Blog Archives

‘I Have the Power’ to Transport Us Back to 1987

‘Masters of the Universe’ is a superhero movie released in 1987 that told the story of He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) and his skull-faced enemy Skeletor (Frank Langella).

Yes, that’s really acclaimed actor Frank Langella underneath that costume!

Mixing actors and practical effects with (then) state of the art graphics, this movie became a cult classic. Not exactly admired by critics yet some of our favorite movies have received similar (unfair) treatment.

What may surprise people is that this ’80s superhero classic featured young up-and-coming actress named Courtney Cox.

Again, that’s really true. And she delivered a great performance.

Oh, and the actor who played the principal in those ‘Back to the Future’ movies, James Tolkan, was in this movie too.

For this Throwback Thursday, let’s relax and enjoy the trailer for 1987s ‘Masters of the Universe.’

While a new live-action He-Man movie is set to be released in March 2021, it’ll be very difficult to match the ’80s superhero nostalgia and soundtrack of ‘Masters of the Universe.’ While it’s a movie that was made before its time, we should still be thankful that it was made when it was in 1987. It has a unique feel and cast that modern superhero movies just can’t match.

You can call it the differentiating (cosmic) key for ‘Masters of the Universe.’

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The Original Quiet Place

What could should have been…

The new trailer for a canceled show debuted online today. That’s a weird sentence.

For some unknown reason, the Tremors TV show on Syfy was canceled before given a chance to explode out of the ground floor with its beloved, nostalgic power-player. Kevin Bacon, the star of the original 1990 Tremors film–and the six-degrees of separation guy–had surprisingly signed on to make a non-HBO and non-network reboot of the cult classic. Yes, Syfy, which is the same channel that produced all those Sharknado movies (they are fun to watch for how awesomely bad they are with acute self-awareness).

Now, is this TV adaptation officially dead in the desert of Perfection, Nevada? With all the streaming options out there–and based on the potential from this trailer and its big-name leading man–this show may pop-up somewhere else in the near future with new life.

Someplace more perfect than Syfy.

These Tots Are Dynamite

Burger King, unlike the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series, fully understands the power of nostalgia and popular cult movies.

Cleveland and Chicago: This is how you do it.

While I’m not a regular Burger King customer, this commercial featuring actors/characters from a favorite movie of mine and many, many others (Jon Heder as Napoleon and Efrain Ramírez as Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite) may be just enough for me to try the advertised Cheesy Tots. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is sometimes all it takes for advertisers or marketers to sell a product beyond a predetermined customer base. No extensive research, but instead an understanding of the magnetism of cinema, comedy and pop culture nostalgia and its special place in our hearts.

This commercial has nostalgia skills…product placement skills…cult-celebrity placement skills. Customers only want food chains that have great skills.

P.S. Here is a clip from Napoleon Dynamite that inspired the crazy awesome Burger King commercial above.  

You Can’t Beat It

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are simply comedy gold.

The Meet the Parents films, Night at the Museum movies, Starsky and Hutch and The Royal Tenenbaums are just a few of their acclaimed collaborations. Their bromance on the silver screen is infectious in the best ways, with their character portrayals best described as engaging, outrageous and always unforgettable. Each of us imagines we are either Stiller or Wilson, or a little of both.

In the case of the dance-off in their 2001 cult classic Zoolander, well, there are no words…

Thankfully, Zoolander 2 premieres in theaters on February 12, 2016.

Happy Throwback Thursday!