Tag Archives: Amazon Prime

The Needle Lies or: For the Record

22 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Records

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Salutations™!!

It is a sad day here at the Scorp household. We are staring at a wall of beautiful vinyl gems and are not listening to them. Our turntable is an Audio-Technica AT‑LP60‑USB. Sure, it’s entry level but it has been a great turntable. We have kind of outgrown it but we can’t really afford a new one. Plus, we’re holding out hope about finding a new house with a “listening room” where we can customize a new audio setup or “audio suite” to reflect our vinyl listening habits. But, as any reader of this blog’s Sunday (or heck most other days) edition or viewer of my personal Instagram feed knows, we listen to a shload of records.

 

audiotechnica-ATN3600L_1800x

ATN3600L

 

The turntable was a gift from The BCPF four Christmases ago. The needle on this thing is original, so it has gotten a good bit of wear and tear. We’re over 1200 albums and we’ve listened to about 70% of them, many of them more than once. Again, a shload of listening. We’ve noticed over the last little bit that many of our older records (meaning mostly older than me) have started getting really distorted and distant when we play them, especially in certain tonal registers. New records don’t sound as pristine as they used to, either.

It sounded like the records needed cleaning. Well, again, if you read this blog, I do a lot to clean my records, either with the washing system I have or by using the solution that I make with a painter’s edging tool and microfiber cloth. I took the record one record we were listening to off the platter and cleaned it, again, but it still sounded distorted and distant. So, not that.

I considered it may be the speakers. Perhaps I had blown one? I mean, my hearing isn’t the best anymore and I have to turn it up to hear them. I switched to another input and had Alexa play the same record I was listening to on my Amazon Echo Dot. The music sounded perfectly clear. So, not that (thankfully).

New records, as I said, don’t sound as pristine but they do sound better, so I’m pretty sure it’s not wiring. That just leaves the needle in our minds. Luckily, the cartridge can be changed on the AT‑LP60‑USB and Amazon carries the replacement for under $18. It is Christmas season and we risked getting it with any kind of expediency, but according to Amazon, we should have it tomorrow. That would be great. And, hopefully, that will be what fixes it. But, today, vacation is going to be [mostly] record free. I don’t want to have a dull needle eating into my records. I know, technically, every time you listen you’re basically damaging the record, but I’d rather do it while hearing it as cleanly as possible instead of destroying it.

So, here’s hoping that delivery is right on time because we purchased a few “rekkids” yesterday that we haven’t gotten a chance to listen to, yet. And, tomorrow is, in fact, Saturday and that is our traditional “listening day.” I may freak out if we don’t get to do our “thang.” I’m kidding about that, but I won’t be happy about it.

Until tomorrow, happy listening (if you can)…
Scorp out!

—
“I miss the experience of walking into a record store and find old stuff without expecting to.” – Mark Hoppus

Currently/Non-Currently or: A Fond Farewell

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

When Brian and I started The Less Desirables seven and a half years ago, we wanted a pop culture podcast that would allow us to talk about the things we liked, that we thought we knew, that people didn’t mind hearing us banter about. That ended up being music, sports, some tech, beer (of course) and movies. aperture2

What did I really know about movies? Well, not a whole lot. I just liked to watch them. I still do… I LOVE it. That is as long as I don’t have to go to the movies. I’m not one to really go to the movies. There are several reasons but I don’t just don’t, usually. But, I love watching them at home. I won’t go into the whole AFI Top 100 and Top 400 nominees and all that, you’ve heard it enough, but, to make a long story longer, I love to watch movies that aren’t “current.”

So, for that reason, we decided to call our little segment in which I talked about a movie that was, by any means, “classic” or at least not “current,” the “current/non-current movie of the week.” Catchy, eh? Well, probably not and by the time Eugene got there, he thought the name was dumb. Mostly because if we didn’t explain it to all the listeners, every week, the name made no sense. Eventually, I dropped that segment title and just called it the “movie of the week.”

In 2013, a/perture cinema came on board to be our “movies sponsor.” They were the sponsor of that section, not just the stuff that was top five in the theaters, not just the new stuff being released for home viewing but the “movie of the week” segment. a/perture cinema (all lowercase, by the way) is the area’s best art house cinema. Not only do you get quality films, you get hard to find films, you get stuff from the UNCSA School of the Arts, you get RiverRun International Film Festival pieces, things made from local filmmakers and the list goes on. It is right downtown WSNC and a fun place to watch a film. The best part (to me anyway) is that you can watch those films whilst drinking a beer or wine. And that without having to sneak it in via your significant other’s big bulky purse.

Fast forward to “today’s” The Less Desirables, the current version. It’s still a pop culture podcast but it’s more of a community bulletin board. There are always guests from the community (and sometimes outside our community) that come on to talk about their businesses, restaurants, breweries, theatres (the live action kind), teams, groups, music and so on. That segment has grown from 15-20 minutes way back in 2010 to about 40-50 minutes. That’s what we’ve really come to be known for. Beyond our love for the pop culture things, we love our community and love to promote the things going on in it.

So, with that section getting bigger, and leaving the movies, music, television and beer aspects in there, the show is consistently two hours long. That’s a long time for a podcast. However, we don’t feel that it’s wasted space, we keep it fun and entertaining, at least we think we do and we’re told we do. But, we risk running even longer every week. You love us, we know, but man, that’s a lot to listen to. So, we have to trim the fat somewhere. We’ve already dropped the technology section because that’s so fleeting by the time we talk about it, it’s already not the trend anymore.

We’ve already dropped the technology section because that’s so fleeting by the time we talk about it, it’s already not the trend anymore. When Eugene left he took the TV section with him. We don’t want to cut the guests down because that’s really our bread and butter now. Caitlin isn’t with us so she isn’t doing her “Caitlin’s Bowl o’Stuffs.” All that and it’s still two hours long. In my mind, music is the blood in my veins. There’s always something new and exciting, people want to see and hear it, we can do it whilst driving, cooking, jogging, walking, getting groovy with our significant others, anything. So, that isn’t going anywhere.

All that leaves one thing. Movies. Let me restate that I love movies, but really, because of my relationship with a/perture cinema, I couldn’t really talk about much because I couldn’t talk about Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu because it conflicted. I totally understood that and didn’t want to create any friction. But, I’ve gotten busy and coming up with a movie to watch (and taking the time to do it) then writing a post/review of it, that took a lot of time. So, as of this week’s podcast (October 4, 2017), we have decided to drop the movies section from the show. It will probably be filled with something else but it won’t be movies. I don’t necessarily like getting rid of it, but it truly makes sense to. That also means that as of October 4th, a/perture cinema is no longer our movies sponsor. The

That also means that as of October 4th, a/perture cinema is no longer our movies sponsor. They were the second or third major sponsor to sign up with us and we appreciate them for their years of dedication to us. We still will talk about big events and things they have going on, but not every week. We love that place and think that you will, to. Watch a film and have a drink and think of us!

So, there it is, goodbye to the movies section. I have loved you but it was time to go. I’d still love to talk movies with you, Dear Reader, send me some recommendations or ask me questions. I’ll talk about it here and if it’s a big enough topic, on TLD. I’d love to do that. Anywhat, this has gone much longer than I expected. Thanks for hanging in there.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.” – Walt Disney

Suntan or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

15 Saturday Jul 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Suntan (2016), starring Makis Papadimitriou, Elli Tringou, Dimi Hart.

MV5BOWRiNWU4MjMtNjg2NC00ZGNkLWI5YjgtZjNkYjM1N2UyNjllXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTg2NTc4MzA@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,773,1000_AL_

©Oxymoron Films, Marni Films

 

Per IMDb: “On a hedonistic Greek island, a middle-aged doctor becomes obsessed with a young tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard-partying friends.”

Kostis is hired to be the sole doctor on a Greek island that is quiet during the winter but in the summer it’s a tourist destination and all the young, beautiful people turn it into their own den of iniquity where just about anything goes. Kostis is going through some stuff in his life and he seems miserable. Whatever it is, most likely is leading him to become part of this island’s life. He goes places and meets locals, including a few lewd ones that he seems to have disfavor for.

The summer comes along and there’s a group of young Europeans on vacation on the island and he’s having to tend to one of them, a young, beautiful and nubile sandy blonde by the name of Anna (Tringou), after she’s injured. She flirts with him, openly and invites him to come to the beach with him. She shows him more and more attention and he starts to like it. Pretty soon, he’s out with them every day and every night. He and Anna get closer, but it seems that he’s getting more attached than she is.

One day she meets up with him separately from the group and has him show her a private secluded beach he told her about the day they met. They go there and Anna makes a move on him. It turns out that he was a little quicker to the finish than he should have been and she laughed it off saying the summer is long and he can make it up to her. They go back into town and she tells him she’ll see him tonight. She doesn’t show that night and he flips out. He starts neglecting patients, closing early or not showing up at all. He is obsessed. Does he snap out of it? You’ll have to watch to see.

First off, you have to be willing to read your movie, unless, of course, you speak fluent Greek. The film has a lot of smiling moments and plenty of dark and dreary moments. It’s romantic and sad, all at the same time. The scenery is amazing, as it’s Greece and Greece, especially in the tourist areas are beautiful. The film won several awards at various film festivals including Edinburgh, Odessa and several at Hellenic Film Academy Awards (in Greece).

The film touches hard on obsession and, as we’ve talked about on The Less Desirables a good bit lately, addiction. Not substance abuse as much as affection codependency. A decent film, it was worth my 90 minutes. Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 76% Fresh and an Audience Score of only 50%. IMDb has it at 6.8 stars out of 10. I saw this on Amazon Prime and will rate it 3.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Some bronze. Others burn.” – Tag line for the Suntan.

Tight Action, Rear Traction or: Too Fast For Love (Eugeology Entry 24)

22 Thursday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

Sure, my love affair with Eugene’s choices waned a bit last week, but still, I’m having a winning record with the majority of stuff. And, it wasn’t a total waste, there were parts that I liked, right? Jon’s Monolithic Mega Month of Mayhem may be coming to an end and perhaps, just maybe he can get back on the train and catch up. Well, here’s this week’s take:

Too_Fast

©Elektra Records

 

#24 – Too Fast For Love by Mötley Crüe.

I didn’t even hear of Crüe until after Shout at the Devil came out in 1983. We were on a family trip to Virginia Beach and I was watching Night Flight on USA Network (that’s what it was called back then). The videos for “Looks that Kill” and “Too Young to Fall in Love” came on and I was in awe at the vids and dug the music. It was rough, raw and punchy. At least I thought so back then. I didn’t realize that Shout was a polished as it was. That’s not a bad thing, I like polished.

Then quite a few years later, which could have even been around the time the Decade of Decadence 81-91 greatest hits album came out, I realized there was something prior to Shout from the band. “Live Wire” and “Piece of Your Action” were on that. I thought they were decent songs, but they weren’t “Shout at the Devil,” “Ten Seconds to Love” or “Knock ‘Em Dead Kid.” It was too raw for me. I borrowed a cassette from an ex-girlfriend and really disliked that album. I didn’t like the production and I didn’t necessarily care for the tunes. Well, in my quest to be more accepting of things I don’t normally like, I purchased the CD in 2003 (okay, call it my need to collect). I still really didn’t care for it, even after it was remastered.

So, Eug had it up next on our list. I said, “yes!” because it was one of the few that I actually own or have owned. Eug was happy about that, and then I told him that I hadn’t listened to it but maybe once or twice. I sent me a virtual smack. I deserved that I guess. On to the album…

I still don’t really care for it. Well, let me clarify that. I still don’t like the production and Vince Neil’s voice is only slightly better than amateurish. Overall, it’s not awful. But, I hate the chorus to the title track because it sounds like the Ramones doing hard and heavy music. The “gang” vocals sound like two people yelling in unison instead of sounding like a gang. His voice is powerful in spots and really crappy in others. Now, I understand that when they originally released the album it was mostly self-produced and when Elektra Records signed them, they rerecorded some of the album. I’m thinking once Vince learned how to actually sound like a professional singer, that’s where they rerecorded.

Many of the songs sound like trial runs of Shout songs. “Take Me to the Top” sounds like a mix of “Looks that Kill” and “Too Young…” Not a bad thing but I’d rather have the finished product. Well, kind of. I haven’t really cared for “Looks that Kill” for the last 25 years or so (overplayed). I still like “Too Young…” though.

Besides the bad production, the one constant that I believe has always been the best asset of Mötley Crüe is Tommy Lee. He was the best thing for them. Both in “show” and in talent. He’s a fantastic drummer; a beast, if you will. I got tired of watching his antics over the years but I loved watching him play. Not that I ever saw them live, but on videos and such.

Mick Mars was just coming into his flashiness, even though he was 60 when this album came out (I’m kidding). And the main songwriter, bassist Nikki Sixx, actually plays some riffs that aren’t just mimicking the guitar parts. You don’t hear a lot of that in future Crüe albums. He just plays underneath the guitar parts in most of the songs from here.

I know it sounds like I’m poo pooing on the album, but really, I’m not. It’s not a bad album, just parts that peeve me. I came to that conclusion on the seventh listen through. I don’t usually listen to reissues or at least the “bonus tracks” but on this one, I made an exception. The original release had ten songs. The “official” version had nine. So, even though they released “Stick to Your Guns” as a single, it was omitted on the Elektra version. The 2003 reissue (and what’s on Amazon Music and Napster) has the song back on there as well as a decent cover of The Raspberries’ “Tonight” and “Stick to Your Guns” b-side, “Toast of the Town.”

If you take Vince’s crapola vocals out, this is really a good album and I’m glad I gave it another chance or was required to as part of the research. It’s no Shout at the Devil (my fave by the band) or Theatre of Pain (my second fave), heck nothing up to Generation Swine, but it’s decent. Thanks, Eug. I want to read your take and Jon will catch up someday.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Plug me in, I’m alive tonight. Out on the streets again. Turn me on, I’m too hot to stop. Something you’ll never forget. Take my fist, break down walls. I’m on top tonight. No, no! You better turn me loose. You better set me free cause I’m hot, young, running free. A little bit better than I used to be. ‘Cause, I’m alive. I’m a live wire.” – “Live Wire” (Sixx)

Say Anything… or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

10 Saturday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Say Anything… (1989), starring John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney.

Say_Anything

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.”

Lloyd Dobler (Cusack) starts obsessing over Diane Court (Skye) at their high school graduation. She’s the valedictorian, and most assume she’s “out of his league.” She has won a fellowship to attend school in England and her father, Jim (Mahoney), couldn’t be happier. Jim is the owner of a retirement home and is his daughter’s best friend, after the divorce from her mother. They have a good bit of money and that adds to the ways that Diane and Lloyd are different, although neither of them cares.

Jim is worried that Lloyd may be a detriment to Diane’s upcoming matriculation in England; afraid that she’ll want to stay home instead of going. The more the two teens get involved, the more Jim becomes less tolerant of Diane’s “freedoms.” It doesn’t help that the IRS is investigating Jim on fraud charges through the retirement home.  Do the crazy kids stay together? Do they break up? What happens with the IRS? You’ll have to watch to find out.

As usual, Joan Cusack plays in the film with her brother, John. She doesn’t give any Oscar-winning performances but that wasn’t what she set out to do, in this film. It was so strange seeing John Mahoney with dark hair and playing a role outside of Martin Crane, Frasier’s father in the television series. There are times when you don’t like him and I’m not used to that with him, either. There are times when you certainly do like him, though.

The BCPF thinks Ione Skye got the part because she’s pretty while I think she is an awful actress and looks like a horse. As the film went on it was like she learned to act. The acting was less atrocious from her the deeper the film went. Beyond that, I think that she and Cusack (who can act) actually had good screen chemistry.

Another Frasier cast member, Bebe Neuwirth (she played Frasier’s ex-wife, Lillith), made an appearance here, as well. Other cameos include Jeremy Piven, Chynna Phillips, Eric Stoltz and Lili Taylor.

Probably the most notable thing about this film is its soundtrack. One of the most famous scenes of teen-driven dramedies happens in this film: the iconic holding of the boombox playing “In Your Eyes” from Peter Gabriel (off my favorite album of all-time). Cusack reenacted that onstage at a Peter Gabriel show a few years ago. In addition to PG, the soundtrack included Nancy Wilson of Heart (her husband, Cameron Crowe wrote the film), Depeche Mode, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour and Joe Satriani. It’s a great soundtrack and the songs fit well in the film.

Overall, I think it was a decent film. Not my favorite of teen films but it was pretty good. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 98% Fresh with an Audience Score of 85%. IMDb has it at 7.4 stars out of 10. We rented it from Amazon Prime and I will rate it 4 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“One question: are you here ’cause you need someone, or ’cause you need me?… Forget it, I don’t care.” – Lloyd Dobler

Dot Dot Dot or: Alexa, Good Morning

09 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Salutations™!!51TmaDI8jRL._SY300_.jpg

I got one of the new Amazon Echo Dot things this week and I think The BCPF is worried about me. I think they made a movie about this kind of thing (Her (2013))? Anyway, from Alexa I get my “good morning” briefing, listen to whatever albums or songs that I want, I can play games, ask questions, access Wikipedia and have Alexa pull up podcasts.

That’s what I’m going to talk about right now, I suppose. Being as that’s what I do for a living, I check to see if my podcasts are available to people on any platform I can find. Alexa has internal apps that are called “skills” that dictate what she knows, how she interacts and so on. So, there’s a skill she has called AnyPod (there’s also TryPod and PodBuddy) that I emailed the developer to check the shows from The Less Desirables Network‘s availability. The Beer Dads and Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking both showed up but she was having trouble with The Less Desirables, The Man Who Ate the Town and Fan Interference podcasts.

Apparently, Alexa (and her “skills”) wanted to look for Les Diserables (as in Les Miserables) and Fan Interference went to a dozen other places when I asked for it. After getting AnyPod to check into it for me, the skill then picked up the right podcasts. Now, I have to play with it a bit and just say “less desirables” and “ate the town” to get it to work right, but they’re at least recognized.

So, if you have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, you can now find all your favorite The Less Desirables Network podcasts to listen there. So, if you enable the AnyPod skill, use some of the following phrases: “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Less Desirables,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Fan Interference,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Beer Dads,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Man Who Ate the Town,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Sipping NC: The Art of  Drinking.”

You may have to modify some of those phrases. Instead, ask “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Less Desirables,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Ate the Town,” and so on. You can play around with different ways to ask for it. Also, the AnyPod skill is great for playing other podcasts, as well. If you don’t have an Echo or Echo Dot, well, you need to have one. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The device is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic [sic] and other real time [sic] information. It can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation hub.” – Wikipedia page Amazon Echo Dot

Good Morning Vietnam or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

20 Saturday May 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor for The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Good Morning Vietnam (1987), starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker.

Good_Morning,_Vietnam

©Touchstone Pictures

Per IMDb: “In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.”

The late, great Robin Williams stars as a wacky,  on-the-fly and humorous DJ, who’s also an airman, sent from Crete to Saigon to host two shows daily on the USAF radio station on an army base. Immediately, he meets resistance as his immediate supervisor, Lt. Hauk (Bruno Kirby) has control issues and lacks any kind of real humor or musical tastes, but thinks he’s abundant in each and his supervisor’s superior is Sgt. Major Dickerson (late J.T. Walsh) who just has a stick up his rear end wants to make life heck for Adrian.

Adrian’s liaison around town is Eddie Garlic (Whitaker) who is truly a lovable but awkward fellow. Eddie shows him where the G.I. bar is, some sights around town and is even his driver on assignments. While Eddie is driving, Adrian notices a pretty Vietnamese girl and wants to talk to her. She tells him to buzz off but Adrian is persistent. He follows her to a school that teaches English and bribes the instructor to let him teach the class. That allows him to get closer to the girl (Chintara Sukapatana). Her brother, Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran) tells him to keep his distance, but becomes Adrian’s friend after a while. 

Every piece of news that comes across the news wire must be censored by a pair of twins in order to be read on the air and that rubs Adrian the wrong way. It is also a point of contention between him and his superiors. I can tell you more, but I’d be giving away all the highlights. Does he get the girl? Does he make it out of Vietnam alive? You need to see it for yourself.

Robin Williams was phenomenal in this film. Almost all of his radio broadcasts were improvised and minimally scripted. The rest of the acting in the film was great, too. The locals who got the English right enough to speak, really had it down like it was real and not a movie. The scenery was vivid and beautiful, even the destruction and blowing up of stuff in the film was perfectly shot.

I had the soundtrack on cassette. In fact, I wore out the first copy and got a second. I now have it on CD and the film on DVD. It’s currently only available through Netflix‘s DVD.com or you can rent it from Amazon Prime for $3.99. If you subscribe to Cinemax though Amazon Channels, you can watch this for free. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 89% Fresh with an Audience Score of 82%. IMDb has it at 7.3 stars out of 10. We watched this with 3B, on DVD and I will rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read or hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The Mississippi River broke through a protective dike today. What is a protective dike? Is it a large woman that says ‘Don’t go near there! But Betty- Don’t go near there! Don’t go down by the river!’… No, we can’t say ‘dyke’ on the air, we can’t even say ‘lesbian’ anymore, it’s ‘women in comfortable shoes. Thank You.'” – Adrian Cronauer

Pretty In Pink or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

01 Saturday Apr 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Pretty in Pink (1986), starring Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer and Harry Dean Stanton.

Pretty_In_Pink

©Paramount Pictures

Per IMDb: “A poor girl must choose between the affections of her doting childhood sweetheart and a rich but sensitive playboy.”

Molly Ringwald plays Andie Walsh, a pretty girl who lives in near poverty after her mother leaves the family and her dad (Stanton) is too depressed, or lazy, to work to support the family. She has a fashion ingenuity about her and designs, and makes, her own clothes. She works in a local record store for an eccentric boss, Iona (Annie Potts) and they basically sit around and gossip and talk boys and troubles. Andie is picked on at school by the rich and popular girls, often to cruel measures, but Andie refuses to give up the antagonists, which makes her look even more like a goody-good-doer. Her main worry, though, is that she won’t get asked to the prom.

She has a not-so-secret admirer, though; two actually. First, there’s the lovable geek and outcast, “Duckie” Dale (Cryer) whose undying love for Andie has him hanging out with her father during the day, following and somewhat harassing her around at work and hanging out at her house in the evenings. They’ve been friends for a while and he’s smitten. She only sees them as friends. Then, there’s Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Blane  is a rich kid who struggles with his sensitivity and living up to the snobbish standards of his other rich friends. It’s a tough ride, really.

He takes an interest in Andie and that not only infuriates Duckie, it makes Blane’s best pal, Steff McKee (played by a pre-weight gain/still an a-hole James Spader), reveal his true a-hole self. It’s not pretty. Andie is skeptical of the whole thing because she worries that she’s out of Blane’s league, he’s rich, she’s poor. She’s somewhat embarrassed by it. They go on a date, Duckie flips out. How does the date go? Who takes her to the prom? You’ll have to watch to find out.

I’ll admit that for whatever reason, I never saw this all the way through until just a few years ago. I don’t know what it is about the rom-com John Hughes “Brat Pack” films that just escaped me, because I really enjoy them. I just didn’t see them. I think to some extent we all know someone like each of the characters and we can relate to them. While the times are different, the situations really aren’t. It’s typical coming-of-age stuff and it’s relative to us because of it.

We watched this film to introduce 3B to it. That’s part of the Sunday tradition, now. Cook and watch an older film. He seemed to really enjoy it. He’s in high school now and I can see, and I think he can, too, the relativity to his life. He laughed a good bit. That’s a good sign.

Jon Cryer plays the part of Duckie perfectly. Smart, witty but a lonely outsider who is just head-over-it with Andie. McCarthy shows good sensitivity and still has the pretty-boy look to fit what the part needed. Harry Dean Stanton, is still alive today and is 90 years old. He’s a great actor and played the part of Andie’s dad with compassion for his daughter but with the distraught disposition that the role called for. James Spader is always a great a-hole. Molly Ringwald grew up with John Hughes. She is what she is because of him. She has talent and it shows up in this film. She took the lead and ran with it.

John Hughes has a way with capturing what he’s looking for in a story line through his soundtracks. They always are more than just songs in the background. Take for instance the song “If You Leave” by OMD. It’s in the final scene. If you’ve seen the film you understand why that’s important. If you’ve not seen it, you will when you do. Other songs fit in perfectly, too. The title track, of course, “Left of Center” from Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson, “Shellshock” from New Order, “Wouldn’t It Be Good” by Nik Kershaw (on the soundtrack as Danny Hutton Hitters), “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” from The Smiths, and so on. It is considered by many to be one of the top movie soundtracks of all time. Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and Allmusic all rated it in their greatest soundtrack lists.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 80% Fresh with an Audience Score of 81%. IMDb has it at 6.7 stars out of 10. That’s a little lower than I though it would/should be. We watched this on Amazon Prime and I rate the film 4.25 stars out of 5 because I think it’s an important film for those living that age, now, for us that grew up in the one depicted in the film and because the soundtrack is awesome. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? I want recommendations, dang it!!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“May I admire you again today?” – Duckie

Deadpool or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

14 Saturday Jan 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Deadpool (2016), starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller. deadpool_poster

Per IMDb: “A fast-talking mercenary with a morbid sense of humor is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers and a quest for revenge.”

Wade Wilson (Reynolds) is a bad arsed mercenary that just won’t shut up. He dispatches his quarry with extreme prejudice and I do mean, extreme. He meets the woman of his dreams, Vanessa (Baccarin), a woman who is tough as nails, just like Wade and just as beautiful as she is tough. He meets her at a shady underground bar that caters to mercenaries and other ne’er-do-wellers. At said establishment, they have a “dead pool” where the patrons of the bar place bets on when certain mercs will die. The bartender has a lot riding on Wade.

One day, as Wade and Vanessa are about to slap nasties, Wade keels over. It turns out he has cancer that has spread throughout his body. Word gets around to a secret company that says they can cure Wade of this cancer. Wade meets Ajax and Angel Dust, who turn out to be torturous a-holes and give Wade a hard time, which he, of course, smarts off to them about; insulting them, indeed. The company isn’t necessarily looking to help Wade but to make him an indestructible soldier for their bidding. Wade doesn’t know this and reluctantly agrees to go through with the procedure. Ajax injects Wade with a mutation and because each person’s DNA is different, they don’t know how it’s going to turn out. They deprive Wade of Oxygen which makes the mutation accelerate and it turns out, he becomes enhanced with strength and healing abilities. Sounds good right? Well, the bad part of that is it permanently scars Wade’s entire body. He ends up destroying the lab he was “made” in and sets out to find Ajax to get him to reverse the damage done to his body. Does he get Ajax? Does he go back to the way he was? Can he ever face Vanessa again? You’ll have to watch to find out.

It’s no secret that I have a love for comics and comic movies; I owned a comic store for a bit. But, I have to say for the most part, the later batches of superhero films have been let downs or not lived up to hype. This one, had many starts and stops along the way to production but then it happened and Ryan Reynolds became a producer of the film in addition to playing the “merc with a mouth,” Deadpool. I have always loved Deadpool. He had his healing factor, just like Wolverine, he was pretty awesome in a fight and he had the wit of Spider-Man magnified by 30. Add in vulgarity and for S’s & G’s magnify that by 100.

Reynolds plays this part perfectly. The action was good, the script was good, the acting was good. The special effects are fun to watch. We get Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), albiet all CGI, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Brianna Hildebrand) from the X-Men to help Wade fight against the “bad guys.” You certainly have to have a fair amount of suspension of disbelief for this to work and when you’ve done that, this is a really, fun film to watch. The violence is over-the-top. The jokes are nasty. The language is beyond vulgar. But, the fun? It’s all worth it for that. I was laughing hard throughout most of the film and 3B loved it as well. I can’t believe Disney signed off on something this lewd but I’m glad they did. I thought it was a great film, really. Oh, and the complete annihilation of the fourth wall, that doesn’t hurt either. 

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 84% Fresh with an Audience Score of 90%. IMDb rates it at 8.1 stars out of 10. I saw the film on Blu Ray, a friend let me borrow it, but you can watch it free on Amazon Prime with an HBO subscription. That probably means you can find it on HBO and you may be able to find it on demand, as well. I really liked it and I’m rating it 4.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Now, I’m about to do to you what Limp Bizkit did to music in the late 90s.” – Deadpool/Wade Wilson

Gremlins or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

24 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by in Movie Review, Uncategorized

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Gremlins (1984), starring Zack Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Howie Mandel and Hoyt Axton.

Per IMDb: “A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.”

gremlins1

©Amblin Entertainment

A struggling inventor of total crap, Randall Peltzer (Axton) is in Chinatown trying to score a sale on his totally useless Bathroom Buddy All-in-One gadget. He is trying to sell to an old Chinese antique owner when he hears a noise. It’s the sound of a mogwai, which in Chinese culture and lore is a kind of demon that inflicts harm upon humans. In this film, however, it’s a cute little “furby-like” animal. He wants it to give to his son, but the old man isn’t having it. The old man’s grandson is flabbergasted that he won’t accept $200 for the creature. The kid goes behind his granddad’s back and sells the mogwai to Randall. The kid tells Randall that there are three rules about mogwai that cannot, under any circumstances, be broken: keep them out of the light, don’t get them wet and no matter what, no matter how much they beg, never, ever get them wet.

Of course, Randall says okay and journeys back home to give his son, Billy (Galligan) the gift and gives him the rules. Billy, although an adult who works in a bank, is a bit scatterbrained and aloof about much of anything. He has a hard time keeping the mogwai, named “Gizmo” (voiced by Mandel) out of the light. His little pal, Pete (Corey Feldman) spills a glass of water onto Gizmo, which spawns a new mogwai every time one gets wet. Stripe (voiced by the voice of Fred, Scooby Doo and Megatron, Frank Welker), the leader of the new batch of mogwai is a bit unruly and the rest follow him, except Gizmo. They eat through the power cord of Billy’s clock and he thinks it’s before midnight – it’s not. This turns the cute furry mogwai into green slimy monsters or “gremlins.” These gremlins wreak havoc on the town. How? And, do Billy and his friends stop the critters? You’ll have to watch and find out.

A few things that stand out about this film to me. First, the B list all stars that appeared in this film: Judge Reinhold (who had been caught flogging the bishop to this film’s co-star Phoebe Cates just two years prior in Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Corey Feldman, animation legend Chuck Jones, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Michael Winslow (the sound effects guy) and Polly Holliday who played Flo (“kiss my grits”) on TV’s Alice. Second, I have come to realize that no era of film requires the suspension of disbelief more than any almost every film released in the 1980s. Don’t get me wrong, I love 80s movies but when I go back and watch them now, even beyond the primitive special effects, which are endearing, really, they reek of K-R-A-F-T… Not even Velveeta (yes, still made by Kraft), but the cheap-o kind of imitation cheese.

I haven’t seen this film since the late 80s/early 90s and I now know why. I asked The BCPF if she wanted to watch it with me, this morning, and she declined. She knew better. The story is campy. The acting, quite suspect. It’s not a great film. However, there’s a nostalgia factor that comes into play. I was 13 when the film came out and I thought it was hilarious and fun. It’s still fun, beyond the parts that are borderline stupid. So, great or not, I still “like” it. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus. It was directed by Joe Dante.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 85% Fresh with an Audience Score of 77%. I think the critic’s consensus from RT says it best: Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic. IMDb has it at 7.2 stars out of 10. I picked this film because it’s considered a Christmas film and I wanted to do something that wasn’t an ordinary Christmas flick. I watched the film on Amazon Prime and rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Now I have another reason to hate Christmas.” – Kate Beringer (Cates)