So, we took a week off from Saturday Morning Cartoons… Ya girl was a bit burnt out what with all the fests and conventions overlapping in July. So here we are, back at it for August and today, today is special, today is a visit with the Snorks. You know, those weird little underwater beings that look kind of like Smurfs, but with breathing apparatus on their heads, a bit like a snorkel tube? Yeah, those cute little guys.
A man in his thirties decided to relive his glory days of high school while dealing with adult responsibilities and type 1 diabetes.
I loved 1997, warts and all. It was a really rough, difficult, but fun, and exciting year for me, so I remember it for the good and bad. I can be accused of wearing rose colored glasses for 1997 and in a way you’d be correct, but I just had so much fun that year. Even being forced to attend Summer School wasn’t that bad, when all was said and done.
In either case, these are five of the worst films I saw in 1997.
How was 1997 for you?
It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty five years since 1997; while many people often cite it as a year of bad music (False), and bad movies (Falser), and bad Television (Falserer). I’s a year I am quite fond of (warts and all). It was my coming of age year. It was a year of massive change. 1997 is one of the first years I began my passion for movies, and one of the first times I’d ever really experienced the internet. Pretty much overnight, it went from an odd novelty for computer geeks to something literally everyone was taking notice of. I also discovered “Monstervision,” “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Troma, and so much more that would influence my foray in to teendom.
That said, here are the five best films I saw in 1997. There were more than five that I planned to feature, but in the end these stood out most for me and had the most significance.
Movie fans continue to celebrate the video store to this day, and for good reason. Once upon a time if you wanted to watch a movie that you didn’t own, you’d have to get dressed, go out, and peruse aisles upon aisles of movies looking for the right movie to take home for a few days. Although it seems kind of like a chore, there was a sense of community and camaraderie with the very good video stores. You communed with others to find the newest release on video, and always pretended not to sneak a peek in to the Adult movie section.
Movies still have a tendency to pay homage to the video store era, and these are five of my favorite video store scenes from feature films.
Seth Porges’ fantastic documentary “Class Action Park” recently debuted on cable, prompting me to think back at the time I survived Action Park. I say survived, and not visited, because as a kid I had no idea how utterly absolutely dangerous and deadly the theme park had a reputation for being. On its surface it looked like a wonderful place to have some good summer time adventure, and the ads that played non-stop on television during the summer season made the place look amazing. But like “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” it was a death trap in disguise with horrendous hazards capable of maiming and or killing you.
Sans the robots, of course.
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While director Edgar Wright is still fresh in to his career and has churned out so many superb films, his ambition has managed to help elevate him in to a better filmmaker, one of bigger substance and larger scale. “Last Night in Soho” prove it, as it feels like that poppy bizarre sixties thriller that we might have actually seen in the sixties. Perhaps starring Natalie Wood? Maybe Peggy Lipton? “Last Night in Soho” has everything going for it; it’s the type murder mystery that audiences have been craving. It has a unique horror bent, and Wright has delivered on pop culture cult films like “Shaun of the Dead” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”
Part of what made the Looney Tunes and Warner Bros. dynasty so great beyond its characters, was its limitless ability to mock and satirize Hollywood. At a time where Hollywood was adored and enamored by so many, Warner Bros. actually did a great job of taking the piss out of people like Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable. In 1993, Fox Studios and Warner brought back the formula that they’d abandoned for decades with “The Animaniacs.” While the show was primarily a series filled with segments primarily aimed toward children, some of the segments brought back a lot of the classic Warner Bros. traditions, including satirizing modern Hollywood.