Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

I love this movie - it has emotion, heart, and smart writing/dialogue (by husband-and-wife team of Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner, who unfortunately didn't write many other screenplays, per IMDB).

If you haven't seen this movie, it focuses on Katheleen Turner's character (Peggy), who at the start of the movie plays a 42 year old at her high school's 25th Anniversary Reunion, where she wishes what we all do - "if only I knew then what I know now".  Then - for the rest of the movie - she plays 17 and her character relives her high-school senior days in the spring of 1960. 

I don't think it's really a spoiler or a surprise if I say that the film (in my opinion) is very "Capra-esque", especially the ending...was her experience in 1960 all a dream, or did she actually time-travel back to 1960? Hmmmm. I still have fun thinking about that idea. You'll have to see it to fully understand what I mean. But there's profundity to it, too, as Peggy's relationships and fate may change as a result. 

So now it's time to shine a spotlight on the entire cast who make this movie so good - most of the main actors have the challenging task of playing two ages, 42 and 17, and they are all great - including Nicolas Cage, who plays Peggy's high school sweetheart of 2 years. 

I won't list the age of each actor, but all of them are either in their mid/late 20s or early 30s, and really convincing in both roles.

First I'll start with Kathleen Turner, course playing Peggy, a character with an adult mindset from 1985.  Of course, she plays both 42 and 17 fantastically. She was about 30 at the time when the movie was made/set, but when she plays both roles and delivers. 

Her scenes at school with Nicolas Cage are really great especially when she gets to say things to him she wished she would have said at 17; one of the best lines comes when Cage (who years later will cheat on Peggy) is expressing his jealously and says "when I imagine you going out with other guys, I feel...." and he can't find the words. Peggy says as an adult would...."rejected, worthless, and miserable? Good!". 

After awhile, Peggy realizes she is "trapped" in her predicament - is she dreaming or dead, she wonders. Then she does the most sensible thing anyone would do - reaches out to her school's high school expert on science (Barry Miller) and asks him if time travel is possible. She then begins to disclose some "future facts" she knows of (often humorously), such as heart transplants, man walking on the moon, televisions that get smaller, and radios "that get bigger" (referring to the boom boxes). Had the movie been made today, no doubt her character would reference the internet, smartphones, and Twitter for sure, but watching this movie reminded me that there were some pretty impressive achievements between 1960 and 1985. 

I enjoy seeing Peggy go directly to all the "forbidden" spots - her dad's liquor cabinet, the cigarettes hidden under the stairs. She argues with her dad and she humorously exclaims "I'm an adult --- I can do what I want!" and "I'm going to go to Liverpool and discover The Beatles!"

Another great scene is when Peggy sees her younger sister in 1960; her sister is a few years younger, perhaps 14 (played by Sofia Coppola - the only real teenager in the whole movie). The way Peggy responds to her is touching and convincing, she's almost in tears when she sees her. The details are not explained, but it makes me wonder if her sister had died tragically....or something bad happened to her where they became estranged or something and so therefore seeing her again would brought back alot of joy for Peggy.

The movie has a number of nice moments like that, especially when Peggy decides to visit her parents and grandparents -- both of whom  have died years prior to 1985. Sequences like these can make us think of our own relatives who passed and who we miss. Haven't we all dreamed about long-gone relatives or friends at one time or another? 

This is a really great performance by Kathleen Turner in one of her best movie roles in my opinion, and deserving on her Oscar nomination that year.

Next up, I wanted to write about Nicolas Cage in one of his first movie roles. At the start of the movie he's 42 and looks the age and is made up to look generally down-and-out and gruff, having made some questionable decisions in his life. Then, when the movie shifts to 1960, he's 17 and looks the age again, but this time he's optimistic and full of life and in love with Peggy, passionate about music, singing in a band, and his hair and wardrobe is made up to make him look like Fabian, who is his celebrity idol. (Full disclosure - I had to Google and look up Fabian to learn a little more about him LOL).  It's an amazing transformation, and even transforms his 1960 voice and mannerisms to match a teenager's. He's really good in this role. 

Jim Carrey is also in a small role, also playing 42 and 17. His character is meant to be something of a class clown and he really is - at both ages. His character only appears in few scenes, but I think it's just enough in my opinion - if he were in any more scenes, I think he would have unnecessarily stolen (or ruined) a good part of the movie with his comic antics. 

Also playing classmates are Joan Allen (The Crucible) and Catherine Hicks (Child's Play), and their costumes and makeup really convince you that they are teens, especially when they drive Peggy Sue home from school while "Tequilla" by the Champs plays on the radio.  

Kevin J. O'Connor was 22 but played 17, and played one of the "outcasts" of the school that Peggy reaches out to in 1960 and cheats on Nicolas Cage (who subsequently throws a jealous tantrum, but still professes his love for Peggy in the end).

John Barry's score, the costumers, set designers, and cinematographer deserve much credit for re-creating a very memorable and dream-like film. And it is superbly directed by Francis Coppola; in real-life, he is the same age and generation as the adult Peggy character so handles this film with a great sensibility for that late 50's/early 60s era. And of course, amazing job by the screenwriters who also have a great sensibility for the era and write some pretty funny, clever, and satirical dialogue without going over-the-top. 

I recommended the movie if you haven't seen it!

This post is part of the Fake Teenagers Blogathon!

Hosted by Taking Up Room (November 18-20, 2022)

P.S:  Realweegiemidget Reviews has a great post on this movie from a few years back!
It's a great post that features MORE about this awesome movie and its amazing cast!

Check out the post here!

Thor and other summer blockbusters of 2011

Thor (2011)

The trailer didn't look too appealing when I saw it a few months ago, but after all the good word of mouth I checked it out and was not disappointed. I have to hand it to director Kenneth Branaugh; he does an excellent job in directing this action-fantasy film based on the Marvel comic book of the 1960s, which I never read. In the film, Thor is stripped of his powers and banished to the planet Earth (but he goes back eventually). There's drama, action, and romance in between. This may sound campy but Branaugh steers it away from that direction. There are a few "fish-out-of-water" jokes here and there but for the most part it's handled very well.

I did some research afterward and discovered that the film uses many characters that were in the original comic books and the storyline of Thor coming to earth is not some gimmick to attract 2011 audiences; it actually happened in the comics - Thor falls in love with an earthling named Jane Foster. Natalie Portman is Jane. I recommend Thor if you are looking for an entertaining fantasy/adventure/romance this summer. PG-13: Sci-fi and action violence.

This movie gets an A from me.

Green Lantern (2011)

I enjoyed it but I think it could have been better. Maybe Ryan Reynolds was too annoying for me. I enjoyed learning about the Green Lantern Corps and the origin of the superhero; I really didn't know anything about him at all, and according to what I've read, this film is faithful to the comic books. The special effects are cool and I never knew how interesting of a character Green Lantern/Hal Jordan is. The violence is mostly sci-fi battles with aliens. There is a disturbing scene where Angela Bassett gets thrown into a glass wall and apparently dies. I really like her and didn't want to see her get killed that way. There are also a fair amount of swearing and sex talk so you might want to think twice about bringing young children to this film.

This movie gets a B - from me.

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

...is the first Pirates movie I've ever seen. I didn't feel like I missed much from the other movies. From what I've heard this is a better movie than the other two sequels. I thought the movie was worth it. There are some great costumes and sets and some great action sequences. Johnny Depp the pirate is joined by Penelope Cruz, who plays a former lover. The plot of the movie involves the pirates (joined by Blackbeard) in a race to the Fountain of Youth. I liked this movie but it's a bit dark and violent. I wouldn't recommend for small children.

PG-13: Sword battles and deaths, vicious mermaid attacks, sexual innuendo, voodoo dolls and magic spells, Russian roulette, hangings, stabbings, people getting slapped in the face, etc. From the good people at Disney.

This movie gets a C from me.

Super 8 (Don't read this if you don't want spoilers!)

Yes there is an alien in it. An alien! It comes out of the train that crashes and a bunch of 12-year olds see it all happen while they are shooting an amateur zombie film. The train crash is pretty cool and the best part of the film. The rest was a snoozer for me. This felt like ET, Close Encounters, Stand By Me, Bad News Bears, Breaking Away, and Goonies were thrown in a blender and this came out. There's an actor from Gremlins in the film who plays an important part but I won't tell you who. This movie could have been better but let me down at the end. It got too melodramatic...too much crying and drama. I didn't think the film needed that, really. Some of the kids are annoying; the most annoying is a kid with braces. Did you see Poltergeist II? Remember the kid with braces? I REALLY wanted to see what happened to that kid happen to this one in Super 8.

PG-13: Swearing by the kids throughout and some scenes where you think dogs and people die (but they don't).

This movie gets a C- from me.

Did the book have poo and crotch jokes?

Mr Poppins Penguins

I only watched about 15 minutes of the film before I walked out and left the theater in disgust; I couldn't stand this film (which should have been called Mr POOPER's Penguins) any longer, even with a cameo by Angela Lansbury. In the first 15 minutes there are two scenes of penguins crapping on someone (including one penguin sticking its butt in a guy's face and crapping on him), a man getting kicked in the crotch, and a penguin in a toilet. What a stupid film. Why does every so-called "kids movie" involving animals have either pee, crap, and/or crotch attacks? This was the case in last summer's Marmaduke (which I also walked out of). In that film, there's pee, crap, fart, and crotch jokes and one guy even drinks a glass of pee after a dog urinates in it.

I'm just old fashioned. I prefer animal films like Benji, Babe or The Adventures of Milo and Otis.

Rated PG: (some harsher words were obviously dubbed, such as when a guy says, "I don't give a rat's butt"), crap and crotch jokes.

This movie gets an F from me (from what I've seen).

PS I'm not the only one who didn't like this film. Read this review from someone who knows the book:

The Dead Pool (1988) and an early Jim Carrey

A maniacal serial killer has a list of several celebrities that he wants to kill, for unclear reasons. 

A horror movie director (Lian Neeson) and a drug addicted rock star (Jim Carrey) are also involved. Dirty Harry ends up on the list too.

As the movie progresses, we get more clues as to who the killer is and his motives.

My favorite part is the chase scene with the remote-controlled toy car strapped with a bomb. Patricia Clarkson plays a reporter.

This was Clint's first movie after he served as the mayor of Carmel, California.

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and A Christmas Carol (2009) with Jim Carrey

Mickey's Christmas Carol is a 24-minute animated short, that was first released in U.S. theaters in December 1983 (it opened in the UK two months earlier). It was accompanied by the re-release of 1977's great adventure classic "The Rescuers". I didn't see it in theaters at the time, but did watch it on TV when it was televised for the first time in the mid 80s. My cousins recorded it on their new VCR and let me borrow the tape. Needless to say, I have fond memories of watching this over and over. Nowadays I cannot watch any version of this classic tale without thinking of Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young). Scrooge McDuck was a minor comic book character in Disney comics since the post-war years of the 1940s, and this was his biggest hit - the perfect role for him. This was also the very first theatrical cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse in 30 years, since 1953's The Simple Things (watch The Simple Things now on You Tube). Mickey plays Bob Cratchit, and Donald Duck plays Fred. Characters from classic Disney animated shorts and features have supporting roles, including Jiminy Cricket as the ghost of Christmas past, and Mr. Toad as Fezziwig.

"Mickey's Christmas Carol" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short in 1983, but lost to the 3-1/2 minute claymation "Sundae in New York" - featuring an Ed Koch caricature singing the old Sinatra tune while prancing around the city - arguably one of the great injustices in the history of the Oscars! (Watch Sundae in New York now on You Tube --- you decide which film should have won!) Oh well, let me get off my soapbox now, and present "Mickey's Christmas Carol". Enjoy!

Watch Part 1:



Watch Part 2:



Watch Part 3:

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Postscript:

On Thanksgiving night last Thursday, I went to see Robert Zemekis' new version of "A Christmas Carol" in 3-D, from Walt Disney Pictures. Overall I was impressed, enjoyed the aerial and street shots of London. Jim Carrey's Scrooge was entertaining, but seeing him as all 3 ghosts of Christmas past got a bit tiresome after awhile.

A scaled-down Scrooge the size of a rat (in one sequence) was an interesting element. And I must say, I'm happy to see 3-D making a comeback. Trailers before the movie included no fewer than 4 movies to be released in 3-D next year.

Throughout the film, though, I could not help but be reminded of my favorite all time version of Dickens' classic --- "Mickey's Christmas Carol".