Back To The Future II

Future Biff travels from 2015 to 1955, giving young Biff knowledge of the next half-century's sports wins. Future Biff returns to Hell-2015. Assumes the life of a very rich man.

Meanwhile, back in 1955, Young Biff gets rich. Hell-1985 is born.

Doc and Marty leave former-2015 and return to Hell-1985.

Doc and Marty leave Hell-1985 and return to normal-1955.

They fix things.

Return to normal-1985.

What of Old Man Biff? He left 1955 for 2015 a little before Doc and Marty arrived.

Time travel seems like a computer program. It's like there's an If-Then statement in between Biff's leaving 1955 and arriving at 2015.

If {Old Man Biff's efforts in 1955 paid off}
Then {Old Man Biff returns to Hell-2015, and is widely acknowledged as the richest man on earth}
Else If {Doc and Marty undo the damage in 1955 }
Then {Old Man Biff returns to his old, boring 2015 where kids fly around on hover boards }

I'll bet as soon as he got back to 2015, he wondered what in the world went wrong. He may have even made another trip...

But in the movie, they showed him returning to normal-2015. So does that mean that the 2015 Doc and Marty visited had already taken into account the trip they were about to make to fix things in 1955??

Whoa...complex...

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Robin Hood: Men In Tights

I saw this movie before I saw "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." I thought it was funny then. Recently I watched the "Prince" version. A few days ago, "Tights" was on, and I hadn't seen it in a while. There's so much more to a parody film when you are familiar with the work it is lampooning. It was great fun watching "Tights" with a new frame of reference.

Most of the jokes, though, didn't necessarily center just on the other "Robin Hood." But they were all great. This was the film that introduced me to Dave Chappelle. I didn't realize it had been him until a few years ago when "Chappelle Show" was being aired on Comedy Central. When I recognized him, I realized I hadn't seen him in anything in between "Tights" and "Chappelle Show." I wonder why? He's a pretty funny guy.

Like the story of Robin Hood, I think "Men In Tights" will remain timeless. Not too many jokes are limited to within one era, and the film is really well-made. Good job!

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Independence Day - ID4

I was just thinking about something that I never would have guessed at before. In ID4, Randy Quaid plays a drunken pilot who has claimed to have been abducted and experimented upon by aliens. Up until today, I had assumed that even while most people doubted him, he really had been abducted, because of his righteous moment at the end of the movie. I figured the moment would have been weaker if he hadn't really been abducted.

But today it occurred to me that that just might be the case. One of his "buddies" who made fun of him and his wild allegations was seen on the news in the movie as describing how Quaid had been abducted by aliens and abused, sexually.

Up to now, I never thought much of that short clip, but recently I wondered, could Quaid's "buddies" have been the "aliens?" Did they kidnap him, mess him up, and then laugh when he kept saying aliens did it? And then did the one guy go on the news and take the opportunity to pin his own transgressions on extraterrestrials?

It was a deeper and sadder thought than I would have previously connected with Quaid's sidekick, because he's such a comic genius. I wonder if they threw in that vague possibility thinking no one would probably think much of it...?

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Big

I've always loved this film. Tom Hanks plays a 13-year-old kid who finds a Zoltar machine at a carnival, wishes to be Big, and the next morning wakes up in an adult body. Then he gets a job, and his youthful style gets him a huge promotion. At that point, he gets paid to be a kid, and just has the time of his life. He invites his young buddy along, has a fling with a coworker, and then decides to be a kid again.

What I like most about the film is Hanks' sense of wonder and enjoyment of the things a kid would find interesting. He looks like he's having so much fun, it's like reliving your childhood vicariously through him. And what kid wouldn't enjoy getting paid to think up cool new toys?

When I first saw the movie, I had originally thought that when Hanks' female costar picked up his wish card at the end (the one he got for wishing to be a kid again) that she would actually turn into a kid, and he would stay an adult. What a twist! But it wasn't meant to be.

Wow, I just realized something. Hanks' character had started out wanting to be an adult, but his ensuing adventure made us all want to be kids again!

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Are You Afraid Of The Dark: The Tale of the Silver Sight

Ok, this isn't your normal movie, but since it was a 3-part episode of the "Are You Afraid of the Dark" series, I'll count it as such. I believe when it first came out, it was marketed and aired as if it were a movie. And boy did it live up to the hype!

One of the guys from the original cast of AYAOTD came back and helped save the world from an evil demon, who took the form of a kid at a carnival. I think my favorite part about the demon was his attitude. He was shorter than everybody else, but acted like he was all-powerful, and fooled them time and again.

I enjoyed this movie because it was basically a cumulation of 4 years of scary storytelling. I had enjoyed the series previously, and then when it went away, I was disappointed. The movie was a great sort of reunion, and I liked having the chance to see some old characters one last time.

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Once Bitten, Starring Jim Carrey

Made in 1985, "Once Bitten" centers around an aging vampire woman who needs to drink the blood of a virgin to regain her youth. The vampire is played by Lauren Hutton, and the youth is Jim Carrey.

This movie only got 1 star, but I think it's priceless. The comedy alone is great, and the music really adds. Karen Kopins is fantastic as Carrey's main love interest. Did you know she was Miss Connecticut 1977? She's married with children now.

I saw Once Bitten on T.V. recently, and when I noticed it only had 1 star, I got to wondering. What if this movie came out, and people in 1985 berated everyone connected with it. The director, writers, and producers all quietly retreated from what critics called "a dismal failure." (Mind you, I imagined all this. I don't know if any of it's true) One man with the strength and vision to endure, John Connor, I mean Jim Carrey, lived on, and became a star.

Meanwhile, in the future, "Once Bitten" is rediscovered and celebrated as both an interesting and humorous movie in and of itself, and a neat throwback to the early stages of Jim Carrey's movie career. So the critics were wrong after all. The movie is good!

The moral of the story? Don't listen to your critics, and don't take harsh words too seriously. You never know. Twenty years later, people might just say exactly the opposite!

How much did JC get paid for his role in "Once Bitten?" $1,212,601!!

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Is Your Life A Movie?

I used to wonder if it was possible that each person was starring in a movie or T.V. show without knowing it. This was before I saw, "The Truman Show." I had read science fiction stories, and I remember one in which "animals" at the zoo were really aliens being treated to a tour of earth. They thought humans were the animals, and regarded the bars on their cage as protective implements.

I wondered if someone was watching each of us...not God...not Santa...maybe aliens? Or some higher intelligence? Could all human activity just be a haphazard attempt at entertainment?

"South Park" did an episode called "Cancelled" in which earth was a T.V. show. I guess others have had the same idea...

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