Coneheads (1993)

The Coneheads came from the planet of Remulak to conquer and dominate the Bluntskulls: also known as Earthlings.
But an encounter with defensive fighter pilots forces the Conehead ship down. The Coneheads must now make a new plan: contact their home plant and “blend in” with Earthlings while waiting for rescue.
Dan Aykroyd plays Beldar Conehead with the purchased identity of Donald R. DeCicco
Jane Curtin plays Prymatt Conehead , Mary Margaret DeCicco
Michelle Burke plays their daughter: Connie Conehead

While waiting on Earth, life unfolds for the Coneheads. Beldar advances and holds several jobs always a step ahead of the INS. ( Immigration and Naturalization Service)

Prymatt gives birth on Earth to their only child: Connie. Beldar and Prymatt find a nice home where they raise Connie.
Connie even meets her first boyfriend here on Earth: Ronnie played by Chris Farley.

Any Bluntskulls met by the Coneheads never question their unusual teeth or anatomy. To the contrary, the Bluntskulls accept them enthusiastically.

The only person who questions their identity is INS Deputy Comissioner Gorman Seedling played by Michael McKean.. This happens because the Coneheads purchased an identity that had been sold to at least two previous customers. It is red tape rather than the obvious that exposes the Coneheads as “aliens”.

The songs are great fun. Tainted Love will never sound the same after Beldar... Uh Uh.
If you want to laugh Coneheads is a good pick.

1986 movie: Peggy Sue Got Married

In this fantasy Peggy Sue, played by Kathleen Turner, gets a second chance; a chance to change her life and that of her husband Charlie Bodell played by Nicolas Cage.
Peggy Sue and Charlie married right out of high school. Peggy Sue blames that for Charlie missing his chance to go to college and/or becoming a musician. She believes that is the reason for the breakdown of their marriage.

At a class reunion Peggy Sue faints and regains consciousness as her teenage self, back in 1960. But she remains aware of her adult self and future. Peggy Sue experiences the people and events around her in a way no one else can.
Will Peggy Sue change her past, her future or both? Or is destiny a real thing?

I love the idea of getting a second chance.
Or if I had done things differently would I just end up with a different list or regrets?

Starman, 1984

This was, if not Mike’s favorite movie, at least in the top five.
NASA’s Voyager missions sent golden records into space with “greetings” in many languages, images, music and information about Earth and humans. It was an ambitious invitation to extraterrestrials.
The movie "Starman" ponders the question of what might happen when extraterrestrial, Jeff Bridges as Starman, pays Earth a call.
Will Earthlings set an extra plate or sharpen the dissection knives? Not a tough call if you have watched many movies about E.T.
Most of the action concerns Starman’s journey to rendezvous with his ship and rejoin those of his own kind. He has abducted a traveling companion: Karen Allen as Jenny Hayden. At first she resists helping Starman so far as she is able. For besides kidnapping her, he has cloned her dead husband’s body to use while on Earth! But Starman gains her trust and she introduces him to Earthly things that matter, like apple pie.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981

An old, familiar favorite of mine, this is the movie that inspired Mike to collect.
In the Spring of 1985 this was playing on television. Our newborn son and I were spending the first day home from the hospital. Mike and I decided to relax and watch the movie together.
The beginning of Raiders is spellbinding. Mike and I were hooked, hearts pounding hoping Indiana, Harrison Ford, would survive the first scene though we knew the odds were good.

Then the baby fussed. Nothing we did appeased him. We had missed a big chunk of the movie by the time he settled down and we could hear. It occurred to Mike and I that our carefree movie watching, popcorn munching days were over, at least for the near future. If we wanted to follow the all action again we would have to make serious use of the VCR player; something beyond Debbie Does Dallas.
At first Mike rented. Gradually renting shifted to collecting as we came to understand that for some reason movies, like books, don’t stay “in print”.

Raiders has everything I like in a movie. It has a plot with a definite beginning, middle and end,
a leading lady(Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood) who does not simper and twist an ankle while her man is getting the snot beat out of him, very important Hollywood!! It has nail biting suspense, action, and plenty of laughs.
It one of those rare movies to which I have managed to memorize many lines. The music is fabulous and memorable and has been played during many a Fourth of July firework display.
By now there must be a whole generation who have not yet enjoyed this movie!
It gets a thumbs-up from all ten of my thumbs!

Roxanne, romantic comedy from 1987.

Mayor Deebs:,Fred Willard ” I would rather be with the people of this town than with the finest people in the world”

"Cyrano de Bergerac" written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand, is the inspiration for the movie “Roxanne”.
In the movie Cyrano is “Charlie” nick named C.D. Funny.
Played by Steve Martin C.D. has an unusually large nose, a big heart and sense of humor. He is intelligent and articulate. He will ignore nearly any offense except insults or jokes about his nose. C. D. has learned to defend himself and is quick to attack when he feels his nose has been slighted.

C.D. is the fire chief and recent recruit Chris McConnell, Rick Rossovich, is the opposite of C.D. in some ways. Chris’s nose is “normal”, he is inarticulate and shy around women. He is so shy in fact that he is unable to speak to them.

Both Chris and C.D. are attracted to Roxanne, Daryl Hannah. They join forces in a creative scheme to gain her interest. C.D. supplies the words and Chris supplies the looks.

This movie is a light hearted spin on the importance of knowing and accepting who we truly are.

"Roxanne" might be fun to watch outside under the stars. The character Roxanne’s passion is astronomy. She spots a comet, something I thought I would never live to see. So far I have seen three of them.

80's movie: Xanadu

80's movie: Xanadu
Butter the popcorn.  An uninspired painter Sonny Malone, played by Michael Beck meets his muse: Kira., played by Olivia Newton-John.
Xanadu’s plot is short and sweet but it has one and you can dance to it.
Or sing along with Olivia:
http://www.stlyrics.com/x/xanadu.htm

Danny McGuire, played by Gene Kelly,  is one of Kira’s past charges.
Together, the odd threesome sing, dance and bring all their dreams alive.

I loved “Whenever You’re Away From Me” the song and dance Gene Kelly and Olivia did together.

1955 movie: East of Eden

"East of Eden" was based on a book of the same title by John Steinbeck.
The title is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel; a story of the first murder and of the evil in man’s nature.

“East of Eden” is set in 1917 in the Salinas valley; beautiful farming country.

James Dean stars as Cal, the son of Adam Raymond Massey.
Cal has a split personality. Half the time he is fearless; jumps onto moving trains and rides to another town trying to contact his mother, the madam of a bordello. He ignores the bouncer who looks like he would have no problem smashing Cal’s head.

The other half of the time he seems to have the emotional maturity of an eight year old. Unable to stand still, chin on chest he pouts and stammers. I felt embarrassed for the kid, his emotions were shocking and disturbing for a man that age. Seeing Cal’s misery gives me the impression that much of the book has been left out of the movie.

Cal’s frayed emotions are supposed to be the result of a lifetime of enduring his father’s disapproval. The father openly favors the brother; Aron. Aron, Richard Davalos. Aron is not overly bright or ambitious and I am guessing, has always been easily manipulated by the father. Although clearly more intelligent and capable than Aron, Cal is constantly reprimanded by the father while Aron is showered with praise.. The more Cal tries to win the father’s approval, through inventive ideas and hard work, the more he is reprimanded.

Cal and Aron’s mother is Kate: Jo Van Fleet. The brothers have always believed the father’s story that the mother died when they were born. Apparently they are twins although this is not really clear in the movie. The truth Cal discovers is that the mother abandoned the husband and both sons when they were infants. Cal believes he must remind the father of her and that she, like he, is inherently bad.

Ironically, the father’s ambition was to leave behind something worthwhile. He wanted to be the farmer to bring refrigeration into farm operations. His enduring legacy; his sons, he managed to destroy.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

As he was a nice guy, Mike occasionally bought a DVD with me in mind. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was one of those. This movie always makes me happy. Rocky Horror is a spoof of the wonderful old science fiction movies made in the 50's and 60's. It is very loosely based on the Frankenstein story.

It was a dark and stormy night...
Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, A.K.A.: A..hole and Chicken Legs, ( Berry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) are taking a very long drive without a spare tire. This is the first of several brilliant decisions they make which lead the plot along.
They get a flat. Well, how about that?
“Didn’t we pass a castle...?”
“Maybe they have a telephone we could use?”

At the castle Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) is “making a man, with blond hair and a tan”: Rocky.
When Rocky runs amuck Frank-N-Furter wonders if he made a mistake splitting his brain...
Ahhh, what are the odds? 50-50?

In the late 70's, when I lived in Portland, Oregon, the Clinton Street Theater was a few blocks from my apartment. Every Saturday near midnight a crowd of Rocky fans gathered on the sidewalk to wait for the theater doors to open. Many were in skimpy, sequined costumes.
I had to see this movie! The audience was armed with flashlights, toast, newspaper, rice and I don’t remember what all. Clinton Street Theater has a stage. Throughout the movie, costumed fans walked out on the stage to deliver lines and sing along with the actors on the screen. People staying in their seats participated by using the props they had brought in and making scripted comments. What fun! See it and if you are bold, “be it”

1946 movie: "The Yearling"

Mike taped this one on VHS ages ago. "The Yearling" is a wonderful tribute to fathers. The movie is based on a book of the same title by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings written in 1938.

Gregory Peck plays Ezra 'Penny' Baxter. The movie starts with his return from the Civil War in 1878. Ezra wanted to live as far from civilization as possible. He found his retreat in the scrub country of Lake George Florida. There he made a home for himself, wife Orry, played by Jane Wyman and only surviving child: Jody played by Claude Jarman Jr.
There in the scrub country they scratched out a living. With work and planning they could manage their basic needs. Anything beyond their basic needs involved luck and sacrifice.

Remoteness from civilization came at a heavy cost. A doctor might be a day or more away. Shopping also involved a long trip and there was no school for Jody.

Jody grew up an only child. His four siblings were buried on their farm. Jody was lonely and having no playmates; longed for a pet.

Ezra, wanted to delay the day when Jody would have to give up the carefree joy of childhood and accept the hard reality of life: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you don’t eat you starve.
It’s not much of a world, but it’s all we’ve got. Ezra Baxter

If you have children you know how hard it is to watch your child experience life’s painful lessons, especially if you are not sure which cost is greater: the lesson or not learning it.
After much contemplation, Ezra decides to let Jody raise an orphaned fawn and spend one carefree summer just being a kid. The whole family must share the consequences of that decision.

If you have children I recommend both the book and the movie. The Yearling is a wonderful read-aloud book. There are many character voices to play with and the unfamiliar can be explained when it is encountered. For the same reasons I highly recommend reading aloud: "Summer of the Monkeys", also by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.
I read a chapter of this every day to our son when he was twelve. Mike was soon drawn into this story and we began waiting for him each day before reading the next chapter.

I see "The Yearling" is available on DVD now too.

movie: Grease

The musical Grease of 1978 is pure fun. It is the story of High School Seniors Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Sandy Dee (Olivia Newton-John).

Sandy and Danny spend their Summer vacation together enjoying a short but happy romance. Believing they will never meet again they sing their goodbyes at summer’s end. Of course they do meet again. They attend the same school. They spend their Senior year circling one another trying to re-connect without looking desperate or obvious to their respective chums: the Pink Ladies for Sandy and the Thunderbirds for Danny.

I loved the Pink Ladies sleepover. It has the Ipana song with Bucky Beaver on an old black and white. There is also an old paint-by-number hanging over the bed, unfinished though. You can still see the numbers printed on the canvas.
For munchies the girls share Twinkies and wine.
Marty: (Dinah Manoff) "Twinkies and wine!?"
Jan: (Jamie Donnelly) "Says right here it’s a desert wine. Itallian Swiss Colony, Wow! It’s imported!"

After Mike and I had been married a couple of months Mike confessed that he had been “in love” with Olivia Newton-John and originally had planned to marry her. Obviously he met me.

Olivia belts out songs in her sweet but powerful voice. Her last song is a duet with John Travolta: “You’re The One That I Want”. She sings and dances her way through this in an amazingly tight looking pair of black pants and heels. At any moment it seems she might turn blue, gasp, stumble, or miss a step. But she moves flawlessly.

When John Travolta did the Greased Lightening song I reconnected Mike’s surround sound. And it was good.

Lord of the Flies, 1963 black and white version

This movie is based on "Lord of the Flies", a novel by William Golding.
This is the story of a controlled experiment. Here are the variables:
you are a child,
stranded on an island
all your luggage, supplies and the airplane that carried you are underwater
Pretty horrible right? It gets worse. You are not alone. You are with a bunch of mostly prepubescent boys and some too young to survive without your help.

Into this island test tube two leaders emerge: Jack, (Tom Chapin) the oldest of the group. Jack demands the children listen to him because he is the oldest boy and used to authority. And the other boy, Ralph. Though not as old as Jack , Ralph (James Aubrey) is one of the four older boys. Ralph is not interested in leadership so much as in going home. It is obvious to Ralph that if any of them are ever to be rescued they will need a plan, a leader and they will need to work together.
The boys are put off by Jack’s arrogance so leadership is put to a vote and that burden is put on Ralph.

With the help of Piggy, (Hugh Edwards) another of the older boys, Ralph makes a reasonable plan, the area will be explored, a signal fire will be built and maintained, food and shelter are in the works.

Things go horribly wrong. Although Jack accepted the leadership vote as fair he never actually gave up the pull for control. His influence on the boys is constant and disruptive. As in “The Ox-Bow Incident” people make that subtle shift from thinking as individuals to thinking as a group. The boys gradually split. Simultaneously, bit by bit, civilization falls away . The resulting mob moves off with Jack leaving only the smaller, helpless boys with Ralph and Piggy.
“Why are things going wrong?” Piggy
That is the question we can try to puzzle out as we read the book or watch this movie; when, why, and how do things go wrong? What I think: things never start going wrong. That is always happening.

I hope this book is still read in public schools. I remember reading it in the Junior year.
The teacher used this book to explain what it meant to identify with a character. We were each to write down the boy’s name we had identified with. About 50% of our class had identified with Ralph and the rest with Jack. Two or three had identified with Piggy. The teacher read out from her answer book what our choices supposedly revealed about our personalities. I patiently waited but apparently my boy was not one of those in her answer book.

“We are the beasts” Simon (Tom Gaman)