100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 36. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

36. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

This movie scare the shit out of me as a kid. For years I thought I was the only one but the internet has shown me I was far from alone. It seems that many kids lives were ruined when Christopher Lloyd went from “actor” to “cartoon” near the end of this film. Regardless of how scarring the film may have been, I’ve still always loved it.

Who framed Roger Rabbit is arguably one of the most impressive movies of all time. It has great animation sequences, a tight script and some of the best special effects of all time. The interaction between humans and cartoons throughout the film have yet to be topped in the last 20+ years. Furthermore the movie’s script is a wonderful send off to Chinatown.

Bob Hopskins performance was so perfect that it wasn’t until years later when I saw an interview with him that I realized he wasn’t American. The charming ‘old-timey’ look of this wacky period piece wouldn’t be the same without his down on his lucky P.I. performance.

There’s not a single second of this movie that doesn’t captivate me whether it’s the Eddie trying to solve the case, cartoon characters from different companies interacting or Roger interacting with Eddie. Everything is fantastic and still holds up.

They don’t make kids films like this anymore (unless of course you’re Pixar). It’s scary, it’s funny, it’s dark and it’s full of adult situations. I can watch this a million times and never lose interest.

100 Albums That Make Me Love Music: 36. Barenaked Ladies - Stunt

36. Barenaked Ladies: Stunt

When I first heard Barenaked Ladies it was through the song Old Apartment. It used to come on the Box occasionally. I felt nothing towards the song (years later I’d love it) but beyond having a funny name I really didn’t pay mind to Barenaked Ladies. That was until the pop-culture packed hip-hop/alt-rock fuse song One Week exploded onto the radio. Suddenly I (as well as all my classmates) cared very much who they were.

Beyond the fact that One Week was a slam-dunk smash hit; it didn’t hurt that the singles It’s All Been Done and Alcohol had moderate radio success as well leading Stunt to be a massive moment in Barenaked Ladies career. The album was a beautiful combination of upbeat sing-alongs (Never is Enough, Some Fantastic) and sincere acoustic tracks (Light Up My Room, When You Dream). I’m sure plenty of BNL fans will scoff and tell me how wrong I am but while I loved their early music and enjoy the later records (include the most recent album without Steven Page) this is their best record (at least in my opinion). 

I remember the album was original a hard-sell for my young brain. I wanted 13 songs that sounded like One Week because I was a kid and kids are stupid and don’t like different things. I think the only other song I loved when I first bought the cassette (yes I was still rocking the occasional cassette in those days) was Who Needs Sleep? As I grew older the occasional song would grow on me or grab my attention but it was 2003 when I got my drivers license that I really loved the album. 

I waited until 18 to get a license. No particular reason except lack of motivation I suppose. My first car (and my favorite car still) was a Buick that I got from my grandmother. The car only had a tape deck so despite having well over 1,000 CDs at that point (I’m a compulsive buyer and an obsessive collector, it’s a bad combination) I was forced to listen to a few mix tapes and cassettes I owned. Stunt rarely wasn’t playing in that car. I listened to it forwards and backwards until I had memorized it word for word and fell in love with every track.

My favorite track was (and still is) Never is Enough. At the time that song complete defined my slacker confusion of the future. I was living the moment, about to graduate high school with no college plans as of yet. I just wanted to make movies, hang out with my friends and drive around listening to music. I wish I could say that 9 years later I’m a different person, but I’m not. I still love that song over all other tracks and I’m still as confused as before. The only difference is I have the Barenaked Ladies backing me up now. Let’s be honest, that’s a pretty sweet band to have in your corner.

Self Observational Sunday: Rewriting Your Life

In about 2 weeks I will be completing my screenplay Describing the Moon. For long time friends and followers you will know that I began working on Describing the Moon in 2004. The script was originally called Evaporated (after my favorite Ben Folds Five song) and it was a very different whiny story.

It stemmed from a statement I made that it was possible to do a Romantic Comedy that ended with the main character not getting the girl but also not be depressing. While I still think this to be true, Evaporated was not the film to prove it. As far the scripts quality there was none to be found. It's hard to really call it the original "Describing the Moon" except for the last 20 pages which was frankly the only good thing in the script.

Next came a Script actually called Describing the Moon. It was written as a short film that stemmed from those last 20 pages. I quickly wanted to expand the story however and created yet another draft which was heavily influenced by Kevin Smith's Clerks and Mallrats. This script found the lead character working at a shop in the local Mall the day before it's officially closing. Once again the last 20 pages was the only decent scene.

The first draft that holds any similarity to script that I'm close to completing wasn't written until 2006. After years of rewrites, at least two false production starts and 8 drafts We finally have a script (co-written with my best friend Jeffery Shropshire) which we are hoping to film in the next year (Get excited for the Kickstarter).

The biggest influence on writing this latest draft was after we joined a local writer's group. Despite 10 years of writing a movie script this was both of our experiences dealing with notes and rewrites. While I used to fear negative opinions and notes on my work I found the experience quite exciting. Besides what is script writing beyond rewriting life?

There's a quote I hear attributed to Alfred Hitchcock that goes long the lines of "Movies are life without the boring parts". To expand on that the appeal to screenplay writing is that it gives me an opportunity to rewrite my own life. I'm able to make it funnier, wittier and end the way I wish it would.

I look forward to being able to let you in on a few things about production as we eventually begin pre-production (probably sometime in July/August).

100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 37. Pink Flamingos

37. Pink Flamingos

I genuinely don’t remember where I first heard of Pink Flamingos. All I know is that when I heard about it (possibly from my mom) it was that it was (a) disgusting (b) crude and (c) someone ate dog shit. If I force myself to search my memory banks I think it would tell me that what happened was I saw a picture of Divine while looking through a magazine of “rare movies” you could purchase. A few weeks later I saw it at the local mom and pops shop with a giant sign on it that said “Absolutely no one under 17 may rent”.

This most likely lead to me asking my mom about it. She openly stated she had never seen it but knew that it contained lots of gross stuff and that I was forbidden from seeing it. I followed through with her wish until my freshmen year of college. While living at my grandmother’s house I signed up for Netflix and this was one of hte first things I put on my queue. Years of curiousity had gotten the best of me.

I remember watching it in bewilderment, moments of the film (Specifically the singing asshole) genuinely made me sick. I could not look away from the screen though. You see the plot to Pink Flamingos is paper thin. Two families battle for being the Filthiest person alive. In their constant battle for this title you have incest, people sitting in boxes and a sequence in which two people fuck while killing a chicken (yes a Chicken is genuinely killed on screen). 

The film ends with Divine bending down and picking up a fresh piece of dog shit and chewing on it while giving a “shit-eating grin” to the camera. 

Immediately when this film ended I ejected it from my DVD player, put it in the Netflix Envelope, sealed it and put it in my mailbox. I was DISGUSTED and angry. How could I waste my time on something so stupid and disturbing.  Then something weird happened... I started to chuckle to myself. I’d find myself thinking about moments in the movie and laughing... suddenly I was angry that i had sealed that DVD so quickly... because I wanted to watch it again. I did the only logical thing. I went on Amazon and immediately bought it on DVD

The second it arrived I showed it to my friend Dan. He went out and bought a copy and we watched it at a party. The movie just kept getting handed down. We found ourselves yelling things like “Someone has sent me a bowel movement” while wandering the hallway. 

It’s strange that a movie so depraved and demented could become a bonding film for a group of us. Sadly I rarely speak to the original crowd that loved this movie, but whenever I watch it I’m immediately reminded of them. 

This film is not for the weak-stomached but if you want to see what is considered one of the greatest cult films ever made, this is worth tracking down.

100 Albums That Make Me Love Music - 37. Nirvana: In Utero

37. Nirvana: In Utero

I will always remember when I first heard that Kurt Cobain died. I was insanely late to the game. It was only about 4 months after I discovered who Nirvana was (also because my family had JUST gotten MTV). My first exposure to Nirvana was when Wayne’s World 2 was coming out. MTV did a special in which Wayne and Garth would introduce various music videos and they played the music video for Heart-Shaped Box. They thought Kurt was screaming “Hey Wayne”. 

About a month later my family got MTV and I heard smells like teen spirit for the first time. I really dug it. I think it was about 2 weeks later MTV was gearing up for the MTV Video Music Awards and they were doing a recap of the year. That’s when I heard Kurt Cobain was gone. Like I said, very very late to the game.

Whenever I did finally hear In Utero I loved it. I have always liked it more than Nevermind. When I was 10 this was strictly because I liked more songs on In Utero but as I’ve gotten older I appreciate it because I find it an impressive collection of emotions, anti-music/nosie rock and as rock critic Chuck Klosterman once described it Guilt Rock.

Kurt mostly focused on writing about books instead of his life (although some songs are very clearly about it) but as Klosterman pointed out. Even just by singing about books it let’s people into his world regardless. My favorite tracks are the opening track Serve the Servants and Milk It. While Nevermind was written in the studio and the lyrics mean nothing In Utero kicks off with Kurt expressing how short-lived the grunge movement was “Teenage Angst Has Paid Off Well/Now I’m Bored and Old” and then a few lyrics about the presses perspective of Courtney Love (“If she floats than she is not a witch like we thought”).

The other song (“Milk It”) used to be one of my least favorite songs, it doesn’t mean much of anything as I can tell but I absolutely love it. It’s one of the more interesting pieces of noise rock on the record. 

This album is worth checking out and better (but not as commercially successful) as their album Nevermind.

Self Observational Sunday: Warrior Dash

Yesterday I ran the Warrior Dash for the second time in a row. As I did last year I was blasting some motivation cock rock during the run. Here is the playlist

1. "And Now We Cue The Music" - Jay And Silent Bob Strikes Back
2. Keep Yourself Alive - Queen
3. You're The Best - Joe Esposito
4. Nothing But a Good Time - Poison
5. Anyway You Want It - Journey
6. To Be The Best - Tenacious D
7. The Touch - Stan Bush
8. Raise Your Hands - Bon Jovi
9. Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
10. Scat Man - Scatman John
11. "Put Me In Coach" - Ace Ventura
12. Lit Up - Buckcherry
13. Thubthumping - Chumbawamba
14. Song 2 - Blur
15. Scary Monster and Nice Spirits - Crowdburn
16. Higher and Higher - Wet Hot American Summer
17. If You Want Blood (You Got it) - AC/DC
18. Semi Charmed Call (Third Eye Blind & Carly Rae Jepson Mash Up) - Chambland
19. I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
20. Youth Gone Wild - Skid Row
21. "Never Give Up, Never Surrender" - Galaxy Quest
22. I Wanna Rock - Twisted Sister
23. Black Betty - Big City Rock
24. God Gave Rock and Roll To You - Kiss
25. I'm Awesome - Spose

In the end we didn't beat our previous time, this however didn't have much do with our ability to run the course as much as the one obstacle had a 20 minute wait. I had a blast running last year with Ed but having a group of 6 people to run with was MUCH better. I look forward to next years dash.

100 Movies That Make Me Love Film: 38. Pee Wee's Big Adventure

38. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

I feel a little bad for the fact my mother can probably recite this movie as well as I can. When I was a kid this and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice were my two favorite movies. I guess I was a big Tim Burton fan before I knew who he was. I’d watch this movie daily.

One of the weirdest debut films from a Hollywood director Pee Wee’s Big Adventure tells the story of Pee Wee Herman a man child who goes on a search for his missing bike. The Film is basically shot for shot The Bicycle Thief.

This is too weird of a movie to really discuss. If you’ve seen it you know why people love it (or maybe not) but if you haven’t seen it than you really must fix that immediately.

Possibly my shortest write up ever? Sure