R.I.P.

Movies touch us, they inform us, they get us excited, they help us laugh, they take us away, they allow us to forget. Caring so much about the lives of celebrities is quite lame... but I think it's okay to recognize those who've helped bring a little sunshine in our lives...

from Turner Classic Movies

Ya know, I don't think I realized that Jerry Reed passed away in 2008. Smokey and the Bandit, once upon a time, was without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite movies. It's still a fun watch and this is such a cool song from the movie... check it out!

An Oscar Winner! (in an alternate universe)

I was planning on posting some GD today... but I might hold off until Friday morning. I'm just so dead right now. I worked 12 [hours] yesterday and have today off. Last night only like 2 hours of sleep. What's up with that?! So I'm actually gonna be sleeping much of the day today. Funny thing in Alaska at this time of the year -- sleeping most of the day doesn't mean I'm gonna miss much of the daylight. Seein' as how I think it's beginning to get light out around 3:30 in the morning, and the last light leaves the sky around 11:30 p.m. or so, there's plenty of it to go around. That's freakin' cool ain't it? Yes... agree... it is! No more Northern Lights, though. They're sleeping. Hibernating. Back in the Fall.

Today all I wanna do is go for a run. But that ain't gonna happen. My mind says go, go, go, do it! My thighs are arguing against that in the biggest way. Quads are still sore from my last run and the last thing I wanna do is make the situation worse... so I rest. There was no rest at work, however. Not working in an office, mostly stationary, means I've gotta move, I've gotta bend, I've gotta lift, I've gotta be up and down and all around... Physical just like Olivia Newton-John, right?! So every movement yesterday, I just had to suck it up and focus on my job without complaining. Now... I rest. Hopefully my house won't catch fire... not that I expect it might, but if it did, I'm just gonna sit here, say a prayer, and kiss my ass buh bye 'cause I ain't movin!

		I did have to move around some this morning when I made a breakfast
		of pocorn to go with the movie I just got done watching... mmmmm,
goooood popcorn! But bad movie! I've almost sunk to a new low with this one...

On The Line starring: Emmanuelle Chriqui, Dave Foley, Jerry Stiller, Richie Sambora, Al Green, Sammy Sosa, Wrigley Field... and no one else of any importance 2001

Being the enormous *NSYNC fan that I am, it surprises me that it's taken me so long to see this masterpiece. I'm just not sure what I was thinking.

Lance Bass stars... excuse me a second... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... that's just funny. Why do you take someone who's not an accomplished actor and give him the leading man-starring role in a $10 million dollar feature film? He may have had "talent" singing in a boy band, along with co-star Joey Fatone, but come on... seriously!?

Anyway, Lance and Joey are, surprise, friends and one day Lance's character (Kevin) meets the cutest girl on the L (no name until the end played by Emmanuelle Chriqui.) They enjoy talking, they have a really good time and she clearly wants to get to know him, but as they depart, he never asks for her phone number D'OH! But since she was already with someone, would she even have given it to him?!?

So dillhole goes about his life then one day decides he's gonna find her. And then, after that plan fails, he tries again to look for the cute train girl.

Along the way we get to see Joey Fatone singing hard rock songs including covers of tunes by Poison and Def Leppard... and then at the end he goes soft and turns into Michael Bolton? Uhhh... whatever. He was actually kind of funny in his role... but overall, that's not saying much.

I dig movies with Chi-town locations so seeing Wrigley Field and some
sites in Chicago was nice.

Kids In The Hall/NewsRadio's Dave Foley is Kevin's boss at an advertising firm. He was kinda funny but when isn't he good? George Costanza's dad/Doug Heffernan's dad-in-law Jerry Stiller also has a small role as an office worker who Kevin is friends with and gets inspiration from. And Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora has a small role as an aging, full-of-himself rock star named "The Mick." Al Green and Sammy Sosa both play themselves, as does Baseball Tonight's Eric Young.

$10 Million to make -- $4.35 Million at the Box Office.
Miramax -- what were you thinking?!?!?!

According to Roger Ebert, On The Line is "...an agonizingly creaky movie that laboriously plods through a plot so contrived that the only thing real about it is its length."

While I laughed a lot -- at the writing, directing, and acting -- it wasn't as bad as Rog says there. Contrived plot? Absolutely. But I never really felt watching it was agonizing. I mean, there are movies that literally make me cringe in horror at how bad it is but that didn't happen here. That might be because of Emmanuelle Chriqui. She's wayyyy cute! Sometimes that's a good enough reason to watch something that's pure crap such as this or the one other film I've seen her in -- National Lampoon's something-or-other that takes place in L.A. with college kids, maybe, and potheads and stars Chriqui along with Michael Douglas's older son and I think a small part with Rob Lowe as a serial killer. Horrible movie but I couldn't take my eyes off Chriqui. She wasn't in this one so much but again, her presence made this worth watching. If it hadn't been for that, there wouldn't be a single reason in the world to watch this. Come on, Lance Bass?!!? He's got NO range and just doesn't have a good leading man presence... at all.

While this doesn't qualify for Worst Movies Ever, I thought about it... it's close. Why'd I watch it? I believe in giving most movies a fair shake. Sometimes you might be surprised. On The Line did surprise me -- I'm surprised that it was slightly better than Worst Ever.

The one and only time I will ever have a post with
Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. Never ever again.

That being said -- here's Emmanuelle Chriqui
in the scene where they meet for the first time.

Cheeseburgers In The Sub-Arctic and The Duke Dies

I've gotta leave Alaska. Tonight helped hammer that feeling into me.

There was a going away party-thing-get-together for an EMT at work who is leaving tomorrow, going back to New Mexico where's he originally from. Twas a casual gathering at someone's home, complete with plenty of horrible beer (which I passed on) plus the grilling of burgers and hot dogs outside in the backyard. While people were free to go inside and out as they wished, most of the night took place on the deck where the grill and beer was. Warmest day of the year it was today; before the sun began it's long, slow descent below the horizon, we were all the way up into the low 60's. For many, myself included, it was the first backyard [BBQ*] of the year.

It's early May, closing in quickly on the middle of the month... and this was the first time I've had food off the grill this year. Because of the weather this far north, that's the way it is here... and that just doesn't seem right.

I dunno... I'd just really dig having four distinct seasons again, seasons that last longer than 3 weeks... which is about how long Spring and Fall are here... maybe not that short but it seems like it... while Winter lasts more than half the year, essentially... and I think I'm getting tired of it.

From the first snow in mid-October until it's gone in late April, I never complain... at least I can't recall complaining. I truly get a kick out of 20 degrees below zero (and worse.) It doesn't bother me... well, working outside sometimes, that can really hurt the fingers but other than that, it's interesting.

But come this time o' the year, I really get to thinkin how I might wanna end this Exile on Cold Street and head back where I'll be more at home -- New Jersey or New England... where the weather makes sense... where the wind don't blow so strange. Beats me. This much typing about it just has me confused. I've settled in here for almost 4 years now... but did I ever think it would be forever? The fact that I'm questioning that says no.

In any case -- had a nice night sayin goodbye to someone who's been my partner on dozens of shifts throughout the years. We weren't really close as friends but I guess we were work friends who'd have a beer after work or have breakfast after an overnight shift. Yeah, there was a bunch of that so it was good to know him and I wish him luck down in New Mexico.

* to BBQ I no longer consider cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill because real BBQ is usually pork or beef, slow-cooked over low heat and is most definitely not flipping burgers on a grill!

Now, an attempt to get back to posting about some movies I watch...

Wake Of The Red Witch

1948

starring: John Wayne, Gail Russell, Gig Young


It has been at least a dozen years since I've seen this. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe like six or seven. Ya know what, I don't keep track of when I watch movies. It's been awhile and there was very little, if anything at all, that I remembered about Wake Of The Red Witch.

The Duke plays a sea captain in the late 1800's sometime, sailing the South Pacific and making his way from one island and one ship to the next. He's a complicated character -- rough, mean, nice, sensitive, daring, drunk, cunning. Of course, along comes a girl (Gail Russell) who complicates things between Captain Ralls (John Wayne) and his employer, Sidneye, a shipping owner who's got nothing on his mind except greed and revenge. The two never have a final showdown in the end but Captain Ralls has the upper hand all the way... which shouldn't be a surprise because he, John Wayne, is the star after all. There's an unexpected ending as the hero doesn't ride off into the sunset as he usually does. He leaves on his own terms, though because, again, he's John Wayne.

Seeing the Duke in this setting isn't my favorite. Always better he is, I think, in a military uniform or on a horse... or both. This was certainly different. His character has a lot of range here and the story seems quite complex for the time, more so than other John Wayne movies. Overall not nearly one of the best but it was alright.

Gene & Roy but no Sarah

I missed my show. How sad.

Week in and week out, how many shows during primetime are there? A bunch, that's for sure. How many do I care about? The answer was a big fat NONE... until recently.

Tonight was the 4th episode of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. When I saw the commercials I thought -- hey, that looks purty neat. So I checked it out. Best show ever! Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. But I like it, it's not bad. Methinks it's got appeal especially since Ahhnold was in T1 and T2 which were big hit movies back in the day ... and then finally in T3 a few years ago before he became the Governator.

Anyway, I caught the first night of the show (2 eps) and then the 3rd ep. last week and then tonight... yay, wouldn't ya know it, the first frickin' time in months that my shift ran long and so I didn't get to see it. (I can't believe I'm typing so much about TV which I pretty much don't care for, the network dramas and sitcoms and reality shows, that is. I figure if it's trendy now then I don't want any part of it. If it's good enough for syndication eventually, maybe then I'll see it. But along came Sarah Conner and there was one show I gave a damn about.)

Now what am I gonna do? There's just no way I can watch next week 'cause I'll have missed like 44 minutes of the story! The horror of that is literally sickening me now! What am I gonna do?! Will the series be played in its entirety in repeats before Season 2? Will there even be a Season 2 because of the writer's strike?? Oh my God, I'm panicking! (Not really... and now I'm really typing way too much about this!) Perhaps I should just say screw it, give up on watching it, and just get the DVD release eventually.

Whatever.

After work and no Sarah Conner I figured I'd make some popcorn
and watch a movie...



The Old Corral

1936

starring: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette,
Lon Chaney, Jr., Hope Manning
(and Roy Rogers in the Sons of the Pioneers)

Just another B-western on the Encore Westerns channel... although this one actually had a nice little treat in it.

The legendary Gene Autry stars as Gene, the sheriff of Turquoise City. On the run from Chicago mobsters, wanted for involvement in a murder, is a singer who's offered a job singing in a saloon in town. The saloon's owner is played by none other than Lon Chaney, Jr. Interesting seeing him in this old B-western rather than as The Wolfman or any number of his interesting roles.

Gene first contends with a gang of brothers who hold up a bus, yes, a bus and not a stagecoach, and in the gang singing brothers turned outlaws, none other than Roy Rogers. Roy would soon go on to fame as the King of All Cowboys but here he was an uncredited member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

After they're caught and locked up, into town comes the mob from Chicago, looking for Eleanor, the singer in the saloon. With help from his sidekick, Smiley Burnette, Gene catches the mobsters, as well.

Just another silly B-western with horses and gunfights and old timey country songs sung at times when it really just didn't make any sense.

I could watch these everyday!

shoot me

For some insane reason I've done it again -- I watched a movie that no one on Earth has any legitimate reason to watch. Why? Why do I do this?? I don't pay that much extra for plenty of movie channels but the few I do have always give me a choice to see something I never have before... so why do I sometimes choose the absolute worst movie that's on?! Kinda makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Dr. Chopper

straight-to-video, 2005

0 stars out of 5

starring: no one known by anyone anywhere...
except perhaps Costas Mandylor

The question is: why would someone make or appear in this movie? Seriously, would a struggling actor really want this blemish on their résumé? Seriously... why?! I suppose if pure schmaltzy crap is what you're into, then this is a high point because that's all this movie is. I'm actually embarrassed that I watched it and everyone involved in its production should be embarrassed and ashamed, as well.

Twenty years ago, a doctor experimenting with body parts runs away when he's wanted by the police for abducting patients. Fast forward to the present day when Nick, after his mom's passing, learns she had a cabin in the mountains. He, his girlfriend, another couple and a frat bro head up there to check it out. Well, guess who lives in the area? Dr. Chopper, yup, uh huh, and in that region people have been disappearing for years. Mayhem ensues.

The story itself, for a horror flick, isn't that bad. Everything else nearly completely or totally fails. Some of the actors do work their hardest to put in a sincere performance of their character but overall there is so much bad acting and incompetent directing, plus horrible writing, cheap effects... it's all just a long, drawn out mess. It's really almost more of a comedy. Costas Mandylor has a small part as a State Parks Ranger who's exiled himself to this "elephant's graveyard" where not a lot of tourists go anymore, a place he can just drink himself to death over the loss of a loved one. I've seen Mandylor a few times in this and that, including the TV series that made him someone in Hollywood, Picket Fences, where he's been decent to watch as an actor. Here: WORST ACTING EVER (or at least right up there, or perhaps I should say down there in those ranks. So sad.)

What is good about this movie? Nothing. Wait... there's actually a small twist in the plot that was pretty unexpected. Usually tripe like this is straightforward crap with nothing unpredictable whatsoever. While the twist was a surprise, it doesn't save the movie at all. Such a small budget, a 10¢ script, a director who obviously has no sense of good film making, and no good actors doomed it completely.

In all honestly -- in watching Dr. Chopper I've wasted some of my life and typing all of this up about it, well, that has just added to it. Yay.

A Classic Oscar Winner

Twas movie time this morning. Unfortunately they've been few and far between lately. But is there a better breakfast than popcorn after pressing play on a flick? Methinks not. So much to choose from but I was in the mood for old and classic.

The Bad And The Beautiful

1952

Starring
Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner,
Walter Pigeon, Dick Powell,
Gloria Grahame, Barry Sullivan

Directed By
Vincente Minnelli



It's probably a story that's timeless: someone wants to be at the top of his game, a King, looked up to by everyone around him, and he uses everyone to reach those heights. That's what happens here with Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas,) the son of a recently deceased Hollywood movie producer. Jonathan wants to reach the status his father once had but he has to climb the ladder from almost the dirt floor level. Being a likable man with a personality that has the ability to shine, reaching greatness, while it took some time, was rather easy for him. But not easy for those around him.

There are primarily three points of view to illustrate the story of Jonathan's rise. The first is from Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan,) a successful director who years before was Jonathan's right hand man. When a chance to grab a slice of the richer pie presented itself, Jonathan left Fred in the dust.

Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner) was a successful actress whose very life Jonathan probably saved. He made her a star. But when it came to romance, he wasn't the type to settle down, in fact, he seemingly just used Ms. Lorrison to propel himself upward.

The third victim of Jonathan's was James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell.) He was recruited by and fell in with Jonathan to turn his Pulitzer Prize winning novel into a script that would become a classic on the silver screen. A tragic turn of events helps ruin that relationship.

Years later, film executive Harry Pebbel (Walter Pigeon) brings together these three to help revive Jonathan Shields' career which has taken a turn for the worse. While so many owe their success to him in one way or another, his star burned out and now he's hoping for better days.

Gloria Grahame won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in a very small part as writer Bartlow's wife, a southern belle who Jonathan wants out of the way while he and Bartlow hang out at Big Bear working on the script of the greatest movie of all time.

Oscars were also won for Best Screenplay and Cinematography while Douglas was shut out for Best Actor (he lost to Gary Cooper for his performance in High Noon.) Lana Turner has an interesting role here, displaying quite a range of emotion. While so beautiful and purely captivating, when Douglas was on screen with her, it was him I found myself watching most. Some sort of hidden homosexual attraction? Uhh, not quite. Douglas here was rightfully nominated for an Academy Award. Every aspiring actor should watch him in this role. This was the kind of acting that wasn't acting, it was as natural as a person can be. Just amazing and maybe one of his best performances ever.

While the story here is an interesting look at the slimy side of the Hollyweird film industry and some of the ilk within, there aren't many deeper levels to explore. There was no Wow feeling at the end. Director Vincent Minnelli, best known for lavish musicals, does create near-perfection and seeing that left me quite satisfied.

Just a stoopid fool with popcorn

No hike again today. Stoopid me. I just don't have any idea why I didn't get out there on the trail for at least a couple hours. Oh, and the weather, don't even get me started -- the temperature went all the way up to Freezing today. Al Gore might be on to something afterall! Out there in my hiking boots, some time to think and some time to listen to some great music, it woulda been perfect, I tell ya what, a mini-moment of bliss, if you will. Sorta. Maybe not bliss but extra special nice, surely indeed. But I just wasn't in the mood. Not in the mood for hiking? I must have some sort of fever... or a cancer! Probably more like a mental illness to not want to get out on the trail for some exercise and fresh air. Oi vay, ay caramba. Yes, I'm having a cow over this. Well, a small cow. Am I turning into a normal lazy American? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

But I decided to watch a flick tonight, a movie, a film, a talking picture. It's been so long since I made popcorn and put one on. Holy geez, I needed something to take my mind off that awful video I posted earlier. And now thinking about it again, it's just refreshing my memory. Great, yeah, swell.




Cynthia

1947

starring: Elizabeth Taylor,
S.Z. Sakall, Mary Astor,
George Murphy

A young, 15 year old, Elizabeth Taylor plays Cynthia Bishop, a girl who isn't like all of the kids at school. Cynthia's sick. Her disease? She's just sick, that's all. Her illness has been one she's had since birth. Mom and Dad (Mary Astor & George Murphy) as well as her Uncle and Doctor (played by Gene Lockhart) are immensely over-protective. If Cynthia happened to get excited too much, if she exerted too much energy, that could spell trouble for her. So mother and pop made sure to watch, as best as they could, over everything Cynthia does. She's got a mind of her own, though. Her wonderful music teacher, played by S.Z. Sakall, encourages her to sing for she has such a lovely voice, perhaps the best around. Mom and dad don't like this idea. Too much freedom for Cynthia could mean the end. But Cynthia's determined.

There wasn't too much that was special about this film. Liz Taylor was seemingly held back from the top notch performance that she was capable of even at age 15. Still she did shine and S.Z. Sakall was the lovable old foreign dude that he always is. Mary Astor turned in a nice performance, also, keeping this family grounded and being reasonable when that's clearly what it was time for.

Not bad but also not too particularly memorable, either.

I like a good zombie flick but...

Zombies Of Mora Tau

1957

Positively scary is not how anyone on Earth could describe this zombie flick. This is low-budget cheapo B-movie making at some of its cheesiest.

A crew of treasure hunters arrives on the African coast to hunt down some diamonds. The loot is in a sunken ship that went down decades before and is being protected by the crew of that ship. The diamonds were actually stolen from a tribe on the mainland and now the thieves are zombies. Not seemingly interested in wandering aimlessly killing humans for food, nope, none of that, these zombies are only protecting the diamonds from anyone who comes to find them. The team hoping to recover the diamonds learns of the danger but, of course, proceeds anyway and that just results in the demise of most of them.

I can't say this is one of the worst movies ever. It held my interest and moved along at a decent pace. It's just so cheesy and lacks anything substantial enough to make it worth watching.

late night movie

I watch the worst movies. Well, not the worst... but such junk. Another dumb personal philosophy -- watch the crap now, save the best for last... assuming I'll live long enough to still be able to watch what I'm skipping now. It's really amazing, my first major in college was film, I wanted to be the next Scorcese or Francis Ford Coppola. I love great films, I love movies in general. I've seen a ton of movies but if I walk into the local video store, I've seen next to nothing from the past ten years. So basically what I'm doin' is spending most of my movie watching time with nonsense like this...


Neil Simon's London Suite

Made-for-TV

1996







Four separate stories take place at the Grosvenor House hotel overlooking London's Hyde Park.

Debra Dolby (Julia Louis-Dreyfus a.k.a. Elaine on Seinfeld) is a newlywed on her honeymoon from America, only she's missing her husband who she got into a fight with on the plane ride to Europe. Debra has a terrible time wondering where the heck her groom is.

Mark and Anne (Michael Richards a.ka. Kramer on Seinfeld and Julie Hagerty) are on a Wimbledon vacation but Mark's back goes and they lose the tickets to the tennis match and all sorts of problems ensue.

Diana (Patricia Clarkson) is a British actress back in London for the first time in eight years. Tagging along is her faithful personal assistant, Grace (Kristen Johnston a.k.a. Sally on 3rd Rock From The Sun). Diana's meeting up with her ex-husband, now living as a gay man, Sidney (Kelsey Grammer a.k.a. Frasier Crane.)

Sharon (Madeline Kahn) is on vacation with her daughter who sets mom up with a Scottish fellow that they met on the plane (Richard Mulligan.)

Elaine and Kramer both did great as did Madeline Kahn. Comic genius from each of them. They were a pleasure to watch and probably, if you're a Seinfeld fan, make this worth watching. Julie Haggerty wasn't bad either, also pretty good with comedy just as she was all those years before in the film classic Airplane. One more great performance was from the hotel front desk reception dude. Perfectly played, old chap! Some others here seemed to force their parts and/or just didn't add anything extra special to the mix. Patricia Clarkson and Kelsey Grammer, both playing Brits, just didn't seem natural. And if Sidney was a Brit, he wouldn't have called football soccer. Soccer in Europe? No. So that's one example of poor writing that semi-plagued this TV adaption of Neil Simon's broadway play. And none of the stories came together in any way. Often movies like this have each story somehow coming together in the end. Nope. It was nice to see a little bit of London but a thousand movies do that better. On a positive note, each story moved along at a nice pace and was able to keep my interest throughout.

Not truly terribly horrible but disappointing overall.

Morning Movie

This [rather than using the b-word, which I very much despise, I'll call this a website] seems to have immensely distracted me from movie watching lately. 241 days have gone by this year and I think I've seen only less than a 100 movies. Slow pace. Very slow pace. Oh well. In any case, I sat and watched one this morning.

Been many years since I've last seen this. So many movies, because of how friggin' mediocre or downright bad they are, I essentially forget about pretty much as soon as they're over. But this film is one that has always stayed with me in some small way. And with this viewing it was even more powerful.

Alamo Bay

1985

Starring: Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Ho Nguyen

Directed by: Louis Malle





In the years following the Vietnam War, to get away from the evils of Communism, many refugees fled all the way from their homeland to the mostly free United States. While this wonderful nation is so messed up, at least people here have a chance to thrive. The gulf coast of Texas was, and still is to this day, a great source of income from fishing the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Many Vietnamese made their living from the sea so this part of Texas was ideal for them.

Ho Nguyen, in his first of only two movies, plays one such refugee, Dinh, who happily makes his way to Alamo Bay where many of his people are. Glory (Amy Madigan) is working hard for her dad who owns one of the bigger shrimping operations on the bay. Many of the newly local Vietnamese work for her much to the dismay of other local Texans, Vietnam Vets included. They feel threatened by the foreigners who are taking their jobs, in some cases, and putting a dent in their fishing business.

Ed Harris plays one of the vets who has the loudest voice of them all. If he had his way, all the "gooks" would either be gone or dead. While frightened, the refugees just want the same chance as everyone else and they aren't all giving in so easily. And when getting rid of them is tougher than you planned on what do you do? Bring in the Ku Klux Klan, of course -- sheets, rifles, effigy burnings and all.

The film is somewhat slow moving but the tension keeps getting racheted up all the way through. What transpires is shocking, disgusting, sad, and not entirely just a fictious story. This is all Inspired by Actual Events that took place along the coast of Texas. The KKK was alive and well with good ol' boys opposing (legal) immigrants who just wanted a chance to work hard and live free. Malle's storytelling here has left me almost speechless. Light is shed on a very ugly part of the fabric that makes up American culture. The viewer is clearly shown senseless abuse of others because of the simple fact that they're different. Any American seeing this film should feel shame and horror and sadness and be left with a stronger connection to the injustice of human rights abuses that still exist in the world today.

It's hard to believe human beings would treat other human beings with such extreme condemnation. It's certainly not justified in God's great and holy name... but without God then I suppose it's okay. Without love and respect for Christ then everything is okay. All one has to do is live within the bounds of the law made by courts and politicians... or just not get caught. So I guess then that human rights abuses such as murder can be justified as okily dokily to the person who wishes to do the lynching so long as God doesn't exist.

BUY WAR BONDS!

The Sky's The Limit

1943

After a Flying Tiger becomes a hero in WWII, the War Department gives him leave in the form of a hero tour across America to drum up support for the war. That doesn't sit too well with Fred Atwell (Fred Astaire) and he literally jumps off the train and makes his way to New York City, the best city in the world, for a little genuine rest and relaxation (though I can tell you, I've never RnRed there myself, far from it!)

In NY, Fred meets a great girl, Joan Manion (Joan Leslie), a singer turned photographer looking to cover the war instead of celebrities. Fred keeps his identity a secret, ditching his uniform for regular duds and stringing Joan along, not actually really lying to her, but saying, "Yeah, babe, I work." If she knew he was a hero pilot, she'd no doubt fall for him at the drop of a hat but Fred just wants her to fall in love with Fred, not Fred The Hero. He's so head over heels for this woman that he easily could have just donned the uniform and come clean and been done with it at the alter saying, "I Do." Instead he makes it complicated.

Through it all there are four song and dance numbers, two of which are duets with Joan Leslie. Being purely heterosexual and not exactly the feminine type, I can say in my deepest man voice that watching men dance is not generally pleasing to me... but watching Astaire dance can be mesmorizing and nothing less than a delight and a half. I started watching Astaire movies about a decade ago and have seen a good dozen or so. Each time I am awestruck at that man's moves. Pure grace. It doesn't make me want to go enroll in every Arthur Murray dance class I can while longing to star in a Broadway musical, but it truly is a treat to watch on screen.

It was quite interesting to see Mr. Astaire indulge in some serious acting here. The movie wasn't all sunshine and rainbows like so many Astaire musicals are. He really had a chance to show a lot of emotion here. One dance number had Fred completely drunk and taking out his frustration through a furious dance, violently breaking glass expressing his anger and sadness at losing his love. My one complaint about the movie comes here and it's nobody could dance so fluidly and have such precision in timing and movement while so plastered. Ahh well, tis just a movie.

Overall, The Sky's The Limit does not disappoint. I haven't seen that many movies this year but this is far and away one of the most enjoyable! Something about this era in film really draws me in and this goes to show that movies today, while many can be so incredible, they just aren't the same.

Bizarrest Movie I've Ever Seen...

Forbidden Zone

1980

What a freaky movie. I'm not really into cult classics and that's what this apparently has become. Directed by Richard Elfman, older brother of Danny Elfman, lead singer of Oingo Boingo and film scorer extraordinaire, the story involves an other dimension located in the home of the Hercules family. Rulers of that dimension are King Fausto (Hervé Villechaize) and Queen Doris. They're aided by a topless princess and a frog-man. Ohhhh-kay. Danny Elfman makes a late appearance as Satan.

As I sat watching this my jaw was seemingly in a continuous dropped position while I was in awe and wonderment at exactly what the heck I was seeing. Shot in black and white and utilizing crudely constructed backgrounds as well as some animation, this is no normal movie by any means whatsoever. Just the simple act of reflecting on the 75 minutes is confuzling me to no end. Now, I can no longer in this life o' mine condone such an act, but from living the past life that I did, I can truly say that probably the best way to watch this little odd piece of celluloid would be, oh, while smokin' the Mary Jane and/or after dropping some acid. Shrooms will probably do, as well. Possibly, just maybe, in such a state, this movie will make sense.

A worst movie ever? I'm not sure. It is very creative but then again so was Star Wars and this is literally and figuratively a gazillion miles away from Star Wars. What this is is a film that is just sooooo freakin' bizarre. I'm not sure anyone is supposed to get anything from it but rather viewers are supposed to be left exactly as I am -- wondering if the past 90 minutes was either a dream or maybe I'm in Hell? I'd actually consider watching it again someday only to see if any sense can be made from it. But really if I'm truly somewhat a little bit into torturing myself, watching this for a second time just might be evidence of that... but maybe the movie really does have some value? I'm not sure.

A Surf Classic

I was stoked to be able to catch this on one of the Encore channels I get. It had once been a favorite movie of mine, back in the good ol' surfin' days... ahhhh, youth. Not that I'm not youthful anymore, I am in many ways, and I still surf... I mean, well, not a lot but I would when I have a chance, it's just not on any list of priorities these days but tis somethin' I still love. Also different from then is I don't hold this movie in high esteem anymore. Must've seen it well over a dozen times back then and while it was great to see it now, just wasn't the same.

North Shore (1987)


Arizona isn't exactly a premier surf capital. For recent high school graduate Rick Kane, it's home and it's all he's got. That all changes after he wins a local surf championship which is held in a pool with real machine-generated waves. With his cash prize, Rick (Matt Adler) takes off for the summer to surf some true waves -- in Hawai'i.

Pretty much as soon as he arrives in paradise, trouble ensues. Soon enough he's bunking for the night with professional surfers who just happen to be throwing a pretty sweet wing ding of a party. When it comes time to get his board in the water and get to some surfin', Rick finds he's not so welcome. Locals just know he's another FOP haole (contemptuosly meaning -- Fresh Off the Plane and pronounced: "howley" meaning foreigner) but Rick's too ignorant to know it until he's clued in.

Thanks to a local nice guy surfer named Turtle, Rick soon has a place to stay at Turtle's bosses place. Chandler (Gregory Harrison) is a surfboard shaper and he gives Rick lessons in surfing. Being champion in Arizona does automatically make one able to handle the waves of the north shore of Oahu. The young one is eager to learn and learn he does. He even advanced so much in one summer to be able to go head to head with the best surfers in the world.

At the end of the summer before heading back to the mainland to attend art school, Rick enters the Pipeline Masters, a serious competition against best. In the end -- he gets the girl (Nia Peeples.)

A romantic storyline was completely unneeded here but it works. Nia is totally enchanting as a local Hawai'ian girl. I was most able to associate with Turtle, the laid back, carefree shaping apprentice as well as Chandler the carefree, laid back local shaping legend. Some characters may have been wicked stereotypical but not completely out of the realm of reality. The story moved along well and the scenery was tremendous! Usually I am one who longs to live with a mountainview and cold weather but this film achieved in making me wanna move to paradise and become a local surf bum without a single care in the world. Ahhhhhh...

Overall, a decent surfing movie. The best thing is it tries to be real without stooping to a level of idiot comedy laden with nudity. It stays away from both and we're treated to a story about a kid with a dream. This is definitely a surfing cult classic.

When Genres (Seriously) Collide

Jesse James Meets
Frankenstein's Daughter

1966

It's so obvious, isn't it, that after all that calamity over there in Europe caused by Dr. Frankenstein, the family would eventually relocate to America's desert southwest region. Duh. Now it's time for his granddaughter (not daughter) to carry on with his evil experiments. At one point Dr. Maria Frankenstein does refer to her experiments as the ones her father did only on paper after his father before him. So technically she is Frankenstein's daughter but not the Frankenstein's daughter. Oi.

In any case, with all the lightning in the southwest, Maria figures this is the place to be -- much better chance to harness the electricity needed for bringing to life a minnion for evil deeds. Unfortunately, all her Mexican subjects were dying on her. She was not having much success until the legendary thought-to-be-dead Jesse James is at her door looking for a place to hideout for awhile. With him is his sidekick who is a linebacker-sized hulk of a man who was shot and needs medical attention. Little does he know he'd soon have a brain transplant and would be used for experimentation of the ultra-dastardly kind.

After a quick setup at the Frankenstein laboratory, the film shifts to western mode for awhile before careening back into sci-fi. The portrayal of Jesse James was horrendous and the technical sci-fi aspects of the picture were obviously made with a budget that probably hardly exceeded four figures. Additionally the acting and writing were both lousy.

It's clear this picture wasn't made as a serious film. This was purely drive-in make-out fodder. Does that excuse it from being tripe? No. Because it's not trying to parody or to be comedy, it comes off as just pointless, terribly made garbage.

A snoozer...

Deconstructing Sarah

Made-for-TV (1994)

Sheila Kelley stars with her fellow L.A. Law alum A Martinez in this thriller about a woman with a secret. Kelley is Sarah, an up-and-coming advertising exec who just happens to dress in... how shall we say... in order to make Al Sharpton angry -- in ho-type clothing when she leaves her cushy pad and heads out for a particular bar that doesn't exactly jive with who this woman is in the office. The "Hell Hole" or whatever it was called isn't the type of place she'd wear her Gucci heels and proper business suit to. No, Sarah becomes Ruth, leaving her BMW at home while she rents a middle class Chrysler, heading out in her leather mini all vamped up on the hunt for some man meat. Yeah, that's about right. She's living two lives, in a way and why she does all this, we're not exactly told. Out one night she meets the all-around bad boy Kenny (Martinez.) They hook up but she's not looking for love with this guy, just fun. Things take a turn for the worse and Kenny's threatening and blackmailing Ruth/Sarah and then one day she just disappears. All of a sudden Sarah (Sheila Kelley) is no longer in the movie. But wait a minute... Sarah was the main character here. Earlier we were introduced to Sarah's best friend, Elizabeth (Rachel Ticotin), who now has the spotlight as she searches for her missing friend. In the end we find out what happened and that's that. Yawn. So much yawn that I am uninspired to spend a few extra moments trying to write a better review. This was a thriller? A mystery? A little of both? What the heck was wrong with Sarah? Why's the guy who offed her commit the crime? Why does any man wanna kill a woman? Do so many who do really think they're gonna get away with it? All I know is -- if you're gonna kill a woman, be a man and don't kill yourself, too. Face the police, waste taxpayer money with a trial, tell the world why you did it, do your time, and maybe in a more perfect world you won't be executed and while you're spending life behind bars you'll come to know Christ allowing you to help others who are also behind bars. If you just go and blow your own brains out, well, you're a coward and it really sucks you'll be spending an eternity in Hell. Okay?

Click

2006

Imagine being able to skip everything in your life that you just don't wanna deal with. How great would that be?! Michael Newman gets exactly that opportunity. All he wanted was a universal remote control so there aren't a dozen of them on his living room coffee table. At the only store open, hidden away in a back room, Michael (Adam Sandler) finally finds what he's looking for. A kooky electronics inventor type of guy (so well played by Christopher Walken) hands him the only device he'll need. Michael gets the hang of how it works except this is no ordinary remote control.

During the first half of the movie we're treated to a lot of comedy, some thanks to a bit of questionable immature material. We meet wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) and their two kids and see Michael bust at work as an up and coming architect. There are laughs a-plenty and this is turning out to be a fine Adam Sandler comedy. But with Michael's supernatural remote control he fast-forwards through much of life and finds everything spinning terribly out of control. The device seemed to have a mind of its own but what it was doing was adapting to Michael's preferences -- no fighting, no boring moments, just get to what he wants in life. Unfortunately, Michael goes too far and he winds up way in the future having missed much of his life.

In the end Michael realizes that family is absolutely the most important thing, most definitely more important than work. Life needs to be lived, through every good moment and every bad moment as well. There's not supposed to be a magical way to skip the crap.

Click was okay even if much of the humor was juvenile in nature. But was it a comedy or a drama? The first half was the former and the second half the latter so it certainly had an identity crisis. The acting and directing (mostly) all worked well included good performances from Henry "The Fonz" Winkler and Julie "Marge Simpson" Kavner as Michael's parents. Also appearing are David "Baywatch" Hasselhoff and Sean "Rudy" Astin.

Overall, I liked the main message, even if it was presented in a somewhat sappy way. And I liked the movie but it was far from being something incredibly rememberable. Not good for kids or anyone who can't tolerate immature Rated R humor or adult situations.