gah015 Reviews

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Everything's bigger yet smaller, it's all these computers...San Dimas high school football RULES!!!

[7/10 · 7 March 2010]

Here they are, in their 1988 World Tour! So-Crates Johnson, Bob Genghis Khan, Dave Beeth-oven, Maxine of Arc, Herman the Kid, Dennis Fro-eud, and...Abraham Lincoln.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is lighthearted good fun from the late 80s that despite the fashions and music, hasn't seemed to date itself too much to younger generations that weren't even alive in the 80s. A decade before Keanu Reeves stared in The Matrix, and before he was the FBI agent assigned to bank robbery in the early 90s flick Point Break, he did this film and this is the role I always associate him with, no matter how many more movies he does. The stars of the film are two seemingly brainless but well intentioned high school slackers, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (the aforementioned Keanu Reeves) that dream of making it big with their garage band "Wyld Stallions". One day, they will open for Iron Maiden and perhaps even get Eddie Van Halen on guitars, perhaps one day. But they are in danger of being split up for good if they don't pass their history report. They study but just seem too moronic to hold much information in their heads.

Help arrives from the 27th century from a guy named Rufus, a man who comes down in a telephone booth (Dr. Who reference?) and greats the two friends in front of a Circle K, providing yet another great quote, "strange things are afoot at the Circle K". Rufus explains that the two must absolutely pass their history report and he gives the guys their own time traveling phone booth where they travel the ages and pick up various people of historical importance. Pay no attention to the accuracy of how these historical figures are represented, this film is not to be taken seriously and anyone who nitpicks how Abraham Lincoln or Ghenghis Khan was shown needs not be so wound up. Get a hobby. The fact that they went to the detail of having Socrates and Napolean not understand English was more then enough historical accuracy for me. The guys eventually meet themselves both at the start of the film and then later as the journey progresses. The fun really begins when they dump all the people they picked up in a late 80s shopping mall. I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say that the guys do pass their report, it has to be seen exactly how they do this for it likely is the most original history report ever conceived. This is not a great film but it is fun. And yes I know my title quote was not spoken by either Bill or Ted, but rather by the jock giving his presentation to the class. I loved his speech because it seemed so authentic and real to what a guy like him would say if he were trapped for words during an oral report. Plus it was great to see the rest of Bill and Ted's school, and makes you realize how much more likable our heroes are. 7/10.

The Fall Guy (1981–1986)

He's the unknown stuntman, that makes Eastwood look so Fine

[11 June 2007]

Lee Majors could have been a burned out 70s star during the 80s much like Burt Reynolds and John Travolta, but the former Six Million Dollar Man resurrected his career yet again with "The Fall Guy". Majors played Colt Seavers, a working class Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter. You gotta love a TV show that was brave enough to have it's star walk around with a name like "Colt". The Fall Guy was full of manly macho bravado, right from the iconic opening lyrics, where Colt gets into full country cowboy mode and laments his status as a Hollywood stuntman. Even though that song is clearly grounded in the late 1970s, with it's references to women such as Sally Field, Cheryl Tiegs, Bo and of course Farrah, it continues to play effortlessly well across the decade. You understand the plight of Colt Seavers. He does all the dirty work for guys like Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford (more 70s stars), but he never gets the girl. It always felt right that Lee Majors would sing about celebrities from the 1970s anyway, even in an 80s TV show. Nobody questioned it, it was like oh wait it's Lee Majors singing, well of course he would be singing about Farrah, Bo and Clint Eastwood in 1984.

This isn't the best written TV show, but for a Glen Larson show it sure is. The concept of Hollywood mixing in with bad guys is a hit out of the park. The creators can always give the audience that extra double wink with what they're doing, after all Colt Seavers is a Hollywood stuntman. It's mind bogglingly enticing to wonder what Stephen J. Cannell (a far better writer who was an 80s TV tycoon that specialized in action-humor) could have done with this show. I'll admit nostalgia plays a huge part in my fondness for The Fall Guy. I can actually remember when this show first aired back in the early 80s. I was 6 years old, and this series was sure bet for Wednesday nights. It even had it's own set of Colt Seavers action figures and toy pick truck modeled after the one Lee Major's used on the show, so you knew this show marketed itself at children as well as adults.

There's something so magical about '80s TV, that even silly TV shows like The Fall Guy can

The Lost Boys (1987)

"We trashed the one that looks like Twisted Sister!"

[6 September 2006]

Haha, that line makes me laugh every time, just for how old school 80s it is. Not to mention the vampire that the kids just "trashed" didn't really look like Twisted Sister as he did more of a generic 80s pop metal dude. Middle school life in the late 80s (junior high back then) had some movies that were almost universally thought of as "cool". Some of these were Predator, Coming to America, Top Gun (yeah I said Top Gun), Big, and of course The Lost Boys. TLB was so popular with kids, I remember knowing the details of the plot before I had ever seen the movie.

Two kids named Sam (Corey Haim) and Michael (Jason Patric) move to Santa Carla, CA with their mother in hopes of a new life. Sam is looking to just have some fun and find a cable hook up for MTV, while his older brother Michael gets involved with some teenage vampire punk kids. Michael is slowly being recruited into the vampire clique that hangs around the boardwalk, while Sam desperately tries to turn him back to a normal human with the help of the overzealous Frog Brothers (Corey Feldman and some other guy).

Slick, stylish and shot like an 80s music video, this movie was a lot of fun. A few of the 1987 fashions here are enough to make this movie illegal in a some countries, but the hip feel of the film keeps it from being too dated. Well, in my opinion anyway, some kid today might think different. Afterall this movie is nearly 20 years old. Typing that just made me feel very, very old. Anyway the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, director Joel Schumacher especially knows how to shoot night scenes. This film was both a horror and a comedy at the same time, though I'm not sure which I preferred. Any movie that features both Corey Haim and Corey Feldman is going to be one that you can't take very seriously. If you don't know who these two guys are, better you never find out. Just watch the movie. Keep an ear out for INXS, Run DMC and The Doors.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

First mainstream Bollywood film

[16 August 2006]

I'm not going to get too much into reviewing the story of this movie, most of the other reviews are covering that for you. Honestly I don't remember too much the story that well anyways beyond the basics. Besides this is a Bollywood film, you know the melodramatic story of a boy and girl who fall in love against their parents wishes. I'll stick to a more cultural commentary. I remember 1995's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge being a good movie that dealt with second generation Indians living in England. This was a funny film that struck a chord with younger Indians living in Western countries around the world, and it was an obvious smash hit in India as well.

Let me say that every country in the world has something "cool" or "bad ass" about it. But India has often had the most uncool, nerdy stereotypes about it. When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, most of the representation of Indians in Western culture was limited to Apu from The Simpsons. Taxi drivers, convenience store clerks, curry, cow worshipers, more curry, thick English accents, effeminate men and hairy women,... nothing here was ever cool (these stereotypes are still here, yet are finally changing, albeit slowly). What kind of crazy kid wanted to be Indian? If I could have gotten away with passing myself off as a Mexican, I probably would have tried it. But then there was Bollywood, showcasing the beautiful people of India that could dance and sing just as good as anyone on MTV. This was the cool side to India. It made India look beautiful, exotic, young, hip and cultured. One of the biggest audiences for Bollywood flicks outside of India had traditionally been Indian girls. Older audiences obviously watched too, but young Indian women growing up in America have always been keen to Bollywood, many years before the arrival of DDLJ. Bollywood models, gharba dances, since as long as I can remember Indian girls immediately zeroed in on knowing that Bollywood was a cool piece of Indian pop culture that non-Indians didn't have access too or couldn't immediately claim as "theirs". Instead of being impenetrably "foreign", this industry made India look much more "exotic". I suppose it's the better balance to all those National Geographic specials that showed nomads in India eating the most disgusting things imaginable. Like all Indian movies, Bollywood flicks are overacted with dumb plots and idiotic fight scenes, but it involves outrageously beautiful people dancing and singing and that's always going to be cool. Beautiful people can make almost anything look cool. If Apu from The Simpsons has an arranged marriage then from the Western point of view it may look backward, cruel and dorky. If Aishwarya Rai or Hrithik Roshan has an arranged marriage, then it seems much more exotic and cultured,...hey maybe there's something to the concept. Beautiful or well accomplished people can turn previously weirdo things about a country into something cooler then it used to be perceived as. People are damn superficial aren't they? (Bollywood stars all being so fair skinned is a topic for another time) But DDLJ had a cross over appeal that didn't just include Indian girls. It was the first film that I remember being "big" amongst Indians. When I say it was "mainstream" I don't really mean that it fully crossed over into non-Indian audiences (though I know it did), but rather this is was the first Bollywood movie that I remember that was widely talked about and had immense appeal among many different types of Indian American audiences.

Before the release of this film, Bollywood movies seemed to exist in their own little niche of loyal cult followers (usually young Indian women). Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge broke some of the rules and didn't just appeal to Indian girls who wished they could be in a Bollywood movie and marry some hunky fair skinned North Indian guy. No this film had an exposure to a broader audience that seemed to really put Bollywood on the map for Indians that grew up outside of India. Indian guys were into this film, yeah probably because Indian girls were into it, but it was big change from what was going on before. A movie about second generation Indians was automatically going to appeal to every Indian growing up in Europe, Canada, Australia and of course the U.S. This was newer territory and since then Bollywood films have increasingly become more youth targeted in their marketing campaigns. Despite plenty of moments of stupidity (I remember a ridiculous "Yeeeeeeaahhhhhhhh!!" yell by Raj during a game of rugby), this movie was the beginning of a small change in Indian culture. Indian exposure to non-Indians and the dispelling of stereotypes is still very much a work in progress and people are unlikely to mention DDLJ on history papers in the future, but it had a milestone effect in my opinion within the community. The overtly glitzy Hrithik Roshan stuff today in 2006 seems a bit more aimed at pre-teen girls (so it's gone even younger), but DDLJ was the most talked about film in the 90s. 11 years have gone by, Shahrukh Khan is nearly 41 years old, he's basically an "Uncle" today, a status a lot of Gen-X Indian Americans are creeping towards. Of course Bollywood is a silly representation of India, it's like someone in Mumbai watching Rambo and thinking that's America. But for a brief moment in the mid 90s, people were united in talking about this Hindi movie, regardless if they spoke Hindi, Tamil or Malayalam. The movie had a great cast and awesome dance numbers, along with a more humorous angle then previous flicks I had seen. Recommended.

Jaws (1975)

"Love to prove that wouldn't you? Get your picture in the National Geographic"

[10/10 · 8 August 2006]

The best way to start my review of "Jaws" is to just get right to it and say that this film is one of the greatest movies ever made. I love this movie, and that is that. Located somewhere in the northeast, the fictional town of Amity is run by a bureaucratic city council that has tunnel vision with nothing but the bottom line of dollars and cents in mind. The deputy is lost in his mind and the sheriff is one Martin Brody, a man who hates the water but lives on an island. "It's only an island if you look at it from a boat" Brody says. Amity also has a shark problem. A 25 ft long Great White shark has just staked a claim off the coastal waters of the island, and the shark has decided to feed on hapless beach goers.

Sheriff Brody wants to shut the beaches down until the matter can be resolved with the proper shark experts, but the mayor and city council fear that shutting the beaches down will impact the vital summer tourist economy of Amity. It doesn't matter how many people get devoured by the shark, the people in charge don't want to lose their summer dollars. The beaches must remain open and Brody is in a constant volleying act between the suits that run Amity and the shark itself. This film is what I consider to be one of the first "modern" movies. It was made in 1975 and it simply feels much more modern then anything that came before it. Filled with one liners, this is an action movie that predates the current action flick genre. The plot is fantastic and the acting is excellent. But not only did this film have a well oiled story that was tightly directed, and an esteemed cast of actors, but the film had such a profound impact on pop culture that will be timeless. Jaws is loaded with quotable fun lines that resonates and stays with you:

"You yell barracuda and everyone says 'hunh, what'?. You yell SHARK, and we got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July".

"We're gonna need a bigger boat".

"That's one bad hat Harry".

"I don't think you're going to understand this problem until it swims up and bites you in the ASS!"

The line I quoted for my summary heading is probably my favorite, just because it adds insight into the mentality of the sleaze bag mayor of Amity. Mayor Vaughn is out to protect the financial interests of his town and he views the brash young oceanographer Matt Hooper as someone who has arrived in Amity with nothing but his own rich boy interests working for him . Hooper couldn't possibly be here to do anything but lobby himself for a possible National Graphic cover could he? The notion that Hooper would want to help Brody protect the people of Amity doesn't even seem to cross Vaugh's mind. No Hooper must be here to be a glory hound and nothing else. Such is the mindset of the bureaucrats that run Amity.

The mechanical shark in Jaws (nickamed "Bruce") reportedly would not work very well for director Steven Spielberg, subsequently Spielberg resorted to point of view shots to achieve the terror he desired. This was an inspired piece of genius, far better then actually seeing the shark. The shark later is represented by an assortment of different floating objects, from dock piers, yellow keg barrels, and of course it's own dorsal tail fin. We don't always see the animal, but we are convinced it is there. When we finally do see the shark towards the end of the picture, it doesn't matter that it looks fake as hell, it's real within the context of the movie and that's all that matters. Probably the aspect of this film is bringing together three different characters to take part in the journey of man vs. nature. Brody is the level headed family man, Hooper is the intellectual college grad, and Quint is the gruff old seamen with his own vendetta against sharks. Perhaps the single best moment of the movie is near the end when the shark has 3 barrels attached to him but still won't drown, the engine of the ship is burnt out and Quint calmly comes out and throws a couple of life preservers to Brody and Hooper. Quint however does not put HIS life preserver on (because of his own creepy tale with sharks). Quint knows very well what sharks can do to a man and this moment all 3 men realize the ship is sinking and they are running out of options. Just a fantastically shot and brilliantly acted moment. I was born on July 3rd of the year this film was released, and every 4th of July it has become a habit of mine to watch this film. Watch this film, and don't hold the mechanical shark against it, I promise you won't regret it.

Office Space (1999)

The Sleeper Comedy of 1999

[9/10 · 8 August 2006]

Office Space is a great movie. The comedy is intelligent and the situations are true to life. The film reminds me a lot of Ghostbusters, in that you can tell that there was real creative force behind the jokes in this film. If you've ever had a dead end job you can easily relate to this movie. I remember going to see this movie back in 1999 with some friends and we all thought it was going to be some lame flick (because it had such stupid title), but it was the only thing that wasn't sold out so we gave it a go. Everyone was blown away by this film which turned out to be one of the sleepers of '99. The characters work in cubicles with careers that are (to them) pretty boring, but they have flippant attitudes towards to life and speak like they all are grads of big 10 schools. The boredom of their life can't be made up for by being a weekend warrior, they need genuine happiness. The film explores the characters quest in what is one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Silver Spoons (1982–1987)

Eaaau, the 80s

[6 August 2006]

Unashamedly 80s, Silver Spoons was pretty decent TV show and I really can't imagine my childhood without this series. The strange thing is that I don't even remember much from this program (I just know that I liked it), as I don't think I've watched it since the 80s, so I'm doing my best from memory. The main character was sort of a take off on the character of "Richie Rich", 12 year old Ricky Stratton was a boy who had an obnoxiously wealthy father who was pretty immature himself. His father had a mansion that was decked out with toys, games and a giant train set. There were some memorable characters (Alfonso, Derek, J.T., the prissy Dexter) and episodes on this show. I do remember this series being sort of like a cartoon, where the kids had unrealistic adventures in the span of 30 minutes. The series could range from pretty cool to cringe worthy. There was a hilarious episode where Ricky hired Mr. T to be his bodyguard. There was also an episode where Menundo guest starred,...man I feel pretty damn old for knowing who Menundo are. I remember the networks gave up on Silver Spoons after a while, it then went into cheapo syndication where it dragged on for a couple more years. They were likely on target getting rid of Silver Spoons after only a few years, because I believe the series overstayed it's welcome. It ran from 1982-'87, when it probably should have went off the air in 1985. When the kids got older it became pretty dumb watching them repeating the same old antics and trying to be so cool with their Duran Duran style and riding that train when they were 17. If it ever comes out on DVD I'll look it up for nostalgia's sake. I don't know why I did this commentary, and I think I'll check out now.

Voyagers! (1982–1983)

This was Magic

[9/10 · 3 August 2006]

Voyagers! was a time travel series that aired Sunday nights on NBC from 1982-'83. I was 7 years old and instantly hooked. The lighthearted fantasy concept involved a kid, a pirate and cool watch like time machine (the Omni) that was worn on the belt. As a kid I wanted my own Omni more then I did a Jedi lightsaber.

The show was about a recently orphaned 12 year old named Jeffrey Jones (Meeno Pulce). Jeff is living a dreary life in his Manhattan high rise with his aunt and uncle, who don't like the idea of suddenly raising a kid themselves. One night a time traveler named Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) crashes into Jeff's bedroom. Bogg is a ruggedly handsome man that's dressed like a pirate from the 1700s, who happens to be a member of a mysterious organization called "Voyagers". "I am a Voyager" Bogg says, "You ever hear of one? Course not, no one has", Bogg continues to tell Jeff. Voyagers are people that are trained to "travel through the ages" to keep history on track and make sure it's always on the right path. They don't get into the philosophical aspects of what is the right or wrong history, and there is no need to in a fun show like this. If the Omni flashed red then something was wrong with history. Once the good guys fixed the problem it became a solid green. The Voyagers seems to exist out of our linear time, they appear to be from the past but use technology from the future. Through a series of mishaps Jeff winds up as Bogg's time traveling companion, and Bogg is unable to take Jeff back to 1982 because his Omni would only go up to 1970. Apparently it was malfunctioning, which led him to land in Jeff's 1982 high rise apartment in the first place. Jeff is a child genius who knows everything there is to know about history. Bogg doesn't know much about history so Jeff proves valuable to Bogg, as Bogg left his Guidebook back in Jeff's 1982 bedroom (remember they can't go back). Jeff basically becomes Bogg's new Guidebook and the two improvise their way through solving problems the best they can.

This was created as an educational series for children, and it worked. They hit it out of the ballpark with this one. I probably learned more about history from Voyagers! then I did from any of my 2nd grade classes. There was always a main plot and then a secondary story line where Jeff and Bogg visited another time line. Sometimes a brief third time story would be thrown in. The best episodes had two story lines that mirrored each other in some way. "Agents of Satan" had Jeff and Bogg land in New England during the Salem witch trials, after escaping being burned at the stake the duo land in 1924 Boston during a séance that just happens to have Harry Houdini in the audience. Houdini never believed in real magic or the supernatural, only the incredibly well staged illusions that he performed. He famously went around the country debunking phonies swindling people out of money, so when Houdini sees our heroes appear out of nowhere and then immediately vanish into thin air he is convinced that ghosts are real. Jeff and Bogg inadvertently turned a green light zone into a red one. This kind of story telling was just flat out AMAZING for a kids show. The writing was top notch. Other great episodes were "Worlds Apart" (Thomas Edison and Lawerence of Arabia), "The Travels of Marco Polo", "Barriers of Sound" (Alexander Graham Bell), "Voyagers of the Titanic", "The Trial of Phineas Bogg" (we get to see the Voyager school) and "Jack's Back" (Jack the Ripper).

I have acquired all the episodes in recent years, complete with the NBC bumpers ("Voyagers will be back after these messages"). A few of my episodes even have some of the old NBC ads from the time, with Meeno and Jon-Erik dressed in costume and telling us "Sundays are the place to be on NBC!", which was a precursor to the "NBC Let's All Be There!" ads a couple years later. I get a flood rush of magical childhood nostalgia when I see stuff like that. I was nervous that show would look just too ridiculous and immature for my adult eyes. I was proved wrong. Sure there are a couple of forgettable episodes and yes there are some corny moments here and there where you can tell this was a children's series, but it's damn entertaining one. The acting can be silly at times, but sometimes you have to just accept a well made show's faults and just roll with it. The stories and the writing were what really attracted me. This was a series aimed at children but written with older audiences in mind, so I can still watch this one as an adult and not feel guilty. The series always dealt with famous historical figures, but who cares? The show had plenty of wit and zany enthusiasm going for it. That other great time travel series Quantum Leap would be there later to deal with the more regular folk. At the end of each episode Meeno Pulce would give a quick narration over the closing credits, telling you that you could learn more about the historic figures visited in this episode through reading, "Take a voyage down to your local library, it's all in books". Unfortunately NBC canceled the show after 1 season. The show couldn't compete against the hard hitting 60 Minutes, and perhaps the complex plots was something that couldn't be sustained. I'll always remember this show though. It's a shame that back in the 80s moron shows like The Dukes of Hazzard lasted for six years and Voyagers! only stayed on the air for one.

Punky Brewster (1984–1988)

Punky Power

[29 July 2006]

I remember Punky Brewster, this was another gem that came under the helm of former NBC executive Brandon Tarkitkoff. I'm a guy and I used to watch it religiously as a kid during it's first few years on NBC. No I'm not ashamed to admit that I liked this goofy girl targeted show, hey I was just a little kid myself. Punky Brewster first aired in 1984 (that year of the 80's were everything seemed to happen), regularly clocking in on every Sunday night. And not only did I have a crush on both Solei Moon Frye and Cherie Johnson, but I loved their bright primary color schemed clothes and the non-condescending (to children), informative story lines. The series also perfectly captured the mood and feel of the mid 1980's. You can watch these early episodes and tell it was from that 1984 and 1985 time period. When the father Henry tries to get Punky to go to sleep and tells her something along the lines of, "but I let you stay up to watch Silver Spoons AND Knight Rider!", it will bring warm feelings and a smile to the face of everyone who had a childhood in the 80's. Apparently there was a real Punky Brewster, a childhood friend of Brandon Tartikoff's that made a guest appearance in one episode. Punky's dog was even named "Brandon", which was an in-joke that I somehow understood even as a child.

There was some stupidity here and there, such as one episode where Henry asked Punky's friend Allen for advice on performing CPR on a girl in critical condition. Henry's an adult, so why is he consulting a 7 year old boy for life saving medical advice? Even if he didn't know CPR himself, he could get help instead of relying on a small child. I wouldn't think about stuff like this as a kid, but today it seems more absurd. Like cartoons of the era, the series tried to empower children and give them more weight and wisdom then they would usually have in the real world.

But I have to say I did not like the later years of Punky. Once the show left NBC and went into cheapo syndication, it lost a lot of the magic and charm. The series no longer seemed to be about grumpy old Henry (played wonderfully by George 'Police Academy' Gaynes), and both his and Punky's adjustments to a non-traditional family. Instead all became about Punky, Punky, Punky. When it was on NBC, Punky Brewster was a show that could be watched by most people and of both genders. But the late 80's years had Solei Moon Frye inevitably getting older and lose a lot of her cuteness/innocence. The quality of writing seemed to go down when it was off NBC as well. Punky and the other girls turned into mean spirited, gossiping, boy crazy pre-teens. The kid who played Allen (the only recurring male child) had no room in such a show and was subsequently booted. I really liked Allen too, because I remember that kid being my male eyes into world of Punky.

The show degraded into a primarily chick targeted TV show, which resulted in a heavy loss of it's male audience as well as whatever adult audience it had. I guess they couldn't avoid Solei Moon Frye and the other girls getting older, but I wish more of an attempt was made to keep the series a bit more balanced with the Henry storyline. Still, for anyone that spent most or all their childhood years in the 1980's, Punky Brewster is an important part of pop culture lore for us. High school kids in the 80's had "The Breakfast Club" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", but elementary school aged children had Punky Power.

Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993)

A Good Show, but the novelty of the Child M.D. wore off quick

[6/10 · 29 July 2006]

Sprung from the typewriter of Emmy award winning Steven Bocho, (Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue) "Doogie Howser, M.D." is a good show from the very late 80s and early 1990s. As you probably know the series is about 16 year old Douglas "Doogie" Howser, the boy genius who is a medical doctor. I just bought the DVD and this is the first time I've watched the series since it went off the air in 1993. I'm watching the 1989 episodes now, and surprisingly it doesn't seem all that dated. I mean sure it's dated in that you can tell it's from 1989, but it's not dated in that cheesy way. It's dated the same way Miami Vice is dated. When viewed through the lens of this show, the fashions and styles of that era seem simply more like something that's time has passed, rather then a horrible campy memory. Make no mistake though, this is no half hour sitcom with a laugh track. Steven Bocho went through great pains to make this an accurate, mature show with humorous elements in it rather then a screwball comedy. In the 1989 episodes Neil Patrick Harris is 16 years old, but he looks and acts like a 12 or 13 year old, 14 tops. Neil wasn't very emotionally mature for 16, and he had his this odd nerdy quality to him----which actually helped the series because it made Doogie seem even younger then he really was. But this was basically only the case for the 1st season.

The series wasn't without it's faults though, the show started going down the toilet when the child physician started sporting a 5 o'clock shadow. If I remember correctly, a big problem with the show was that "the joke" of the series, the child prodigy kid doctor who walked around in acid washed blue jeans, Nike high top sneakers and an over-sized lab coat wore off pretty quickly. After the 1st season Doogie was already a typical adult height of 5'6 to 5'8 inches tall. Sure he looked really young because he was a 17 year old teenager, but it wasn't too outrageous to see him in a hospital setting. But Doogie kept on growing unlike his best friend Vinnie Delpino. By 1992 and 1993 Neil Patrick Harris was a 19 and 20 year old grown man who was now standing around an amazing 6'4 inches tall. Doogie was no longer a cute kid trying to be a doctor, he now looked like any medical school student and there was nothing at all weird about him being a physician. By 1991, Doogie had turned into a legal 18 year old adult. He moved out of his parents house and into an apartment with Vinnie. They both started having regular sex. OK, so there goes the concept of the "child prodigy". After 2 years we were treated to watching an over 6ft guy and his friend living an apartment and dealing with older teenager/young adult problems. The premise behind Doogie was gone after 2 seasons, and truth be known it was on shaky ground by the 2nd season anyways.

Perhaps if they had started the series in 1987 when Neil was 14 it would have given the series more longevity. Or cast someone who was a little younger, like 14 or better yet 12 or 13 back in 1989. It really was a shame they didn't start Doogie off in the age range of 12-14 instead of 16. But otherwise, this is another well written series from the acclaimed TV writer Steven Bocho. The 1st and 2nd season are well worth checking out.

Amazing Stories (1985–1987)

OK series, but not that Amazing

[5/10 · 17 July 2006]

This anthology series wasn't really all that great, but on the flip side, it doesn't totally suck either. Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" tries to be a cross b/w "The Twilight Zone", early Disney films, and some magical pulp adventures from the 1930s. But a lot of the episodes are flat out boring. There was a certain ambiance that surrounded "Amazing Stories" and it's marketing back in 1985 that made you think it was an important event series that couldn't be missed. This was a especially true if you were a child a the time. Was it a movie being broadcast on network TV? Was it a made for TV movie that Spielberg dreamed up for NBC? Was George Lucas somehow involved? Or was it just a TV show? The lines of what "Amazing Stories" was often felt blurred, it was not really a sci-fi series, but more creepy tales from the netherworld. It was hard to tell at the time, but I bought it. Hook line and sinker, I was there for every episode. It also had Steven "Jaws/Indiana Jones/E.T." Spielberg's name attached to it, which automatically made people in the mid 80s think it would be awesome. The opening credits with the cavemen sitting around a fire tries to reinforce this notion that the series is telling ancient, wondrous stories but it's simply not that good. To be fair there is some magic to this show and there were a couple of stand out episodes (The Mission was one of my favorites), but I never thought it was the kind of magic that was promised in the credits.

A problem I had was that the episodes often build up to what seems like an amazing climax (pun intended), but level off with corny, tacked on endings that felt written at the last minute. Many of the stories are VERY PREDICTABLE. If the series is award winning, I'm certain it's because of technical achievements. The early CGI TRON styled credits were excellent for their time. In fact I believe "Amazing Stories" was the first TV series to use computer generated special effects.

The show isn't bad at all, it's just not the classic classic that some believe it is. I mean it's entertaining enough, but don't expect Rod Serling kinda story telling. Even as a kid I thought the series was mediocre. I was about in the 5th grade when this show came on, young enough to still be taken in by the premise because the show appeared to promise "Star Wars/Indiana Jones/E.T." kinda magic, but I was an old enough elementary school kid to figure out a dumb or boring story.

Personally I wouldn't get the DVD, this show is best seen as something you would catch on the Sci-Fi channel during a rainy day. I think it's entertaining enough to watch on TV, but not to own. It is great series for mid 80s (1985/'86) nostalgia, it'll likely make you cringe at the gaudy mid 80s styles.

I would grade the series as a B-.

Where's the Party Yaar? (2003)

Vastly Disappointing....so much potential wasted on a corny script

[5 June 2005]

"Dude where's the Party?" (Where's the Party Yaar?) is yet another movie that deals with young Indian Americans, and it really doesn't offer a whole lot new or interesting. The territory covered here about Indians (Desi) is old hat, the humor very stale and as painfully unfunny as an SNL skit gone awry. There is absolutely nothing wrong with revisiting familiar plot lines, but they could at least be done in more interesting ways.

Kal Penn (Harold & Kumar) is the only one that gives out a performance with any kind of decency here, probably because he is for all intents and purposes the only real actor in this film. Everyone else in this movie is a rank amateur, better suited for a church Christmas play written by a 45+ year old Uncle (Indian parent or "adult"), then a mass marketed film. The film is about Hari Patel, a well intentioned kid from India who travels to America to study engineering and meet his true love as proclaimed by one of his village elders (in an over the top campy performance) back in India. Hari excited as ever, goes to Houston, TX where moves in with his super cool cousin Mohan "Mo" Bakshi and his family. Kal Penn's Mo character instantly is disgusted by his FOB (fresh off the boat) cousin and is embarrassed that he has to introduce Hari to all his equally super cool and very shallow friends at U of H. And Mo has every good reason to be repulsed by Hari. Hari dresses like an idiot, smells like curry, makes a mess of the family bathroom, and speaks in a loud and obnoxious voice. Essentially Hari Patel is a FOB character exaggerated to the nth degree, a total caricature of the real deal. His accent is exaggerated to the point of sounding fake, and his clothes and hair are just terrible. I've encountered several newly arrived Indian immigrants in my lifetime, and even the worst of them with their slacks and white tennis shoes do not act as unbelievably stupid as Hari Patel does here. There is a hollow ringing moral lesson at the end of the film, where the shallow cool Indians learn how to better treat the FOBs.

Basically the essential reason Indian Americans have been confused about their identities and so many flicks like this have exploded onto the scene is because Indians can't stop being Indian. It's not because the Indian culture is so vastly different from American culture or Western culture as a whole. No, there are many Eastern European countries and Middle Eastern countries whose cultures can be eerily similar to "Indian culture" and it's strict parental rules. But if they are White or fair skinned White looking, they can easily blend into American culture far more easily. When was the last time you heard of confused Russian American kids? Yeah they don't exist. But as an Indian you carry India with you everywhere you go and this more then anything else is the root of the struggle for ABCDs (American Born Confused Desi). You'll always be Indian in America or any other country, and you will always be way too American/Western if you go back to India. That's likely the reason that there are more of these type of movies depicting Indian American trials then there are East Asian American struggles. Asian Americans have been around in the United States for so long and overall just tend to blend in better then Indians do. Indian skin complexion tends to stand out, we look like "foreigners" even if you are super cool like the club hopping Indian kids in this movie. Add to that we have only been around in significantly large numbers since the 1970s and there you have the answer.

Certainly there has been a Desi explosion in American/Western pop culture in recent years, in no way did I even imagine all this mainstream Indian exposure as a kid growing up back in the 80s and 90s. It clearly took a generation of Indians to grow up in America to bring Desi culture to the pop forefront, because our parents generation certainly wasn't going to do it. I've been hard on this film but it did have it's moments too, I especially liked the boy band serenade with the Hindi remix. I liked how the movie showcased Desi culture in Houston, as opposed to New York, Chicago, or Philly. I also loved how it showed a variety of Indian subcultures, not just North Indians which is what is usually done in the other flicks. I was happy that there was no big melodramatic Indian wedding,---though a fist fight between two Uncles would have been hilarious. I myself have never really been immersed in the young Indian American culture, but growing up ABCD you'll still know it very well in many ways. The characters parents live in giant homes that are essentially mini mansions, a favorite of many Indians (especially Malayalees) who aspire to live in the posh Houston suburb of Sugarland---but usually at hard cost cutting standards for those that don't have the natural income to live in such large homes. It was also surreal for me to hear Malayalam actually spoken on screen. "Where's the Party Yarr?" should probably be given it's dues just for being yet another Desi movie that did try and one that might make us less strange to the general American public. With a few exceptions, no one could figure out quite how to do these kind of films back in the 1990s, and it was pure fantasy in the '80s. I don't want to even begin to imagine what it was like for the very early Indian American youth back in the '70s. Keep making Indian American/Western flicks, but get bolder...and funnier. I'm still waiting for that great Desi film or novel that will echo what Amy Tan did for Asians with "The Joy Luck Club".