Songs that remind me of movies

If you’re like me, you hear a song come on the radio or CD or 8-track and immediately think of a movie or more specifically a movie scene.  Did I lose you at 8-track?  Actually some people may not even know what 8-tracks are.  How about a 33 or 45?  Ok, I am done dating myself, so let’s stick with – you hear a song on your I-pod and…

Anyway, back to my point, some songs just immediately trigger a visual response for me, most likely a movie (or a bad night of Karaoke). But for sake of my dignity, let’s stick with movies.  So in hopes that I am not the only one who does this; I have listed my top songs that trigger a related movie.  Rather than top songs, I should say the last songs I have heard because, you know, my 8-track player is acting up.

“In Your Eyes” – Peter Gabriel:  Say Anything.  I don’t think it’s physically possible to listen to this song without holding a boom box above your head.  If you do not understand that reference, you need to go to a video store…uh, I mean use Netflix…mmm I mean stream the movie “Say Anything” to your wifi-enabled viewing device (is that better?) and watch it.  Not only is it a great movie, but it contains the iconic scene where Lloyd Dobbler holds up his boom box (a boom box was this electronic device that played songs from “tapes” back in the day) and serenades his love.  Classic!

“Cruel Summer” – Bananarama:  Karate Kid (1984). Weird, but every time I hear this song I think of a pre-Dancing with the Stars Ralph Machio playing soccer on the beach in Karate Kid.  What’s weird is that this song wasn’t played when he was playing soccer on the beach but rather when he was walking into his new high school.  The other weird thing is that as soon as I think of either of those scenes, I immediately say “Sweep the Leg Johnny”.  In a related Karate Kid remake note, nothing makes me think of Jaden Smith.

“I’m all right” – Kenny Loggins:  Caddyshack.  Sometimes when you hear a song or lyrics, you think of a person singing them.  When I hear the beginning of this song “I’m all right, nobody worry about me”, I think about a gopher dancing.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, see my advice on “Say Anything” and go rent or stream this movie.  One of the top comedies’s of all time.

“Poker Face” - Lady Gaga: Percy Jackson.  This is an interesting one, because I only recently put these two together.  The song came on the other day and I immediately thought of Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief.  I have written about this movie as one of the worst transitions from a book to a movie ever (although on 2^nd watching it wasn’t that bad since I forgot the plot of the book).  There is a scene in Las Vegas where the main characters are in a nightclub for a week (yeah, just go with it) and this song doesn’t stop playing.  I also think of the half boy half-goat busting a move on the dance floor.  Although like 8-tracks, the term bustin a move may have also gone out of style with Young M.C.

“All Star” – Smash Mouth: Shrek.  As soon as I hear the words “Somebody once told me the world is going to roll me” I immediately think of that green monster.  No, not people on Wall Street  but Shrek.  This movie is also responsible for me thinking of it when I hear the song “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett.  Although, now that I think about that song I also think about the movie Kick-a$$.  So its like Shrek is competing with Kick A$$ for my attention.  Uh oh, the next time Bad Reputation plays I may end up like Sybil lying on the floor confused over whether I am Peggy or Helen.  Ok I may be breaking out obscure references here and honestly, I am not even sure how I got here since this was supposed to be about “All Star” and Shrek.

“Oh Yeah” – Yello:  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Seriously, as soon as you hear the  phrase “Ohhhh Yeah….Chicckkka Cowww” (or something like that) who doesn’t think of Cameron from Ferris Beullerr’s Day Off.  Also, who doesn’t think of Ferris’s scheme to hide the fact that they drove Cameron’s dad’s sports car by putting it up on blocks and driving it in reverse to remove the miles from the odometer.  Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Holding Out for A Hero” – Bonnie Tyler:  Streets of Fire.  This is a dilemma for me.  Every time I hear this song (just the other day in my car), I think of an obscure but awesome film called Streets of Fire.  It is basically about gangs and music and “stuff”.  However, I am not even sure this song was in the movie.  I even Googled it and am still not sure if it was in the movie.  But either way, anytime this song comes on I immediately think about this movie – especially the scene where the hero is held up by a guy with a knife, disarms him in about 3 seconds, gives the knife back to the thug and says “try again”.

Guilty Pleasures Part I - Movies

What is a guilty pleasure?  Wikipedia (is there another unverified news source in the world I should be using?) says A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. The "guilt" involved is sometimes simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes.  So when it comes to movies, there are plenty that I enjoy, yet don’t necessarily tell others about.  When people come over, I may remove these DVD’s from the visible shelf and make sure to replace them with Casablanca, To Kill a Mockingbird, & the Shawshank Redemption.  OK – while I may not actually do that, I do have a couple of guilty pleasure movies that I enjoy watching and re-watching without necessarily advertising the fact.

Sydney White:  I might as well say all Amanda Bynes movies although Sydney White is my favorite.  Well at least her old movies. I don’t know, there is something about the very easy to follow and innocent stories that Amanda Bynes movies seem to tell.  Who wouldn’t like a Snow White story set in college with the eventual outcast uprising of the “geeks”.  Yes its formula driven (OK unless you’re Inception or the Matrix, what isn’t…wait, don’t answer that).  I know she can’t stay the young idealist character (or age for that matter) forever – I just hope she doesn’t become another Lindsay Lohan whose early movies I also used to like as guilty pleasures (think Parent Trap and Herbie not post bat-sh*t crazy Lindsay).

Galaxy Quest:  I am a fan of Science Fiction movies and shows.  However, Galaxy Quest, which had a ridiculous Rock Monster and turned the volume up on classic science fiction stereotypes, really had the potential to be too campy and “silly”.  However, I found myself not just laughing (or more like chuckling) but really enjoying this movie.  The movie is about the cast of a space TV show who have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.  It was almost nostalgic how they over-emphasized the stereotypes from the “red-shirted security guards who die in every episode to the fans of the show at a convention who ask questions of the actors like the show was real.  Although in this case, the fans were right.  As a side note, if you never seen William Shatner’s Get a Life skit on Saturday Night Live, go find it on YouTube.

Ready to Rumble: David Arquette & Scott Caan star as wrestling fans who follow around Jimmy King (Oliver Platt) and try to get him to resurrect his career and get his revenge on the wrestlers who did him wrong.  Ready to Rumble is NOT the Wrestler, which is a real movie about fake wrestling (see how I did that).  So, while the Wrestler is a much better film and a pleasure (not a guilty pleasure), Ready to Rumble is campy, poorly acted, immature jokes YET one that doesn’t make me think too hard and still comes away with the predictable and happy conclusion (I was going to write ending but…)

Midnight Madness: The movie featured an event called the “Great All-nighter” with college kids and it did not refer to any lust filled drink fest! OK I may have lost a whole generation brought up on American Pie & Superbad but hey, I was also brought up on Animal House and Porky’s and yet, I still enjoyed this movie.  It has the standard cliques (Nerds, Jocks, Sororities, etc) competing against each other in a cross-town scavenger hunt.  It also had Michael J. Fox in his movie debut (actually listed as Michael Fox in opening credits – but don’t worry he picked up the J. by the end credits.  The movie was cheesy but again, I am drawn back to the innocent fun (see the theme in my guilty pleasures).  The only thing that could have made it better is if Amanda Bynes was alive at the time to star in it.

Private Eyes: What, you never heard of this masterpiece?  Maybe not a popular movie and yes, it does star Mr. Furley (Don Knotts from Three’s Company) as a somewhat dimwitted Sherlock Holmes type character with his sidekick Tim Conway trying to solve a murder.  One of the re-occurring events of the movie are clues in the form of poems – that are supposed to rhyme by they don’t.  For example: Now you will see, I can do something right. I'm going to show you, a killer tonight. I want Phyllis to come to my chamber, and see. Who was the one, who murdered myself

So, as I look through this list, I notice that a common theme is simplistic, innocent movies that are just fun.  Maybe I don’t feel so guilty after all.

Honorable Mentions:  Big Trouble in Little China.  The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh

This One Time At Band Camp...or How The Entertainment World Has Changed My Life

Whether its movies, TV shows, books or music, the entertainment world has changed my life is ways I could not predict. Let’s see if anyone else gets these references. For example:

Anytime someone says “STOP”, I say "Hammer Time"…

Although this one time, someone said “STOP” & I said "collaborate & listen"

Then again, anytime someone says "This One Time"... I say "at Band Camp"

I could go on and on here...

There are some actors and actresses who will always be known for their iconic character and it has impacted how I see them in new shows or movies.

Now when I watch Die Hard, I wonder why Hans Gruber doesn't cast an Avada Kedavra spell at Bruce Willis

I didn’t know they had vampires on All My Children? How else can you explain to me why Buffy was on that show for 2 years

Recently I referred to an old TV show as “That Sipowitz” show because I couldn’t remember the name of it. Of course I also mentioned the “red-headed guy” who left it to be a movie star so obviously that didn’t happen either. So for those two actors (Sipowitz & David Caruso) they will always be the cops from NYPD Blue (I had to google “that Sipowitz show” to get the name)

Anytime I see Dennis Haskins in something, I say “Its Mr. Belding”. Of course I say the same thing about that whole cast from Saved by the Bell. True story, actually saw Mario Lopez at a bar in Las Vegas and what do you think I and others said? Yep “Hey Slater”. (If you’re wondering, I also had to Google “Slater from Saved by the Bell” to find out his name was Mario Lopez)

Who doesn’t call Verne Troyer Mini-Me? I think that was even the name that came up on the screen when he was on the Surreal Life reality TV show. If not, it should have been.

Classic Lines from Movies & TV also make their way into my every day conversations:

Who hasn’t said “I’ll be back”. It doesn’t matter if I am going to another meeting at work, going to the gym, going grocery shopping or just going to the bathroom. Either way, every time the words I’ll be back leave my mouth, it is always in the voice of the Terminator

Actually, there is a movie or TV line for everything that will ever happen to you in your life. You don’t think so. Check it out

If someone says something you don’t understand:
“Watcha talking about Willis” (Different Strokes)

If someone makes a mistake during an important business transaction:
“10 points from Slytherin” (Do I really need to quote this one?)

If someone who loves you and you love back but you’re not quite ready to say it says “I love you”:
“I know” (Empire Strikes Back)

If you walk into a bar filled with 3 foot albinos dressed as Furbies dancing to Menudo music?
“Were not in Kansas Anymore” (Wizard of Oz)

So, as you can see, the entertainment industry has changed and will continue to change my life. So until next time, “I’ll be Back”

From Book to Movies - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

So with my excitement over seeing Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2 accompanied with just finishing the Hunger Games Trilogy it got me thinking, why do some book series succeed as movie franchises and others “fail”? Granted, my definition of “fail” is very much like Charlie Sheen’s definition of “winning” – very subjective. I have no training whatsoever in being an author (grammatically I struggle to use of good & well and their & there correctly) but I have flown over a million miles in my life (not exaggerating) & always have a book or 3 with me. I also wouldn’t know how to produce, direct or be a “key” grip on a movie, although I have watched more than my fair share; some good, some not, and some that star Lindsay Lohan. Anyway, it got me thinking about a couple of book series I enjoyed…and the accompanying movies.

The Good

The Lord of the Rings – I think this turned into one of the most visually appealing movie translations of a book series – as well as the only reason I put up with the endless “Who are you wearing” questions during the 2003 Academy Awards when Return of the King won best picture. In addition to the cinematography, special effects & action, there actually was some quite good acting (Éowyn’s “silent” love of Aragorn, and Sam carrying Frodo at the end of the movie come to mind). Funny, in retrospect, I went back and re-read the books, and found them less fun than I originally remembered (too many names to remember and those god-forsaken songs to sift through). However, I still believe that the movies were a masterpiece conversion, especially by (channeling the voice of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter) – “Omitting - that which should be omitted”

Harry Potter and the…(Insert cool book title here) –Speaking of Harry…The books have sold 450M copies. It is the highest grossing movie franchise of all time (seven films released grossing $6.3 billion worldwide). What more is there to say? Well, there is plenty more but since Pottermania is running wild right now, there is no need to repeat all the awesomeness that is Harry. Now excuse me while I go eat some Bertie Botts flavored beans.

Honorable Mention: James Bond

The Bad

The Chronicles of Narnia – I struggled with the placement of this one as I felt the first book/movie was excellent but that it went downhill from there. With worldwide box office receipts totaling almost 1.5B, it’s hard to label this series “bad”…yet I will. It may not be fair to just say the movies went downhill after the first one, because I also felt the books did as well. Part of that is due to the changing out of the main characters every 2 books or so. The reason I typically like book series is that I get attached to the characters and like to see them grow from book to book. So this may be less of an indictment of the translation of the book to a movie and more of the loss of characters I can stay connected with – which somehow became more irritating to me in the movie version. However, I can’t shake the feeing the loss of connectedness to the characters as the movies go on is also attributed to how the storytelling was converted to the screen – with a focus more on special effects than story. Two more movies have been signed with 1 more book still undecided. I also know that I will go see it, although I will hate myself for it, so it cancels itself out.

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Here we have a best-selling book series that sold over 60M copies, yet I found myself almost bored with the movie adaptation. The movie combined the first 3 books, understandable in a 13 short book series, but it seemed to play havoc with the timeline as well as the “feel” of the story. Jim Carey played an over the top, comical Olaf which was different than the serious and dour Olaf from the books. Granted, why hire (and pay) “Ace Ventura” if you don’t want that “over the top-ness”, but for me, it took away what was special about the books. Although the movie did gross 118M in US (210M worldwide), no sequels are currently being planned.

Honorable Mention: Cirque Du Freak

The Ugly

The Left Behind Series – How can a 16 book series that sold between 65- 100M copies (depending who you quote),had 4 books occupying the 4 top slots of NY times best seller list at the same time, have video game, graphic novel and a young kid book series tie-ins fail as a movie franchise? The easy answer could be “They cast Kirk Cameron in the star role, and Mike Seaver is no Buck Williams”. Yet Fireproof was an amazingly touching movie and that also starred the same guy who was on the cover of Teen Beat (I have a sister so it wasn’t me who got Teen Beat each week…Honest!). Some may say the topic is too “religious”, although I would refer them to Passion of the Christ & The Ten Commandments (plus Fireproof) as a counter point. With a built in audience and a story full of interesting characters, espionage and “stuff blowing up”, you would think the movie would be worth spending some decent cash on even if it doesn’t have a car that turns into a robot (OK Autobot – whatever!!). The movie was so full of cheese, it lost all semblances to the book – even though the plot lines were fairly close. Cloud Ten announced they plan to remake the series with increased production values – but my confidence is low.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians – I can’t stress how disappointed I was in the movie translation of the first book of this 5 book series (that at one point was on the NY Times Children’s Best Seller list for 177 weeks). Not that there weren’t some visually appealing scenes, but it just proves that special effects cannot save a movie, especially one that veered so far off the path of the book. Heck, the main “bad guys”, Ares & Kronos, were for all intents and purposes, left out of the movie. I don’t know if they thought it was too complicated for a movie, but I think anyone that read the books, must have had the same thing happen to them as they watched the movie…which was a constant inner voice that said “Wait, this wasn’t what happened” in almost every other scene.

Honorable Mention: The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising

So what does it take to successfully transition from print to video? Obviously a good book for starters. Staying true to the story (edit where appropriate but don’t massively rewrite!) Use Special Effects to enhance the written word – not to replace it. The right casting for sure (Thank you to Chris Columbus for casting Daniel Radcliff instead of Haley Joel Osment as our boy Wizard). And a bit of luck doesn’t hurt. What other book series did or did not succeed as a movie in your eyes?