Dear Mr. Vernon…

John Hughes.

If you don’t know his name, you most likely know and love his movies already.

If you are a fan of “The Breakfast Club”, and I don’t know anyone in their 30′s or 40′s who isn’t… then you are probably also a fan of:

• Sixteen Candles
• Pretty in Pink
• Ferris Buehller’s Day Off
• Some Kind of Wonderful
• Weird Science

I’ll admit to not recalling much of SKOW, but “Club,” “Pink,” and “Ferris” are still some of the most enjoyable films I have ever experienced. And, hey, Weird Science? One of my absolute favorite comedies of the 80′s and also the source of many a fantasy of Kelly LeBroc, but I digress…

Somehow, between 1984 and 1987 John Hughes managed to tap into the psyche of every American teenager with his very true storytelling. He managed to capture that very real sensation of being an outcast that so many of us felt as a teen.

For the me, the best of these films for exploring how teens feel and interact with each other and the world around them is The Breakfast Club.

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Eat My Shorts…

Just a quick update… this week’s movie is “The Breakfast Club.” Watch for the review tonight!

Danny Boyle Takes It (Oscar) Home

I don’t know if it’s that I wasn’t inspired by the trailers this year, or if I missed most of the movies from the sheer fatigue of mourning my father’s passing during most of ’08… but I just didn’t see very many of the big nominees this year. Looks like I really need to see Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Of the bigger winners of the night, I saw:

• Wall*E – Such an amazing, masterpiece of filmmaking.
• The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger deserved his award. It’s a shame that he died right as I thought he was finally getting interesting.
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – I would have liked to have seen it win more awards. I thought this movie was brilliantly done.

And that’s about it. I saw Tropic Thunder as well, and I’d have been happy to see Robert Downey Jr. go home with something tonight. He had such an amazing year between Iron Man and TT. But he’s got a whole slate of really interesting movies coming out over the next two years, so he’ll definitely be one to watch.

All in all the Oscars was a lot of fun this year. I thought the production was done very well. Seems the producers of “Dreamgirls” produced it this year, and they brought their stage spectacle expertise to the program. Hugh Jackman got to show the world why he’s on Broadway all the time. Excellent.

Things seemed to move along pretty well. The show didn’t seem to drag much and you really didn’t hear them do the “your time is up music” but maybe one time all night.

Maybe someday I’ll find myself up on that stage too.

As Time Goes By…

I guess it’s fitting that the first film in my “Movie A Week Blog” is the 1942 classic ‘Casablanca’. ‘Casablanca’ is my all time favorite film. I never caught the bug for it until I was well into my college years. Somehow when I discovered ‘Casablanca’ as a young adult it spoke to me in a way that my youthful mind and heart just didn’t comprehend.

I’ve been debating for a week now on just how to write these blogs. Do I keep them very technical? Do I focus on the storytelling of the pictures? The camerawork? Do I just write about how the film’s make me feel? While watching ‘Casablanca’ tonight I came to the conclusion that I’m going to avoid any sort of dedicated structure to these entries. I’m just going to write about these movies as I see fit from film to film.

‘Casablanca’ is a film that never resonated with me as a child. Sure, a kid in the 80’s wasn’t supposed to enjoy a classic Black and White film from the 40’s. I mean really! Where’s the color? But it was more than that. There is so much about this movie that doesn’t really resonate until you’ve got some life experience under your belt.

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Filmschool for the rest of us…

Where To Start

So, the economy is in the toilet. I’m desperately trying to keep my personal finances from spiraling more out of control than they already have and because of this I am going out less and less frequently to the new movies in the cinema.

So it got me to thinking the other day. “What about all those movies on my shelf?” I mean really, at last count there were over 300 movies on my DVD shelf.

Can you imagine? If I watched those at a rate of 1 film a week, it would take me six plus years to watch all of those movies.

How cool is that?

And it won’t cost me anything. And best of all, I can go back and watch those films with a new eye. A filmmaker’s eye. I’m going to use this blog to analyze those films. I’m not sure how detailed those reviews and analysis will be. I have a feeling it will vary from week to week. But I will use this blog as a chance to “educate” myself more on the history, methods, and styles of filmmakers from all areas, genres and eras.

This should be a lot of fun. Now, the question is what film do I start with?

I’ve narrowed it down to a few that I think would be fun to begin with. What are your thoughts on these films?

• Cassablanca
• Schindler’s List (I’ve never even opened the DVD)
• What Dreams May Come
• The Breakfast Club

I hope that you’ll give me your input on this, and I sincerely hope that you follow along on my cinematic journey. Who knows? Maybe some of my reviews will spark an interest for you in watching a film you’ve never seen, or an old classic that you’ve forgotten?

This should be fun! Be sure to leave your comments below!

My Thoughts and Prayers

My cousin Eric informed me this morning that his sister’s ex-husband was shot and killed by his neighbor last night.

Tragic. Poor Jennifer. She now has to deal with her kids and the aftermath of losing their father to such a horrible incident. The only “silver lining” if there is one, is that the kids are still young, so they hopefully won’t remember, or carry with them, the horrific details of how their father passed.

Please put Jennifer and all the rest of my family out there in Oklahoma in your prayers. They are definitely in mine.

Kick the Tires and Light the Fires…

Ok… if late 2007 and all of 2008 represent the actual end of my youth (some would say that for many of us the death of a parent is the beginning of our true adulthood) then it would stand to reason that 2009 is a year for a new beginning.

This is the year that I stand up and accept my role as an adult. I accept the responsibility of my own care and well being. I accept that I can no longer behave like a young person who doesn’t understand the consequences of his own actions.

I accept the fact that starting new means doing some very difficult things. That it means that I have to set right many of things I did wrong in my youthful carelessness.

So, I have spent quite a bit of time and energy in the past couple of weeks trying to sort out just how to go about dealing with the sins of my past while trying to continue on the path I’ve laid out for my future. Ultimately, the path to my future can only be successfully traversed by righting my past wrongs. So in many ways, dealing with my troubles is continuing on my path forward. It’s not looking behind. It’s not a pit stop on the road to my goal lines. It’s all part of the steps forward.

I’m ready to move forward. I’m ready to stand tall. Are you all ready to move forward with me?