Blog Archives
Thank You for Being a Trend
Superman, Batman, Ninja Turtles and the almighty…
Golden Girls?
Yes, you read that right. Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia are entering the super club of superheroes by way of action figure alley.
(Funko)
“The response to our ‘Golden Girls’ products has been wild.” Funko marketing director Mark Robben told ABC News. “We almost weren’t prepared for the excitement. We created these as a passion project initially, and were blown away when it started trending on social media.”
The four-figure set costs $25 or ships to the UK for £21.50, which converts to about AU$35. It’s only available from participating Target stores and New York Comic Con.
–Bonnie Burton, CNET Gadgets
When you consider the Millennial outpouring of a nostalgic persuasion for Betty White (which was a leading driver for her TV resurgence in recent years), molding Ms. White and her fellow “Golden Girls” into pop-culture icons as action figures was inevitable. Perhaps not foreseeable, but inevitable all the same. A sitcom about elderly women living in the same house in Miami, FL has generated enough of a cult following and place in the hearts of those young and old that these four women continue to positively influence our lives 24 years after the show’s series finale on May 9, 1992.
That’s a golden legacy.
Most of all, this toy set is yet another reminder that great friendships impact us forever.
For that, we’re thankful to Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia.
Right in the Middle of It All
Basketball season is in full swing, both at the collegiate and professional levels. Watching the athletic dunks, improbable shots and skill (not ability, but skill!) of the best players is great fun. Still, no player quite compares to my favorite basketball player of all-time: Penny Hardaway. Penny made crazy shots that were highlights every night for the Orlando Magic. Plus, he dished some stellar passes to this short and shy guy named Shaq. Hardaway also had the best little brother in the wise-cracking, Chris Rock-voiced Lil’ Penny.
And yet, his legacy is being defined in a middle school gym in Tennessee.
Penny Hardaway’s Legacy: Instead of offering our “two cents,” let’s volunteer one cent.
They’d Be Dumb Not Two
Harry Dunne: I can’t believe we drove around all day and there’s not a single job in this town. There is nothing, nada, zip!
Lloyd Christmas: Yeah, unless you wanna work 40 hours a week!
There is a brilliance to the simplistic awareness of the 1994 cult classic Dumb and Dumber. In my opinion, Dumb and Dumber is the funniest movie ever made. To say, “I like it a lot!” with the necessary mouth play is an understatement. Twenty years have passed and I still quote random lines from this movie with pride and gusto in virtually any situation, just like many, many, many other fans from around every corner. Aside from the quintessential boy humor (sans profanity, FYI), there is a story about two lovable losers, whose intellectual ceiling is waist high, that are truly struggling to function within society. And this gets to the heart of the story, which is one of the paramount reasons why this comedy endures. Let’s not neglect the perfect casting, writing, settings and clothing as well.
The jokes are laugh-out-loud hilarious, not mean-spirited and are intended to bring out the goofiest parts of ourselves. They dance on the line of appropriate and inappropriate for a mass audience, but don’t cross it. And haven’t we all been in one of these situations (to some extent) at least once before?
Who hasn’t fallen off the jet way?
As shown by the scene below, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne have been beaten down by their shortcomings and reveal an emotionally raw, dejected sadness about their plight. Again, we’ve all been there, whether it’s a relationship/series of failed relationships, a lost job or a wide-range of personal issues that can devastate a man or woman to his or her core. It hurts and it feels inevitable to continue. All that Lloyd and Harry have is themselves. But, what if there was just a sliver of hope in the form of a briefcase (what brand was it again?) that offered the tiniest glimmer of hope?
Friendship requires forgiveness and the opportunity to act foolishly. A lot of things in life demands seriousness and focus. Yes, absolutely. But, if these events are not complemented with instances of random silliness, then, well, that’s pretty dumb and boring. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta hop on the back of a hog and ride on the road of life to wherever it takes you. In all seriousness though, it should take you to Aspen. It’s “where the beer flows like wine.” Also, note the spectacular song (“Where I Find My Heaven” by Gigolo Aunts) in the clip.
Dumb and Dumber is a story about friendship, stupidity, heartache, love, delusion, hardships, personal happiness, physical comedy, innocence, amusement and, above all else, acting dumb…and then acting even dumber.
After decades of hesitation to make a sequel to such a fan favorite, many people have long assumed that a sequel with the original cast and crew would never happen. Too much time had passed. And now that it’s really happened, the most prominent questions being asked are:
Was it a good idea to make a sequel?
What effect(s) will the sequel have on the legacy of the original?
Will the sequel live up to the original in its fresh, unique comedic perfection?
If Dumb and Dumber To (which brings back the best comedy buddy duo of all-time in Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, as well as its directing duo of Bobby and Peter Farrelly) has incorporated the aforementioned elements of nostalgic boy humor, realities of life, quotable lines and an unforgettably inappropriate scene, then perhaps making this sequel to a beloved classic will prove to have been a smart move after all.
Dumb and Dumber To is now playing in movie theaters nationwide.
Oh, and I got worms.
Will Harry and Lloyd have worms?
Did Harry end up running a store specializing in worm farms?
I’d say the odds are like one in a million…just like the odds of a sequel finally being made.
Welcome to The Goldbergs: Episode XXII
“Sunday Matinee: It’s like wearing someone else’s wedding dress”
Spoiler Alert: This post contains scenes and content from the May 6, 2014 episode of The Goldbergs
As Adam’s quote above clearly explains, seeing the theatrical release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi on opening night became the pinnacle of his existence. And, as all good younger brothers do when they’re in a life-altering quandary (speaking from personal experience here), Adam blackmailed his older sister into waiting with him in line to see this new epic space tale on the silver screen at the local theater.
Obvious success, right?
Think again.
A long line + a long time waiting (Forrest Gump-level soda’s consumed by the excited Adam) + sitting in between a 46 year-old man with a talking Yoda puppet and another grown man sitting on a life-size Tauntaun (no joke) + Erica’s friend walking by with two “cool” guys not into Star Wars = an epic betrayal and two cinnamon rolls/swirly muffins.
We’ll come back to this brother-sister equation a little later.
In the meantime, middle child Barry was busy embracing all things Hulk Hogan (as we all do). Unbeknownst to Barry though, the WWF wasn’t real. After several (yes, it took several) warnings that slamming your opponent over the head with a folded chair was not a legitimate aspect of real wrestling, Barry was training to do whatever it took to impress his crush. For him, this meant earning a varsity jacket. Hilariously, the only person standing in his way was his over-protective mother Beverly Goldberg with her countless stories of fellow teenage boys who all seemed to have tragic mishaps with absolutely everything she didn’t want her son to do.
The stories were totally believable, though. I mean, we’ve all seen a mom carrying the head of her son around the grocery store with her son’s vital organs perfectly functioning from his neck after a freak wrestling accident, right?
Okay, maybe Murray had a point about that one…
Growing up with siblings, there are those special moments that arrive with all the excitement and fanfare of a new Star Wars movie: the instance(s) when an older sister just might become a friend. It’s as rare as holding a real-life lightsaber and it should be treated with as much precision and ecstatic jubilation as waving Luke’s trusted sword made of blue light. This moment occurs during the older sister’s teenage years, which can be difficult because this is when she’s trying to leave behind childish indulgences. This includes dressing up like Princess Leia and battling her then much younger brother dressed as Darth Vader in their basement recorded on VHS (ie-Adam’s winning bargaining chip). As this sitcom does so perfectly, this plot line really hit home for me. My two older sisters and I used to build forts and act goofy all the time in our younger days before the necessity to be “cool” became the undisputed priority of all things important.
For me, it wasn’t Star Wars, but a compendium of events with my two older sisters: It was riding bikes to UDF for ice cream during the summer, playing football with one of my older sister’s friends one Saturday, learning clever and edgy jokes while sitting in an Asian airport while on a family vacation, being “kidnapped” by my sister and her friends for my birthday, trick-or-treating with my sister and her friends, visiting both of them at college and laughing at old-style SNL humor found in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2.
The relationship between siblings is fascinating and special to say the least, partly because the seemingly unfiltered honesty. We can be blunt with comedic “burns” and it works somehow. We can blackmail our older sister with pictures during her first boy-girl party ($5 a pop!). A comfort level and understanding grows between brother and sister(s), even to the point when Erica finally realizes that after bailing on her younger brother to spend time with her cool friends while he went to the bathroom and therefore lost his place in line, she knew the real reason why Adam coaxed her to seeing Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi with him: the hope for sibling friendship.
Cognizant of her little brother’s sincere motivation, Erica did the unthinkable: she dressed up like Princess Leia (again), fully equipped with cinnamon rolls/swirly muffins on her ears and bribed an usher with a date at the local theater to sneak them into Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi!
“Star Wars: It gave us lightsabers, the force and Billy Dee Williams in a cape.”
And a fun day at the movies between brother and sister.
At school, Barry heeded the wrestling advice of his dad Murray. After suffering defeat on the mat to his mother in front of everybody (don’t mess with Thunder Bev!), he embraced his WWF character (also named Barry from Philadelphia) and dominated his opponent with the support of his family looking on with pride.
Victory!
As his crush looked on with smiling approval, Barry messed that moment up like only Barry could, which led to a halted chair-over-the-head of his opponent finale.
But don’t worry, Big Tasty will be surely be back for another round…
The Goldbergs: Return of the Family.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 