Tuesday, May 03, 2005

that's all they really waaaaaaaaaaant

when we're talking about movies, i'm always that person toward whom everyone else turns and in unison says, 'YOU NEVER SAW [insert blockbuster movie made any time before the early '90s here]?!?!?!?!'

this doesn't come to light very often, because when you have a cable-less childhood, you learn to pick up subtle hints in other venues of entertainment. i found out how 'the crying game' ended because of late night talkshows, i picked up the premise of 'ghostbusters' from the radio and you can learn a whole hell of a lot about a movie from a 30-second trailer. (often too much, some say, but because of this, trailers are often my favorite part of the moviegoing experience)

in the last few years i have managed to knock out a few biggies: jaws, beverly hills cop, steel magnolias, footloose, uncle buck, christmas vacation, the godfather, taxi driver and the graduate, to name a few.

but the movie pick for this evening was one i am kicking myself for not seeing when i was a teenager, when i could have truly appreciated it.

'girls just want to have fun'

funky outfits, funky hair, sneaking out of the house for clandestine romance and DANCING. what's not to love?

and good god, does helen hunt look exactly the same. sarahjparker has matured a little, but i spent the movie subconsciously looking for hank azaria in the background walking a dog. it was also fun to see shannen daugherty actually as a snotty prepubescent, instead of just acting like one.

overall, i was very happy with this one. some of these other catchup flicks have been all hype. or too dated to enjoy. i get to the end and think about how i could have better spent 2 hours. but at least i can cross one more off the list.

thank heavens for netflix.
next up: any of the terminators

3 comments:

omar said...

I'm the same way with movies since 1990. I always miss references to 90's blockbusters like Titanic, Braveheart, etc. At first I just wasn't interested, now I don't see them out of spite.

My wife (then girlfriend) went on a mission to see all of the AFI Top 100 films. It came out in '98, she finished by 2001. She was largely disappointed. This just fed my lack of desire to see "blockbuster" movies.

highcontrast said...

how could you have left 'Dunstin Checks Out' off your "list of biggies"??? that was the one you could never stop talking about....

cadiz12 said...

you know, omar, i had AFI's list of best romances and i was trying to cross them off one by one, but after i was so disgusted by 'barefoot in the park' that i threw it out. they must not know anything. you've now given me reassurance that i made the right decision.

hc, i wasn't going to even dignify that with a response, but i have to say, it's DUNSTON CHECKS IN! and my little brother rented it, for pete's sake. besides, i saw it relatively close to when it came out, so it's not on the i-missed-it list.