i wanna give a shout out to the year 1985. it was, pop culturally, a really transformative year for me. not the actual year, per se, but what came forth from it. such as...

ronald reagan is sworn in for his second term





we are the world
i love the description on this particular youtube upload: "its by michael jackson and a couple of people. and its super touching :]"

compact discs

the dairy queen blizzard

the tv show growing pains

a ton of great movies, including a few of my absolute all-time faves:

spies like us






fletch




back to the future




the goonies

some killer cartoons:

m.a.s.k.




thundercats




wuzzles






and one of the biggest, eternally insignificant, influences of my entire life: the nintendo entertainment system

1985... my hat's off to you. (readers, if you're not standing and applauding by now, i worry about you and am sad for you.)


honorable mentions: microsoft windows 1.0 is released (figured that might draw some jeers), teen wolf, disney's gummi bears, jem

-watched sneakers this past weekend and realized it's pretty similar to oceans' 11. not sure why i never made the association before.

-i read this post on the thinklings and just wanted say that, like andrew (though for different reasons), i've had to fight the urge to hate it. it's the "monty python and the holy grail syndrome", i think. it's a great movie. it's WAY over quoted. and it can sour people's opinions when the tidal wave of quoting comes after the initial release and surge of the movie, when the "true fans" saw it. i remember watching the trailers/clips online before the movie opened. genius stuff, i thought. i have to remind myself that just because it became the proverbial beaten dead horse to like/quote it, doesn't mean the movie itself is not still great.

-i find the polar express/3D christmas carol animation really creepy. i don't want to watch any movies that utilize it. really hope it's not the future of animation.

-it's not as fun to remember a funny movie quote in everyday context when the people around you don't know what you're talking about, as it is when there is someone who knows what you're talking about. (i know this goes without saying, but a lot of things that "go without saying" get said anyway)

yesterday it was:
"coming through! got a package people!"

and today it was:
"ventura."
"yes, satan? oh, i'm sorry, sir. you sounded like someone else."

strangely both from ace ventura, which is not something i quote every day, honest, BUT still something you'd think people would recognize.

-i'm not excited about avatar. i haven't really watched any previews, just a few seconds here and there. i keep picturing jar jar binks when i think about it...

i've been wanting to share this with the interweb for many moons, but have just now been able to due to technical and legal obstacles. it's a video we put together for an exodus series i preached last semester.

hope you dig it as much as i do.



The Plagues (Prince of Egypt/Johnny Cash) from HWY 249 on Vimeo.

just saw this on talk show with spike feresten.

the only place i found that still had the video up was linked to college humor (a site that i do NOT vouch for or recommend)... no telling how long it will be up. if the video is gone, you can watch it here.

- the prince of egypt

- top gun

- willow

- real genius

- tombstone

*honorable mention - heat (he didn't add as much to this movie as he did to the others, as memory serves. plus he went on to voice KITT... blech. had to take points away somewhere.)

in no particular order:

Appaloosa


The Abyss


Apollo 13


The Truman Show


The Rock


Gone Baby Gone


A Beautiful Mind


The Right Stuff

i haven't seen ALL of Glengarry Glen Ross, so i didn't feel like i could include it.

the "decent" and/or "at least mildly entertaining" list would include Winter Passing, Milk Money, Just Cause, Enemy at the Gates, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.