It was on this day in 1993 that Mrs. Doubtfire premiered in theaters. Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, and the late Robin Williams all starred in this funny, yet serious film. Robin Williams is SO good in this movie.
Desperate to see his children after a divorce, Robin’s character disguises himself as Mrs. Doubtfire, a nanny, to help with the kids. If you’ve never seen it, you really should. It is a fantastic film.
One of my favorite scenes in the film is when there is a montage of Mrs. Doubtfire doing various things while Dude Looks Like a Lady is playing underneath the scenes. Robin dancing with a vacuum or a broom is cinema magic.
The song was written by Desmond Child. Songfacts.com spoke with him about the song’s use in the film: “Desmond Child told us, “It’s funny, because they used that song in Mrs. Doubtfire, and then it was like every four or five-year-old child in America was able to sing that song. It was like; do you realize this is about a tranny?”“
Songfacts also shares:
While Aerosmith is a very heterosexual band, they were secure enough to sing about wanting sex with the “Dude” even after they discover he is a man. They weren’t concerned about their masculinity, but were worried about offending the LGBT community – they didn’t want to come off as jackass rock stars making fun of someone different.
Desmond Child was the one who pushed it through. He told us, “Joe (Perry) stepped in and said, ‘I don’t want to insult the gay community.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m gay, and I’m not insulted. Let’s write this song.’ So I talked them into the whole scenario of a guy that walks into a strip joint and falls in love with the stripper on stage, goes backstage and finds out it’s a guy. But besides that, he’s gonna go with it. He says, ‘My funky lady, I like it, like it, like it like that.’ And so he doesn’t run out of there, he stays.
If you think about how far back that was, it was a very daring song to sing, and everyone went with it. It’s not like the polarized society we have now, because that was before gay people really started fighting for their rights and nobody cared about it and everyone thought that they could make fun of us. So they accepted the lyric, and not only that, went for it. (Laughs) I don’t know if anyone has looked deep enough into the song, but it’s a very accepting song, and it has a moral that says never judge a book by its cover, or who you’re going to love by your lover.”
If you’d rather just listen to the song – here is the official video from Aerosmith:
It was on this day in 1816 that Gioachino Rossini’s Barber of Seville premiered in Rome, Italy. It is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all “opere buffe.” (For those wondering what an opera buffa is, it is “a comic opera (usually in Italian), especially one with characters drawn from everyday life.“)
Rossini wrote The Barber of Seville in just 12 days! On top of that, he wasn’t even 24-years-old and had already written 16 operas at the time! Wow! If you think you are unfamiliar with the opera, I assure you, you are wrong. You have heard it in one way or another in pop culture over the years.
The music of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville has been ingrained in popular culture longer than any of us have been alive! From Citizen Kane to Mrs. Doubtfire to Pixar’s Luca, Rossini’s famous comedy has been indelibly woven into film and television history. One of the most recent occurrences can be found in Seinfeld‘s “The Barber” in which the opera’s music replaces the incidental bass lines for the episode. Another was in The Simpsons‘ “The Homer of Seville,” in which the title character discovers his hidden talent for opera singing.
One of the oldest appearances was in the Little Rascals feature, The Our Gang Follies of 1938. In the story, Alfalfa quits singing pop music to become an opera singer. Needless to say, the audience didn’t care too much for his version.
The most memorable to me (and many others) came about in the cartoons. Woody Woodpecker gave it a try …
Tom and Jerry’s hijinks went on throughout their version …
The one that is the best, of course, belongs to Bugs Bunny. The Rabbit of Seville is a classic. Sadly, I could only find it on Youtube in 3 parts….
Who would have thought that a piece of music 2 centuries old would still be making us laugh??
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
I would turn 17 in 1987. It was my junior year in high school and I did what I had to do to get by in all my classes except band class. I was completely devoted to band class. I was an officer in band class (I was one of the librarians who helped sort, catalog and distribute music). I often stayed late and practiced with a couple other band nerds.
It was also the year I dated a gal who was kinda sorta toxic. It was an 8 month relationship that really had me messed up. I won’t go into details. We had some good times, but the bad times outweighed them. As I have worked ahead for this feature, I began to notice how some songs really hold some big relationship memories. The power of a song and the memories attached to them aren’t always happy, but I have noticed that there are more happy ones than bad ones.
Off to 1987 and my ten picks …
One of the best concerts I ever attended was Billy Joel and Elton John. There were two piano greats and a night of fantastic music. I am always interested to find out an artist’s hero, or favorite artist. Billy has often said that his favorite was the great Ray Charles. Put the two of them together and you’ve got one very cool song.
According to songfacts.com, when Ray showed up at the session, they met for the first time, and Joel was in awe. To break the ice and get to know each other, they each played piano for a while before recording the song. Whenever Charles would meet someone for the first time, he would touch that person’s face. When he did this to Joel, he said, “relax,” since he could tell Billy was nervous.
In a 1986 promotional interview, Joel said he was sitting at home trying to find inspiration for the song in his surroundings when his baby grand sparked his imagination. “I began looking around at things that have been consistent in my life, and in this age of synthesizers and electronic keyboards the piano has almost become an old-fashioned instrument,” he recalled. “I glanced at the baby grand piano and realized that I had a lot of love for that thing. The piano has provided me with a nice living, a career, and happiness. It’s gotten me women, and it’s gotten me through some strange times.”
He continued: “Sometimes at night I’d sit down and give myself a concert, and it’s almost like the piano did it – I didn’t even have anything to do with it. When I was thinking about a theme for Ray and me, it seemed apropos: you know, Ray Charles, piano player. Billy Joel, piano player. Let’s talk about a real love in our lives – the baby grand. ‘Baby Grand’ is really a love song to an instrument.”
Personally, this is just one of those magical musical songs to me. It’s a bluesy love song played by two talents who love their instrument – and making music. And that is good enough for me.
Baby Grand
I’m sure that every radio market had an adult contemporary station that played love songs at night. Usually, it was hosted by a deep voiced DJ who would smoothly deliver requests and dedications over the air. In Detroit, we had “Pillow Talk” hosted by Alan Almond.
In 1987, I had my driver’s license and I would go out cruising around with my friends. When I began dating, I would often “park” and listen to the love song show. As I was going through songs for this feature, I was overwhelmed by just how many of those songs were nightly staples on that show.
While there were times that my girlfriend and I would make out in a parking lot, there were also a lot of times when we sat and listened to the music and talk. There were a lot of ballads that came out in the mid-80’s. Many of them continue to be played as wedding songs and such.
One song that really stood out on the radio was an instrumental by Kenny G. It was his hit, Songbird. It sounded so out of place, yet perfectly fit. Because it was an instrumental, the DJ would often use it to read those lovey dovey dedications. “Sarah wants Josh to know that she misses him so much tonight.” “William called in to thank Beth for a wonderful first date.” “Deborah wants Tim to know that she is very sorry for the argument they had tonight and wants to dedicate this one to him.”
Fun fact: “Songbird” is all Kenny G – he played every instrument on the track (including the drum programming) and recorded it in his home studio. “I created a whole sound based on what I was hearing inside me,” he told Vanity Fair. “It came out, and Whoa! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
When I hear Songbird, I am reminded of those nights where I thought I was really in love and had no idea what true love was at the time.
Songbird
MTV turned 6 in 1987 and as we have seen in the past few weeks, there were many creative videos to boost record sales. I could list about 50 videos that are forever etched in my brain, and up near the top would be the one for the next song – Doing It All For My Baby.
Mike Duke (who played with the Outlaws) cowrote the song with Philip Cody. They couldn’t get anyone to record it. Mike went on tour with Delbert McClinton and at some point was doing club gigs in Mississippi. Some guys from Huey’s band came in to see the gig and he was playing ‘Doing It All For My Baby.’ The guys in the band said, ‘Wow, we love this song. We’re going to bring it to Huey.’ And they brought it in, and three years after we wrote the song, Huey Lewis & the News recorded the song and put it on their biggest selling album ever.”
The band produced an extended video for the song that lasted almost 8 minutes and resulted an one of the iconic MTV images of the ’80s: the band’s heads on display in glass cases while they sing this song. In the video, the band gets stranded somewhere spooky, and end up in various Frankenstein scenes with Lewis playing Dr. Frankenstein. It was truly one of those “fun” videos!
This song features the Tower of Power Horns. I can’t imagine the song without them!
Doing It All For My Baby
When I used to DJ, I would often play music at the VFW hall that my dad belonged to. I met so many great people there and remain friends with many of them. It was here that I became familiar with a lot of songs that I hadn’t heard before. One of them was my next song.
Jimmy Mac, as he was known to all of us, used to always ask for stuff like Barry White, Deon Jackson and the Whispers. Rock Steady never failed to get people on the dance floor. I started playing it at other gigs afterward and it always worked.
According to songfacts.com, the song was written and produced by the team of L.A. Reid and Babyface. It was one of the first songs the pair worked on for another artist – they were members of the group The Deele at the time. In 1989, they formed LaFace Records and became music moguls as well as hit producers. TLC, OutKast and Pink were all signed to LaFace. It would be their biggest hit, reaching #7 on the chart.
Rock Steady
It has taken me 17 weeks to finally “Rickroll” you. Sorry. Of course, Rickrolling wouldn’t even become a thing until 2007, but you have to admit that the song was an earworm. Once you heard it, it was stuck in your brain for hours. (The same thing happens to me with his song, “Together Forever.” Which is almost the same song, really!)
At the time, however, this was a pretty big thing. I remember it playing at all the high school dances and all the kids dancing to it, well, not me, but you know what I mean. Astley’s story is actually a cool one …
He worked for the British production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s studio for two years. While he was there he was operating tape machines, singing on recordings for other singers, learning the trade and famously making the tea before the production trio wrote and produced this song for him, which became his first hit. It was recorded in October 1986, but wasn’t released until July 1987, as the producers were waiting for the right environment to break a new artist.
It was inspired by a woman Pete Waterman had been seeing for three years. Rick Astley was staying with Waterman at the time, and after a three-hour phone call with the woman, Astley said, “You’re never gonna give her up.” Aitken and Waterman then changed the story a bit and made him the one who was vulnerable. It was the biggest hit of 1987 in the UK, and went to number one here in the states.
I guess the nice thing about this blog is that you don’t have to click on the video, but you KNOW you want to! Do it! Click it!
Never Gonna Give You Up
Time to clear your musical pallet of Mr. Astley. I’ll do it with the phenomenal blending of three beautiful voices.
The group Trio was made up of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. These three ladies were good friends with each other and admirers of each other’s work. The first attempted to record an album together in the mid-1970s, but scheduling conflicts and other difficulties (including the fact that the three women all recorded for different record labels) prevented its release. Record labels were real peculiar about that kind of thing, I guess.
The Trio album was released in March of 1987. One of four singles that was released was called Those Memories of You. This song was recorded by Bill and James Monroe in 1950! Mel Tillis’ daughter, Pam, released a version in 1986 (reaching #55), but the Trio version is the one that was the hit. It was a top 5 song on the Country charts. The video starred a familiar face – actor Harry Dean Stanton.
The Trio album won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
It is one of those songs that I could get lost in the vocals and the harmonies.
Those Memories of You
The next song is on my list because of my brother. He listened to a lot of music in his room, but I can distinctly remember Madonna and Debbie Gibson music playing a lot. If memory serves me right, he saw her in concert a few times. Shake Your Love seems to be the one song from this album that I always heard from down the hall.
Out of the Blue was Debbie’s debut album and Shake Your Love was the second single from it. What is impressive to me is that she wrote every song on this album and was only 16 when the album was released! This and her first single (Only in My Dreams) were both top 5 records for her.
Another 1980’s superstar helped Debbie with the dance moves in the video for this song – Paula Abdul.
Shake Your Love
Desmond Child has written and co-written some very big songs, including You Give Love a Bad Name and Livin’ on a Prayer for Bon Jovi. When a record rep suggested that Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith write a song with him, they were not thrilled.
Child told songfacts.com: Steven was much more friendly, as he is, and was very generous, really, and showed me a song that they had started called ‘Cruisin’ for the Ladies.’ I listened to that lyric, and I said, ‘You know what, that’s a very boring title.’ And they looked at me like, ‘How dare you?’ And then Steven volunteered, sheepishly, and said that when he first wrote the melody he was singing ‘Dude Looks like a Lady.’ It was kind of a tongue twister that sounded more like scatting. He got the idea because they had gone to a bar and had seen a girl at the end of the bar with ginormous blonde rock hair, and the girl turned around and it ended up being Vince Neil from Motley Crue. So then they started making fun of him and started saying, ‘That dude looks like a lady, dude looks like a lady, dude looks like a lady.’ So that’s how that was born. That’s the true story of how that was born. So I grabbed onto that and I said, ‘No, that’s the title of the song.'”
I have always loved the story of how the song came to be. It really became the comeback song for the group, as their last hit was back in 1978. When I first saw Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams and they played this song, I laughed out loud.
Dude Looks Like A Lady
In 1982, George Harrison released his Gone Troppo album and it didn’t do well. It can be said that a lot of his work was well off the mainstream, using unusual instruments and based on Indian music. “Got My Mind Set On You” proved that he could release a song requiring very little thought and send it up the charts. Naturally, many of Harrison’s ardent followers can’t stand this song.
The song was written by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. George had bought a copy of the single in the summer of 1963 when visiting his sister Louise in Illinois. Many years later when he was writing his Cloud Nine album, he remembered the song and decided to cover it.
Songfacts.com says that when Harrison conceived the Cloud Nine album, he looked for a producer who could carry some of the load and not be intimidated by working with a former Beatle. He sought out Jeff Lynne of ELO for the role even though he had never met him – he connected with Lynne by having their mutual friend, Dave Edmunds, get him the message. It ended up being a great fit. Lynne brought his distinctive production sheen to the tracks and helped out writing some of the songs. Lynne’s influence can be heard in the backing vocals of the “Got My Mind Set On You” chorus. Harrison and Lynne are responsible for bringing together Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty, forming The Traveling Wilburys in 1988.
MTV played the video a lot for this song and VH1 had recently gone on the air, so it aired there, too. As simple as this song is, I’ve always loved this one by George.
There were two videos for the song, the first I was unaware of until I stumbled on it for this piece. Both were directed by Gary Weis. The first features a young guy trying to win a ballerina for a gal he sees in an arcade. She is watching the video of George on a kinescope. Here is that video:
Got My Mind Set On You
This second video is the one I am most familiar with. It was inspired by the then-recently released movie – Evil Dead II. As George sits in a study singing, furniture and knick-knacks (including a stuffed squirrel, sentient chainsaw, a suit of armor, and mounted stag and warthog) begin to sing or dance along with the song. FYI, the backflip is performed by a stunt double.
I have made it no secret that I love Roy Orbison’s music. I remember being thrilled that he was making a comeback in the late 80’s. His stuff with the aforementioned Wilburys is so good. His posthumous Mystery Girl album was a fitting sendoff for him.
The original version of crying was recorded in 1961. Roy claimed to have written this as the result of an encounter he had with an old flame with whom he was still in love. He refused to say how much she meant to him, and when he ran into her again it was too late. It has one of the most powerful endings in music, in my opinion.
He claimed the stunning climax at the end of the song was not contrived, but just happened in the course of the song. He told the NME in 1980: “Immediately I thought of a past experience and just retold that, was the way that came about. It was the retelling of a thing with a girlfriend that I had had. I couldn’t tell you right now what notes I hit at the end of the song, or anything.”
In 1987, shortly after he signed with Virgin Records, he recorded a duet of this song with kd lang which was released as a single and later used as the B-side to his 1989 release “She’s A Mystery To Me.” This duet won the 1988 Grammy award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, and was re-released in the UK in 1992, where it hit #13. Lang said that when they met to do the recording, it was obvious that their voices had a “tonal connection.”
I do not disagree with her. To me, the 1961 version is perfection. When I hear it, I am mentally exhausted. It is so moving. How can you top it? Add kd lang. Wow. To say that I was blown away by this version is an understatement. The arrangement and the vocals are just powerful and beautiful at the same time.
There was a time in my life where I could relate to the lyrics of this song. It was a painful time, and the hurt conveyed in the song was very real to me.
Crying
Boy, this week I Rickroll you and end on a sad note. Sorry about that. Next week will be better.
We’ll travel to 1988 next week. It was my senior year, and there are some fun ones on my list. I hope you will come back and check out the list.
What was your favorite from 1987? Drop them in the comments ….
This blog is a continuation of a series I started a week or so ago. Somebody had the idea to post a list was to consist of your favorite films from each year of your life. So, you start with your birth year and move ahead year by year and list all the films from each year. A post from the Avocado site came up in my “Reader” list of blogs that had the same principle, but with one exception – you can only pick one movie from each year. My last “movie” blog focused on my favorites from the 1980’s and this one will feature the 1990’s.
As I looked through the films for this decade and was actually surprised. I thought that the as I moved forward, I’d have less films to talk about. I was wrong. Picking one favorite from each year is going to be tough.
1990 had plenty of sequels, one of which will end up my pick for favorite. Eddie Murphy was back with Another 48 Hours. Bruce Willis offered up Die Hard II. Almost 20 years later, The Corleone family returned in Godfather III. The second installment of Young Guns was in theaters and Sylvester Stallone returned as Mr. Balboa in Rocky V. Johnny Depp was Edward Scissorhands, Kevin Costner was Dancing with Wolves, while Sean Connery was underwater with the Hunt for Red October. Julia Roberts was “hooking” in Pretty Woman, Harrison Ford was Presumed Innocent, and Macaulay Culkin was left Home Alone. Comedies included Nuns on the Run, Madhouse, and Kindergarten Cop. The film adaption of Stephen King’s Misery will have be forever fearing sledgehammers!
I am going to catch some flack for this not being my favorite of this year. Goodfellas is a great film! It is. “You’re Italian, Keith! How can Goodfellas NOT be your pick?” It doesn’t matter. It’s my list.
My pick for favorite of 1990 is the conclusion of the Back to the Future series – Back to the Future Part III.
What can I say, I love these characters. By the end of Part II, I was wondering just how things were going to wrap up. While the end is a bit contrived and falls a bit flat, everything else I enjoyed. I enjoyed how in the old west we see the beginnings of the town, the clock tower (which plays such a big role in the first film), and the earlier family members of the characters. The suspense of getting that train up to 88mph had me on the edge of my seat in the theater. Loved this trilogy and it remains one of my all time favorites!
In 1991, there were silly comedies (Naked Gun 2 1/2, Hot Shots, Soapdish, and What about Bob?), action films (Robin Hood, Hook, and Thelma and Louise), and thrillers (Backdraft and Silence of the Lambs).
It is hard to pick one favorite for this year. As someone who has been fascinated with the JFK assassination, I really enjoyed Oliver Stone’s JFK. I had read so many books about the various conspiracies. What a stellar cast! Robin Williams put on an amazing performance in The Fisher King. I admit, when I rented this film, I expected a comedy. It was a very powerful story. See it if you haven’t! Billy Crystal and Jack Palance are just great together in City Slickers. “I crap bigger than you” remains a favorite movie quote!
My pick for this year may come as a surprise to those who have read previous blogs. Why? Because I have complained so often about Hollywood running out of ideas! I have bitched about how they are remaking everything! This is one of those exceptions. YES – it is a remake of a TV show, but this is also an instance of a good remake. The Addams Family.
I think what makes this such a good movie is that the cast is true to the characters of the cartoon and the TV show. Raul Julia is brilliant as Gomez. Anjelica Huston is spot on as Morticia. Christopher Lloyd is great as Fester. Christina Ricci is the perfect Wednesday. The film is funny and fun. I wasn’t so keen on the sequel, but this one was a blast (and a film I have to watch every October!).
1992 brought the return of Michael Keaton as Batman in Batman Returns, Whitney Houston was a superstar in The Bodyguard, and who can forget Sharon Stone in basic Instinct? Honeymoon in Vegas was ok, but had a great soundtrack! Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei are just wonderful together in My Cousin Vinny while Tom Hanks coaches Geena Davis and Madonna in A League of Their Own. We are also introduced to Wayne Campbell and his friend Garth in the SNL based Wayne’s World.
This almost was my pick for favorite – A Few Good Men. Such a great story, with a great cast, and powerful performances! Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollack, and Jack Nicholson are all superb in this film! My favorite, however, has to go to Disney’s Aladdin.
Why? Two words – Robin Williams! I have heard of the many hours of voice stuff he recorded for this film that was never used. I can only imagine the wonderful ad-libs he did in the studio! Friend Like Me is on my iPod and it gives me chills every time I listen to it.
1993 comedies included Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Wayne’s World II, Loaded Weapon, Groundhog Day, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and Mrs. Doubtfire. Another comedy that is a must watch (especially for the bloopers at the end) is Grumpy Old Men. Drama/Thrillers included John Grisham’s The Firm, Jurassic Park, and In The Line of Fire.
1993 brought two films that are considered classics that I have never seen. One of them, I have a reason, the other, I don’t. Schindler’s List and the Sandlot. Schindler’s list is one that I will watch – but I have the book and I want to read it first. The Sandlot I have heard quoted 100 times, I just have never had the chance to sit and watch it. I will – eventually.
Twice in the same decade, I am picking a remake – a remake of a TV show again. My pick for 1993 is The Fugitive.
Harrison Ford does a great job playing Richard Kimball. I loved the original series. Tommy Lee Jones is just hilarious in this. It truly is a great film and one I can watch over and over again.
Jim Carrey dominated the year with three films – The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Dumb and Dumber. Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, was a wonderful film! It had a great soundtrack and it was cool to see how they put his character into scenes from history. I could watch Jamie Lee Curtis over and over in True Lies. Dennis Leary is so funny in The Ref. It is one of those forgotten Holiday movies that I just love. Another forgotten film from this year is The Shadow. It is based on the old radio show, which was based on a comic book. Alec Baldwin stars in it and I thought it was very well done.
My favorite film from the year, hands down, is The Shawshank Redemption.
Based on a Stephen King short story, it remains one of my favorite films. Prior to seeing it, I knew King had wrote it. I had always associated him with horror films, so I never saw it. I am so glad that I was convinced to watch it. If you have never seen it – you should! It is a masterpiece!
1995 comedies featured SNL stars Chris Farley (in Tommy Boy) and Adam Sandler (in Billy Madison). Mel Gibson starred as William Wallace in Braveheart. Tom Hanks first uttered “Houston, we have a problem” in Apollo 13. He also starred as Sheriff Woody in the first installment of Toy Story. Robin Williams is stuck in a board game in Jumanji. There was a remake with a twist – The Brady Bunch Movie. What made this work, was that the cast is still stuck in the past, while living in the present day. It wasn’t hilarious, but it worked.
Again, here is a film that you would think should be THE pick for this year. Casino with Robert Deniro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci. It truly is a great film, but my pick is The Usual Suspects.
I remember my grandmother used to watch Perry Mason and guess who the killer was all the time. Some movies, you can guess the ending, but this one caught me completely off guard. I never saw it coming. That is the reason I picked this one. Watching it the second time, I noticed all the things I missed throughout the first viewing. It is such s good film.
Comedies from 1996 include Leslie Nielsen in Spy Hard, Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, and Jim Carrey as The Cable Guy. Drama/Thrillers included Ghosts of Mississippi, A Time To Kill, and Primal Fear. Tom Cruise appeared in Mission: Impossible (which I hated, because it was really all about his character while the TV show was more of a team effort). We first saw that stupid ghost mask in the first Scream movie, and Sean Connery starred in The Rock.
Before naming my pick for 1996, I will mention in passing a movie that was loaded with big name stars, but was just awful – Mars Attacks. Urgh!
My pick for 1996 is again, a remake. The Nutty Professor.
I want to say first of all that I LOVE the Jerry Lewis version of this movie. It is my all time favorite Jerry film. When I heard that he gave his blessing to this film, I gave it a chance and I am glad I did. While Jerry’s version takes a nerd and makes him a cool jerk, Eddie’s version takes an overweight, shy man and makes him a thin pompous jerk. Kudos to Eddie Murphy, who plays his entire family!
My list of 1997 films is a short one. I’m not sure why. There were some films that stood out, though. Two presidential movies this year – Absolute Power with Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford in Air Force One. Nicolas Cage was a con in Con Air and starred with John Travolta in Face/Off. Jim Carrey is very funny in Liar Liar and Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith star in the first Men In Black.
Almost nabbing the pick for the year is Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It’s a funny and silly spy spoof and while many of the jokes are childish, the character is one that I found very funny. My pick for the year, however, is Titanic.
Let me say this – I hated the whole Jack/Rose love story BS in this film! It doesn’t make it a bad film, I understand why it was done. I think they thought no one would go see the story of the sinking ship without something “new” in it. At any rate, as someone who has been intrigued by the story of Titanic since I was in elementary school, I was amazed at the details of the ship. After the film came out they had a magazine that compared the shots from the movie with pictures from the real ship – it was neat to see just how close the set was to the real ship.
I had read the story of the Titanic many times. We read Walter Lord’s A Night To Remember in high school. The minute by minute account was so accurate. When I saw Titanic, I was left speechless. There were all the people I had read about. I will never forget watching it and seeing a passenger falls and hit the propeller on their way into the water – wow. I left the theater in complete silence. I got in the car and wept.
1998 saw Stephen King’s Apt Pupil come to the big screen, Robin Williams was wonderful as Patch Adams, and Pixar showed us A Bug’s Life. SNL and SNL actors were prominent in comedies. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan starred in A Night at the Roxbury, while Adam Sandler was The Wedding Singer (with Drew Barrymore) and The Waterboy (with Henry Winkler and Jerry Reed). Norm MacDonald and Artie Lang star in one of my favorite comedies (though many people found it NOT funny) – Dirty Work. Finally, Antonio Banderas is excellent in The Mask of Zorro with Catherine Zeta Jones!
My pick for 1998 is the powerful D-Day film – Saving Private Ryan.
This movie is about as real as it gets. D-Day was a bloodbath. This is such a powerful movie. It leaves me in awe every time I see it.
As we reach the end of the 90’s, there are plenty of great movies in this final year of the decade. Comedies included the return of Austin Powers in The Spy Who Shagged Me, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Big Daddy, Analyze This, and Office Space. Adventure films included The Mummy, True Crime (the book was better), Sleepy Hollow, and Deep Blue Sea (Love the scene where Samuel L. Jackson gets it!). For kids (and adults) Woody and Buzz are back in Toy Story 2 and Episode 1 of Star Wars (The Phantom Menace) graced the screen (and left adults wanting to kill Jar Jar Binks!).
My pick for favorite is based on the Stephen King novel – The Green Mile.
This remains one of my favorite films. I cry like a baby at the end every time! What an amazing story! This is one of those rare instances where I have seen the movie and never read the book. I am not sure how different the film is from the book, but the book remains on a shelf at home in the “to be read” stack. Writing about it for this blog has just moved it up to the top of my list to read.
In closing
I have a feeling it will become easier to pick films in the decade ahead. As I move into the 2000’s, I know for a fact that I have seen less movies. I got to the point where I didn’t want to go to the movies to pay $10 to see a crappy movie. It was happening was too often so I started watching less movies.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 