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Heavy lifting

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The mood for this week includes

  • The Music Box, the classic Laurel and Hardy short about carrying a piano up a steep hill, again and again and again.
  • The Money Pit, a young couple’s dream home project spirals out of control.
  • The Long, Long, Trailer, a young couple pulling everything they own behind them, learning a lot in the process.
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Yesterday’s Movie Magic

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There’s something special about summertime movies. Maybe it’s that the theater was the original air conditioned oasis, but it’s when all the biggest thrills and magical adventures are brought out for our enjoyment, as well as, this year, the reanimated husk of The Lion King. Like all areas of the human experience, the magic of the movies has been documented in the movies, here in realistic and fantasy flavors.

  • The Majestic: a Macarthy-era drama about how a movie theater brings a small town together.
  • Matinee: the thrillfest of the year sets off a Rube Goldbergian chain of events.
  • Last Action Hero: Characters from a campy action movie come to the real world and find it’s a lot messier out here.
  • The Purple Rose of Cairo: It’s so easy to get lost in a movie, but sometimes the movie comes to you.

Yesterday’s TV Movies

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Real life gets in the way of blogging again, and I just want to relax with some TV, or at least movies about making TV (and radio).

  • A Hard Day’s Night: The Beatles have a lot of fun avoiding rehearsals for their big TV appearance.
  • Death to Smoochy: Politics and intrigue around who gets to entertain kids on TV.
  • Radioland Murders: A madcap murder mystery going on away from the microphone while the station is still on the air.
  • Quiz Show: scandal and intrigue around TV trivia games
  • Soapdish: soap opera drama behind the scenes in the soap opera production.
  • Broadcast News: It’s about ethics in journalism and romance! Still my favorite depiction of unrequited love for a best friend.

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

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Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Warner Bros. 1985.

Before watching the movie:

I watched an episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse once and I didn’t get it. I wasn’t repelled by it, it just didn’t make sense. Everything seemed random for the sake of being random, and it was like an educational children’s show without a lesson, a story, or a point.

So why am I getting ready to watch the Pee-wee Herman movie? Because it looks like it’s got a story and possibly a point. It’s a vehicle for Paul Reubens, and vehicles go places.

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