Tag Archives: nostalgia
R.L. Stine: Introduction to Horror Geekdom
Often these days whenever I’m talking with other horror geeks, I hear the common response that they never read RL Stine when they were children. They were instead reading Stephen King. Well, for some of us who went to middle school, the folks that ran it often felt King was beyond the comprehension of most of its students. That never stopped me of course from reading “It” and grabbing amazing books like “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” That book, while touted to children, was grotesque, disgusting, gory, and featured some truly scary stories that I continue to remember fondly. I’m mad at myself for not keeping my original copy which was pretty worn out by the time I was in middle school.
The Death of the Video Store
Written by Ed Tellier
When I was a kid growing up, my family bought their first VCR in 1985. I was 8 years old. I’ll never forget the day as long as I live. I’ll never forget my grandfather renting 1980’s The Dogs of War. When the movie was over, he had no idea on how to rewind the tape back so we did it manually, going all the way back through the movie in reverse order. That whole experience awakened the movie buff in me. The convenience of being able to watch a movie at home without commercial interruption was quite appealing. As the 80’s went on, the popularity of VHS rentals exploded.
The Ten Best VHS Covers of All Time
I grew up in the Bronx where it was almost impossible to walk down the street without bumping in to a video store. There was one on every single block. They were the Starbucks of the bygone age. And nine times out of ten they were mom and pop stores. Low budget places just looking for a quick buck to make off of the big VHS craze of the eighties and nineties. This was before Blockbuster and Hollywood video began taking over these places and running them out of business. As a kid my parents were always off attending to financial affairs and on many occasions they’d leave me and my brother to spend the day with my cousin at the local video store “JR Video” (No relation). My aunt worked there for almost five years and we’d spend the entire day there running around the big store, watching low budget horror movies on the television mounted on the ceiling and playing in the back closet where they stored all of the VHS tapes and I could still remember looking out the back door in the end of the closet and seeing the poster for “Basket Case” glimmer in the sunlight. This is the place where I was basically exposed to movies of all kind.
The PC Thug: Celebrating “The Simpsons” 20th Anniversary
The canvas of television has changed drastically since “The Simpsons” premiered. Reality TV was a fresh concept, FOX was only just starting out, and the animated sitcom was a wildly unexplored idea. Before “The Simpsons” the only real animated sitcoms we had was “The Flintstones,” a pop culture gem that spoofed “The Honeymooners” and was intended for adults. Instead it ran for five seasons and eventually became a franchise meant for children. Then there was “The Jetsons” a rip off of “The Flintstones” that focused on a family in the future, another mature series that became a hit with children later on in its run.
Movies That Age Poorly: Independence Day (1996)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Written by Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
I can criticize his movies all I want, but Will Smith makes money out the ass, and most times without even trying at all. He can star in a bastardized remake of a classic Western show, a bastardized adaptation of a science fiction novel, or a bastardized adaptation of a classic horror novel, and the man will still bank about a billion dollars easy. Take “Hancock.” Wow. But one thing that I’ve alwys found ridiculous was that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin expected us to believe that these aliens have every capability to defend themselves against our forces from electromagnetic waves, lasers, bombs, and missiles, but they couldn’t protect themselves against a super virus? And it takes one virus to bring down their defense systems? Doesn’t that contradict their whole advanced technology strategy? And if they could communicate telepathically, wouldn’t it stand to reason they would operate their machines telepathically? And since when do jets travel as fast as alien technology?
Movies That Age Poorly: Nine Months (1995)
Directed by Chris Columbus
Written by Chris Columbus
Growing up in an avidly religious household and being basically forced in to committing to ceremonies like Communion and Sunday school, you’re given a lot of different messages that are hardly ever second guessed. When you’re a child you’re fed a lot of crap because often you’re just too young to try to contradict or argue an adult’s lesson. And if you do, you’re often disciplined for doing so, so all attempts are rendered irrelevant. All my childhood, I was told that the true key to happiness is having children and not questioning your beliefs. “Nine Months” is that movie I didn’t realize was a pro life manifesto that passive aggressively pushes religious undertones on its audience. The subtle themes come through loud and clear after watching it for the first time in years, and it’s a shame such a trite commentary was considered prime comedy when released.