List Of The Day: 07/19/10

Monday, July 19, 2010

50s Movies Of The 80s (Of The Day)

It seems like the 1950s were in vogue in the 1980s. There were quite a few films in the 1980s set in the 1950s. Some of them were actually good. Here are a few.

MISCHIEF (1985)

Doug McKeon plays the consummate virgin in this one. It's a slice of life, coming of age, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know the racket. I liked it and it can be found on the Amazons for $70. Less if you're okay with VHS. Netflix is a less-expensive option, but no streaming yet. Look for Jami Gertz as Rosie and Barbarino's wife Kelly Preston (the internets seem to like her nude scene).

PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986)

Keep an eye out for a young Nicholas Cage (before he got unwatchable), and a Jim Carrey before he taught us how to laugh. Francis Ford Coppola directs. Not bad, but Cage's speech inflection may cause pain after an hour. He re-embraced this affectation for G-Force.

BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

Another time travel yarn. Very good if not entirely accurate. Lots of fun, and available on Blu-ray before the end of the year. The sequels are optional. If you loved Family Ties, watch this.

STAND BY ME (1986)

This is the one that started me down the path. I noticed that my local liberry was offering free audiobook downloads and Stephen King's The Body is the first one I chose. From there, I got Stand By Me streaming on Netflix for (relatively) free. Very good story, among King's best. Very good movie, among Reiner's best. Launching the careers of Wil Wheaton, Keifer Sutherland, River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, John Cusack, and Corey Feldman, Stand by Me struck a note for sure.

I don't want to live in the 1950s, but I wouldn't mind visiting.

-Lefty

Edit:

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Another great film, full of inspiring prose and great ideas. This movie made me want to listen to classical music and read poetry. Instead I got drunk and played Nintendo.

Dead Poets introduced us to such talents as Josh Charles, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, and Red Forman himself: Kurtwood Smith. Also in the cast was the great Norman Lloyd. Not playing a likable character, but a wonderful actor with a fantastic history (worked with Orson Welles and Hitchcock). There was also some small-time hack named Robin Williams.

The only thing I'd have changed if it was mine would be to keep Williams on a shorter improv leash.

Comedy.com Links Of The Day

Thanks for clicking.

The 6 Most Surprising Ways Alcohol Is Actually Good for You

36 Sneaky Hidden Compartments

MySpace: The Movie

Celebrity Rehab Cast Announcement Of The Day

Here's one from the "who gives a shit?"* file. From People. Not the magazine, but two women I overheard on the bus.

Rachel Uchitel, Jeremy London Sign Up for Celebrity Rehab 4

Actor Jeremy London, who claimed he was abducted and forced to take drugs by three armed men in June (and I, for one, believe him), is among the stars confirmed for the fourth season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew on VH1.

The former Party of Five and 7th Heaven star will be joined on the reality show, devoted to battling and overcoming addiction, by seven other "celebs" (using the word loosely), listed below.

The show, hosted by Dr. Drew Pinsky, will chronicle the patients’ intensive 21-day detox program at the Pasadena Recovery Center. No date has been set for the show’s premiere, but it is expected to air before the year’s end.

Other cast:

Rachel Uchitel - alleged Tiger Woods mistress

Jason Wahler - former cast member of The Hills and Laguna Beach

Leif Garrett - ’70s heartthrob/singer

Janice Dickinson - professional mannequin

Jason Davis - some porkenheimer I'd never heard of before today

Frankie Lons - mother of singer Keyshia Cole

Conspiculously absent:

Heather Locklear

LiLo

Jeff Conaway (unless he's already dead)

Charlie Sheen

Fuckface

* I give a shit because I watch this shit. Don't ask me why I watch this shit.

Movie Trailer Of The Day: Sharktopus

"These special effects aren't very special." -- Butt-Head

And where the hell are the bare boobs? Bikini tops must be yanked off in a movie like this, or what's the point?

Link from Cleve.

News Story Of The Day: Out With A Bang

At least she died doing what (and who) she loved. From Daily News (NY).

Coroner: Nanny dies using sex toy while watching porn

The ecstasy - and the agony.

A 30-year-old British woman's death, when using a sex toy while watching a porn movie, was probably caused by her state of arousal, officials said.

Nicola Paginton, a children's nanny, was found dead in bed - naked from the waist down - in October as the porn movie played on her laptop, according to the Daily Mail.

A pathologist and coroner said during an inquest that Paginton died from a sudden heart arrhythmia, likely caused by "her activity before death." the paper reported.

Police had been called to Paginton's home after her employer, Sarah Griffiths, went to her house when she failed to show up for work. She and a neighbor saw Paginton lying on her bed with her cat sitting on her chest, the newspaper said.