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Pushing Musical Boundaries (Literally)
Interstellar was a cinematic journey into the unknown in every sense, from the practical sets to the original story to the daringly experimental soundtrack. Being able to witness the thought process and motivations for an epic Hollywood blockbuster is a rare treat. As Oscar buzz continues to build to a roar for next months ceremony, it’s exciting to get insights behind the closed doors regarding the magic of movie making and the composition of its epic soundtrack.
This video provides fans with that special glimpse, featuring the Oscar 2015-nominated composer Hans Zimmer and his mysteriously ambitious director-friend Christopher Nolan.
The impressive inception of Interstellar.
Transforming the Cool
Spoiler Alert: Content in this post is from the January 14, 2015 episode of The Goldbergs
We all live to be cool. And while the definition for “cool” morphs into different things as one gets older, it still remains an objective. If even just for our own personal sake. What’s special in The Goldbergs is that age doesn’t place any restrictions on anyone for how they should act…and this includes not going to that morbid deli down the street.
Skip that one for as long as you can!
When cartoon popular culture takes a detour from enjoyable fantasy into the harsh realities of life and death, the reaction is anything but a soothing mixture of bright colors and hope. The unexpected drawn demise of Optimus Prime in the movie theater in 1980-something shocked Adam to his core. Though thoroughly confused by his grandson’s reaction, Pops did what a best friend does and he stuck it out with him in the empty theater for way, way too long. For the first time in Adam’s life, death was a reality he had to think about. And yes, it was sparked by the death of a beloved transforming cartoon hero. But, if you were or are a fan of such things at his age, you completely understand where he’s coming from.
(TV Line)
In the other wing of Goldberg manor was a love connection/love triangle/love sep-whatever the word is for seven people in this situation. Here’s a marathon sentence recap: Barry loves Erica’s best friend Lainey, Erica and Lainey can’t stand it (yet the latter secretly does), Erica pushes Beverly to set up her delicious boy with his soul mate, Barry meets his mom-approved “soul mate,” who turns out to be a creepily comforting mini-Beverly, Lainey gets jealous and dumps her secret boyfriend Barry for accepting an invitation to the Darryl Hawkins Sadie Hawkins dance with Evy, Erica feels bad and tells Barry to go after Lainey, but Lainey turns him down at the dance, yet she forgives him on the 50-yeard line of the football field after a strangely good/bad speech by Barry (“let me be your secret shame”), so Barry and Lainey publicly dance together with Barry-approved dance moves and Erica fixed Evy up with a mini-Murray (played by Jeff Garlin/Murray’s real son) that officially freaked Beverly out as everything worked out perfectly.
For Barry, it was pure “heaven” (the reference warrants an ’80s response).
Returning back to matters of life and death for the youngest and oldest Goldbergs, the wisest of the bunch Pops took the initiative (after a nice talk with Murray) to comfort grandson Adam in the best way. Adam’s eyes and heart lit up when Pops told him that while he can’t ultimately beat death, the lively spirit of his best friend (talking to Adam) was the reason why he was there and why he was so personally awesome. And in a Hallmark family moment, Pops asked Adam to run him over with the car.
Relax, it was the pivotal scene for the most epic live-action Transformers movie.
Whether it’s trying to act “cool” in high school or if it’s being the cool grandfather, it’s always cool to stand up for something/someone and to be there when they need you most. Fortunately, I have a grandfather like that who always has a smile on his face, a good joke up his sleeve and the coolest outlook on life I hope to emulate when I’m older. Instead of a Pops, I have a Pardner, and he’s helped show me how to be a glass half-full kind of guy.
As Adam would say, “My Pardner is the coolest badass around!”
As I would say, “Pardner has helped transform my life in ways I never imagined possible.”
Like Optimus Prime, the family sitcom lives with The Goldbergs.
The Goldbergs Have “The Right Stuff”
Spoiler Alert: The following content is featured in the January 7, 2015 episode of The Goldbergs
At some point or another, we all feel like ‘the new kid on the block.’ Whether we’re a Jonathan, Jordan, Joey, Donnie or Danny (I consider myself a Joey), the world can seem unfair and too big to cope in. That’s where sweet tunes and rad dance moves come into play.
Plus, we can’t forget the cut-off jean jacket and cool black hat.
As the youngest boy in the family, having two older sisters was awesome, stressful, rewarding and chaotic growing up. In fact, it still is awesome-stressful-rewarding-chaotic with the same continuous stream of zings and playful jokes. Truthfully, this sibling dynamic is not all that different than Adam and Barry’s relationship with their older sister Erica. Pranks were plentiful and we always tried try to top each other. All in good fun, of course, we are relentless to get that perfect jest. In the case of the Goldberg household, a cardboard avalanche revealed a secret from Erica’s past that would publicly humiliate her…and strangely possess Adam and Barry.
While a long-lost VHS tape sparked a gathering of Adam and Barry’s friends for a personal showing of Erica’s eternal love for the boy band New Kids on the Block (NKOTB), Murray was shoulders deep in a battle with wife Beverly over the priceless/overvalued (depending on who you ask) works of art drawn and glued together by their children…as in literally every single thing ever made by their three delicious children packed in boxes stacked throughout their garage. It got to the point where parking their one car was no longer an easy guarantee.
We all know Einstein glued jelly beans to a colored piece of paper…
After saving a trunk’s worth of his children’s art for Beverly, accidentally giving it to the trash man, rummaging through a mountain of trash and recovering and framing a random Spanish family’s drawings to pass as original Goldberg masterpieces, Murray finally discovered the truth, thanks to the wisest of them all: Pops. Yes, Beverly had paid the trash people to deliver all of the boxes to a storage unit. After this revelation was disclosed, an argument ensued. Surprisingly, a glaring spelling error melted Murray’s heart to a puddle of babby love. Now understanding (and seeing) Beverly’s point about the art, he succumbed to her outrageous behavior once again and re-stacked their garage from wall-wall and floor-ceiling because he finally saw that priceless writing on the wall/painted paper.
We’ll see how long this moment lasts once spring arrives (March 20th, March 20th!) and that annual cleaning fever hits.
Back to those new kids on the block and speaking of a specific type of fever…
In a golden Goldbergs sequence of events, Adam and Barry (after making fun of Erica’s obsession with NKOTB) hilariously embraced and embodied that famous boy band from the 1980s. They dressed like them, danced like them, sang like them (well, the right lyrics anyways) and thankfully filmed and choreographed a homemade tribute video. It was, quite honestly, the right stuff! Accordingly, Erica found their hidden video and proceeded to make fun of them with a private showing of her own with a VHS video premiere. Payback was served: ’80s style. The table had been tilt back in her favor. But it was only then, with a heart-to-heart exchange of describing their love for that boy band they shouldn’t love, when Erica realized her true place amongst her siblings.
Growing up with two older sisters, it was sometimes difficult to relate to them beyond our perfectly-timed jokes at home and on vacation. However, just as Erica did last night, I had a sister who loved a boy band. It was/is Backstreet Boys. Specifically, Nick Carter. Once when we were in New York, we visited the NBA store and Nick and his brother Aaron were shooting hoops. True story: after getting his autograph, my sister stole his used Powerade bottle. She still has it to this day. So, I understand what that love for a boy band looks like…and possibly even sounds like.
(FYI – Anyone who says that, “I Want it That Way” isn’t a great song is lying!)
Anyways, my sister brought herself to go to a concert (or two) with her goofy younger brother because she knew how important it was to him, all joking aside. Back then, it was The All-American Rejects and Hoobastank in Indianapolis. She even went backstage with me to meet the latter group. They were better known then as Doug, Dan, Chris and Markku. I’m definitely a Doug.
It’s amazing how a show based in 1980-something can so perfectly kick-off the new year in 2015. The Goldbergs: Beverly, Murray, Erica, Barry and Adam.
Which one are you?
Jimmy's Daily Planet 