Kathy--calm, cool, and collected
Me--frustrated out of my mind with end of the semester procedures and the daily changes that are occurring to each.
Jason--still working on those conference posters....all day....every day....
This week we decided to flashback to the '80s. These 2 features were ones already seen by Jason and Kathy, but as I was raised Pentecostal, I didn't get to watch any movies growing up that had a rating other than G or presented evil or magic in some form. Hence, I've missed these. They felt I needed to be brought into the fold.
Movie #1: Ghostbusters (1984, with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver)
Oh, the cult retro classic that is Ghostbusters! Cheesy synthesizer music, ugly clothes, big hair (which I am personally crusading to return to the fashion world), green screen effects, and lots of lasers. There's evil afoot, ghosts haunting every public building in New York, the fate of mankind hangs in the balance, and it all comes to down to a battle between the 4 awkward, disorganized, yet loveable "busters" and a huge, 40-story marshmallow man. Needless to say, evil is conquered, the damsel is saved, the marshmallow man turns to molten goo, and New York rests in peace once again. Things we loved: the cameo appearance by Annie Potts as the "busters" secretary, the Larry King and Casey Kasem spots, and the fact that it must have taken 13 tractor trailers filled with shaving foam to spray down New York City when the marshmallow man exploded.
Ratings: Jason--4 out of 5 stars; Kathy--4 out of 5 stars; me--sure...4 out of 5.
Movie #2: Little Shop of Horrors (1986, with Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene)
I call it the Sweeney Todd of the horticultural world.
"I swear on all my spores..." that this movie will never win an Oscar! However, if you're looking for a movie that has the feel of the '60s, has some sado-masichistic humor, and pretty awesome singing, then this one is for you. Ol' lowly, sad little Seymour finds himself a pretty damn ugly plant and takes it back to the floral shop he works at. Before there was Bella feasting on sips of blood for her half-human/half-vampire baby in the Twilight Saga, there was Seymour...pricking his fingers so that this damn ugly plant can drink his blood. Steve Martin cameos as a psychotic, demented dentist (Kathy was shrieking during those scenes, and we now know why she's terrified of dentists, drills, and probing of any type...). Bill Murray makes another brief entrance as a patient with a fetish for the painful dealings of the psycho dentist...slightly disturbing if you thought about it too much. The damn ugly plant grows into a man-eating HUGE damn ugly plant, until it is destroyed by Seymour in a moment of tortured desperation.
What I loved: The 3 black girls who sang throughout the movie (they reminded us of the Supremes... or the Dynamos in Hairspray), one of which was a young Tisha Campbell from My Wife and Kids. They were all beautiful, dressed to the nines (I want their clothes and shoes!), and phenomenal singers.
Ratings: all of us gave it 5 out of 5 stars
(Note about our ratings... we rate realistically, people. Not every movie is an Oscar contender or some piece with deep, philosophical meaning. If it does well for what it is, we rate it so. You can't rate The Grapes of Wrath and The Little Mermaid by the same scale, and we don't intend to.)
Past Flick Recap: The Swarm (1978, Irwin Allen, with Michael Caine)
OMG. Michael Caine REALLY needed a paycheck, apparently. Kathy, Jason, and I all agree that this is, hands down, the WORST movie we've EVER seen. Period. Supposedly, killer bees are coming from South America, but we found that we didn't give a crap whether they came or not. Towards the end, we were hoping they would invade and kill everyone just so this slow, tedious, mental/visual/auditory torture would stop. 2 hours of our lives that we'll never get back. We all love Michael Caine, but this was just horrid. My 4-year-old godson is way more exciting and creative than this when's he's just playing with his Thomas the Train set.
Tonight's featured wine list: Barefoot Pinot Noir; Turning Leaf 2010 California Chardonnay
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