Workin' Watch: 9-to-5 (1980)

Watched:  05/ 03/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's


I was about five when 9-to-5 (1980) came out, and the theme song by co-star Dolly Parton was everywhere for about a year or two, remaining a staple of radio play to this day.  Because the movie dealt with non-space-battle, gorilla or robot related issues, and I think was an R-Rating in the era of G, PG and R, I did not see the movie at the time.  I was pretty sure then that it was not a sex romp based mostly on how many people went to see it (it was huge), and just never got around to seeing it as I grew up. 

Which is weird - I'm not a giant Jane Fonda fan, but I find Lilly Tomlin brilliant whenever she's on a screen in front of me, and... I mean, Dolly Parton!  If you don't love Dolly Parton, I don't want to know you.  And Dabney Coleman was a thing back in this era - people loved him (he might have been a great take on J. Jonah Jameson in a 1980's-era Spidey movie if a studio had gotten its ac together.  I'm just saying.)

From a purely sociological standpoint, it's fascinating to see a movie about the women of my parents generation who were going through the first phases of a lot of what we deal with today, but based upon the rules of the era where women were housewives, teachers, nurses and... secretaries.  And we've all seen the role of secretaries on Mad Men (or should.  Sucks to your GoT, give me ad executives drinking on the job). 

PODCAST! "Lifeforce" (1985) - SimonUK Cinema Series w/ Ryan!

Watched:  04/09/2019
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's


SimonUK brings a charming, home spun sort of tale about (nude) space vampires, not-Michael Caine, a blank Texan astronaut, a London-based Zombie plague, forced kissing on Patrick Stewart and more story than a movie has a right to contain.





Music:
Lifeforce Theme - Henry Mancini, Lifeforce OST
Call of the Wild - Henry Mancini, Lifeforce OST

Baseball Watch: The Natural (1984)

Watched:  04/07/2019
Format:  TCM
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1980's

When I was a kid, for some reason my parents took me to see The Natural (1984).  My memory is that I walked out, told them I didn't understand it, and somehow got in trouble for making that statement - which just led to further confusion.  I dunno.  Not everything makes sense when you're 8 or 9.

In the intervening 35 years, I hadn't rewatched the film.  Not because I was traumatized, but I just never got around to it.  And that's unfortunate - because The Natural is a fine movie and the sort no one is making anymore.   Lyrical, with craftsmanship to spare, spanning decades, borrowing from other myths to create a new mythology, blending grounded reality with fantasy and the remarkable stories embedded in sport - it's an ambitious film, and I can't knock it.

PODCAST: "Innerspace" (1987) - SimonUK & Ryan watch an 80's sci-fi comedy!

Watched:  03/19/2019
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  Unknown.  Probably 3rd of 4th.
Decade:  1980's


It's Spring Break, and SimonUK is looking for something breezy and light. Ryan hasn't seen this movie in 30 years. We talk 1980's sci-fi comedies, director Joe Dante's ideas, and what actually works pretty well in this not-much-discussed artifact of the 1980's.
 

SimonUK Cinema Series:

80's Watch: Hollywood Shuffle (1987)

Watched:  02/26/2019
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  No idea.  At least third.
Decade:  1980's

Back when Hollywood Shuffle (1987) first showed up on home video, it was a movie I recall renting and really liking.  I know for a fact I only sorta got what the movie was saying and doing and was more interested in the fact that some of the sketches and spoofs played well to even a 13 year old.  After all, the movie is about an actor's journey through casting and into his first day on set of a film, loaded with cut-away scenes where they lampoon Hollywood movies.

Jackie Watch: Police Story (1985) and Police Story 2 (1988)

Watched:  02/22/2019
Format:  Austin Film Society
Viewing:  second/ first
Decade:  1980's

Thanks to some good pals my first year of college, I started watching Jackie Chan movies.  Unfortunately, lo these many years later, because I watched many of them in the space of one academic year, I have no idea which is which, what I have seen and what I haven't.  The conversation usually went more like "There's a Jackie Chan movie playing at The Hogg Auditorium.  We're going after dinner."  "Okay." 

It turned out I had seen Police Story, but not Police Story 2 - but I have, in the past, seen Police Story 3: Supercop.  Which was not part of the double-bill at the Austin Film Society that SimonUK and I attended.

But, yeah, like all of you, when I first saw his movies, I loved everything about Jackie - his sense of humor, his incredible stunts, his loyalty to his stunt team, the fact he wrote, directed and starred in his movies, and that he even sang his own theme songs.  And, yeah, you can see the influence of the comedy greats in Jackie - if you love Buster Keaton or Chaplain, you should like Jackie's movies. 

If the movies have a weakness, imho, it's that they often can't quite settle on tone.  That said, by the end of Police Story, the shift from goofy antics and wacky set-pieces to wanting to see the bad guys get punched just real, real hard is more than earned. 

Chan's energy is just different from anyone else in cinema.  He's got the finesse of Bruce Lee, but - instead of Lee's eye of the storm focused energy, ready to unleash, he sort of is the storm. 

Maggie Cheung plays May in both films, Jackie's long-suffering girlfriend, and she has some terrific comedic bits and really takes some hits for the team doing her own stunts. 

The plot is some boiler-plate 1980's cop-movie stuff, and that's okay.  It's all a skeleton upon which to hang cool action scenes and showcase the work of Jackie and his crew.

I dunno.  I really like Police Story, maybe the second one a bit less, but they're both hugely watchable movies.  I just found Police Story 3: Supercop on Amazon, so I'm going to watch it ASAP.  It has Michelle Yeoh, so...  you know...

Comedy Watch: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

Watched:  02/09/2019
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming
Viewing:  7th or so
Decade:  1980's

So, here's a curious one: could Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) be made today? 

I'm going to say "no". 

Is the movie still still as oddly brilliant and funny as it was in 1988?  More so, I think.  The older I get, the more I relish Caine's role and dialog in particular.  And Glenne Headley's breathy, wide-eyed Ohioan is, of course, absolutely terrific knowing what we know at the film's conclusion. 

But I suspect the twitter scold-squad would be up in arms about pretty much everything Steve Martin does in this movie if it arrived now. 

However, I am pretty sure in another 20 years, this movie will still be around and revered as a classic comedy by those in the know, part of Martin's filmography of rediscovered classics and Caine's occasional and often successful dive into comedy.  And, of course, Headley will be rightfully mourned. 

I mean, Ruprecht is timeless, and I look forward to future generations wondering where he got the trident.

MST3K Watch: Lords of the Deep (1989)

Watched:  01/18/2019
Format:  MST3K on Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's

A mash-up of The Abyss and every space station movie you've ever seen, with terrible acting, hilariously bad lighting and direction, set-design right out of a high school play and your two leads played by "that guy" from 1970's television and Felix's wife who gets killed early on in License to Kill.  And some adorably bad puppets.

The courage it took to make this on the heels of The Abyss is just... man...

Talking Heads Watch: True Stories (1986)

Watched:  01/15/2019
Format:  Criterion BluRay
Viewing:  6th or 7th
Decade:  1980's

MST3K Watch: Mac and Me (1988)

Watched:  12/27/2018
Format:  MST3K on Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's

What the actual @#$% was that?

RiffTrax-Watch: Ready Player One (2018)

Watched:  12/25/2018
Format:  Rifftrax
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's

I am not a gamer.  The only console I own is one of those 2600 emulator boxes and it hasn't been out of the closet in a year.  I get that people spend a lot of time on video games, and that I have no stones to throw about people wasting their time and money on non-real-things.  I write on a blog that needlessly analyzes movies and occasionally comics and talks a lot about comic-based movies.  Take all of the below with the necessary grain of salt.

PODCAST: "A Christmas Story" (1983) HOLIDAY CINEMA SERIES w/ Maxwell and Ryan

Watched  11/25/2018
Viewing:  Oh god, who knows?
Format:  On-demand from TBS
Decade:  1980's

Oh, fudge...! Maxwell and Ryan get nostalgic for a nostalgia film, "A Christmas Story" - the tale of a boy who just wants a BB gun for Christmas. The Signal Watch crew is celebrating the Holiday season with discussions of some of our seasonal favorite films and specials, so we go deep on a movie we can all relate to (maybe a bit too much).




Music:

Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio from A Charlie Brown Christmas
O Tannenbaum - Vince Guaraldi Trio from A Charlie Brown Christmas

Shownotes:

24:40 - on Amazon Prime A Roadtrip for Ralphie
30:10 - video for Hot for Teacher by Van Halen
45:55 - article on Jane Krakowsi in A Christmas Story Live 
1:09:25 - A Christmas Story House Museum in Cleveland

SANTA BONUS:

When we hit 50 listens, Maxwell sent me some choice family photos

PODCAST: Dead White Girls in the Water - "Twin Peaks: Pilot" (1990) and "The River's Edge" (1986) - High School Movies with Laura and Ryan

Twin Peaks: Pilot
Watched:  10/12/2018
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown.  5th or so.
Decade:  1990's

River's Edge
Watched:  10/24/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  5th or so
Decade:  1980's

Laura and Ryan's exploration of High School Movies takes a turn for the grim when they pick the topic of "Dead White Girls in the Water".  Join us as we talk the pilot to Twin Peaks (1990) and seminal 80's flick River's Edge (1986).  It's a look at two pieces of media where the death of a young woman means very different things, but maybe under the plastic, how and why they work means they have more in common than we think at first glance.





Music
Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno
River's Edge Theme - Jürgen Knieper - River's Edge Original Soundtrack
Laura Palmer's Theme - Angela Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Original Soundtrack
On Some Faraway Beach - Brian Eno


For more from the Signal Watch PodCast, including playlists, where to listen, etc...  Click Here



High School Movies w/ Maxwell and Ryan Playlist

Stage Show Watch: Gilda Live (1980)

Watched:  11/08/2018
Format:  DVR from TCM
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's

DISNEY HISTORY PODCAST: EPCOT - Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow! NathanC and Ryan talk about the park! Yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Walt Disney had a vision for an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a city he'd build from scratch with businesses, living spaces, arts, science, universities, etc... And we got an amusement park. NathanC and Ryan delve into the history of EPCOT from concept to execution to today to tomorrow! Are we nostalgic for the future?
 

Music
Here Come the Warm Jets - Brian Eno
Innoventions - Future World - EPCOT park soundtrack
The Universe of Energy - EPCOT park soundtrack
Promise - Leaving EPCOT song - EPCOT park soundtrack
On Some Faraway Beach - Brian Eno


Disney History with NathanC

Halloween Watch: Monster Squad (1987)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming
Viewing:  6th or 10th
Decade:  1980's

I've written about Monster Squad (1987) before, so I won't cover it again this time around.  But after covering horror movies since about July in order to have PodCasts ready to go and then watching a lot of stuff once we hit October - the mix of classic monsters, scares, jokes, the 1980's and coming of age digging monsters all in one place seemed like a good way to put a button on my Halloween movie watch.

Now get out there and enjoy some perfect Stan Winston make-up and terrific monster performances by catching this movie if you haven't already.

Oh, and apparently this exists:

Halloween Watch: Elvira Mistress of the Dark (1988)

Watched:  10/29/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  Unknown.  10th?
Decade:  so, so 1980's, and, yet, timeless


I still think this movie is hilarious.  I dunno - my sense of humor has always run sort of toward the "Bugs Bunny"/ Marx Bros. school of comedy, and so a movie about a wise-cracking horror movie host as fish-out-of-water in small-town uptight Massachusetts is more or less my sweet spot.  I like me some double-entendre, visual gags and Edie McClurg.

PODCAST! HALLOWEEN WATCH 2018 FINALE! "The Thing" (1982) w/ Jamie and Ryan

Watched:  09/30/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown.  Eighth?
Decade:  1980's

After 20 years of avoiding watching The Thing (1982) Jamie decides it's time to watch the movie and then get in front of a microphone. We discuss a modern horror classic, and what it's like to finally see a movie you've heard so much about (and maybe built up a bit in your imagination).



Music:

Bride of Frankenstein Theme - Franz Waxman
The Thing Main Titles - Ennio Morricone
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - The Carpenters
Swan Lake - Act 2: No. 10 Scene - Tchaikovsky


Playlists:

Featured:  Signal Watch Halloween 2018

• Amy and Ryan Watch 50 Shades!
• Bond Watch!  James Bond movie discussion
• Avengers Chronological Countdown w/ Jamie and Ryan
• Disney History w/ NathanC and Ryan
• High School Movies w/ Maxwell

Get your audio episodes at:

Halloween Wacky Watch: Beetlejuice (1988)

Watched:  10/21/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown.  Fifth?
Decade:  1980's

What to say about Beetlejuice (1988) thirty years on? 

I didn't actually see the movie until sometime after 1995 when Jamie and I started dating and she realized I'd never seen it.  Which, honestly, it was weird I hadn't.  I liked Tim Burton a lot, as well as Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and other parts of the film that I knew about. 

But now I've seen it a few times, and every time I like it more.  It's just good, chaotic fun with some great ideas that all work well on screen, fun performances and terrific FX. 

Anyway, I don't have a ton to add here.  You've all seen the film, and if you haven't, it's a good family film (if the kids are a bit older).  So, sit back and enjoy Michael Keaton before he became respectable, early career Alec Baldwin, and the wonder that is Geena Davis.  PLUS terrific appearances from Robert Goulet, Dick Cavett, Susan Kellermann, Sylvia Sidney, of course Winona Ryder, Glenn Shadix and Jeffrey Jones and O'Hara. 

Where Wolf? Watch: Wolfen (1981)

Watched:  10/19/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's


Well, I finally managed to watch Wolfen (1981) instead of The Howling.