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Discovering Unofficial Movie Trilogies

Posted in 80s, movies, pop culture with tags movies, pop culture on July 7, 2010 by Paxton

I was talking with Shawn Robare of Branded in the ’80s over Twitter a while ago (click here to follow him) and he came up with a great movie game: unofficial movie trilogies. The idea was to name three movies that weren’t sequels or remakes of each other, but had some type of over-arching connection through subject matter or archetype. Shawn originally focused his trilogies on ’80s movies, but I started ignoring his “rules” and opened it up to include ’70s – 2000s. However, after doing this, I noticed the majority of our answers did in fact come from the ’80s and ’90s.

So, we tweeted back and forth different lists of movies we grouped together in these “unofficial trilogies”. Just looking at the movie titles you couldn’t tell what they may have in common, but when you look deeper, the connection becomes apparent. It reminded me of that board game, Tribond.

In TriBond, for those that don’t know, you are given three seemingly unrelated things and you have to name what they have in common. For instance, on the box above, you have pie, Earth and bread. How are those three things related? The answer, they all have a crust. See? How about another one; Florida, door, piano. What do they have in common? Give up? It’s keys. They all have keys. Clever right? Well, that was Shawn’s idea, relate three previously unrelated movies. So we went back and forth giving our answers and we came up with some good ones. I thought I’d share them with you guys and let you in on the fun.

As a special treat, Shawn has agreed to write a companion piece over on Branded in the 80s. I’ll be discussing my list of movie trilogies here at the Cavalcade (you are reading it now) and Shawn will discuss his list of movie trilogies over on Branded. It was fun to do this with Shawn and I think you guys are going to like it. Let’s get started.

Tim Matheson “Eric Stratton” trilogy – In 1978 Tim Matheson played Eric Stratton in Animal House. It was a classic role that pretty much jump started his career. Don’t get me wrong, Tim was in a crap-ton of stuff before Animal House, but Eric Stratton would pretty much define his career. Not surprisingly, Tim would play a similar irreverent jokester character, Bob McGraw, in the 1984 college romp, Up the Creek. I couldn’t find a trailer, but here’s a funny 5 minute clip from the movie. Then, to cap off the hat trick, Tim would play Van Wilder’s dad in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, thereby coming full circle as Animal House was also by National Lampoon and in the movie Van’s dad is inferred to also be a former partier. As an adendum, Tim would play a famous college alum in American Pie: Book of Love (2009). He would appear in a scene with other actors who portrayed famous high school/college characters like Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell), C Thomas Howell (Red Dawn, My Secret Admirer), Christopher Knight (Brady Bunch) and Robert Romanus (Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Kevin Costner “Crash Davis” trilogy – In 1988 Kevin Costner made Bull Durham and introduced the world to “Crash” Davis, catcher extraordinaire and mentor to “Nuke” LaLoosh. It was a career defining role and one many consider to be his best. In 1999 Costner would return to the baseball diamond in For Love of the Game. Costner played a pitcher, Billy Chapel, about to pitch the last game of his career. Then, in 2005, Costner played retired baseball player, Denny Davies in Upside of Anger. While Billy Chapel wasn’t as irreverent and funny as Crash, Denny Davies was every bit as irreverent and funny as Crash. I’m surprised they didn’t just name him Denny Davis and maybe have one mention of his nickname being Crash or something. The roles are really that similar. I was close to putting Tin Cup in this group mainly because that character is essentially “Bull Durham on a golf course”, but I like the idea of three baseball movies.

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A review of the Back to the Future trilogy on its 25th birthday plus Blu-Ray news

Posted in 80s, Back to the Future, movies, pop culture with tags anniversary, Back to the Future, movies, pop culture, Time Travelogues on July 3, 2010 by Paxton

Back to the Future opened 25 years ago today on July 3, 1985.

I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. I saw Back to the Future during the Summer of 1985. If it wasn’t opening day, it was very close. My dad took me right after school to go see it. I loved it. That summer I saw it at least 8 or 9 more times in the theater. I was able to do that because during the summer of 1985 our local radio station I-95 had a promotional movie night on Mondays where it was $1.95 to see a movie and soda and popcorn were $.99 each. We went nearly every week. And every time I saw Back to the Future again. It was the spectacle of this movie that instilled in me a deep love for movies and watching them in the theater. Back to the Future was really the first movie I consciously wanted to go see more than once while it was at the theater. I’ve been a movie whore ever since and I’ve owned this movie and its sequels in nearly every home video format since. I had the VHS, Laser Disc, DVD and I will soon have the Blu-Ray.

Speaking of Blu-Ray, before I get to the reviews, it was announced this week that the Back to the Future trilogy would be released on Blu-Ray on October 26, 2010. Here’s the box art from DVDActive.com (click the image to see the whole article).

(Via DVDActive.com)

I love that cover. The extras are voluminous, too. It says it contains a new 6 part documentary, but previous releases had 3 part documentaries (which the article mentions are included as archival footage). So they filmed another “making of” documentary? Why? These documentaries tend to be repetitive because there’s not much else to say about the making of these movies 25 years later. That juice has been squeezed. I’m more interested to know if the Back to the Future The Ride footage will be included. Or the scenes filmed with Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly. These are the things that have been missing from the last few releases of the trilogy. Regardless I’m looking forward to see the new High Def transfer.

Now on to the movie reviews.

Back to the Future (1985) – Similar to when I watched the Karate Kid right before the remake opened, I am charged up after watching Back to the Future for the first time in a few years. Like Karate Kid, it is a nearly perfect film. Every scene is entertaining and all of the actors bring their A game. Michael J Fox is great as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd is also great as Doc. This is good because the entire movie only plays if Doc and Marty have chemistry, and they do…in spades. The entire movie is extremely entertaining and is edited to a very brisk pace from scene to scene. It seems like almost every line early in the movie pays off at some point in the end. I mean, this script is tight. I found myself saying all my favorite lines along with the actors while watching the movie. “What’re you lookin’ at, Butt Head. Say ‘Hi’ to your mom for me.” “A portable television studio. No wonder your President has to be an actor, he has to look good on television.” “Who in the hell is John F Kennedy?!” It’s so much fun! And the gag at the end with the flying Delorean is just as great as you remember, “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need…roads.” I have the first DVD release of the trilogy which, I didn’t realize, does not have the To Be Continued… title card at the end of the first movie. I know it was not a part of the original theatrical release of the movie, but it was a little disappointing not to see it. It’ll be interesting to see if it’s on the Blu-Ray release. So, I can happily say I wholeheartedly recommend this movie. It’s a fun family romp that’s endlessly entertaining, never boring and just loads of fun to watch. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t decide they need to remake it. Because then I may have to activate Operation Burn Hollywood to the F’n Ground. No one wants that.

Back to the Future Part II (1989) – Part II has fans divided. Many actually hate it. I admit, when I first saw it in the theater, I was a tad disappointed. It hadbeen 5 years since the original came out and my enthusiasm had bubbled up to an unattainable level. I enjoyed the movie but not as much as I’d hoped. Some of it was the fact that the movie’s tone was a bit darker. A lot of exposition and action was crammed into this movie. The heroes traversed three separate time periods. It was dizzying. However, after years of watching this movie, it has slowly made it up into the second spot on my Back to the Future favorite list. Watching Part II again for this anniversary, it only confirmed that I did really enjoy the movie. The hover board chase in 2015, the alternate 1985-A and revisiting the first movie from a different point of view all make for a truly entertaining movie. Plus, in my last few viewings of the trilogy, I’ve come to be really impressed with Tom Wilson’s performances as the different incarnations of Biff. He is really funny, goofy and terrifying as the ever present bully. He’s become a stand up comedian, and a pretty funny one at that. Check out his Question Song on YouTube. It’s hilarious. One gripe about this movie, it’s almost a bit too long. The stuff at Marty’s house in 2015 where Michael J Fox plays like 4 characters, that could have been cut in half. It’s not my favorite part of the movie and seemed more gimmicky and not necessary than the rest of the movie. I also don’t like how all of a sudden Marty hates being called a chicken. Where the hell did that come from? I realize it drives the whole “crash into the Rolls Royce” subplot but it’s off putting. Other than that, pretty much everything in 2015 (except the “old Marty” stuff) and most of the stuff in 1955 is great. I still really enjoy this movie. Quick trivia, in 2015, when Marty plays the Wild Gunman video game in front of two kids, one of those kids is Elijah Wood. I didn’t realize it until this very screening.

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Looking at the Back to the Future Souvenir Magazine

Posted in 80s, Back to the Future, magazine, movies, pop culture, time machine, time travel with tags Back to the Future, movies, pop culture, time travel, Time Travelogues on June 28, 2010 by Paxton

This week is Back to the Future week on the Cavalcade of Awesome to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the original Back to the Future movie on July 3. Today we look at the Back to the Future Souvenir Magazine.

In the ’80s it was fairly common practice to release souvenir magazines and books with the release of big tent pole movies. These magazines would provide story details, lots of movie stills and some behind the scenes info to help promote the movie. Along with these magazines studios would release poster books as well as novelizations. Movies like Aliens, Rambo, Superman II, Star Trek IV, Gremlins and many others received both souvenir magazines and poster magazines. As an example, I myself have the 1989 Tim Burton Batman official souvenir magazine (see above) as well as the movie novelization. I also have the James Cameron directed Aliens movie magazine (to be used in a future article). Shawn on Branded in the 80s did a great writeup on the Goonies Official Souvenir Magazine. The Goonies magazine that Shawn talked about was a goldmine of deleted scenes and concepts as you can see here. The Aliens and Batman magazines I have don’t have as much behind the scenes or deleted scenes depicted in the many, many movie stills within.

Anyway, talking about movie souvenir magazines, today I want to take a look at the Back to the Future Souvenir Magazine.

Back to the Future magazine front

Released in the Summer of 1985, this was used to promote the movie’s release (as all souvenir magazines tend to do). I bought it off the rack at our local Western Supermarket because I loved the movie (which I literally saw 10 times in the theater). However, my copy was read so often it literally disintegrated in my hands after a few years. It took me a while, but I finally was able to replace my copy with a new, very near mint copy (including the poster!).

As you can see, the cover is nice and bright with a great image of the Drew Struzan poster art. It’s interesting to note that the logo for the movie on this magazine is missing the light blue outline that can be found on the finished theatrical poster. It makes for a visual difference and I like it.

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Back to the Future turns 25 this week

Posted in 80s, Back to the Future, movies, pop culture, time travel with tags anniversary, Back to the Future, movies, pop culture, time travel, Time Travelogues on June 28, 2010 by Paxton

The original Back to the Future opened in theaters on July 3, 1985. That’s right, people, my favorite (and hopefully yours) time travel trilogy turns 25 years old on Saturday. Crazy, right? Especially since the 20th anniversary of Back to the Future Part III happened just this past May and the 20th anniversary of Back to the Future Part II happened in November. Wow, I’m getting old. I saw all three of these movies in the theater.

In celebration, this will be Back to the Future week on the blog. In much the same way I did for the Part III celebration, I’ll have two or three articles pertaining to Back to the Future this week culminating in a review of the original movie on Saturday. So sit back, relax, and let me get this blog up to 88 mpg, where you’re going to see some serious sh*t.

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Watching the EncoreHD Karate Kid marathon

Posted in 80s, movies, pop culture, reviews with tags movies, pop culture, reviews on June 15, 2010 by Paxton

EncoreHD showed a marathon of all four Karate Kid movies this past weekend. In preparation for the new movie, I sat down and watched the entire series. From Crane kick to the new chick I endured the entirety of this series in one fell sweep (of the leg).

I originally saw the the first three movies in the theater. I didn’t see Next Karate Kid until several years after it hit video mainly because it looked terrible and secondly, I’m a misogynist. I remember loving the original, liking Part II but thinking it was a bit boring and really enjoying Part III. When I watched Part IV on video, I thought it was as bad as I expected it to be. Let’s see if my thoughts on these movies have changed over the years.

The Karate Kid (1984) – This is a nearly perfect movie. I enjoyed every moment of every scene. Despite being just over 2 hours, the movie felt slim and trim. It starts off with several good action scenes then it begins a slow burn with Daniel’s training finally finishing in a whirlwind set of scenes at the All-Valley Karate Championships. Macchio is great as Daniel and Elizabeth Shue is cute and fun as Ali. The best people in the movie, however, are Pat Morita as Miyagi, William Zabka as Johnny and Martin Kove as Kreese. Morita is wonderfully subtle and humorous as Miyagi. You always enjoy watching him on screen. And his fighting scene where he kicks the Cobra Kai’s asses is perfectly done. Zabka totally owns as the rich douche Johnny Lawrence. As with his other “bully” roles (Just One of the Guys and Back to School) you almost feel like he enjoys terrorizing and harassing other kids. And the collection of teens he hangs out with are just as good in their supporting roles. In this, Zabka is sneeringly wonderful. And what’s to say about the despicable John Kreese? He sulks his way through this movie spouting macho platitudes about no fear and no pain and generally getting the audience to hate him. And he does it well. This movie most definitely still holds up and I can wholeheartedly recommend this movie even today. I hope the new movie is as charming and funny as the original (a tall order, I know).

The Karate Kid Part II (1986) – Okay, like I said, when I originally saw this in the theater I thought it was only okay and a tad boring. The first ten minutes which picks up immediately after the karate tournament is fantastic and may have set the bar a little high. In that first ten minutes we see John Kreese and the Cobra Kais (yes, all five of the boys return in what is essentially a cameo) arguing about Johnny’s second place. Kreese starts beating them up then Miyagi steps in and finishes it. Totally awesome and pretty much better than the rest of the movie. Anyway, after this, Daniel tags along, uninvited mind you, with Miyagi to visit Okinawa to see his dying father. While there we meet Sato, Miyagi’s former best friend who now wants to kill him and that best friend’s mean and douchey nephew Chozen. Sato and Chozen are kind of setup as John Kreese and Johnny Lawrence characters in that they terrorize Miyagi and the village. This movie reveals an interesting fact about Miyagi’s karate; he enjoys punching people in the crotch. There’s a scene in this movie where Miyagi teaches Daniel a move where you drop a rag (or something) on the floor and and when you pick it up you use your lower position to punch your opponent in the balls. Daniel even uses this maneuver on Chozen later on in the movie. If you remember in the first movie, when Miyagi is beating up the Cobra Kais he totally kicks Dutch in the nuts. So, essentially, a “shot to the pills” is an official move in Miyagi-Do karate. That’s good to know; if you ever fight someone taught by Miyagi then protect your loins. Anyway, everything comes to a head during a hurricane, Sato switches over to the good guys and at the final festival, Daniel has to fight Chozen in a “death match” (why it’s Daniel’s job to fight in this death match, I have no idea). The fight is slightly better choreography-wise than the first movie, but again it’s straining my own personal believability that Daniel would be able to beat Chozen. I do like that Daniel actually tries to Crane kick Chozen and it gets blocked. Makes sense because Chozen was taught by Sato who was taught by Miyagi’s dad, so that technique would be familiar to him. But the “new” Crane kick, the drum maneuver, is dumb. And I hate the nose “honk” at the end. HATE IT. So, I still think this movie is a bit boring. I don’t honestly care a lot about the story, it’s not as personal to me as the first movie. And I have trouble understanding why it’s Daniel’s responsibility to fight Chozen to the death. Daniel has nothing to do with it. For me, except for the first 10 minutes, this movie was mildly entertaining at best and boring at worst.