1990

Happy Gilmore

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Happy Gilmore. Brillstein-Grey Entertainment 1996.
Happy Gilmore. Brillstein-Grey Entertainment 1996.

Before watching the movie:

The main thing I can think of to describe my impression of this movie is… normal. Adam Sandler in the 90s playing a hockey player turned golfer sounds pretty normal next to Adam Sandler as a failure of a demon or Adam Sandler as a rich manchild going through elementary school, or even, to go later, Adam Sandler as an Israeli superspy turned fabulous hairdresser. I think he might actually be a fairly normal human being in this movie. I know he’s more serious now, but he did complete oddball roles back when he was “you know, that weirdo from SNL”.

I seem to recall the reason he gets into golf is the idea of hockey players having good golf drives, which reminds me of Jamaican sprinters being good bobsledders. I wonder if there are many other movies built on sports having overlapping skillsets. When I was young, I got his powerful drive confused with the kid with the superhumanly tensioned arm from Rookie of the Year.

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Cry-Baby

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Cry-Baby. Universal Pictures 1990.

Before watching the movie:

Well, I liked Hairspray, and Johnny Depp disappears into his roles entertainingly. A John Waters musical with Johnny Depp should be fun. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a movie where Depp seriously sang other thanThe Nightmare Before Christmas, so I can’t predict how well he’ll be able to lead a live-action musical.

As this is a musical set in the 1950s about kids in leather jackets and their relationships, I’m expecting a movie more like Grease than Grease was.

 

EDIT: I have been reminded that Johnny Depp was not in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Trying to hear him in Jack Skellington is probably part of the reason I have a hard time identifying him.

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The Hunt for Red October

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The Hunt for Red October. Paramount Pictures 1990.

Before watching the movie:

This movie stars Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery, is based on Tom Clancy’s work, and the main thing I’m thinking about is that the plot reminds me of the Star Trek episode “Face of the Enemy”. That’s how my mind works.

Alec Baldwin’s obviously in the “taking things seriously” part of his career, and I have no great expectations for Connery other than being his usual brand of incongruous greatness (A Scottish Russian, you say…)

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Ghost

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Ghost. Paramount Pictures 1990.

Before watching the movie:

For a long time this film has been on my list of important movies to watch, but I’ve never really given it very close examination. In fact, the most I learned about it was one occasion when I had an idea for a story, and then decided to check how much like Ghost it was. I ended up deciding it was close enough to wait on it.

In preparing for this blog, it seems that it’s actually more of a supernatural love story than I wanted, but if it turns out to be so, hopefully Whoopi Goldberg’s presence will make it bearable.

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