What happened to music stores (such as FYE) in malls?

This was a really good video commentary posted in the last month that talks about why are there so many fewer music (and movie stores) stores in malls anymore. (Spoiler - spotify and streaming music and movie platforms have alot to do with it!)

Miracle Mile (1988)

I did not like this movie, despite the cast (Mare Winningham, Robert DoQui, Mykelti Williamson) and premise - a nuclear war/apocalyptic film set in the modern day (late 80s). At the film screening I watched it at, the programmer described this film as a movie that "put an exclamation point" on all cold-war era films, since this was pretty much the last movie that touched the subject of nuclear hysterics. The director only made a couple of other low-budget movies like this one, but this one has a number of effects and stunts that might normally be found in a slighter higher budget film.

I felt as if I was constantly being asked by this movie to suspend my disbelief, and I gave up about a quarter into the movie. The movie starts out as a cute John Hughes-esque romantic comedy (the director has admitted this) but about a quarter into the film, the main character Anthony Edwards learns about an coming nuclear attack and everyone around him panics, which spreads. I liked the scenes in the cafe/diner and was hoping the entire movie would take place there with just those characters and their lives we focus on.

That might have made for a good movie.

But instead, it becomes a horror/thriller/action film. The worst part is when Edwards runs into a gym at 5 AM and asks random people, "does anyone know how to fly a helicopter"? I suppose that could be funny, but come on. If the end of the world is nigh, wouldn't you try to call your family and friends? Maybe he didn't have any.

Run Lola Run (1999)

Synopsis: A young woman with punkish red-dyed hair gets a call from her boyfriend in desperate need of money to pay someone off. It's not fully explained, but his life is threatened if he doesn't pay it back by a noon. High noon.

The young woman - whose father is a wealthy banker - frantically runs around the city trying to get the money before something happens to the BF. (She must really love him, though he seems like a loser to me). And yes, she tries to get it from dear old dad, who may or may not be having an affair.

Every time Lola gets to her destination, the film "resets" itself from the beginning in order to show the viewer a different outcome, which makes you think about which version is the "real" one and which version you like best. There's so much running in the film that it can make you exhausted.

An interesting experimental film intercut with some animated sequences. I saw this movie when it first came out in 1999, and enjoyed it, but since then I had forgotten what happened. It was fun to watch it again, but I couldn't help but wonder why Lola couldn't contact any one else to round up the money. Not as many friends as George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life - remember what happens in the end, the main character has all his friends provide money.  

Also interesting - these are days before cell phones, so there's no cell phone use. Could be a different movie if made today. Still excellent and suspenseful. 

Here is an interesting review from Deep Focus Lens on this film:

The Lonely Guy (1984)

This post is my contribution to 1984-A-Thon hosted by Forgotten Films. Click here for a list of all the participating blogs in the blogathon.

1984's The Lonely Guy is one of my favorite Steve Martin films, along with Planes Trains and Automobiles and Roxanne.

This movie (originally panned by Ebert but enjoyed by Siskel - watch their TV review from 1984 here) is a romantic comedy with lots of amusing sight gags and a bit of dark humor. Neil Simon is credited as one of the screenwriters.

In honor of its 30th anniversary, I've come up with 30 reasons why I enjoy this film.

1. Steve Martin's performance. My favorite moment in the film might be when he's interviewing for an apartment and has to answer all the landlord's questions in rapid succession.  Comic brilliance.  

2 The opening credit song Love Comes Without Warning by America and theme music by Jerry Goldsmith. Cheesey, but it seems to fit this era.

3. How it satirizes self-help gurus and dating in general (albeit dating in the 1980s). A well- known 80s' relationship guru of the time - Dr. Joyce Brothers - even agreed to make a cameo appearance.

4. The running "lonely guy" gag. Martin's character lives in a society where single, hopeless-romantics are stigmatized with that label. To enjoy this movie, I think you have to buy into this  premise.

5. The opening scenes giving us a brief history of lonely guys through the ages, such as the caveman who always had to spend New Year's Eve alone. 

6. All the visual humor. For example, when Martin goes apartment hunting, one of the apartments he visits is half underwater!

7. In the memorable restaurant scene, a spotlight shines on Martin after he orders a table for one! Martin sits down and asks the waiter, "Could you turn off the spotlight?" The waiter goes *snap* and off goes the light. Even Roger Ebert who hated the movie enjoyed that scene. 

8. Charles Grodin as Martin's sad-sack best friend. Grodin is a great sidekick to Martin, and creates a memorable character who is sort of like a  human "Eeyore" from Winnie the Pooh. Martin is the more upbeat and ambitious of the two, and they make a great  screen pairing. 

9. In one of my favorite scenes, Martin visits Grodin who has life-size cardboard cutouts of celebrities in his apartment (1980s-era celebrities, of course). A police officer comes by the apartment and painfully admits that he's a "lonely cop" and wants nothing more than a life-size cut-out of Gene Hackman (who of course played a hero cop in The French Connection).

10.  The scene where Martin meets Iris (Judith Ivey) in the diner, and how Iris can immediately tell that he's a "lonely guy". 

11. After the first meeting, Martin loses Iris' phone number and forgets her name. Martin frantically calls almost every almost everyone listed in the phone book. "Hello is there a Doris there? How about Bess or Tess?"

12.  The subway scene. In a classic scene, Martin is riding on a NY subway, looks out the window and suddenly sees Iris. He then grabs a can of spray paint from a gangbanger to write a message on the glass, impressing the gangbanger who exclaims: "Man, you are one baaaad backwards writer!"

13. How Martin's character is a greeting card writer, and the funny greetings he comes up with. I bet that this was the first time the occupation has ever been depicted on film, years before 500 Days of Summer featured a character with the same occupation.

14. The fact that it was directed by Arthur Hiller - who helmed one of the 1970s' most popular romances, Love Story.  He adds a touch of sentimentally that gives the film heart. I like how when the lovers daydream about each other, the scenes are superimposed on free-frame shots.

15. The New York setting, and all the scenes in Central Park. 

16.  The rooftop scene, where Martin cries out for Iris and is joined by other guys on rooptops crying out for women they lost.

17. Martin meets a girl in a bar and starts to tell her how much he wants a real serious relationship, and after a long emotional pitch by Martin, she reveals that she's just looking for sex. 

18. Martin and Grodin pop in VCR tapes of crackling log fires or scenes of fish swimming in an aquarium.

19. Martin and Grodin both buy ferns and treat them like real people. I've never been able to think of ferns in the same way again.

20. Martin visiting his psychiatrist. He rings the doorbell, and the doctor says, "Talk into the box". Martin bares his soul while a nosey neighbor listens to all.

21. The chess scene where Grodin plays chess with a computer that talks back.

22. Martin's fast-talking landlord. 

23. Crooner Steve Lawrence singing "Isn't it Romantic?". You can't have him in a movie without a little singing.

24. How Martin's character finds success with his best-selling book, "A Guide for the Lonely Guy" yet still struggles with his relationships.

25. Martin dressed as Chaplin at a costume party.

26. Grodin watching a sci-fi movie all by himself at another party. 

27. The channel surfing scene. Toward the end of the film, Martin has a disturbing vision of wasting his life away on the couch watching TV, and is thrown into the garbage. He suddenly  jumps off his couch, looks at his remote as if it were a loaded pistol and tosses it to the ground. It's a hilarious moment.   

28. Martin's own personal police escort as he runs to find Iris.

29. The very last scene of the movie. A great pay-off for Grodin's character, and a happy ending that leaves me smiling every time I see it. 

30. Seeing all the outdated technology.  The Lonley Guy feels like it was made a half-century ago or more, as characters use antiquated technology like typewriters, push-button phones, address books, and VHS tapes. No one uses cell-phones or does any texting, tweeting, online dating, or facebooking.   

But this nostalgia factor is one of the reasons why I love The Lonely Guy, and other movies from the 1980s.

If you feel the same, be sure to check out more movies from 1984 in the 1984-A-Thon hosted by Forgotten Films.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Last month Jurassic Park was re-released in US theaters in a special 20th anniversary "3D" release. I went to go see it, curious about how the added 3D effects would turn out. I also wanted to give the film a second look; it had been 20 years since I've seen it. The 3D turned out to be OK; there were a few spots where the effects looked especially cool, including the scene where Sam Neill and the kids are running in the field with the ostrich-looking dinosaurs.

I liked all the philosophical discussions that the scientists have with the park's creator and visionary, Richard Attenborough. Also I was impressed with the entire cast. Everyone was great, including "Newman" from Seinfeld, who is really the main villain in the picture, not the dinosaurs. Also it's funny how that Barbasol can's design hasn't changed any in 20 years.

OK. Let's talk about the technology in this.

The CGI dinosaurs still look good, even though CGI has improved tremendously in the last 20 years. I still can't get over how realistic that CGI tiger looks from The Life of Pi.  And that T-Rex is still as scary as hell. But I couldn't help but notice a few "puppet" dinos, including the one that hatches out of the egg early on. No doubt it would be done in CGI today.

There are a few outdated computers, naturally, but I don't hold it against the film. I also noticed a few "floppy disks" sitting by Newman's computer, which are totally obsolete. It's funny how these little things usually go unnoticed at the time.

Notably absent from the film are any cell phones. I know this is a sore subject to bring up with any movie made before 2000, but I can't help but noticing these things.  No one has one! I suppose if more of the characters had one and could communicate with each other more often, it would certainly change the outcome of events of the film. Sigh!

This movie has grown on me, with it's many iconic and memorable scenes.  I love the part when the dinosaurs make their way into the kitchen of the dining area, and then the museum lobby. It's so cool to see the banner that reads "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" drop over the T-Rex in the lobby of the museum, and when you see the shadows of the dinosaurs on the illustrated ones on the wall. So neat.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, it is a great heart-pounding thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and makes you think about how the characters mess with nature.

'There were 2 sequels, both inferior to the original. I tried to watch Jurassic Park 2 on DVD and it was so terrible that I couldn't get through the entire thing. Park 3 was not very good either.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) and the sad lack of cell phones

The heartwarming 1987 John Hughes comedy Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, with it's Thanksgiving theme, has become a traditional holiday film and fan favorite. This weekend, with a piece of leftover pumpkin pie, I sat down - once again - to watch the comedic genius paring of John Candy and Steve Martin, who plays a character trying to make it home to his family for the holiday. There are some very funny moments in the film; it's hard to pick, but I'd say my favorite sight gag is the one with the dog in the back of the truck.  I went to a showing of this on its opening day - hard to believe it's been 25 years now. The theater at that screening was packed with people, and it was fun hearing everyone laughing. I bet alot of them have bought the DVD or Blu Ray.  This time while watching, I noticed a few quirky things going on in the background. For example, in the beginning, Steve Martin hails a cab for the airport in New York passes by a Roy Rogers fast food restaurant, which I'm sure has been gone for at least a decade or two.  In another scene on a bus, a passenger is shown reading a magazine with Michael J Fox and Family Ties on the cover.

Martin looks up at a clock in the airport, and it's 

one of those old "flip clocks"!  Not even a digital clock 

in the airport yet! 

Poor Martin tries to call home several times using a pay phone: from a restaurant, from the airport, etc. If only he had a cell phone, he'd be able to call home more frequently, and his wife would be calling or texting, too. But then again, the movie wouldn't be as funny, would it? I imagine that if the film is ever remade, Martin's character would have to lose his phone somehow.

The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming! (1966)

Zany comedy about a group of Russian sailors - led by Alan Arkin -  who find themselves stranded on a small, tight-knit New England island town. Not able to speak the language, they try to steal a boat to get off of the island hoping not to encounter any of the locals. Eventually rumors spread all over the island about invaders and everyone panics ("It's all over!" predicts one paranoid resident).

The Russians disguise themselves as as locals

There are some funny sight gags and comedic bits involving the paranoid townsfolk. One bit has Jonathan Winters at the kitchen table with his 8 little children prepping the family about a possible attack. There's a town drunk that's funny, and an old woman who gets tied to a chair while her near-sighted husband hardly notices.

But there are some softer moments, too, especially the scenes involving one of the Russians falling in love with a young woman.  Carl Reiner and Eva Marie Saint are the only two people who know why the Russians are there and try to explain it to everyone else. Another voice of reason is Brian Keith, who plays the police chief. Also starring Theodore Bikel.

It's an enjoyable satire about paranoia in the days before cable news, the internet, smart phones phones, and Twitter.

Hackers (1995) and War Games (1983) and Q&A with John Badham

Seeing WarGames again after about 25 years was great fun! It's  impossible to watch it today without reflecting on how far technology has come, and how rare it is to see pay phones! The movie is a time capsule of that era, a little bit of nostalgia for all who attended last night's screening at the Egyptian Theater. I had forgotten so much about the film that it was like watching it for the first time. Just LOVED that video arcade scene in the beginning - brought back SO many memories!!!

Regardless of the technology, it's a great story. And has a great cast of characters. I think my favorite part was when Matthew Broderick asks his computer geek friends for help. That's a great part, and the audience loved it. A number of recognizable actors appear in very brief scenes, including Maurey Chaykin (one of the geeks), Michael Madsen and James Tolkan.

It would have been a very different film in the hands of another director, according to John Badham (73) was in attendance and talked about the film, and how he got involved with the project. There were a number of good questions from audience members, including one from my friend who asked him what he thought about the previous-released direct-to-video film WarGames 2 and the proposed "remake". Badham said he had "no comment".... He wasn't involved in "Part 2" (I didn't even know there was one) and isn't involved with the remake. Someone else asked him if any politicians contacted him about the film, and he said there was a special dinner and screening in California back in '83 with some Senators;  that was about it. 

Someone in the audience was a huge fan of Badham's film American Flyers, which was filmed in LA; it's a movie I've never seen but is in my queue. 

After the Q&A, the second film in the double feature was Hackers (with Angelina Jolie) which has numerous references to WarGames and is also sort of a time capsule (no one uses cell phones, floppy disks still being used, etc)  The less said about that one the better. Let's just say I fell asleep during it. 

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

What It's About
A movie with two parallel stories, one starring director Woody Allen and the other starring Martin Landau, who is fantastic in his role. Allen plays a documentary filmmaker, and Landau plays an eye doctor; both of them are in marriages that are fizzling. Throughout the film we learn more about them and there's always something interesting that comes up.

The Landau character has problems with his mistress (Angelica Huston) and about halfway through the film, he contemplates killing her. Sam Waterson plays an understanding rabbi who tries to help Landau emotionally and spiritually.

The two characters finally meet at the end of the film.

My Take
I thought this was a very thought provoking film, and one of the best of Allen's I've ever seen. In a great sequence, Landau's character finds himself back at a passover seder when he was a young boy, and sees his family talk about God and issues of life. The murder angle can get a bit dark at times, but I liked how the characters - in particular Landau's - question the morality of what they are doing. His wife is played by Claire Bloom. All through the movie I was wondering what would happen if/when she finds out about Landau's affair, mistress, and/or murder.

I liked the scenes where Allen dates Mia Farrow, his divorced assistant. On one of their dates they go to see see a classic movie. On another date, they watch Singin' in the Rain at home.

The Allen character also takes his young niece to the movies a few times, and they enjoy such classics as Mr. & Mrs Smith, This Gun for Hire, The Last Gangster, and a Betty Hutton musical. Scenes from each of these movies is shown.

Update 3/12/11:

I asked Gerald of Laszlo's on Lex about the retro theater featured in this film, and inquired if he had ever been there. Gerald said that the name of the theater was the Bleecker Street Cinema in the West Village, and that over the years he did attend with some regularity, as he lived nearby at the time.

Unfortunately, the theater is now gone.

More information here from the Cinema Treasures website:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/6016/

Thanks Gerald for the information on the Bleecker.

Retro Alert:
There's a scene where Farrow's character uses a huge cell phone the size of a brick. Another scene shows Allen using a pay phone to check his messages. And this was only 21 years ago!

With Alan Alda, Darryl Hannah, Jerry Orbach. Written and Directed by Woody Allen.

My Final Grade: A-