You know, Sir, I do admire you, and I sure would like to touch the gun that's gonna kill Billy the Kid.

TITLE: Young Guns (1988)

A fast paced modern Western with a twist of brat packing is how I can describe the Young Guns movie. It's an entertaining story of the Lincoln County War when Billy the Kid and his band of Regulators took on their adversaries.

The movie featured six up-and-comers who were determined to bring their own personality in their characters. The ones who stood out were Emilio Estevez (William H Bonney aka Billy the Kid), Casey Siemaszko (Charley), and Lou Diamond Philips (Chavez).

Emilio Estevez played the wild and self-assured Billy the Kid. He became the leader of the Regulators when Dick (Charlie Sheen) died as they were being hunted down by Murphy (Jack Palance). Seemingly psychotic, Billy the Kid knew how to keep the Regulators from falling apart.

With his speech:

"See, you get yourself 3 or 4 good pals; then you've got yourself a tribe. And there ain't nothing stronger than that."

Billy the Kid spurred on the Regulators to keep fighting instead of giving up and running away.

Casey Siemaszko played Charley, the sympathy puppy of the crew. Maybe because Charley seemed slow witted that the "Pals" speech affected him the most.

Lou Diamond Phillips played Chavez, a Mexican-Indian among white cowboys. Chavez was on the receiving end of many rascists remarks coming from Dirty Steve, a Regulator, and others. He and Doc (Kiefer Sutherland) formed a strong bond.

What I like about Chavez was the mystic elements he brought by drawing from Indian philosophies. He was also an expert knife fighter and throwing knives looked so much cooler than shooting. Since he was shrouded with mysteries, he was the x-factor of the group. Somehow, when things were not going right for the Regulators, we knew that he was gonna do something unexpected to turn the tide. Chavez was the guy who snuck out of the house during the siege who managed to round up the horses for their get away.

Another thing I remembered about Young Guns was how surprised I was when Charlie Sheen died. At the time, I thought that major stars do not get killed in the movies. But when he just laid on the ground after getting shot by Buck Shot Roberts (Brian Keith), apparently they do.

SELECTED YOUNG GUNS MOVIE QUOTES

"I'm not a pistoleer or a knifesmith like that greaser Chavez Chavez over there. I'm a pugilist."

"I could've killed ya Dick. I could've killed ya. But I don't wanna kill ya I wanna eat."

"Advices from Lincoln report that Jose Chavez Y Chavez moved to California where he changed his name and took work on a fruit ranch. Josiah 'Doc' Scurlock is reported to have left the West for the East, taking with him a celestial bride, her mother and fourteen brothers and sisters. Susan McSween went on to see both her husband's and John Tunstall's dreams to fruition, by becoming one of most prominent cattlewomen of all time. Governor Axtel was forced to resign by President Rutherford B. Hayes and both the Murphy-Dolan faction and the Santa Fe Ring collapsed. William H. Bonney, also known as 'Billy the Kid' continued to ride, never leaving New Mexico. He was caught in Fort Sumner by Sheriff Pat Garret and killed. Sources report that he was unarmed, and shot in the dark. He was buried with Charley Bowdre at Old Fort Sumner. Advices report that sometime later, an unidentified person snuck into the graveyard and chiseled an inscription. The epitaph read only one word... 'Pals'."

The Young Guns movie script is available at Movie Scripts On Line.

2008 is the 20th anniversary of Young Guns! Congrats. The Young Guns DVD can be purchased from Amazon.com.

Technorati Tags: 80's Films, western, action, Young Guns, Kiefer Sutherland, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Casey Siemaszko, movie review

You'll never grow old, Michael, and you'll never die. But you must feed!

Title: The Lost Boys (1987)

There are vampire movies and there are 80's vampire movies. Many 80s movies broke grounds by mixing genres that create lasting experiences. The Lost Boys is such an example mixing primarily teen comedy and horror.

In The Lost Boys, the Emersons, two teenage brothers and their newly-divorced mom, moved-in with their grandpa at Santa Carla in Northern California only to become entangled with a gang of motorcycle-riding vampires. Unbeknownst to the family, the vampires conspired to assimilate them into vampire kin by first recruiting David, the older brother played by Jason Patric.

True to its teen appeal, The Lost Boys featured 80s teen icons, the two Coreys (Wikipedia), Haim and Feldman who were both age 16 at the time. Corey Feldman played Edgar Frog one half of the self-proclaimed ruthless vampire killers, the Frog Brothers. Jamison Newlander played Alan, the other half.

The Frog Brothers befriended Sam, the youngest Emerson played by Corey Haim. They cautioned him of vampires living in Santa Carla and eagerly jumped to assist when Sam solicited their help for David. The trio provided the movie's comedic relief with tough talks, spurts of cowardness in face of dangers, and over-the-top probing for vampirism (dinner scene at Sam's house with Edward Herrmann as Max).

The movie culminated in a last stand fight at Sam's house when the true intentions of the vampires to convert the Emersons were finally revealed. The last scenes also brought on speculation on whether or not Grandpa was a vampire himself.

The rest of the cast include Keifer Sutherland as the leader of the biker gang, Jamie Gertz as Star the vampire vixen who was recruiting Michael, Dianne Weist as mommy Emerson, Bernard Hughes as Grandpa, Alex Winter as Marko, and Cody as Nanook.

What I like most about the movie is the rock-n-roll, summer appeal. The storyline took place in a beach town, probably over the summer since the kids didn't have school. Most vampire movies I've seen prior to The Lost Boys were gothic in nature. Joel Schumacher, the director, modernized the vampire genre by targetting young adults. They even have surf nazis (Fast-Rewind.com).

Currently, The-Top-Tens.com lists The Lost Boys as number 3 in the Top Vampire Movie.

The script for The Lost Boys can be found here: The Lost Boys Script by Jeffrey Boam

The Lost Boys Best Movie Quotes

"If you try to stop us, or vamp out in any way, I'll stake you without even thinking twice about it!" -- Note: The Lost Boys has the distinction of first coining the term "vamp out". It's been used in other shows and films, including the CW TV show, Supernatural, i.e. vamped out Gordon.

"Second shelf is mine. That's where I keep my rootbeers and my double-thick Oreo cookies. Nobody touches the second shelf but me."

"Don't ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless."

"Holy shit! It's the attack of Eddie Munster!"

"The bloodsucking Brady Bunch!"

"You're a vampire Michael! My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!"

"Death by stereo!"

The Lost Boys Soundtrack

Can't talk about The Lost Boys without acknowledging its soundtrack. The music perfectly captured the tone. And many songs remain in my head with some movie visuals, including:

• Peoples Are Strange - Echo and the Bunnymen


• Lost In The Shadows (The Lost Boys) - Lou Gramm


• I Still Believe - Tim Cappello

UPDATE: The sequel, Lost Boys: The Tribe, is available for pre-order on Amazon. The release date is listed at July 29, 2008.

Technorati Tags: 80's Films, Comedy, horror, The Lost Boys, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Frog Brothers

Bright light. Bright light.

Title: Gremlins (1984)

When this movie came out, I thought it was unique because it featured violent puppets. As a fan of the benign and family-themed Muppets, the black humor of Gremlins movie was refreshing. In particular, I had a sense of awe from the fantastic adventure that Billy, Kate and their small town had to go through in a few scarce hours before sunrise.

For those who haven't seen Gremlins the movie yet, it is about the invasion of a fictional small American town by a horde of small feisty rat-like monsters who sought to take over one evening during the Christmas holidays. The monsters sprung, literally, from a mogwai named Gizmo, an exotic pet that required three fastidious rules for safe maintenance, otherwise all hell will (and did) break loose. The three rules I'm paraphrasing:

• Keep away from bright light
• Don't get them wet
• And never feed them after midnight
  

Billy (Zach Galligan), who received the cute and loveable Gizmo as a gift from his inventor dad (Hoyt Axton), managed to break all three rules. By getting Gizmo wet, little furball chunks popped out of Gizmo's back and immediately grew into other mogwai's but with much more aggressive personalities. Then the little furries managed to get a hold of some snacks after midnight ...

Favorite Scene

Kate (Phoebe Cates, also the linking actress from Fast Times) in the bar serving the Gremlins. Not since Star Wars cantina scene that we get an entertainingly unconventional cast of characters in a bar. The ones I recall were the group of Gremlins playing poker and smoking, a Gremlin flashing, and one swinging around from the ceiling fans. Please add more in the comments if you remember them. But I know the gags were funny.

Gremlins movie quotes

Bright light. Bright light.

They're watching Snow White. And they love it.

Rand Peltzer, Fantastic ideas for a Fantastic World, I make the illogical logical.

Technorati Tags: 80's Films, Comedy, Fantasy, Gremlins, Phoebe Cates, Joe Dante

Hey, Bud, let's party!

Title: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

When I began this blog, this movie is one that I looked forward to in entering. There were so many funny moments and quotable quotes that it all comes to me as a large colorful montage. Hard to pick a place to begin. But let's try.

Let's attempt why Fast Times is an 80s gem:

1) Memorable scenes. To me, there are only three:

• Phoebe Cates often cited as a top sexual fantasy or bikini scene
• Pizza delivery scene in classroom
  
• Jefferson's wrecked car and Spicoli's solution ("Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.")

2) Casts. A laundry of list of young, then-unknown casts and extras soaring to highly revered careers. Namely,

• Sean Penn (Mystic River),
• Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland and the linking actor from Vision Quest),
• Nicholas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas),
• Jennifer Jason Leigh (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle),
• Eric Stolz (Mask),
• Anthony Edwards (ER),
• Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop),
• Phoebe Cates (Gremlins)
• Ray Walston (already established from My Favorite Martian) as the unforgettable Mr. Hand, the hard-nosed history teacher who really did care about his students.

3) Music. This movie came at a time when FM rock stations were very popular. Hence, much of the music from the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack were rock n roll. And I can't complain about that. There are quite a few songs that I like from this soundtrack, including Goodbye, Goodbye by Oingo Boingo, Fast Times (The Best Years Of Our Lives) by Billy Squier, and Somebody's Baby by Jackson Browne. But my favorite is not in the soundtrack. Which is Moving in Stereo by the Cars during Phoebe Cates' scene. Two other excellent songs played in the movie but not in the soundtrack are We've Got the Beat by the Go-Go's and American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

4) Quotable quotes - Just my top picks of Fast Times at Ridgemont High quotes and a whole lot of Spicoli

• Hey Bud, let's party!
• All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine.
• Make up your mind, dude, is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?
• Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.
• Learn it. Know it. Live it.
• That was my skull! I'm so wasted!
• What are you, people? On dope?
• Awesome! Totally awesome!

Fast Times was not just the stepping stone for the talented casts. It was also the beginning for movie makers, Amy Heckerling (Clueless) and Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous).

Coach Bill of The Team Hendryx blog has a post about Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie as he caught it on a late night. Please visit his post when you get a chance.

Lastly, it's often debated in small circles which teen comedies influenced the thousands of others that were made from the 80's on. The discussions often boil down to two - Animal House (1978) and Fast Times. Both have great soundtracks, many quotable lines, and fronted by rising stars. Although Animal House was made first, Fast Times set the bar. Now, I can't gauge how much influence that Animal House had on Fast Times, but I do realize that the ending of Fast Times, e.g. the narratives on what happened to each character, follows that of Animal House.

Technorati Tags: 80's Films, Comedy, Fast Times at Ridgemont High Phoebe Cates

Can 800 million Chinamen be wrong?

Title: Vision Quest (1985)

This movie was very memorable for me. My best friend in high school was a wrestler. Although his wrestling career was nowhere near as dramatic as Louden Swain's (Matthew Modine), I couldn't help but refer to this movie whenever I try to motivate my buddy to do something.

In any case, Vision Quest is less about wrestling as a sport and more so as a coming of age for a high school wrestler (Swain) achieving the goal to win a big tournament before graduating. His life was made a bit more complicated when a beautiful drifter moved in to rent a room as a boarder in his house. The sultry Carla was played by a then-relatively new comer and perenially beautiful, Linda Fiorentino, who eventually became the only support that Swain could come to. Of course, he fell in love with her along the way. Linda Fiorentino is also the linking actress from "After Hours."

The movie, just like many feel good 80s films that I'll likely be reviewing in this blog, culminated in a melodramatic showdown between Swain and his much-ballyhooed adversary. Cheezyness? Maybe. Swain won with a bleeding nose, if I recall correctly.

Additionally, many of you probably remember that this movie was being billed back then as Madonna's big screen debut. She had a cameo as a club singer performing her song, The Gambler, from the soundtrack.

The Vision Quest soundtrack is excellent by the way. Still holds up today. Crazy for You is still widely played. I've always liked I'll Fall In Love Again by Sammy Hagar. I might even have the original cassette tape that I bought way back when.

Technorati Tags: 80's Films, teen, coming of age, romance, Vision Quest, Linda Fiorentino Madonna Matthew Modine wrestling