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landry_john
Reviews
The Karate Kid (1984)
Timeless movie
I know that there's many of you who claim The Karate Kid is formulaic with a predictable ending,but it's the storyline and storytelling that lead up to said predictable ending that makes this movie the timeless classic that it will always be.Pat Morita(Mr.Miyagi) & Ralph Macchio(Daniel Larusso) had an improbable chemistry as well as respective mentor and student.Johnny Lawrence(William Zabka,however,didn't strike me as a menacing villain so much as his sensei,John Kreese(Martin Kove)did,or even the villains that followed in their respective sequels.While Johnny definitely portrayed your stereotypical alpha male with poster boy good looks as well as coming from a rich family,he seemed to be more of a follower to me than he was a leader.At least he displayed good sportsmanship when he lost to Daniel in the end,although his fellow Cobra- Kai teammates seemed more obsessed with Daniel being sabotaged and severely wounded than being concerned about him winning the tournament.
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
This movie was what it was
With a title such as "The 40 Year Old Virgin",you have to expect that it's not going to be a Gone With The Wind-like masterpiece.It had its funny moments(albeit predictable)for sure,but it's definitely not a movie I would watch over and over again.I suspect that there are a lot more virgins this age or older out there,not that I would ever expect most men to ever admit that out of fear their alpha male images will be tarnished.I give it a 5 out of 10 simply because it was neither great nor the worst movie I ever seen.I would have to say the American Pie franchise is one hell of a lot better by comparison but then again,you can only go so far storyline wise with a premise about a 40 year old virgin,so it came as no surprise there wasn't a sequel for that very season.
Family Ties (1982)
This show was my Thursday nights in my preteen/early teen years.
To all of you who had nothing nice to say about Family Ties,I get that this show wasn't obviously for everybody and it even had its moments of annoyance if you enjoyed it,but I'll gladly take this even over most sitcoms that aired in the same era,let alone those of today.I actually was one of the yew young boys who crushed on Tina Yothers(Jennifer Keaton),which is no knock whatsoever on Justine Bateman(Mallory Keaton)because she was a hot number then and even still is.Most of the political jargon that came out of Steven,Elyse,and Alex's mouths mostly went over my head then,but it was still entertaining how it was all delivered.I didn't watch as much of the final 2 seasons and that was mainly because it was switched to Sunday nights,it became apparent to me in the few episodes I did watch that the show had finally ran its course.At least it went out strong,unlike many of its counterparts.
Degrassi Junior High (1987)
A Canadian and international treasure!
The year was 1987 and I only had 2 channels if you didn't count CBC's French channel;the first episode I recall watching was when the Grade 7 students Kathleen,Caitlin,and Rick were all doing a science project.Even though I knew then i wasn't expecting any sort of Hollywood-like production,I slowly got interested in the series after watching that and it even became part of my appointment television on Monday evenings.There wasn't your stereotypical teenage issue they didn't tackle;even a few others on top of that too.Far more easier to relate to than many of its American counterparts.I never honestly thought of the show at the time as groundbreaking or anything of the like,but realized eventually that it truly was as it shied away from nothing at all.For example,this was the 80's and homosexuality wasn't socially acceptable compared to how it is today,there was that episode where Snake's brother came out of the closet to his brother and eventually to his parents who basically disowned him(Coming out of the closet wasn't an everyday occurrence in 1988,after all).Snake and his friends automatically assumed that he was a ladies man since he was an all-star athlete in high school and all,and that episode more or less taught a lesson that you can't always judge based on appearance and perception.
La Bamba (1987)
This is one movie I can still watch over and over again after seeing it at least 15 times.
I had only been familiar with Ritchie Valens' "Donna" from an old 8-track compilation my parents had titled "Cruisin' 1959" and I actually knew that he died in that fateful plane crash also in 1959 prior to seeing La Bamba for the first time in 1987 when I was only 14.I wanted to see it ever since I had seen the ads for it as well as the video for "La Bamba" on Video Hits,which aired daily here in Canada.Casting was great and I like the fact that the entire movie script wasn't actually all centered around Ritchie and his all too brief music career as well as life.It focused as well on his troubled relationship with his alcoholic half-brother Bob and his insecurities about Ritchie being his Mom's favorite,his relationship with girlfriend Donna Ludwig and the usual trials of teenage love,& naturally,his mother and family.Even with some historical inaccuracies and all,this movie deserves a 10.
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
I was pleasantly surprised when I first watched this 25 years ago.
I was 15 years old when I first watched this and while I knew even then that Adventures In Babysitting was aimed at a younger demographic like I was then,some of the content in this movie was appreciated even more by adults who had watched it.It's really a matter of individual interpretation what constitutes a great movie,but this one is actually a lot better than most give it credit for.Even though Elisabeth Shue was previously in The Karate Kid,I didn't really pay attention to her until this.She sure was a hottie then!Keith Coogan had pretty much fallen off the face of the Earth after this,Anthony Rapp has had a few projects on the go since,& I've seen Maia Brewton on an episode of The Wonder Years and appearances on a few other programs too.If you don't care to go out of your way to watch it,at least give it a chance if you're channel surfing on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
The Dukes of Hazzard (1979)
Memories of the Dukes on Friday nights
I remember as a 7 year old or younger that I lived to watch the Dukes Of Hazzard on Friday nights,& it would devastate me whenever I would either get punished from the TV that night or fall asleep before it came on.I was in love with Daisy Duke and always got teased about it too(LOL);I even had a poster of her on my bedroom wall at the time,not that most boys my age didn't.Watching the reruns on TNN several years after CBS canceled it,I realized that the first 2 seasons were much better and less kid friendly than the seasons that followed,& I'm actually one of the few people in this world who liked Coy & Vance,even if they were carbon copies of Bo & Luke in every which way.What people other than die hard Dukes Of Hazzard fans don't realize is that the respective episodes in which both characters Jude Emery & Mason Dixon appeared were more or less pilots for what were supposed to be spin off shows of the Dukes.I personally thought they might have worked out much better than Enos did on his own,even though that wasn't a bad show.