Pop Culture

Where we’ll discuss movies, television, music, and whatever frosts my cupcake.

100 Memorable TV Theme Songs – Part III

While catchy theme songs haven’t disappeared completely, they are less common than they once were. TV theme songs began to decline in popularity during the mid-1990s for various reasons. Networks became concerned about viewers changing channels during opening credits, so they decided to jump into the show’s content faster to retain the audience. Removing theme songs obviously creates more time for commercials. And these days, with streaming, the “skip intro” feature caters to a population with less patience & shorter attention spans. I won’t dive down the rabbit hole of modern culture vs. “the good ol’ days”, but if you’re of a certain age like me you probably have some opinions. At any rate, please take a moment to peruse Part 1 & Part 2 if you haven’t already done so.

80 Mission: Impossible (Mission: Impossible)

I’ve never watched a single episode of the 1960’s television show nor any of the dozens of Tom Cruise films, but come on…everyone has heard that theme song.

79 CHiPs (CHiPs)

I vaguely recall being a fan of CHiPs in the early 80’s. Cop shows aren’t usually my thing, but maybe Grade School Me had a motorcycle fetish. Since the program premiered in 1977 its theme obviously had a cool disco vibe. I’m sure it was in the rotation at every dance club back then.

78 Miami Vice (Miami Vice)

I am sensing a trend. Two actually. Not only is it another instrumental theme, but also from a show I never watched. As mentioned, cop shows just don’t frost my cupcake. That being said, the cool people were all watching Miami Vice in the 1980’s, and even those of us who weren’t viewers got caught up in the fashion trends it inspired. Composer Jan Hammer won two Grammys for his synthesizer heavy theme song.

77 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?)

Well she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina

She’s a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize

She’ll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China

Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I don’t know where Carmen Sandiego is or was back in the day. Heck, I never even watched the PBS show because its purpose was to teach geography to kids, and by then I was a college student. However, that song is straight fire and introduced the world to the vocal group Rockapella. It is my understanding that they are still around & performing.

76 What’s Happening!! (What’s Happening!!)

It’s impossible to be in a bad mood when you hear the bouncy instrumental theme for What’s Happening!!. You might be surprised to know that it was written by Oscar, Grammy, & Golden Globe winning composer Henry Mancini. You’ve heard his other work if you’ve watched Peter Gunn, The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Charlie’s Angels. 

75 Hawaii Five-O (Hawaii Five-O)

I have a vague recollection of watching the original Hawaii Five-O when I was a kid, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get into the reboot that aired about a decade ago. While the show itself was popular, this might be the prime example of a theme song’s legacy eclipsing the source material.

74 The Monkees (The Monkees)

Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees and people say we monkey around

But we’re too busy singing to put anybody down

Well okay, Hawaii 5-O…hold our beer. Were The Monkees a fictional band?? Or were they a real band that starred in a television show?? The answer is both. They were created for the TV show, but did produce albums and go out on tour. The show only lasted two seasons in the late 1960’s (before I was a gleam in my father’s eye), but lots of us rediscovered it when MTV aired reruns in the mid-80’s. The band’s music…Daydream Believer, Last Train to Clarksville, I’m a Believer…is a far greater legacy than the television program. I had an opportunity to see Mickey Dolenz in concert about seven years ago, which was fun.

73 Closer to Free (Party of Five)

Everybody wants to live how they wanna live

Everybody wants to love how they wanna love

Everybody wants to be closer to free

When Party of Five aired in the mid-90’s I had graduated from college and certainly grown beyond teen drama. However, there was much more to the show than that, and let’s be honest…Jennifer Love Hewitt was easy on the eyes. Closer to Free became a Top 20 hit for The BoDeans.

72 Saved by the Bell (Saved by the Bell)

When I wake up in the morning
And the alarm gives out a warning
And I don’t think I’ll ever make it on time
By the time I grab my books
And I give myself a look
I’m at the corner just in time to see the bus fly by

It’s alright ’cause I’m saved by the bell

Yes it was corny. Sure, I was in college and not really the target demographic. However, Saved by the Bell fit into a unique niche. It was lighthearted, easily digestible entertainment for people who had outgrown cartoons but enjoyed a harmless distraction on a lazy Saturday morning.

71 Without Us (Family Ties)

What would we do, baby without us?

There ain’t no nothing we can’t love each other through

What would we do, baby without us?

Shalalala

Everyone knows & loves Michael J. Fox, especially if you’re a fan of Back to the Future, Teen Wolf, or any of his lesser known movies. However, let’s not forget that 80’s sitcom Family Ties was not only his big break, but a damn fine television program. The laid back, soulful theme song is a duet by the legendary Johnny Mathis & 80’s icon Deniece Williams.

Stay tuned for Part 4!!

100 Memorable TV Theme Songs – Part Deux

Please take some time to check out Part 1, otherwise you’ll be totally confused. 

I ran across a video on a Generation X page I follow on social media that was taking a trip down Memory Lane involving television “outros”, which is the closing segment, often featuring end credits, that appears at the conclusion of an episode. While not as important as theme songs, the outros featured in the video made me feel nostalgic and reinforced the key role music plays in our entertainment.

90 Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? (Sesame Street)

Sunny day

Sweepin’ the clouds away

On my way to where the air is sweet

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street

The Muppet Show  (The Muppet Show)

It’s time to play the music

It’s time to light the lights

It’s time to meet the Muppets

On The Muppet Show tonight

Both shows were an integral part of so many childhoods. The Muppets have been a pervasive presence on the entertainment landscape since the 1960’s, including multiple incarnations of a television variety show. Sesame Street has aired on PBS since 1970. 

89 Benson (Benson)

The show was a spinoff of critically acclaimed Soap, although I remember it much more fondly than its parent program, which went away when I was nine years old (but did gift us the legendary Billy Crystal). The spinoff lasted well into the 1980’s. Its theme is an upbeat, jazzy instrumental.

88 There’s No Place Like Home (227)

With your family around you you’re never alone

When you know that your loved

You don’t need to roam

Cause there’s no place like home

227 was adapted from Two Twenty Seven, a stage play about the lives of women in a predominantly black apartment building. Marla Gibbs had found fame as smartass housekeeper Florence on The Jeffersons and was chosen as the lead. However,  co-star Jackee Harry became the breakout star and was eventually given an eponymous spinoff (which only aired the pilot episode). Gibbs sang 227’s theme song.

87 Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now (Perfect Strangers)

Standing tall on the wings of my dream

Rise and fall on the wings of my dream

Nothing’s going to stop me now

ABC kept moving the show around to different nights thru much of its eight seasons, and it was never a big hit, but there is an audience of people who are happy the wacky adventures of tightly wound Chicago photographer Larry and his cousin Balki, a well-meaning immigrant sheepherder from a small Mediterranean island, were available for our entertainment in the late 80s/early 90s. The theme song is the kind of upbeat, quasi-inspiring pop tune that seemed to be a thing for TV shows of the era.

86 In Living Color (In Living Color)

How would you feel knowin’ prejudice was obsolete

And all mankind danced to the exact beat

And at night it was safe to walk down the street

In Living Color

In Living Color is a show that I was aware existed, but can’t say I ever watched with any regularity. I was in college at the time and probably watched television less than at any other time in my life. Perhaps, due to my limited worldview at the time, I didn’t think the show was for me, if you know what I mean. Or maybe, like so many others, I was destined to look at it in retrospect and recognize its considerable contribution to pop culture while fans that did watch can assert a level of superiority for appreciating what others didn’t. At any rate, while In Living Color can lay claim to launching the careers of Jim Carrey, J-Lo, Jamie Foxx, and the Wayans Brothers while also giving us gems like Fire Marshal Bill, Homey D. Clown, and Men on Football, the theme was a hip-hop song with a message, and it’s still a fun lil earworm.

85 Here I Come to Save the Day (Mighty Mouse)

Here I come to save the day!

That means that Mighty Mouse is on the way!

Comedian Andy Kaufman famously utilized the theme song as part of his act. As a matter of fact, more people may be familiar with the character & the tune thru the association with Kaufman than by actually watching the various television shows & theatrical shorts produced since 1942.

84 Green Acres (Green Acres)

Green Acres is the place to be

Farm livin’ is the life for me

Land spreadin’ out so far and wide

Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside

Having its original CBS run from 1965-71 means I wasn’t born yet when Green Acres was a Top 10 show. However, growing up in the 1980s means reruns of such programs were ubiquitous. I can’t say it really frosted my cupcake like other old shows I enjoyed such as The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, or Sanford & Son, but the theme song, performed by series stars Eddie Albert & Eva Gabor, is quite memorable.

83 Fame (Fame)

Fame!

I’m gonna live forever

I’m gonna learn how to fly high

Fame!

I’m gonna live forever

Baby, remember my name

Irene Cara’s life was far too brief, but she did leave a legacy that includes two absolute bangers. She wrote & performed the theme song for the 1983 film Flashdance (winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the process), and also starred in & performed the theme song for the 1980 film Fame, which was adapted into a television show that aired for six seasons.

82 Moonlighting (Moonlighting) 

Some walk by night

Some fly by day

Some think it’s sweeter

When you meet along the way

Moonlighting was one of those shows that I was aware of but not that interested in. I may have watched a few episodes when I was really bored, but otherwise it really didn’t register on my radar. Having said that, the Grammy nominated title tune written & performed by R&B legend Al Jarreau once topped the Adult Contemporary charts and was a sophisticated departure from typical TV themes of the era.

81 I Don’t Want to Wait (Dawson’s Creek)

I don’t want to wait for our lives to be over

I want to know right now what will it be

I don’t want to wait for our lives to be over

Will it be yes or will it be sorry?

I am comfortable enough with my smoldering machismo to admit that I went thru a Dawson’s Creek phase around the turn of the century. I don’t remember how it started, but I believe I began watching sometime during the 2nd or 3rd season. Perhaps it was earlier. I was in my late 20’s at the time, which was certainly outside the target demographic. Anyway, I make no apologies for my affection toward Lil Joey Potter, Pacey, and the rest of the gang from Capeside (which was actually set in Massachusetts despite clearly being filmed in North Carolina). The song is synonymous with the show, which I suppose is the point. Singer Paula Cole never became as big of a star as contemporaries Alanis Morrissette & Jewel, but Dawson’s Creek cemented her musical legacy.

Stay tuned for Part 3!!

100 Memorable TV Theme Songs – Part 1

It is rare that I peek into the ol’ vault and decide to delete something. I stand behind the things I’ve written, good or bad, even when my thoughts on the subject may have matured or evolved. Having said that, when one has been offering up little pieces of their own soul, no matter how trivial it may be, I suppose it is inevitable that the universe shifts in unexpected ways and the prism used to view topics a decade ago sheds new light. Such is the case today. Ten years ago I ranked my 25 Favorite TV Theme Songs, and while revisiting that whole thing I decided that I could do better and dive deeper. So the old entry is gone, to be replaced by this expanded series. Enjoy.

100 Dear John (Dear John)

Dear John

By the time you read these lines, I’ll be gone

Life goes on, right or wrong

Now it’s all been said and done, dear John

I love Judd Hirsch. Taxi. NUMB3RS. Independence Day. Guest starring on The Big Bang Theory. The man is an under appreciated treasure. In the late 80’s/early 90’s he starred in a quiet little sitcom about a middle-aged man & the support group for divorcees that he attends in Queens, NY. The theme song is a vaguely melancholy tune that explains the premise of the show. 

99 Bad Boys (Cops)

Bad boys, bad boys

Whatcha gonna do?

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Be honest…more than once, in the past three decades, you have quoted the song when you see a police car or hear stories about a crime being committed. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full episode of the show, but its theme is seared into my brain.

98 Dragnet (Dragnet)

Dum…de DUM DUM…..

The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It’s a show that came & went long before I was even born, but the terse, instrumental theme music with accompanying narration became ubiquitous. There is a 1987 big screen comedic adaptation starring Dan Aykroyd & Tom Hanks that is such a bad movie it is weirdly entertaining. 

97 Stand (Get A Life)

Stand in the place where you live

Now face north

Think about direction, wonder why you haven’t before

Now stand in the place where you work

Now face west, think about the place where you live

Very few people likely remember the unremarkable Fox sitcom starring Chris Elliott as a clueless paperboy still living with his parents in his 30s. It only lasted two seasons in the early 90’s. However, the theme song had been a Top 10 hit for alt rockers REM.

96 Superhero (Entourage)

My mind had been enabled

In a memory you overflowed

Want to be your superhero

Even if I tumble fall

I’m ok

You have that effect on me

But I need you desperately

I loved Entourage. It is undoubtedly one of HBO’s coolest original programs. Jane’s Addiction, best known for their Grammy nominated hit Been Caught Stealing, offered an edgy, rock theme song that fit the tone of the show nicely.

95 I Don’t Want to Be (One Tree Hill)

I don’t wanna be anything other

Than what I’ve been tryna be lately

All I have to do is think of me

I was not the target demographic for One Tree Hill. In the longstanding tradition of teen dramas like Beverly Hills 90210 and Dawson’s Creek, it explored the friendships, romances, family drama, and rivalries amongst a group of high school kids. Conversely, I was in my 30’s at the time. That being said, the show held my interest for perhaps the first 2 or 3 of its nine seasons, and the theme song by Gavin DeGraw was a banger that became a Top 10 hit.

94 Life Goes On (Empty Nest)

Rain or shine, I’ll be the one

To share it all as life goes on

We share it all, as life goes on

You might remember Billy Vera for his mid-80’s ballad At This Moment, which went to #1 on the charts. However, Vera also dabbled in acting and wrote a couple of television theme songs. Empty Nest was a Golden Girls spinoff about a widowed Miami doctor whose adult daughters move back in with him, and the song alludes to the importance of having people with whom to share life’s ups & downs.

93 Gimme A Break (Gimme a Break!)

Gimme a break

I sure deserve it

It’s time I made it to the top

Joey Lawrence achieved teen heartthrob success on 90’s sitcom Blossom, but he started several years earlier as a precocious child, the son of a widowed cop whose wife’s best friend moves in to care for the family. Series star Nell Carter, a Tony Award winning Broadway singer, belted out the upbeat theme song.

92 Princes of the Universe (Highlander)

Here we are, born to be kings

We’re the princes of the universe

Here we belong, fighting to survive

In a world with the darkest powers

Did you know that rock n’ roll royalty…British icons Queen…contributed to a television show?? Full disclosure…I never watched a single episode of Highlander, although I do have a vague recollection of seeing the movie on which it is based. It’s just not my cup o’ tea. However, who doesn’t love Queen?? I am surprised the song wasn’t a bigger hit, although I suspect that has something to do with the film & television show appealing to an eclectic yet narrow audience.

91 According to Our New Arrival (Mr. Belvedere)

All hands look out below

There’s a change in the status quo

Gonna need all the help that we can get

According to our new arrival

Life is more than mere survival

We just might live the good life yet

The show itself has a surprising pedigree. It is based on a 1947 novel, which was adapted into an Oscar nominated film starring Maureen O’Hara. It is likely that most people remember the television show because it co-starred baseball legend & beer pitchman Bob Uecker. The theme song was performed by Leon Redbone, who, in addition to having one of the coolest names in music, also had an unmistakable voice that was ubiquitous in the 80’s & 90’s.

Stay tuned for Part 2!!

Weekend Movie Marathons: A Christmas Carol

It’s A Wonderful Life. White Christmas. Die Hard. Home Alone. There certainly isn’t a shortage of classic holiday films to enjoy this time of year. Though Hollywood tends to shy away from the real Reason for the Season, they have produced a plethora of delightful Christmas-centric entertainment thru the decades. One reliable source that moviemakers have returned to over & over again is Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Y’all know the gist of the story so I won’t bore you with a recap. Suffice to say that it has been adapted into countless movies. Some stick pretty close to the book, while others take the plot and twist it in all sorts of ways. It isn’t easy to choose just a few of these for a weekend of viewing, but hopefully we’ve accomplished the task well.

Friday Night

Scrooged

Bill Murray doesn’t portray elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, but his cynical television executive Frank Cross is the perfect 20th century embodiment of the character. An eclectic supporting cast that includes Bobcat Goldthwait, Robert Mitchum, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr, and Lee Majors is inspired fun. If you enjoy dark comedy it hits all the right notes, and might have the best ending of any adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Saturday Matinee

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Kids of all ages can enjoy a version of A Christmas Carol by The Muppets. Two things need to be noted. First is the performance by Michael Caine as Scrooge. Though all of his co-stars are…obviously…puppets, the Academy Award winning actor made the brilliant choice to “play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company” and “portray Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role”. Secondly, it’s actually rather faithful to the source material, all things considered.

Saturday Night

A Christmas Carol (1951)

It is generally considered to be the best adaptation of the book, and Scottish actor Alastair Sim is always ranked among the greatest portrayers of Ebenezer Scrooge. It departs from the source material by adding a subplot about a malevolent businessman who lures young Scrooge to the dark side, and makes changes to the backstories of Scrooge’s sister & fiancee. I have mixed feelings about filmmakers taking such creative liberties. That’s one advantage modern society has…today there would be a plethora of interviews online & on TV with the director explaining those choices.

Sunday Matinee

A Christmas Carol (1938)

At the time the movie was made MGM had already produced a number of film adaptations of literary classics…A Tale of Two Cities, Romeo & Juliet, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield…and they preferred the movies be lighthearted & family friendly. Therefore this is a rather sanitized version of A Christmas Carol. No wailing phantoms. No starving children. No thieves stealing Scrooge’s stuff. His fiancee Belle is nowhere to be seen. The tone is pretty cheerful given the subject matter. However, within those odd parameters it works. When I was a kid it was shown on television almost as much as It’s A Wonderful Life.

Sunday Night

Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Am I weird?? I adore this version, but many people seem to dislike it. I’m not really a Jim Carrey guy, but utilizing his unique talents to portray multiple characters in an animated film is perfect. I’m also a big fan of motion capture, which isn’t necessarily a consensus opinion. It might be one of the most faithful adaptations of the book, which seems to be more important to me than the average moviegoer. Are some of the special effects a bit over-the-top?? Yes, but I’m okay with that. The tone is dark, but anyone complaining about that hasn’t read Dickens’ story. We’ve been conditioned thru the years to accept diluted stories that borrow the broad strokes of Dickens but reduce the impact for various reasons. Director Robert Zemeckis mostly avoids those pitfalls in this case, so kudos to him for that.

WEEKEND MOVIE MARATHONS: John Candy

Thanksgiving is drawing near, so it feels like the perfect time to give some love to John Candy. I first encountered Candy on SCTV, a Canadian alternative to Saturday Night Live presented as a fictitious television network with all sorts of wacky content. It aired after The Tonight Show on Friday nights here in The States for a few years in the early 80s and launched the careers of Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, and Candy. Even while that show was still going Candy had small but memorably amusing roles in films like The Blues Brothers, Stripes, & National Lampoon’s Vacation. Unfortunately Hollywood’s obsession with tall, dark, & handsome (and thin) precluded him from becoming a classic leading man, but he left behind a solid and very funny filmography that I’m happy to explore.

Friday Night

Uncle Buck

It’s probably the first movie you think of when someone mentions John Candy, which is appropriate since he almost singlehandedly carries the whole thing as unkempt & unemployed Buck Russell, a middle aged, feckless, cigar smoking ne’er-do-well who spends most of his days drinking and betting on horse races. He is called upon to babysit his brother & sister-in-law’s three children while the parents tend to a family emergency. It is a unique amalgamation of the buddy comedy & fish-out-of-water formulas because Buck is definitely out of his depth. The two little kids (portrayed by Gaby Hoffman & MacCauley Culkin just one year before he stumbled into superstardom) think their uncle is weird, but get along with him just fine. Conversely, their teenage sister is in a rebellious phase and clashes with him. Hilarity ensues. My definition of a good movie has always focused on whether or not we still enjoy watching it decades later on a lazy vegg day spent on the couch, and Uncle Buck definitely qualifies. It is quintessential John Hughes and classic John Candy.

Saturday Matinee

Only the Lonely

If you haven’t seen it you really should. Writer/producer/director Chris Columbus is essentially John Hughes 2.0, having been responsible in one way or another for classics like The Goonies, Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, two Harry Potter films, and Christmas with the Kranks. Columbus wrote & directed this dramedy about a middle-aged Chicago cop whose relationship with a shy funeral home beautician is complicated by his domineering mother. The cast, which includes Candy, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Quinn, and Jim Belushi, is delightful, but it’s the inclusion of screen legend Maureen O’Hara that gives the movie gravitas. O’Hara, best remembered as the mother in Miracle on 34th Street and for co-starring in several John Wayne westerns, had been retired for two decades and living in The Virgin Islands, but Columbus successfully wooed her back to Hollywood for one final big screen role.

Saturday Night

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

Soon enough many of us will spend much of our downtime consuming Christmas movies that we’ve all seen a thousand times, which is perfectly valid. Hell, a lot of you might’ve already started your holiday film binge last month. At any rate, as much as I love Christmas I always lament the fact that Thanksgiving tends to get the shaft in the process. However, there are a few Thanksgiving-centric entertainments, and this is the best among them in my opinion. Weather & other catastrophes wreak havoc on a Chicago ad exec’s efforts to make it home from New York in time for Turkey Day, but his chief annoyance is a well-meaning yet irritating salesman making the same trek. Written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, it has become an important part of my holiday tradition. I usually watch it the night before Thanksgiving, or perhaps on the actual holiday if circumstances allow. There have been rumors of a remake in recent years, and I get it, but I hope it is done respectfully, as an homage or even an unofficial sequel using the same framework with different characters. Perhaps they could even throw in a Steve Martin cameo.

Sunday Matinee

Summer Rental

A stressed out Atlanta air traffic controller is forced to take some time off, so he treats his family to an extended vacation in a popular Florida resort town. Unfortunately the trip isn’t as relaxing as he’d prefer, as a number of things go awry. This was John Candy’s first starring role, and the cast includes Rip Torn in a kind of beta version of the character he’d play in Dodgeball two decades later. The movie itself is reminiscent of a discount rendition of National Lampoon’s Vacation, which had been released a couple of years earlier. There’s a dash of Caddyshack tossed into the mix as well. It’s not a great film, but Candy’s affable charm makes it fun.

Sunday Night

The Great Outdoors

I guess one vacation-from-hell movie wasn’t enough, so a few years later Candy teamed up with Dan Aykroyd for another one, written by the incomparable John Hughes. Candy once again takes his family on vacation, this time to a quiet cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. When his affluent, snooty brother-in-law crashes the party hilarity ensues. This is probably a better film than Summer Rental simply because of the addition of Aykroyd and the script by Hughes. There has been talk of a reboot and/or sequel in recent years, although I don’t know how the latter would work without Candy. I suppose it’ll happen eventually. Not even great movies are sacred in Hollywood, and truthfully this isn’t a great movie.

WEEKEND MOVIE MARATHONS: Matthew Perry

Could our next weekend marathon BE any more obvious?? I don’t often comment on the passing of a celebrity except for the RIP tribute of the annual Sammy Awards. However, there have been exceptions in the past, and so there shall be once again.

When Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 I was a 21 year old college student. The show became a touchstone for Generation X, and despite some people in our current society determined to ruin literally everything fun who now define it as “problematic”, it is undoubtedly one of the best sitcoms of all time. The popularity of Friends made pop culture icons of the six cast members, who all went on to have mostly inconsequential film careers afterward. Having said that, there have been a few highlights, and in the wake of the tragic & untimely demise of Matthew Perry I feel that it is appropriate to give some love to his much too brief big screen library.

Friday Night

The Whole Nine Yards

In its decade of dominance Friends led to some odd combos…Aniston & Pitt, Cox & Arquette, Joey Tribbiani & spinoffs. However, I’m not sure anything could be more unexpectedly delightful than Bruce Willis starring in an action comedy with Matthew Perry. An unhappy dentist has an opportunity to solve his financial problems by ratting out an incognito mobster. There are lots of bullets & violence so it’s not your traditional rom-com, but in the nimble hands of Perry & Willis it is actually a pretty fun ride.

Saturday Matinee

Three to Tango

Courtney Cox isn’t the only Friends star to share the silver screen with Neve Campbell. Perry portrays an architect who stands to solidify his career & make bank working for a business tycoon who mistakenly believes he is gay. Not only is he straight, but he instantly falls for the wealthy man’s girlfriend. As is standard for that kind of plot confusion, dishonesty, & misunderstandings all lead to a big reveal and an obvious conclusion. There’s no way such a film would be produced nowadays, and even in the late 90’s it received a lukewarm response, but the cast is affable enough.

Saturday Night

Fools Rush In

I don’t care that Rotten Tomatoes only gives it a 34% Rotten score, I’ve always liked this movie. After an impromptu hookup between a spunky Latino photographer & a tightly wound businessman leads to a surprise pregnancy the duo decide to actually become romantically involved. Cultures clash, families insert themselves into the mess, and hilarity ensues. It is a pleasantly charming distraction with engaging leads, a terrific Vegas backdrop, and a deceptively strong supporting cast.

Sunday Matinee

17 Again

Formulaic?? Obviously. The whole trope of magically transforming into one’s younger self, having the opportunity to go back in time and fix past mistakes, has been done multiple times. However, I submit that formulas become so for a reason…they work. Some stories do it better than others, but the idea addresses a fundamental human yearning for a do over, which of course isn’t a thing in the real world. Anyhow, a likable cast that includes Perry, Zac Ephron, & Leslie Mann gives us something mildly entertaining yet ultimately forgettable.

Sunday Night

The Whole Ten Yards

When The Whole Nine Yards made $100 million+ a sequel became inevitable. A few years later an angry mob boss whose son was killed by the mobster in the first film is out for revenge. More bullets & violence follow, but it’s not as fresh & fun as the first film. Hindsight being 20/20, this is one sequel that probably shouldn’t have been greenlit, however fans of Bruce Willis & Matthew Perry will enjoy it.

WEEKEND MOVIE MARATHONS: James Stewart

Can y’all believe it’s been nearly a year since we’ve done a Weekend Movie Marathon?!?!?? I won’t make excuses, except to say that I’ve been in one of my infamous funks for quite awhile and have been a neglectful steward of this site. At any rate, poet Robert Frost famously opined that “the best way out is thru”, so that’s what we’re going to do, and I can think of no better way to accomplish the goal than to discuss one of my favorite actors of all time.

Jimmy Stewart hailed from Indiana, PA, which is about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh, which in turn is just a couple of hours from my home in northcentral West Virginia. There is actually a Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana that I’d love to visit but likely never will for various reasons. At any rate, I’ve been a big Stewart fan since I was a teenager, an obsession that probably began with my affection for all things Christmas related. That being said, we’re not discussing THAT movie today. Stewart starred in about eighty films during a career that spanned nearly six decades, and he did a little bit of everything…comedy, suspense, westerns, biopics, rom-coms. He was a versatile performer whose charm & humanity made him feel…accessible, not like an aloof movie star who’d likely scoff at you if you dared to say hello. He’s the only actor, strictly speaking, in my Hall of Influence, since I perceive Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra as singers who happened to do movies occasionally. What is presented here doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of Jimmy Stewart’s legendary career, but it showcases what I appreciate about him within the parameters of my particular entertainment palate.

Friday Night

The Philadelphia Story

It’s hard to imagine that Stewart only won one Academy Award. He was nominated five times, but took home the statue for Best Actor in 1941, overcoming competition from his good friend Henry Fonda, Charlie Chaplin, and Laurence Olivier. The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy in which he stars as a reporter covering the big wedding of a socialite (portrayed by Katherine Hepburn), which is complicated by the presence of her ex-husband (portrayed by Cary Grant). The film has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and illustrates Stewart’s ability to represent the “regular guy” while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with more glamorous colleagues.

Saturday Matinee

The Greatest Show on Earth

It’s an odd film and probably one of Stewart’s most under-the-radar performances. Four years before director Cecil B. DeMille gave us Charlton Heston as Moses in Biblical epic The Ten Commandments he & Heston teamed up for an ostentatious ode to the circus, which even as recently as my childhood was a significant piece of the American entertainment zeitgeist. Stewart has a supporting role as Buttons, a mysterious clown with a secret who no one has ever seen without makeup. The movie was a controversial winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, beating out High Noon & Singin’ in the Rain (which wasn’t even nominated).

Saturday Night

Rear Window

Stewart collaborated with director Alfred Hitchcock on four movies and this one is my favorite. I appreciate restraint & minimalism, and there’s no better example than a film that mostly takes place thru the eyes of a man in a wheelchair confined to his own apartment (a circumstance to which I can relate…IYKYK). Jeff Jefferies is a renowned photographer recovering from a broken leg. Since this was decades before The Internet & social media his only human interaction is with girlfriend Lisa (portrayed by the future ill-fated Princess Grace of Monaco) and home health nurse Stella (you may remember the actress from a key scene in Miracle on 34th St.). Fortunately (or not 👀) Jeff lives in a courtyard apartment and spends his convalescence scrutinizing neighbors that he apparently doesn’t know at all, giving them nicknames like Miss Lonelyhearts & Miss Hearing Aid. The plot thickens when he becomes convinced that a man across the yard murdered his wife, with Lisa & Stella getting roped into helping him investigate.

Sunday Matinee

The Glenn Miller Story

Glenn Miller was a successful big band leader in the 1930s & 40s whose life was cut tragically short. Jimmy Stewart just happened to be a Miller doppelgänger, so he was an obvious choice to portray the music man in a 1954 biopic. It’s an entertaining flick with great supporting performances from June Allyson & Harry Morgan (15 years before he’d become a TV star on Dragnet & two decades prior to starring in MASH) and cameos from many real life musicians, including Louis Armstrong. I was probably a teenager the first time I watched The Glenn Miller Story, and it began a lifelong appreciation of big band music.

Sunday Night

Harvey

Harvey is a unique film. Actually, it began as a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play which has had multiple revivals. Stewart portrays Elwood P. Dowd, an eccentric middle-aged man who is known to imbibe adult beverages with some regularity. Elwood’s quirkiness is quite singular because he claims his best buddy is a six foot tall rabbit, which concerns the man’s spinster sister tremendously. She decides to have her brother committed to the nuthouse and slapstick hilarity ensues. Actress Josephine Hull won both the Golden Globe & Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, while Stewart was nominated for Best Actor at both shows but won neither.

If It’s On I Will Watch It: A Middle-Aged Perspective on Field of Dreams  

Not long ago I was channel surfing on a particularly boring Saturday night and was quite pleased to happen upon Field of Dreams just as it was beginning. Sometimes I wish life was a little more exciting, but mostly I’ve come to embrace solitude & the banality of my existence. I am so thankful that I enjoy movies, music, & books. I might not ever travel the world or achieve greatness on any level, but I have the ability to amuse myself and mostly avoid drama & meaningless turmoil. There’s something to be said for contentment & simplicity. 

At any rate, I was 16 years old when Field of Dreams first hit theaters, and thru the years it has become one of my favorite movies. An uneventful July weekend is the perfect time to watch, and I realized something during my most recent viewing: the way I understand it at 49 years of age has evolved compared to how I saw it three decades ago. That seems like a pretty obvious conclusion, but I had not previously pondered the idea, and a few things dawned on me. 

First, there’s a scene near the beginning when Ray Kinsella is plowing a large portion of his cornfield to build the baseball field, and several of his neighbors watch in astonishment, calling him a damn fool for what he is doing. Not long afterward his brother-in-law, who is some sort of financier or bank official, warns Ray that he’s going to lose his farm. Now, I still fully embrace the whimsy of Field of Dreams, but I also see the perspective of the naysayers & pragmatists who think Ray Kinsella is crazy, because he is indeed absolutely nuts. Idealism doesn’t pay the bills…something that a teenager doesn’t get, but a more season adult certainly does. 

Secondly, let’s talk about Annie, Ray’s wife. Any man would be fortunate to have such a wife. My loneliness hadn’t bothered me until the past few years, but now I deeply regret not being married or having children. One of the ways I soothe myself on the matter is to look at a lot of young/youngish women (let’s say 20-something to 40-something) these days and realize that I may have dodged a bullet. I love & respect the ladies, but let’s just say they don’t make ‘em like they used to and leave it at that. Of course, while I stand by my assessment, I also realize it is a rationalization…a coping mechanism. There are Annies out there. Tough & strong-willed. Supportive. Honest without being harsh. Understanding. Willing to sacrifice, but also not afraid to put her foot down. Smart. Practical, but open to a little eccentricity. I just never found my Annie, or more accurately, haven’t been good enough for one to choose me. 

There’s another scene, set at a school board meeting, that seems a lot more true to life than I previously realized. I don’t have kids and haven’t attended many school board meetings, but I keep up with current events. While book burning is the issue in Field of Dreams, such gatherings are more likely to erupt while debating things like Covid protocols, identity politics, student safety, or sexual impropriety nowadays. Same idea though. It’s funny how Annie is portrayed as an open minded, free spirited, literature loving liberal while the school board & all the uptight parents in the audience are painted as “Nazis”. I guess even one of my favorite films isn’t immune to Hollywood indoctrination. I never noticed that thirty years ago. 

One thing I understand less now than I did back in the 80’s is Kinsella’s relationship with his Dad. He is 36 years old & afraid he’s turning into his father. What does that mean?? Why is it an issue?? My Dad & I have a really good relationship. Neither of us are perfect, but no one is, right?? I can think of alot worse things than turning into my father. In many ways I already have. Okay, okay…I get it to a degree. Though it’s not stated outright, Ray Kinsella feels like his father never did anything significant with his life. The old guy just worked, paid bills, and died. Building the baseball field is Ray’s way of making his mark…making an impact that he feels his father didn’t. I probably felt the same way when I was younger, but now a) I’ve led an even less impactful life than my father so I’m in no position to criticize, and b) Kinsella Sr. worked hard & raised his son, and I appreciate that contribution. If Ray had never built the baseball field – if all he ever achieved was being a good husband, father, & farmer – then that’d be a good life. Not everyone will live lives of prominence, grandeur, & prosperity, and that’s okay. 

On a more shallow level…..

According to my research the price of gasoline in 1989 was $1.06/gallon, which explains why the already financially strapped Kinsella doesn’t hesitate to drive from Iowa to Boston to Minnesota and back to Iowa. There’s no way anyone would do that nowadays.

By far my favorite portion of the movie are the scenes involving Moonlight Graham. Not only is time travel cool, but it’s not something you’d expect to see in an alleged sports film. I couldn’t name another Burt Lancaster performance if my life depended on it, but he is fantastic in Field of Dreams (it was his final big screen role). This part of the movie briefly touches on the infamous butterfly effect, posing the question “What would’ve happened if Moonlight had gotten a hit in his one big league game??”. Perhaps he would never have become a doctor, which would have changed the lives of countless people. I’m a sucker for philosophical ponderings like that. 

One of the things that I’ve always said about Field of Dreams is that it isn’t so much about baseball as it is a metaphor about regret, redemption, family, & the true meaning of happiness. And now I realize it’s also a story about having a mid-life crisis, but instead of buying a sports car or having sex with a 20 year old Ray Kinsella allows a mysterious voice to persuade him to build a baseball field & bring the ghosts of dead ball players back to play so at the end of the day he can introduce his Dad to his wife & daughter, which is actually a smarter choice than the car or the side chick. 

Weekend Movie Marathons: Jan de Bont

The first thing we need to do is define a few terms. First, a movie director “controls a film’s artistic & dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay while guiding actors & the crew in the fulfilment of that vision”. A cinematographer or director of photography (the two terms are interchangeable) is “the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video, or other live action piece and is chief of the camera & light crew working on such projects, responsible for making artistic & technical decisions and for selecting cameras, film, lenses, filters, etc”. Today’s subject has achieved success doing both jobs, having a hand in creating some very memorable films. 

Friday Night

All the Right Moves

When you look at de Bont’s filmography you see that one of the earliest movies he worked on that you’ve actually heard of is this overlooked 1983 gem about high school football in the kind of small, economically depressed town that many people are either trapped in or dream of escaping (oftentimes both). You may have wondered why we didn’t include it in the Tom Cruise weekend marathon since it might be one of his best performances, and now you know. Several years ago I ranked it as my 6th Favorite Sports Film, and, while my appreciation for Rebecca DeMornay on the El train in Risky Business has been duly noted I must opine that there is a scene in this movie with the lovely Leah Thompson that pre-pubescent Me liked even better. 

Saturday Matinee 

Basic Instinct

I’m sensing a theme. Okay, I’m lonely…sue me. Basic Instinct is one of those “so bad it’s good” kind of things, like Cabbage Patch Dolls, the 1960’s Batman TV show, or disco. It made Sharon Stone a star, and was the sixth highest grossing film of 1992, besting more deserving fare like Aladdin, A League of Their Own, White Men Can’t Jump, My Cousin Vinny, & Father of the Bride. Sex sells & life isn’t fair. Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Ellen Barkin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathleen Turner, & Geena Davis all turned down the role that eventually went to Stone. Perhaps they didn’t want the world to see their cooter. As the cinematographer I guess we have Jan de Bont to thank for that famous scene.

Saturday Night 

Die Hard

One of the best Christmas movies of all time!! Okay okay…I couldn’t resist. I feel like I have praised it effusively thru the years, and I’m quite sure that most have an understanding of the plot & other factoids. Whether or not you agree with my assessment of Die Hard as a holiday classic I think we can all agree that it’s one of the best action films of all time, highly regarded as a genre altering work of art. 

Sunday Matinee 

Twister

After achieving success in the 1980s & early 90s as a cinematographer de Bont moved into the director’s chair and hit a couple of early home runs. I’m not usually into disaster flicks, but there’s something about Twister that suckers me in every time it’s on television almost three decades later. Perhaps it’s the cast…Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Jami Gertz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck. Not big movie stars individually, but an ensemble of good, charming actors. You may be surprised to learn that Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, & James Cameron were all in the running to direct, but somehow de Bont jumped the line. I’d love to know more details about how that happened. 

Sunday Night 

Speed

Although I’m sure there’s more to the story, one of the reasons de Bont landed the Twister gig was that his directorial debut was such a rousing success, and he got the chance to direct Speed because the director of Die Hard recommended him. John McTiernan didn’t want to do something that he perceived as too similar to Die Hard, so he passed & suggested de Bont. I believe Shakespeare referred to such situations as the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune. Even more interesting, the lead role eventually played by Keanu Reeves was almost given to Stephen Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Wesley Snipes, Tom Cruise, or Woody Harrelson. Of those, I can only see Cruise as possibly being as good as Reeves ended up being. As for the role that made Sandra Bullock a household name, she was almost portrayed by Halle Berry, Meryl Streep, Kim Basinger, or Ellen DeGeneres. Wow…could you imagine a world in which Speed had made Ellen a movie star while Bullock’s career stalled after Demolition Man?!?!?? And speaking of stalled (to put it kindly), the sequel Speed 2 didn’t seem to affect Bullock & Reeves didn’t even participate, but de Bont has only directed two movies in the ensuing 25 years and most fans wouldn’t be able to name them if their life depended on it. Speed 2 is widely regarded as the worst sequel of all time, but that shouldn’t tarnish one’s regard for the original. 

WEEKEND MOVIE MARATHONS: Tom Cruise

In anticipation of Top Gun: Maverick coming soon to a theater near you it seems appropriate to enjoy a Weekend Movie Marathon featuring one of the biggest box office draws of my youth in the 1980s. To opine that Tom Cruise in “real life” seems a bit enigmatic would be an understatement, but I have become pretty good at separating the person from the entertainer, and one cannot deny that he is the textbook definition of a movie star (whether one considers that positive or negative is a matter of personal preference). Perusing Cruise’s filmography of over fifty movies I can confidently say that there are atleast a dozen that I have enjoyed on some level, and as many that aren’t my cup o’ tea but are generally considered pretty good by the masses. That’s a batting average any baseball player would envy. So, while my taste may not align with yours, I believe what is presented here would be a rather entertaining weekend for most. 

Friday Night 

Risky Business

Imagine the pitch…”high school kid runs a brothel out of his house while his parents are away on vacation”. I feel like that would’ve only been greenlit in the 80s. Cruise had been a supporting player in a few notable films (Taps, Losin’ It, The Outsiders), but this was the movie that made him a star. The iconic scene when he makes us all reminisce about the days of old with Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock n’ Roll is still parodied four decades later, and I’d sacrifice a limb to ride the El train with Rebecca DeMornay (that scene is seared into the memory of many men my age). Risky Business was the eighth highest grossing film of 1983 (behind Return of the Jedi & Trading Places but ahead of National Lampoon’s Vacation & ET: The Extra-Terrestrial), and it has a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, it appeals on some level to nearly everyone. 

Saturday Matinee 

Rock of Ages

Large ensemble casts are tricky. While most films tend to provide a spotlight for one or occasionally two big stars, every once in awhile a movie will come along with such a stacked lineup of well known performers that we’re immediately intrigued before we even step into the theater, but that doesn’t guarantee quality. Rock of Ages was actually a Broadway play that premiered in 2005 before being adapted for the big screen seven years later. Is it a good movie?? Not really. The cast includes Dancing with the Stars alum Julianne Hough, goofball Russell Brand, highly underrated Paul Giamatti, lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones, 90s hip-hop legend Mary J. Blige, controversial Alec Baldwin, SNL alum Will Forte, Bryan Cranston before he became famous, and of course our guy Tom Cruise, none of whom, despite being an intriguing potpourri of actors, would prompt me to watch. No, for me it’s the music…covers of a plethora of 80s hits from the likes of Journey, Foreigner, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, and many more. The plot is dumb & the performances are cheesy, but that’s not even important. Aside from the music the best part of Rock of Ages is Cruise’s scene chewing Axl Rose/Jim Morrison cosplay. If you love 80s music you won’t hate this movie.

Saturday Night 

Top Gun

Well, it is the reason we’re here, right?? It remains to be seen if making a sequel more than three decades later was a wise decision, but the original is inarguably legendary. Somewhere on this site I believe I once called Top Gun an 80s time capsule movie, and I stand by that assessment. I recently watched it again for the first time in many years, and was still entertained. 

Sunday Matinee

The Firm

The book is better, as is usually the case. However, an adaptation starring the likes of Cruise, Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter, Ed Harris, & Hal Holbrook stands pretty good on its own merits (plus, where else have we ever seen Wilford Brimley & Gary Busey in the same place??). I seem to recall that there was a bit of controversy because the ending of the film differs from that of the book. I usually get pretty riled up about such things, but in this case I am willing to overlook it. 

Sunday Night 

Cocktail

I feel like Cocktail is vastly underappreciated. The love story is pretty formulaic, but that’s not a deal breaker. There’s a fun supporting performance from Aussie Brian Brown (who is rather amusing in Along Came Polly as well), and Elisabeth Shue as Cruise’s love interest is at peak loveliness. “Flair bartending” is the term for what you see in the film, and I guess it’s a real thing. I don’t know…I don’t get out much. At any rate, Cocktail is a really interesting story for a couple of reasons. It won the 1988 Golden Raspberry for Worst Film, while that same year Rain Man (also starring Cruise) took home the Academy Award for Best Picture (there’s a reason that movie isn’t featured here). Also, while Rotten Tomatoes scores Cocktail at 7% (which, despite being atrocious, doesn’t even land it on the site’s list of 100 lowest rated films), it was the 9th highest grossing film of the year, ahead of great stuff like Beetlejuce, Scrooged, Bull Durham, and the aforementioned Oscar winning Rain Man. The dichotomy is fascinating & hard to explain. All I know is the cast is cool & the music (especially Kokomo by The Beach Boys) is delightful. Popcorn cinema doesn’t always need to be great.