kongrragnar Reviews

Electric Dreams (1984)

Better than rated

[16 October 2004]

OK, I have a soft spot for movies like this. I first saw this on HBO, I think, and waited for it to show again. The computer is shorted out and made into a artificial life form. The geek that owns it is on a real trip that the computer takes him on. The Girl up stairs is on the same trip. What a trip it is! Soft, tender, and clean. You don't have to be afraid that the kids will see this one, make them see it.

Mickey Mouse's creator would have done this one, if he could have.

Edgar, the computer, comes to life after some coffee is spilled into it. Edgar them starts out to find out what it is to be alive. In the process it writes a song, and that song is great. If your really interested in who really wrote the song you are missing the point of the movie, and taking life way to seriously. Look, this is a fun movie, and a great escape. Yes, it is funny. Yes, they could have made it better. No, they did not miss the mark. Humor is only part of this picture. Feel what life is with Edgar, and the pain it can bring. Watch a geek find a life. The best line in the movie? "do you want to buy a set of encyclopedias?" The best ending I have seen in a long time. Edgar's song played every where, and letting you know he's still out there. Soft, genteel, and filled with hope that things will work out right. In short see it, and if it is on cable I'll be there.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The movie to see in a theater

[16 October 2004]

More years ago than I care to remember my mother took me to see this movie. This was when theaters were palaces. To a small boy the screen looked 50 feet high and 100 feet long. Sitting through the Movie Tone News I had no idea of what to expect. The curtains parted in the dark theater, and the movie started. When the movie started in what I thought was black and white, and I was disappointed. This was the age of color movies. But wait, the eyes of the actors had color. What was this? The actors had me. I didn't care if it was black and white. Dorothy sang the song that made history, and 'Some Where Over the Rainbow' captured the hearts of the nation. When Dorothy opened the door, after the tornado, I was trapped in the magic! The Color was like nothing I had ever seen before. Bille Burke looked like an angel in that bubble, and I hated Mararet Hamilton for 50 years. Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Burt Lahr showed that you could overcome your weakness. I saw 'Gone With The Wind' back then, and it was good, but not in my eyes. Buy the DVD, get the biggest T.V. you can find, get the heart of a 7 year old, and hit play. When you get to be my age you will find you yourself whistling 'If I only had a Brain', and find some 7 year old joining in. Sometimes you have to follow the yellow brick road, and not pay attention to the man behind the curtain, with your children. If you do, you will find Oz is not cable show about a prison, but a magical place you don't want to leave - even when your hair is gray, and all you teeth are not your own more than 50 years later.

Thunder Road (1958)

The film I love

[25 June 2004]

Filmed in 1957, and sent to theaters in 1958, it had the 'Rods' of the day. This was a film of youth, and wild rebels. In some ways, you had to be born then to understand it. I saw it for the first time at the Flying Cloud Drive-In. Siting in a 1951 Ford Custom with a full race flat head engine, and my best girl at my side. Three duces, Lakers, and overdrive trans. The car, not her. To this day I can close my eyes and hear the the high pitch voice singing the theme song. "Let me tell the story, I can tell it well, 'bout the whipperwill that drove...", well you know the song if you have seen the movie.

Imagine a drive-in filled with 'Rods'. On the screen you see a 50 Ford, with its lights out, driving down a dark country road. A 57 Chev pulls out from a hiding spot and gives chase. All heck lets loose, not on the screen, but in the drive-in. Fifty 'Rods' rev their 'Mills' with the Lakers open. Flames shoot from the pipes, and the noise pounds in your guts. Outside the drive-in 20 cops are waiting for the movie to end, and play time to start. Have this picture in your mind? That's the way it was back then. The movie showed a 50 Ford front clip on a 51 Ford. The inside view of the car shows a 51 dash. I spotted that when I first viewed the movie. The 57 Ford, that Bob drove later in the movie, had a 312 supercharged engine. I know that engine well. I had to get one after I saw the movie. Oh, and the car to go with it. Bootleging is not a southern exclusive. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, and we had 'shiners, and 'runners here. Minnesota 13 was the 'shine of the Volstead Days. Sorry, I forgot what this is all about, and no, I will not say if I did any of that. All my friends knew the song by heart, and we would sing it all the time. Bad guys drove Chev (Feds) and the good guys (Runners) drove Fords.

Simple, plain, and all 1950's. Lots of bad acting. Lots of continuity errors. Lots of hot cars. Lots of great action shots. A great title song. Look, if you were not born then, you have to see what Grandpa and Grandma made out to when they were young. No Drive-ins are around today. My 2002 Thunderbird has computers that limit my speed. I still know all the words to the song. I can still close my eyes and hear the roar of the 'mills', and see the flames from the Lakers, today. I still wish it was 'way back then', and 20 cops were waiting to play. "And when his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road"