during the time we had it. When we moved to Virginia there was a video store that I could ride my bike to and my mom signed a release form that let me rent rated R movies without my parents having to be there. So I watched a LOT of movies in my middle school and High School years, so this list might be a little influenced by that. And by ‘a lot’ I mean almost every movie that came out on video and then I went into the back catalog, they were only about $1 for older movies, so I’d rent 6 at a time. So what I’m going to try and do here is try to make a list of movies that I’m pretty sure I watched before I was 10 years old. I’ll list the title, the year it came out, without looking at IMDB… what I think the plot was and what my most memorable moment was from that movie.

Examples after the break…

Electric Dreams (1984)

How I remember it: Guy cant figure out how to hook up his Apple II and somehow spills champagne on it and it comes to life. At first it’s great because it helps him meet his cute downstairs cellist neighbor, but then it goes all Dangerous Liaisons and freaks out.

Most memorable moment: Either the Champagne spilling on the circuit boards or the computer copying the cellist practicing and playing along in analog beeps. I must have loved this movie because it features a computer similar to the one my dad kept in the little office under the stairs. An apple II with a green and black screen. We had some sort of computer music program on it. Actually we had a lot of programs on it since my dad copied all of them at work. Also I remember that Fur Elise is one of my mom’s favorite songs.

The Money Pit (1986)

How I remember it: Tom Hanks and the first chick from Cheers buy a big house in the New York Countryside for cheap. Then the whole place turns to shit. They bring in the only contractor that will take the job, hi-jinks ensue.

Most Memorable Moment: How can I start with this one. First off I know I was living in Georgia when I saw this movie because a water main broke under the driveway and Dad had to dig a big hole and fix the pipe. We stuck a sign in it that said “Money Pit” . As for the movie. I have to admit that I have seen this a few times since I was a kid and It’s still funny to me. When he sinks into the carpet and gets trapped there all day. when the tub falls through the floor and breaks in the kitchen. when the stairs collapse and she stands on his fingers. and the whole scene where everything falls apart at once and the scaffolding collapses. But most of all since I was a little kid, the statue peeing on him. This one is pretty tame so I guess it doesn’t fit the list, but I LOVED this movie as a kid.

Deep Star Six (1989)

How I remember it: It’s the Abyss with more miners and less cute water tentacles. I think the people get infected with a virus and then their bodies meld into one big monster. Most of them die.. the end.

Most Memorable Moment: I know I saw this movie while we were living in Georgia. That would make me no older that 10. I remember sitting in the brown recliner staring at the TV and giving little uncomfortable glances to my dad who was watching on the couch. Because I couldn’t believe that he was letting me watch a rated R movie. I don’t remember being scared of it too much. but I have loved underwater sci-fi movies my whole life. so Maybe there is something scarred into my brain.

Back to School (1986)

How I remember it: Thornton Melon is a rich guy with a slacker son. He goes back to college to prove to his son that it’s important, but does it in Rich 80′s guy style.

Most Memorable Moment:
For some reason I remember the montage that has him studying in the shower more than everything except the finale with the triple lindy.

I may be influenced by the fact that Comedy Central played the crap out of this in the mid ninety’s, but our cable system didn’t even carry comedy central until about 1994 so I don’t think that could have been the first time I saw this movie. I think it was at my cousins house, they were always watching strange movies that even I wasn’t allowed to watch. It’s because of my Uncle Jack that I saw Terminator 2 in theaters and also the reason I kept saying ‘eat me’ at Grandma’s house later that night.

Empire of the Sun (1988)

How I remember it: There’s this kid who is abandoned in Japan or China when everybody is forced to leave. He lives in the streets, at one point he finds an air drop of food, then I think he makes friends with a downed pilot…who dies at some point? then I think he eventually finds his parents again and he’s super filthy at the end.

It’s not so much that I wasn’t old enough to see this movie because it’s rated PG, but it’s 152 minutes long. and I remember watching it in the basement in Georgia because I remember the sun coming through the window and onto the ugly brown striped couch. I’m sure this was on the HBO era of movies, so I would have watched it somewhere around 1989. I just can’t believe that I had the attention span to sit through a 2 and a half hour movie at 9 years old. Christian Bale must have been a pretty good actor to keep my attention for that long.

The Manhattan Project (1986)

How I remember it: Paul is a very smart but very bored high school student in the 1980′s his mom starts dating John Lithgow who is the director of the local nuclear research facility. For some reason he decides that it would be a cool idea to steal some plutonium and make a nuclear device. But this is all shown in a lighthearted Disney movie fashion… ahh the 1980′ and I think at the end they just let him walk away unpunished and not imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for the rest of his life.

Most Memorable Moment: There are tons of them in this movie. The sequence where his girlfriend distracts the two inept guards at the nuclear facility while he steals the liquid soap looking plutonium with frisbees, lasers, and remote control cars has to be one of my top memories from any 80′s movie. second place would be the part where he actually makes the device using a toolbox, some salad bowls, and what I always thought was a little red lobster made out of wires. Bonus 80′s soccer clip where he catches a soccer ball and realizes that he it’s the perfect shape to cut the c4 to make a complete sphere. Because in the 1980′s it was pretty easy for any New England high school student to get his hands on some C4 explosives.

Robocop (1987)

How I remember it: Well this is going to be short… I have seen this movie a hundred times since I first saw it but I can tell you that I never made it past the first 10 minutes when I was a kid. I remember even back then that besides Robocop himself the whole movie didn’t have that “set in the future” vibe. But honestly given what the 1980′s thought 2015 was going to look like I think it’s better that way. I remember Murphy getting captured by the gang and then they hold him down and SHOOT OFF HIS HAND WITH A SHOTGUN… and then it’s all back of my eyelids and gunshots from there on out. I’m not totally sure I saw this on HBO at my house so you can’t blame my parents for scarring me as a child, I might have seen it at my friend Ryan’s house.

Honorable Mention

I was probably under the recommended age, but I probably watched them much later than they came out on HBO

Red Dawn (1986) – Because I’m pretty sure I didn’t see this in the 80′s. But I know that we did have it on tape and the scene where the russians first invade and the teacher gets gunned down right in front of them really affected me. But that’s probably because he was the actor who played the simple minded janitor from ‘Batteries Not included’

Toy Soldiers (1991) – This was firmly in the Family Video era, because it stars Sean Astin and Will Wheaton. But I know my mom didn’t want me watching it because when I rented it she said “I don’t want you watching this, with these guys trying to ‘strong arm’ one another”. At the time I had no idea what that meant.

Dead Heat (1988) – I have no idea when I saw this, It could have been on one of those ‘free weekends’ you used to get with HBO on cable. There was this one scene burned in my mind where a woman waves goodbye and then he body desentegrates into a pile of meat. I literally thought it was a nightmare that I had as a kid until someone on Ask Metafilter mentioned it.

House (1986) - I’m sure I saw this when I was younger, but I have no specific memories of it beyond walking by the VHS tape in the store and getting freaked out by the floating undead hand. Eventually I did rent it and discovered that it’s more comedy than horror.

Maximum Overdrive (1986) - Again I remember being actually scared by this so I must have watched it when I was younger, because who could be scared my remote control trucks… EMILIO!

Gung Ho (1986) – I don’t have enough memories of this movie to really be sure that I watched it in the 80′s but I remember the plot and the end where they really try to get the cars built and I remember the shot of the guy hiding in the engine compartment when they are inspecting the cars. Why was he hiding there? were they weighing the cars? What purpose did that serve?

Witches of Eastwick (1987) – Another one that I might have seen on video later than the HBO era, but I remember being actually afraid of Jack Nicholson, I must have been a kid because I have watched it since and it is not frightening.

The Gate (1987) – I’m pretty sure I watched this at a sleepover at someones house, but it’s rated PG-13 so it might not be that bad.

Summer School (1987) - For some reason the only things that stick in my head are how hot the “hot student who lives with him” was and when the two punk guys come running out of the petting zoo with bloody bunny rabbits attacking their necks. Which are things I was interested at a young age, girls and horror.

Dragnet (1987) - I’ve seen this since and I think it holds up but when I was a kid the only two things I could remember were Tom Hanks in his sheepskin chaps trying to dress like a punk and “The Virgin Connie Swales”. Also I might have seen this at my cousin’s house. Also maybe this shouldn’t be on the list because only kids would think that this was a good movie.

My Science Project (1985) – This is definatley a hidden gem of the Family Video days, It’s one of those easily forgotten 80s sci-fi films. But when I discovered it I thought it was the coolest movie ever. I might have to force my friends to watch this again.

Going through this list one thing is for sure kids like montages and the 80′s were full of montages.

Gotta have a montage!

In hind sight I don’t think there was anything wrong with letting a 10 year old watch most of these movies (with the exception of Robocop) because it made me think differently about the world and probably made me more creative. But the downside being that I think my motivation was influenced by all the montages. Maybe I would be a little more motivated in my projects if somewhere deep down in my subconscious mind I didn’t expect music to break out and I would black out and wake up with a finished product.

Schu-Review : Tron Legacy

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:00:01 +0000

I know that this review is super late, but its really hard to put into words how I feel about this movie. I liked it. I mean I more than liked it, but theres something in there not letting me say that I loved it. It’s so deep and detailed in some respects (visually and acoustically) but story wise its lacking, things seem to just happen. The story plays out like it’s on a rail, a light rail actually. So no matter what’s happening they never seem to be in any danger. Say what you want about Avatar, but at least the simple story made sense within the world. Some things in this play out like He-Man, where all his problems could be solved once he remembered… “Oh yeah, that’s right I’m He-Man!” and would just whip everyones ass. It’s like when you see those great pictures of super modern architecture or furniture designs and think “wow that looks so awesome” but then you realize that it’s missing all the things that make a house a home. Pictures of family, interesting tchotchkes, and just any evidence that someone actually lives there. It’s the same thing with this movie, they spent all the time designing the new cool vehicles, (and don’t get me wrong, they are kick ass awesome) but they don’t spend any time on the how or why they eat food or what they serve in that bar. Or why the programs would want to drink at a bar in the first place, it’s all very surface level.

Shiny pretty surface level.

Schu-Review: 3.5 out of 5 Schus

Drew the Movie

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:45:44 +0000

I’m really excited that there’s a documentary coming out about Drew Struzan. I linked to his site a while back, he made some of the iconic movie posters of my childhood. It’s good to see that other people appreciate his work. His stuff is so precise that you’d swear that it’s done in photoshop, but he comes from another era when the details mattered.

Here’s a good collection of his work

drewthemovie.com

World War Z : Battle of Yonkers Concept Photo

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:45:18 +0000

I know I’ve been talking a lot about The Walking Dead lately and I still believe that it will be the best piece of zombie entertainment to ever hit the screen. But that’s mostly because I’m worried about how they’re going to adapt World War Z for the big screen. It’s an epic book that spans years and the entire world, it’s going to be difficult to fit into a 2 hour feature film. Having said that I did come across a piece of concept art for the film. It’s a depiction of “The Battle of Yonkers” where the US military faces off with millions of zombies that are pouring out of NYC. It’s kind of the turning point of the military fighting strategy against the Z’s

Seeing this, I have a little more hope for the movie.

Trying to keep my expectations low…

via IO9

Break out the #15 Chitwood jersey, it's time to watch Hoosiers.

admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:24:22 +0000

I realized that I wrote this mini review of Hoosiers about 6 months ago and never posted it. I cleaned it up and I’m posting in in honor of Dennis Hopper. RIP.

Maybe I love this movie so much because I was born in Indianapolis but didn’t grow up in Indiana. So I view it with some kind of forced nostalgia for what could have been. Maybe I’m a racist bastard for liking a movie about 5 white guys who can play basketball? A story about a poor farm school that comes out of nowhere to win the state championship, how could you not like this. It’s the prototype underdog story for people my age.

These are more notes than a review, because for me this would be like reviewing Star Wars. Because I’ve loved this move for so long and I went to college at George Mason (The Milton HS of the NCAA tourney) There’s no way I could ever provide an objective review for this movie. So here are some thoughts.

Notes

Early on I think that the music is influenced a little bit too much by the 1980′s a little but too much synth.
What a sweet leather jacket Gene Hackman has.
My dad ran these drills in practice. I’m sure of it.
*shotgun blast*, “IDENTIFY!” Has to be one of the best greetings in film history.
“I apologize for nothing” (Hackman at the town meeting) He might as well end this speech with “Suck it.”
Jimmy = Jesus!
Jimmy comes back from months of quietly shooting jumpers in his lawn and is draining threes long twos on the other team like he’s been there the whole time. He’s like Jordan, everyone else around him is now an all star.
Gale has to be one of the ballsiest SOB’s ever. He just barely survives the townspeople revolt so he decides to get himself thrown out of a close game to teach the drunk assistant coach a lesson about responsibility. Or it was a blowout and Norman was sweating bullets in the locker room as Shooter almost blows the whole thing.
Also Shooter’s first speech makes no sense, “Allow yourself to be taken out”, nothing like that happens on the court. I think he was still drunk. That might change the whole scene!
I’m positive my Dad ran the picket fence play during a game I played in when I was 13.
What’s with the way the other assistant coach runs off the court after Shooter wins that game? He looks like Phoebe from Friends.

Cheesy Parts

In all those practices did he forget to do the “moving without the ball” drill, because they just stand still in the first game.
Why does he need 2 assistant coaches? There are only 6 players.
They really do play up the romance without much exposition besides one walk and helping with the groceries. …If only it were that easy.
“Don’t be distracted by their fancy uniforms” …awwwwweeee ORANGE.
“I want to know what flavor gum he’s chewing” and the answer later is Dentine? Dentine is a flavor?

Differences in this viewing.
I finally got that the basketball scholarship thing really wasn’t going to happen. I never believed her that she was looking out for his best interests. I just thought that she didn’t know just HOW GOOD Jimmy was. So her character becomes a little more sympathetic.

The movie is still awesome and will always be awesome. I could fall asleep to the montage of the state basketball tournament every night and be happy. It’s one of those movies that makes you think that even at (close to) 30 I can still find some sporting event that I can be the underdog in and win the whole thing.

Hey it’s that guy from… (The Mighty Ducks)

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:50:53 +0000

Goldberg, THE GOALIE!

It’s seems like it’s the fate of child actors to be instantly recognizable but totally unemployable at the same time. This is Shaun Weiss^W, while he’s done a fair amount of things since 1992 I’ll always recognize him as “Goldberg the Goalie” from The Mighty Ducks. I’m sure that I’ve seen him in a commercial for Fridays or Applebees or some kind of chain restaurant. He was at a table with some other smiling idiots, pretending to enjoy their zesty nachos or something. I couldn’t find a video of his more famous performance in the Castrol GTX sludge commercial, everyone seems to be fixated on Danger E Sullivan’s madcap antics. I did find a picture of him ordering at the drive thru in that one, just imagine him getting slimed with black grease. Unless we get D4: the new batch anytime soon. Then this might be the only way we’re going to see him on TV. So be on the lookout for Goldberg hocking fast food or motor oil on a set near you.

Castrol GTX - Sludge

Verizon Wireless - Big Moment

My notes about Dear Zachary

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:15:45 +0000

So I’d had Dear Zachary on my Netflix queue for a while and I’d just put off watching it for a while because I knew partially what it was about and you have to be in the right mood to watch a movie about a dead friend. I’d read positive reviews online and I quite like documentaries so I thought I would enjoy it. I enjoy true crime stuff, my mom raised me on those “Dateline NBC special reports” about sisters who murder their parents and the ensuing trial. But I don’t think I was really prepared for this film. It was a weekend when Laurel was out of town, because she never wants to watch all the depressing movies that I rent. Going into the movie I only knew that his friend had been murdered and he wanted to make a documentary about him that he could show his unborn son. Here’s my thoughts that I wrote down just after the movie ended.

There’s just this incredible sadness after watching this movie. You want to believe the filmmaker’s words that the film had became a tribute to Andrews parents, but really? Maybe there’s just nothing you can say about a situation like that. I mean the movie builds for about an hour and 15 minutes before they drop the shock on you. I have NEVER felt shock like that in a movie, maybe because in a FILM you know it didn’t really happen. You can tell yourself that this is all a dream and the monsters aren’t real. But this really happened, the monsters are real. They live with us every day. They are that guy “who just never seemed right” they are all around us every day. I just don’t know how to feel about this… On one hand I want everyone to feel that kind of loss when I die. I want to be the kind of person that would inspire people to film a documentary about me. I want the outpouring of affection, but I just feel so empty inside after this movie. I really feel for them, I don’t even know this person or his family and I REALLY feel for them. I’m having a real emotional response that I’ve never had watching a movie. It’s tough to get to know someone and then have them taken away from you, even if it’s just on film.

What can I do?

I’m gonna go watch Ghostbusters.

That’s still how I feel a month after I watched that movie. I’m not going to reccomend anyone watch this movie, it’s a good film. It’s one of those movies like Requiem for a Dream^W that you only have to watch once. But I have no idea what kind of mood you need to be in to appreciate it. I wouldn’t watch it on your happiest day, because it would ruin your day. But I wouldn’t want to be too depressed going into it, because you might end it all.

Schu-Review : 4 out of 5 Schus

Alice? Alice? Who the @&$! Is Alice?

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:13:35 +0000

Last night Laurel and I ventured out of our own little rabbit hole and went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D at Fairfax Corner. She had been bugging me for weeks to see this, I had been interested but I had fears of it being like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory^W. Which I did not like…

So which was it? Terrible or Awesome?

Find out more after the break?

But have no fear few people reading this blog! Mr Burton is back in his Big Fish form! (which I think was his best movie). I was afraid that the movie would be too twisted for it’s own good, that it would trade shock for story. But the characters, despite being mutant freaks have hearts and real depth. Not that there are a shortage of twisted parts, severed heads, dragons, extra creepy rabbits. I have to admit I’m not exactly a Wonderphile (someone who is a fan of Alice in Wonderland as a genre) So I know about parts of the stories, but I’m really familiar with the Disney Cartoon. So there’s something strange about the translation from cartoon to live action fantasy film. For me it’s a little like the Twilight Zone movie mixed with Roger rabbit, scary at one moment and funny the next.

I think my unfamiliarity with the back story and the fact that I haven’t seen the cartoon version in a long time made the film extra interesting for me. I really didn’t know what was going to happen next. I was unsure what parts were from the original story and which were added in. I heard Tim Burton say that he didn’t intend this as a sequel, but that’s all that I can imagine it as. But in the sense that Hook is a sequel to Peter Pan.

With Katherine Bigelow^W winning the Best director Oscar the other night, All the attention on Lindsey Vonn^W and her gold medal at the Olympics, and then this movie making boatloads of money at the box office I would say that this year is looking great for women. I think it would be a great time to raise a little girl, they have so many examples of strong women in many different fields.

The saving grace of this movie it that no matter how weird it got; it was still a great story about a heroine finding the courage to fight her fears and make choices in her life. If I have a daughter she’s definitely seeing this movie! At what age? That is another story.

Schu-Review: 4.5 out of 5 Schus

Slade – Who The Fuck Is Alice

Download audio file (Slade-Who-The-Fuck-Is-Alice.mp3)

Best documentary of 2009 : ANVIL – The story of Anvil

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:45:46 +0000

I don’t give a shit about 80′s metal and this is still the best documentary I have seen all year. Hell it might be the best movie that I’ve seen all year. I just connected with these guys so much. It’s the reason I love documentaries, these are real people. They aren’t some characters thought up by writers. They have real problems, real emotions, and real heart.

Through the movie you see how much promise and success they had back in the beginning and then they just kind of went nowhere, but they never gave up. Now it’s 30 years later and they’re still trying to make it. The movie focuses on the lead singer and drummer of Anvil. The lead singer ‘Lips’ is the one in the band who won’t let the dream die, he works at a catering company and takes vacation time to play shows. There are people in his life that you can see don’t share his vision and don’t really support him. But his girlfriend and older sister stick with him no matter what. Maybe that’s the part that really resonated personally with me? The other main character is the drummer, Robb Reiner (not the actor/director). He and Lips have this rocky ‘Brothers in Metal’ relationship that creates some intense emotional moments through out the film. When the ending comes you are so emotionally invested in this band that they really feel like family.

I cannot believe that this movie didn’t even get nominated for best documentary in the Academy Awards. The only close competition I would give it was The Cove and that for me is a distant second. Food Inc., the front runner for the award, was NOTHING compared to this movie. ANVIL doesn’t need flashy graphics or voice overs, it thrives on basic human spirit. The story of Anvil provided enough emotion for 10 movies.

If you have a heart and a dream, you will love this movie.

watch the trailer
buy the music

Schu-Review : 5 out of 5 Schus

*UPDATE*
Apparently this movie came out in 2007, but since I just watched it last week. I’m still calling it the best documentary of 2009.

Avatar and the future of video

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:11:25 +0000

Blue is the new black

So over my winter vacation I saw James Cameron’s Avatar in the theater. It’s one of the first times that I’ve ever seen a movie that I was just to totally engrossed in from start to finish. I never questioned any of the effects, I just assumed that everything was real. Which is a weird thing to say when a movie features 15 foot aliens who ride dragons. I went back and watched the Totally Rad Show review of the film and they went in to a little bit of the technology involved in capturing the performances of the actors. The Facial movements just really match the actors. Maybe I’m getting more complacent in my old age, but the story was told so well and the editing so tight that I never had time to question “How did they do this”. Which is really a testament to just how entertaining this movie is.

But the technology is what really got my mind working… Video cameras have become common place and the home editing software is on par with anything Hollywood had in about the early 1990′s. If you take 5 minutes to look on Youtube you’ll find some amazing videos that would have played on network TV in the past, but are done in someone’s free time, with home equiptment. I’m not saying everybody is making District 9 in their back yards, but some people are. Now that we’re on the cusp of the ’3D cinema revolution’ I can see a future where home 3d recording will be feasible. You could just set up a couple of cameras in your house and then you’d have an exact 3d replica of everything. You could change the camera angle if you miss something or do some digital retouching on your 3d body scan. I can’t imaging what ‘some people’ are going to to do with this.

I remember back when I was playing Quake or Fallout and I could download another character skin, so that I could have Johnny 5 sniping fools on a gravity jump. I’m Alive! I saw this trailer, it’s a mashup of ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Terminator’. I thought, that would be a really cool movie actually, I wonder if something like that will ever get made… then I though who will play the parts. But like in the trailer, you really just want the original actors to play them. Then I got to thinking… in terminator salvation they have a CG Arnold attack, in XMEN they have a younger version of Magneto and Xavier, I mean for God’s sake they put marlon wayans head on a babies body for an entire freaking movie. But in all those cases you didn’t really buy into it all the way. But now, with Cameron’s tech out there what’s going to stop them from making a 3D character of an older actor, then having another actor act out the movie. This leads to all kinds of weridly exciting possiblities for REMAKES STARRING THE SAME ACTORS. If this gets popular then you can recast a movie AFTER you’ve filmed it. It can be seen as Brad Pitt’s face in the leading roll, but really it’s Tom Hanks behind the scenes doing the acting. And if we’re going down this path then why do movies have to star one person? They could advertise on the poster ‘Starring Leonardo DiCaprio or Jude Law’ and then you could switch between them on your personal movie glasses Then do they have to create another Oscar category for “Best Motion Capture performance” and then “Best Voice Acting” because they dont have to be the same person. Then you add in the amimatators who are basically left to clean up the data and make the non-humaniod characters move. then if they come out with motion capture suits for animals all those guys are out of business.

This leads to what I both hope for and fear most… Lucas remaking Star Wars with all CG actors and sets.

I think if Cameron is going to unleash this kind of technology on the cinema world then he should be responsible for teaching all the other directors how to do it.