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Reviews
You Light Up My Life (1977)
A perfect late 70s time capsule getaway!
Was just a little kid back in the 70s, but, boy, compared to the depressive and limited doldrums of this year, 2020, what a free spirited and special time it was.
Even I remember this song being played EVERYWHERE and anywhere: radios, cars, family gatherings, TV spots etc. So much so that I find it strange that we hardly hear it today unless we are playing it from our personal collection or looking for it online etc. I mean this was literally THE biggest hit of 1977, and definitely in the top ten for the entire decade. If we are constantly hearing The BeeGees or Donna Summer, why not this?
That very question is what prompted me to watch the film on YouTube. I do remember seeing it on TV in the 80s sometime. I wasn't expecting much and that's probably why I really enjoyed it! The song-and the album if the same name that exploded for Debbie Boone-is special to me as it makes me remember my late mother and aunts and the late 70s childhood I had. But...however cliche, the film is more than a movie capitalizing on a monster hit song, which I assumed it would be. It is really moving at times and Didi Conn does a fabulous job of getting us to feel her experiences which range from frustrating to hilarious. The relationship with her dad also feels very genuine. It really takes us back to a time that most took for granted how good of a life it was. It you are in the mood for some nostalgia escapism--this is a perfect fix.
Biloxi Blues (1988)
Broderick at his Best!
This was the 1980s when Matthew Broderick was in his prime. No film of his is better than Ferris Bueller's Day Off (his opus), but he ventured along gracefully and beautifully with this Neil Simon classic. This film is of a personal one to me; at the time, I resembled Broderick a lot (am a kid of the 80s) and he probably reflected me in this film more than any of his others. In Ferris Bueller, he was likeable but a little too confident and in Project X, he started to become outright cocky and was getting to the annoying aspect of his sarcasm in which most of his films of the 90s and beyond have made his seem like a whiner instead of the almost heroic witty young looking guy we grew up watching. He was witty yet humble in Biloxi Blues and really cared for some of the other characters. We see the other characters, the era and the plot development through his eyes and his journals, and it is done stupendously. I hope Broderick studies this film to see what he did right. All the supporting actors are perfect for this role. Classic!
Lost Angels (1989)
Awesome 80s Cult Classic starring Adrock!
Being a teenager in the 80s and growing up in the Los Angeles area myself, this movie appealed to me because of the obvious relate-ability to it. Adrock sure did a stupendous job, especially being that it was his debut in a film. We always think of him as the crazy, funny and party-animal beastie boy, but here he was a dramatic, lost and frustrated protagonist looking to find his way amongst a myriad of issues. This film depicts the consequences of Reaganomics and how the 80s culture-especially amongst white Americans-worshiped greed and money. In this quest to have all the better things in life-which often was because of both the father and mother having careers-the kids become lost and bored and turned to things like drugs, sex, booze, partying non-stop, recklessness, gangs etc. It is interesting how a motif is the Latino gang lifestyle (his nickname was "chino") and how many young white males succumbed to that, especially in Southern California, in their quest to want to feel apart of something and seem important. Little did they know, but the filmmakers foreshadowed a major theme of the 1990s by doing this. The plot was mediocre, but it was the superb acting by Sutherland and Horovitz, and their chemistry along with how the film captured the end result of what happens when greed is god (this film was made in 89) and a seque into the the problems that these lost kids continued on with in the 90s. By that token, it is now a cult classic. I hear many people complain about the ending; I do not think the ending was too bad. Sure, it seems sugarcoated, but the protagonist found himself through the feeling he was able to care for someone else--the Donald Sutherland character. Because of this, he found his way back home.
Adam-12: Log 24: A Rare Occasion (1970)
historical
This episode introduces David Cassidy only a few months before the world knew him as "Kieth Partridge". He does fairly well as a drugged up teen, until he starts talking too straight. But, a cool episode showcasing probably the biggest problem of those days- -drugs everywhere! Yes, it is still a problem, but not as rampant as it was such a new phenomenon back then. Drug pushers were all over the place looking for teenagers and young hippie types to prey on. Especially as it was, in the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies such a fashionable and trendy thing to experiment with. It is like how online gaming such as Pokemon and social media is fashionable now (how dull and nerdy are we as a general generation; I guess we have evolved to a degree, lol). Good looking wives or dates also for the policemen. Again, a historical episode as David Cassidy became such an important aspect for 1970s pop culture.
The Partridge Family (1970)
Blows Brady Bunch to Bits
I really fell in love with this show this year! I was born into the era it was made and it is such a perfect glimpse into the world of the early 70s, that I feel it is as if it is bringing me back to my subconscious infant eye where everything was new, and,,,so cool (however tacky upon today's standards). I remember watching this in reruns when my eyes were already in their conscious memory stage. I thought it was kinda cool, I especially liked Bonaduce. However, I did not really pay too much attention to it; I actually connected more with the Brady Bunch reruns. I was recently surfing Youtube and I rediscovered some episodes, and was immediately awestruck. The entire premise was a revolution; a single mom with five kids and the main adult male character is Rueben who is their manager and is more like a comic relief acting as if he is Shirley's brother, and there is no sense of romance between them. I couldn't get enough, so I went ahead and ordered the entire DVD boxset. I have to say that me, being a male, developed a weird crush not on Lori, but on Shirley Jones, well at least her character. She seems like the perfect wife and a perfect and fun mother to one's kids (I am about the age she was back then). Anyways, we can feel the Cassidy-mania and other factors that were so palpable back then (btw: just like Bonaduce, his humor and wit were often spot on). Anyways, amidst the very rare cheesiness in dialogue and even some of their songs (most are actually very pleasant), this is a classic show that I wish lasted much longer. The Bradys do not stand a change to the Partridges in terms of coolness.