Jump to content
Zeusthecat

I Had A Random Thought...

Recommended Posts

I had a talkboy. With eight batteries those things were too heavy for weak children like me but I always loved having it to... I'm not sure I probably recorded fake radio shows.

 

As did I. I was so disappointed in the recording quality though. Kevin was able to use it to trick people into thinking it was his dad's real voice and slow down the audio to make himself sound older. None of these things worked for me and I felt cheated.

 

Also, I too find Sandlot to be a very excellent movie that I still enjoy to this day, probably more so than almost any other kid movie I watched growing up. So I think that one counts as one of the best kid movies that still holds up and is watchable as an adult.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

E.T. (the character, not the movie) is fuck-ugly and creeped me out as a kid. He reminds me of the creepy, uncanny, overly-detailed CG versions of traditionally 2D cartoon characters we keep seeing, except much more obviously a stiff puppet.

 

I don't think my reaction is as visceral as yours, but I think ET's ugliness is a big part of why the movie works. If ET had been cuddly like an Ewok or something, it'd be unbearably cloying. He needs to be scary before he's cute.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I HATE E.T AND I AM TERRIFIED OF HIM and I sincerely crushed my grandmother's life when I wouldn't go on the ride with her at Universal Studios (backstory here is that E.T is her son's favorite movie and he's autistic and in a group home) 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

E.T. just never gets cute for me. I also dislike the Ewoks.

 

I've come around on practical effects vs CG in a big way recently. I feel like a lot of the artists who created practical effects got very attached to them, because -on top of the way that artists get attached to their work, something I know all too well- they're something tangible that you can see and touch and get all the more deeply invested in because of it, and the way that DVD features and movie magazine articles would constantly gush over the effort that went into them, I think a lot of that pride in the result rubbed off on the audience. I definitely appreciate the care and investment and love that went into making a lot of them, but at the end of the day they're just not convincing. Puppets tend to be stiff, slow and weightless; and very rarely actually resemble a real animal. Things like E.T. or The Thing or the Alien Queen or whatever are very impressive to me from a mechanical standpoint, but I don't for a second think of them as real, which still means that they've failed their intended purpose.

 

(of course there's tons of bad or dated CG and the occasional practical effect that still looks great, like Jurassic Park. Also, squibs are better than CG blood every time)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ET will always hold a special place for me because of how I saw it. We had a single screen theater in the town I grew up in, and it only showed movies 4 days a week (Thurs-Sunday), and never the same movie two weekends in a row. E.T. was one of the biggest movies ever at the time, and the theater sold out each of the nights. My brother and I desperately wanted to see it and hadn't been able to get tickets. On the last night, we still didn't have tickets, but we begged the theater manager to see if there was any way we could get in. She and her husband were neighbors of ours, lived about 5 houses down (small town). She took pity on us, let us in for free and we sat on the top steps in the back to see it.

The funny thing is, I barely remember watching the movie then. I couldn't have been older than 6. But as a kid, I just thought it was the coolest thing that this adult let us in to a sold out movie. As an adult, it's something I look back on and realize the power that adults have to enable or crush kids' dreams, even when those dreams are simple things like seeing a movie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

E.T. just never gets cute for me. I also dislike the Ewoks.

 

I've come around on practical effects vs CG in a big way recently. I feel like a lot of the artists who created practical effects got very attached to them, because -on top of the way that artists get attached to their work, something I know all too well- they're something tangible that you can see and touch and get all the more deeply invested in because of it, and the way that DVD features and movie magazine articles would constantly gush over the effort that went into them, I think a lot of that pride in the result rubbed off on the audience. I definitely appreciate the care and investment and love that went into making a lot of them, but at the end of the day they're just not convincing. Puppets tend to be stiff, slow and weightless; and very rarely actually resemble a real animal. Things like E.T. or The Thing or the Alien Queen or whatever are very impressive to me from a mechanical standpoint, but I don't for a second think of them as real, which still means that they've failed their intended purpose.

 

(of course there's tons of bad or dated CG and the occasional practical effect that still looks great, like Jurassic Park. Also, squibs are better than CG blood every time)

 

Yeah, I guess we just disagree there because I find it a million times easier to suspend my disbelief with practical effects than CGI. I don't think artists have really figured out how to make CGI look like it's occupying the same space as actors. I feel the same about sets. Physical is just always better for me, unless one is going for something surreal like Speed Racer or something.

 

I think ET and The Thing both look amazing. I don't think the Alien Queen looks good, but I don't find any of the creature effects in Aliens to be very good, outside the Facehugger scene I guess. Scott did an amazing job hiding the Alien in the shadows in ways that implied smoother movement.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One series that I really appreciate the puppets in is Farscape.  There's a lot of scenes where characters (especially Crichton) will grab or touch the puppet characters and it would be really weird if they were CG.  I also really like the character designs, something I think would have been lost or much more simplified if they weren't physical.  The movement is of course much more stilted but the alien nature of the characters let me buy into it.  The few instances of CG Rygel made me appreciate the Rygel puppet more.  Kind of in the same way that CG Yoda became this miniature, flipping, lightsaber wielding thing instead of the goofy, mischievous, fun character the puppet Yoda was.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Besides ET, Home Alone and Goonies I have seen absolutely none of the movies you guys talk about above.
I guess they didn't quite make it across the ponds?

 

Anything worth watching as an "adult"?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm with Tegan and Apple Cider here, not an ET fan at all

 

there is a home movie VHS with my father coming in with an ET mask, long sheet & flash light in belly area doing the classic "ET" voice that freaked me out...and put my brother into a meltdown (+/-4 & 3 yrs old respectively)  I don't know what the intention was, but if the goal was to have neither one of us watch that film again - huge success

 

I've havent watched past the opening scene since, I wonder what kind of reaction my brother would have

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Honestly a little bummed that nobody besides me seems to have any fondness for Surf Ninjas. I mean, one of the kids is playing a Game Gear throughout the movie and if I remember right, the stuff he is doing in the game is happening in real life around him. This resonated strongly with me as I was regularly playing NBA Jam, X-Men, and Sonic 2 on the Game Gear around that time and I thought the shit in that movie was so awesome.

 

On another random note, Beverly Hills Ninja is definitely the best ninja movie ever made.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On being traumatized in childhood by a movie, apparently my father-in-law was terrified by the Wizard of Oz when he was a little kid, particularly the flying monkeys, and hates the movie to this day. It doesn't help that he's only ever lived in Kansas.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Besides ET, Home Alone and Goonies I have seen absolutely none of the movies you guys talk about above.

I guess they didn't quite make it across the ponds?

 

Anything worth watching as an "adult"?

 

I think, based on what we've discovered, they are all worth watching and none of them are worth watching.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You guys suck. The Goonies is a great movie, and is still fun as hell. It's like an Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Junior. If you get a kick out of people going on an adventure discovering hidden passages and stuff then it's a great movie. Just like The Neverending Story, Labyrinth.

 

Although no hidden passages stuff going on, still some awesome exploring in the Explorers and Flight of the Navigator. But I think you should skip those if you didn't see them as a kid. Not completely sure, but Solarbabies might also be a risk to watch as an adult for the first time.

 

The Last Starfighter was awesome as a kid, but the CGI hurts so bad when you watch it now.

 

I'm not sure if it's a kids movie, but "*batteries not included" is something you should see.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Honestly a little bummed that nobody besides me seems to have any fondness for Surf Ninjas. I mean, one of the kids is playing a Game Gear throughout the movie and if I remember right, the stuff he is doing in the game is happening in real life around him. This resonated strongly with me as I was regularly playing NBA Jam, X-Men, and Sonic 2 on the Game Gear around that time and I thought the shit in that movie was so awesome.

 

I said it was dumb as shit but I still liked it.  I really liked the Naked Gun movies at the time and I enjoyed seeing Leslie Nielsen play an over the top villain.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am pretty sure I've never seen The Princess Bride all the way through, and I have never even heard of whatever Surf Ninjas is. To make up for this faux pas I never knew I was committing, I watched 3 Ninjas as a kid an awful lot. The Goonies scared me as a lil' kid. It's nearly literally Temple of Doom Jr, considering Short Round is in it.

 

Police Squad is an all time classic TV show somehow only lasting 6 episodes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On being traumatized in childhood by a movie, apparently my father-in-law was terrified by the Wizard of Oz when he was a little kid, particularly the flying monkeys, and hates the movie to this day. It doesn't help that he's only ever lived in Kansas.

The Wizard of Oz triggered a lifelong fear of weird colored skin in movies. Something about a completely realistic human being with one off but very obvious thing wrong with it gives me horrible chills. There's no damn reason for that witch to be fucking green.

I can't watch the Mask or Big Fat Liar for this reason. It's given me the seed of alien prejudice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We thought it was really fucking cool. Well worth the wait and not deserved of the negative press.

Wasn't there a Mario cereal? WHERE IS IT?!

Bill & Ted and Back to the Future aren't kids movies!

You say that but they both ended up being heavily marketed towards kids in terms of spin off cartoons and toys. Sort of like Aliens. Why maybe that's not the original intent, that's what it morphed into.

 

I loved Back to the Future as a kid, but as an adult, it's just alright.

 

Also speaking of stuff that morphed into things for kids, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is probably more amazing to me as an adult than as a child since now I'm more in awe of the visuals than ever. Part of it was probably because there were many years that I could not watch the Judge Doom climax without feeling extremely afraid and having to cover my eyes or leave the room. I also don't think I ever really understood the murder plot back then.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Also on the topic of Oz, did anyone ever see Return to Oz in their childhood?

 

6928973.3.jpg

 

My daycare had only so many VHS tapes so that movie got put on a lot despite the fucking Wheelers and screaming heads scaring the shit out of all of the children every time. I remember it being really fun to watch though, very imaginative. Also somehow this is a Disney movie?


I kind of wonder if I should try to go see that again or if I will cringe and everything will look cheap.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I haven't see Oz film but I read its book. Sometimes it is better to read its book (if that film is originated from book) before watching the film.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Wizard of Oz triggered a lifelong fear of weird colored skin in movies. Something about a completely realistic human being with one off but very obvious thing wrong with it gives me horrible chills. There's no damn reason for that witch to be fucking green.

I can't watch the Mask or Big Fat Liar for this reason. It's given me the seed of alien prejudice.

 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory must also be a nightmare for you. 

 

 

Also speaking of stuff that morphed into things for kids, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is probably more amazing to me as an adult than as a child since now I'm more in awe of the visuals than ever. Part of it was probably because there were many years that I could not watch the Judge Doom climax without feeling extremely afraid and having to cover my eyes or leave the room. I also don't think I ever really understood the murder plot back then.

 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is actually one of my favorite movies, and one of the few all time classics to come out of the 80s, in my opinion.  Of all the movies from my childhood, I've easily rewatched it the most.  It was also the first movie I ever bought. 

 

 

Also on the topic of Oz, did anyone ever see Return to Oz in their childhood?

 

I saw it, but I remember absolutely nothing about it. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×