Wednesday, April 04, 2007

SUMMER MOVIES

Harry and the boys at AINT IT COOL NEWS have posted a series of articles about the genre films that hit theaters in the summer of 1982. They relate their personal experiences with the movies of that year, talk about how magical a summer it was to be an 'almost but not quite teenager' in the early 80's and how some of the best genre movies ever hit between May and August of that amazing year (ET, Poltergeist, Tron, Conan, Blade Runner,etc). They talk about their love for the sci fi mag STARLOG and how, before the internet, it was their only link to other sci-fi/fantasy lovers, just like them.

I wish I could write better than I do because I would have expressed many of these same sentiments long ago. But hell, I guess that's why they have pro writers. And the guys at AICN- in these series of articles- do it really, really well.

If you want to have a good insight into what my childhood was like (why you want that info, however, is a different story!)...but if you do, you'll find it here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32131 (Poltergeist)
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31765 (ET)
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31984 (Tron)

These really touched me and brought me back to a very special time in my life.

They also made me realize how important the movies used to be to me.

These days, I still love the movies but nowhere near as much as I used to. Some of it is just me getting older and just having other things that take up my time; some of it is that the magic of the movies has really been ruined with too many behind the scenes/making of docs; much of it is that the movies today are still pretty good but the business side of the movie biz seems to have won out in a big way; to the point where 95% of the time when you go to a movie, it doesn't so much feel like a movie anymore but instead feels like a 2 hour synergistic attack on the senses brought about by a number of companies trying to sell you shit.

There are those movie makers out there who are able to rise above that bullshit, the true artists working in movies today. And I am so glad they are still around.

And I'm not going to lie...Summer movie season is right around the corner and I'm pretty excited for it. In the same way a sports fan probably has fantasies that their team will make it thru every game of the season and never suffer a single lost game (isn't there a name for that?), movie fans actually hope for a perfect summer...where every flick they've seen advertised lives up to its potential. It's pretty rare....and the AINT IT COOL NEWS guys could make a compelling argument that the last time it happened was the summer of 82.

But hey, this summer brings PIRATE'S 3 (trailer looks amazing); SPIDEY 3 (trailer=meh, but the last 2 were great); Transformers (could be good in an ID4 kind of way); KNOCKED UP looks fucking hillarious, so does that comedy with Sandler and the dude from King of Queens.

So it could happen again...

Man, I gotta start carving out more time for the movies. I really do still love them, I guess. Even though these days they usually let me down, I still hold out hope. Maybe I just need to watch more of them and make the time, you know?Instead of typing on this damn thing, I should be downstairs watching my blu ray of THE DEPARTED (no, I have not seen it yet!)....

...maybe I'll go do that. Can't sleep anyway :)

Talk to ya'll later!

David

ps. and if you have never read STARLOG, they still make it. Give it a read! It's good for you!





pps. then again...I was on a media tour for TWISTED METAL:BLACK in 2001 and the PR guy took me to the Starlog offices and I was gushing to the editor-in-cheif or publisher (who has been with the mag from the start) about how much his mag meant to me as a kid. And he just tossed off this ass-holian comment about: thanks! Thanks for putting my kid thru college.

And I'm like, dude, I'm telling you your mag touched my fucking heart and soul and inspired me to reach for my goals and dreams. And he gives me this smart ass comment. Maybe he was shy. Maybe he has a hard time with compliments. Who knows...but it stuck with me....fuckin' douche.

ppps. Just kidding...he's not a douche. He was probably just having a bad day :)

pppps. I'm fucking conflicted...help.