My Favorite Characters-Betty Rizzo

Grease is a fantastic musical, it’s one of the few stage shows I enjoyed as much as the movie which is just as great. That came out in 1978 starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John and has become a true cult classic. And of course, I had zero interest in seeing it for years.

Yeah, for years I avoided this movie for reasons I can’t remember or explain. But when I was married I did finally see it, in theatres even during a re-release it, and I loved it. Ok you’ll never see it on any “greatest movie off all time” lists that I write, but the music is so infectious and the characters a lot fun. If If we have “popcorn movies” this is a “popcorn musical”. You can ignore the paper thin story, one dimensional characters  and lame dialogue because it’s just so much fun!  The one character that really stood out for me, and lots of people, was the one played by Stockard Channing.  I am talking about

Betty Rizzo

My Favorite Characters-Thumper

As we keep on going with this wonderful virus, I wanted to come up with an idea that would give me something to do as I wait for actual work to show up. Then I had an idea. A few years ago I did a list of my favorite characters. I set the list to 20, and yet commented that there were plenty of others that I could have put there. So for the month of April every day I will spotlight a character I love. It can be from anything-TV, movies, comic books…whatever. Let’s start today with an old childhood favorite!

As a kid I had never been the biggest Disney movie fan. I grew up in the 80’s where Disney had lost respect with their new released. Yeah the classics were there, but I only liked Snow White snow much and HATED Pinocchio. I do however remember seeing Bambi in theares during a re-release. The characters are dull and mother killing trauma aside, there was one thing about that movie that I absolutely adored.

Thumper!

 

Evetime I went do Disney World I had ot buy a new Thumper plush. Don’t as me why I was never able to hold on to them. There was just something about this little guy that I loved. That scene where and he and Bambi are playing on the idea is one of my favorite scenes in a Disney movie. He’s cute, but smart to in a wiseacre kind of way. He thinks he knows it all until he realizes maybe he doesn’t. At the same is very respectful, remembering what his father has told him and obeying his mother.

I may have mentioned before that I hated the romance section of that movie, it was so forced and way to over the top. And yes that includes Thumper, who was as boring as the other characters when he’s grown up. I watched his scene again to see if maybe I wouldn't mind it with adult eyes. And I think I got a cavity. Seriously except for Thumper and Flower what was up with that movie and not bothering to give any of their characters identities? We had asshole deer, female love interest, and assorted other animals who never got named. Did the Owl have one? Sometimes I get the feeling with early Disney they were more concerned with the pretty animation than telling a good story.

Ok off on a tangent there. I did see Bambi 2 and liked some of the retcons it did, like giving an identity to the mystery deer from the first movie that Bambi fought. That scene was so boring since this was a no named deer who had never been introduced, so I had zero investment. Bambi II wasn’t great but for a Disney sequel it wasn’t god awful. It told a story which I think made sense, what happened after Bambi went off with his father? The first film just jump ahead like the previous scene never happened.

Well there you have, one of my favorite Disney characters ever. I’ll probably keep doing these for now so see ya tomorrow. And remember, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all"

Sitcom Face-Off:Cheers vs Friends (re-match)

It’s been a little over eight years since I did one of my favorite articles, a face-off pitting Cheers against Friends. The problem with that article is that I really didn’t know everything about Cheers. I’d seen episodes of course, and like them, but there were tons of episodes I had never seen and story arc’s I had completely miss. Now don’t get me wrong, I still remember what a struggle it was to decide which show was better. But I have to admit my analysis was not as accurate as it should have been. Now that I have watched EVERY episode and am not completely caught up, would my opinion on those categories change? That’s why we’re here my friends as I present a special Sitcom Face-Off rematch :

vs

Cheers premiered in 1982 and was on until 1993. It was a show about a bunch of people who hung around a bar, where they can get away from the stress of the real world and be among friends. A year after Cheers went off the air, Friends premiered in 1994. it lasted until 2004 was about six friends who hung around a coffee shop, stuck at the point in life where you aren’t sure where you’re going in terms of jobs and relationships. These are both good shows which were massive hits, but which is superior?

Category 1:
Sam vs Monica

I always pair up the two main leads but man is that hard here. Talk about two different people! Sam is a womanzier, an alcoholic and a former Red Sox relief pitcher. Monica is a chef, an anal retentivce clean freak who has to have everythibg her way, and a mother hen. If you’ve read my episode guide you know I have issues with Monica and the way the character fit whatever the show wanted her to. One episode she a mother hen. The next she was being all cutsey and silly. The next she was crazt competitive. The character never felt complete to me,right down to Courtney Cox’s constanly altering appearance. Sam was pretty much the same chgaracter. Oh sure he was older and wiser as the series went on, but he still had an eye for the ladies. The thing that set Sam apart from other sitcom womanizers, like Dan Fielding or even Joey, was class. You always felt like he treated these women with respect. Sure maybe it was a show, but it’s still more classy then saying “How you doin?” to every woman. Sam was the center of the show and it showed. He was also allowed to be awae of his flaws unlike Monica who always exoected everyobe else around her to change for her.

WINNER-CHEERS

Five Things I Liked in Star Trek-The Motion Picture

So a few months ago I gave myself a challenge. As you know I like to do articles where I take bad movies and find five good things in them. So I decided to do it with one of the biggest disappointments ever! A little movie called….

   

I sat myelf down and watched it. No fast forwarding or anything, actually watch it straight through. And at the end, I had nothing. There is really that little good in this movie. I mean even the damn uniforms are awful! But I had to talk about this one because last year was a big milestone (that I overlooked). This movie came out in 1979 making it 40 years old! It’s hard to believe how excited people were for this, it was the first Star Trek they had gotten in 10 years! That’s probably why people didn’t realize how awful it was at first (the same thing happened with The Phanto Menace 20 years later).

The Music

I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about Jerry Goldsmith much before. Star Trek was never known for groundbreaking music. No offense to Alexander Courage, but while there were exceptions the music for the show was never much to praise. Goldsmith turned that around by doing almost all new music  for the movie. His theme for this movie would later be the theme for The Next Generations, and I still get chills at that fanfare. Of course he also did music for a few other movies as well Voyager