Wayne's World

Wayne’s World

1992

Directed: Penelope Spheeris

Writer: Mike Myers, Bonnie Tuner, and Terry Turner

94 Minutes

Mike Myers feature film debut. Chris Farley’s film debut. Alice Cooper. Stan Mikita’s donuts shop. A gun rack. Game on. And of course, Bohemian Rhapsody.

This film is not a meaningful story of good verse evil or hope overcoming the odds. It’s a bro-mance between Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey). It’s a ridiculous story of two cable-access hosts selling out and realizing a band performance by one of their girlfriends can be linked through satellites, beamed into a limo, and that recording contact could save their show.

But then you have the small jokes.

In the scene above, Wayne and Garth make light of television program hand signals, which they refer to hand jobs. They laugh together. They always laugh together. They make jokes and laugh at them. Together.

This is the entire movie.

Originally, Wayne’s World was a Saturday Night Live sketch and the only spin-off to gross over a 100 million dollars. Therefore, it’s not that absurd to believe this entire movie could be based around one-liners.

And we love them for it.

“Shitty Beetles? Are they any good?”
“They suck”
“Then it’s not just a clever name.”

Again, they laugh together. We laughed with them. That’s why this film is genius. It’s not only the one-line jokes and small jabs at commercialization. These were characters that we enjoyed watching.

The characters were us.

The affect on pop culture says everything. Wayne and Garth brought us “That’s what she said,” and “Party on,” and “…Not!” They were the voice of generation X. They were characters that did what they wanted, listened to good music, and talked about the importance of unimportance.

Interesting fact: Dana Carvey is an accomplished drummer and actually played Garth's solo in the guitar store.

This film needed to be made. It spoke to the pimple-popping teenager drinking in his parent's basement with his friends, playing riffs of Stairway to Heaven, and watching Bill and Ted’s excellence adventure. They needed movie that talked about what they were talking about. They needed Wayne and Garth.

Genius.

And the list continues. Within this movie you have Robert Patrick reprising his role from Terminator 2, a play on foreign films when Wayne speaks Cantonese, Wayne getting a gun rack when he doesn’t own “a gun,” and nods to commercials including Grey Poupon, Doritos, Pizza Hut, Reebok, and Pepsi.

It’s was the small jokes that made this film great.

In the end, Wayne says it best: I once thought I had mono for an entire year. It turned out I was just really bored.

Exactly.

Armageddon

Armageddon

1998

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Jonathan Hensleigh, J.J. Abrams, Tony Gilroy, and Shane Salerno

150 Minutes

Michael Bay spent his early years in the film business working on commercials and music videos. Then a script titled Bad Boys came to him. Success. And then a script titled The Rock came to him. Winner.

Finally, Armageddon came to him. Blockbuster.

Armageddon is a story about a group of oil drillers commissioned by NASA to stop a Texas-size asteroid from destroying earth.

But, there was so much more to this film.

In the scene above, A.J. (Ben Affleck) has taken Grace (Liv Tyler) to a secluded park on his day-pass away from NASA training. Grace happens to be Harry Stamper’s (Bruce Willis), A.J.’s boss/leader/commander, daughter. A.J. is apart of the oil digging crew and this is his last chance to be with the woman he loves.

They romance in pillow talk.

Grace asks, “Babe, do you think it’s possible that anyone else in the world is doing this very same thing and this very same moment.”

A.J. replies, “I hope so. Otherwise what the hell are we trying to save.”

This scene amplifies the importance of their mission. They are not trying to save large cooperation’s, amusement parks, and colossal cities; they are trying to save the small moments that an individual shares. They are trying to save children laughing, birds singing, and mother's praying.

In short, they are saving the human race, however large or small your definition is.

Between A.J. and Grace, their love isn’t about the grand adventure or royal weddings. It’s about intimate moments. Their love is pure. Their love is kind. And that’s why those men are going up.

“I really don’t think the animal cracker qualifies as a cracker,” A.J. says.
“Why”
“Well cause it’s sweet, which to me suggests cookie, and, you know, I mean putting cheese on something is sort of defining characteristic of what makes a cracker a cracker. I don’t know why I thought of that, I just…”

This film was not a shallow attempt at “we have special effects, so there is no need for story.” This film was a meaningful journey between father and son, mentor and apprentice. It's about friendship. And it's about love. These themes and ideas climbed aboard that shuttle along side A.J. and Harry.

That’s why this film is remembered.

In the years following, Michael Bay was commissioned to direct the Transformer’s saga. And in my personal opinion, it doesn’t live up to Bad Boys, The Rock, or Armageddon.

It’s because there is no story. No themes.

In the end, we need those small moments in life to let us know what's important. Life is not about six figure salaries, nor Lakefront mansions.

It’s about animal crackers conversations.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010

Director: Steve Pink

Writers: Josh Heald, Sean Anders, and John Morris

101 Minutes

In one of the biggest high-concept films of 2010, John Cusack stated he joined the cast simply based on the title.

In essences, this film is about four guys time traveling back to the 1980’s and reliving the weekend of their lives, finding out how detrimental the Kodiak Lodge was to their future.

Déjà.

In the beginning, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson), Jacob (Clark Duke), and Lou (Rob Corrddry) travel up to the mountains because Lou tried to kill himself. Hoping to relive some positive memories, the four venture back into their “past “ only to find the Kodiak Lodge is in despair, mirroring their own lives.

Kodiak is history.

They are escorted to their room by the pissed-off, one-armed Phil (Crispin Glover) and find a hot tub time machine that will eventually take them back to 1986. Once back in time, they realize how good they had it, how much promise lay before them, and how much potential was in their lives.

Instead of enjoying the 80’s, the four friends vow to repeat the exact events that weekend, thus avoiding the Butterfly Effect.

But when Adam decides to change his course of history, the rest of the group follows suit. They’ll enjoy themselves. They’ve earned it. And the 80’s rocked.

In the scene above, Nick and Lou are playing pool discussing how they can change their own future, this time for the better. When the AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns comes on the television, Lou gets an idea to bet on the game.

He knows the future, why not.

But this is what happens in the Butterfly Effect (not the movie, the system). You change one course of normal life and the rest of history will evidently be affected. These friends traveled back in time and puked on a squirrel. The squirrel ends up on the field during the AFC Championship and John Elway’s pass goes incomplete, thus ending "The Drive" and losing the game.

But, Lou knows the potential. He understands the Butterfly Effect.

At the end of the film, the four friends have a chance to return to 2010. Lou refuses. By him staying in the past, he can positively effect his life decisions and redo the mistakes he has made in the past. This is the entire theme of the film. Lou made poor decisions. Now, he wants to correct his missteps and turn them into advantages.

Lou goes onto invent “Lougle,” an Internet search engine and was the lead singer to Monte Crew.

Perfect.

We’ve all made mistakes before. We’ve all asked ourselves, “what if I could change this event in my life…” and would this ultimately change my course of history. But, we cannot change our history, which is why films about time travel are popular. These stories place characters in situations that help them understand the past and consciously affect the future, this time for the better.

So much of the case is exactly what Lou needed. He needed a Hot Tub Time Machine.

In the end, I leave you with this: ‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” - Soren Kierkegaard

This is only true unless you spend a weekend at the Kodiak Lodge. Or you have a delorean that can do 88 mph.

The Mighty Ducks

Mighty Ducks

1992

Director: Stephen Herek

Writer: Steven Brill

100 Minutes

“I hate kids. They're barely human.”

Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) had a long way to go after receiving a community service sentence to coach peewee hockey. He was assigned to the District 5 hockey team, a group of kids that would later become the Mighty Ducks.

But, Gordon was no stranger to hockey. Years before, Gordon played for The Hawks, the number one team in the league and arch rivals to the Mighty Ducks. In the last game of the state championship, Gordon missed a shot that would have clinched the game.

A quarter of an inch the other way and it would have gone in.

Gordon has lived with that demon since childhood, completely erasing hockey from his life and became a successful lawyer. After winning a major case, Gordon gets pulled over for drinking and driving. And thus, begins Gordon’s journey.

*CLING* - the sound the puck makes by hitting the post.

In the scene above, the Mighty Ducks have mutinied against Gordon after he made several sarcastic comments about the team. When the majority of the team didn’t show for the next game, they were forced to forfeit. Before this all happened, Peter (J.D. Daniels) found an article about Gordon’s missed shot and believed his comments weren’t sarcastic and Gordon’s loyalty remained with the Hawks. Peter used this information to turn the team against Gordon.

Except for Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson).

After the forfeit, Gordon and Charlie have lunch and talk about Gordon’s hockey past. When Gordon finishes explaining the “quarter of an inch” missed shot, Charlie simply replies, ‘Yeah, but a quarter inch the other way and you'd have missed completely.”

Gordon never thought of it that way.

This is the moment that Gordon realizes he has just as much to learn from these kids, as these kids have to learn from him. He has a dark past - one he might have been embarrassed about - which doesn’t make him much different than the rest of the Mighty Ducks.

In this instant, he realizes his old team, old coach didn’t understand the reason kids play hockey is to have fun. It shouldn’t be effecting your life years after the fact. Hockey is a game and it supposed to be enjoyed.

His team taught him that.

In the end, Gordon takes the Mighty Ducks all the way to the state championship where they faced-off against the Hawks. It was a brutal game, but Gordon cannot be out matched by his old team and eventually is victorious.

Bravo, Disney endings.

The Mighty Ducks is a family film about a young hockey team. The story is about a coach letting go of his past and progressing forward towards his passion. In the final scene of the film, Gordon gets hockey advice from the ducks and then boards a bus for a minor league hockey try-out. Again, he’s victorious.

But for Gordon, he’ll forever be a duck. And ducks fly together.

Bill and Ted's Exvellent Adventure

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

1989

Director: Stephen Herek

Writers: Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon

90 Minutes

Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves) have been given a time machine to travel through time collecting the greatest figures in history in order to pass their final exam. Where then, these two individuals and their band, Wild Stallions, go onto create a futuristic society based on their music.

It could happen.

Yet when we meet Bill and Ted, they are bumbling idiots that can barely play music.

Hey now, it could happen.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure grossed over 40 million dollars. It was a hit, creating an outstanding career for Keanu Reeves and launching a directing career for Alex Winter. George Carlin played the ever so knowledgeable Rufus and Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin played Joan of Arc.

But, this wasn’t just a film about two jokers. There was heart to this story.

In the catalyst, Bill and Ted are told their history presentation will decide if they pass or fail this semester’s course. They have slacked off, made jokes, and completely ignored the course material. Now, they have to ante up for their final exam to finish school.

But there is more.

In the scene above, Ted is told by his father (Hal Landon Jr.) that if he does not pass his history presentation, he will be shipped off to Oats Military Academy, thus separating the Wild Stallions. This act means everything. If the band separates, the future will sees to exist. More so, Bill and Ted’s friendship will ultimately be extinguished.

Ah oh.

See, it’s not that Bill and Ted care about failing school. That’s nothing. It’s the fact that if they fail, Ted will be shipped off, and their band won’t make it. That's everything. And even though they are the worst band in the world - their music career amounting to almost nothing - they agree the band must survive.

Like I said, bumbling idiots.

But, they have dreams. That’s what makes them likeable. And they are best friends. That’s what makes them lovable.

We, the audience, don’t want to see two best friends break up, especially Bill and Ted who finish each other’s sentences. We realize they must carry on. Ted’s father oppression causes conflict, but he cannot succeed. These two have to stay together. And thus, we begin the story of how these two will travel through time, collecting folks such as Billy the Kid, Sigmund Freud, and Abraham Lincoln.

And what’s more entertaining then watching two stoners interact with some of the greatest leaders, minds, and warriors that ever ruled the earth.

In the end, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was fun. It was pure and simple. It was entertaining. But even "fun movies" need something to back it up. Here, it was friendship.

What could be more important than that…?

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

1985

Director: John Hughes

Writer: John Hughes

97 Minutes

It took exactly two days to write the script for The Breakfast Club. The great John Hughes was a master at effortlessly completing his stories, knowing full well the intention and motivation of each character. In this film, there was a brain, athlete, basket case, princess, and a criminal.

And the Simple Minds song, ‘Don’t You Forget about Me.”

In the scene above, the five strangers have collected together to explain their stories and reasons for being in detention. We know what they’ve done, but now we need the why. And through this interaction, they pour their hearts out to each other.

Claire (Molly Ringwald) cut school to go shopping, but she's there because she suffers from problems at home. Her parents use her to get back at each other and the expectation of being “perfect” is too much, thus she seeks negative attention.

Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) had a flare gun in his locker that went off. He carried a gun to school because he failed shop class. He cannot fail. And he’s there because he couldn’t handle that pressure.

Andrew (Emilio Estevez) taped a guys butt cheeks together because his father wants Brian to mirror his adolescence “fun.” His father was a winner and the pressure to be number one dominates Andrew's life.

Bender (Judd Nelson) pulled the fire alarm because well…wait not. He doesn’t have a good home life, school life, or social life – he has nothing, going nowhere and suffers from it all.

Finally, Allison (Ally Sheedy) didn’t do anything. She didn’t have anything better to do on a Saturday, but she’s there because she wants a connection to reality – something absent from her life.

All these characters have problems, but like Andrew says, “Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all…”

But the scene above is the moment – a low point – that all the characters realize they are not the labels the student body has placed on them, but individual people with individual issues.

There is the connection.

Having problems – like family, pressure, reality – is what connects all the characters in The Breakfast Club. Moreso, having problems is what connects audiences to this film. Finally, we are given a story we can relate. This is a story with problems, similar to the one we face, but fair enough away that we can enjoy.

For the audience, this is the ultimate escape: our problems faced by other people.

This is a film for every generation. From the pimple-faced freshman to the stock broker adult, we all went to high school and we all had problems. Moving past them is what’s essential in life.

Unfortunately, some never understand that.

But, these characters are given a chance to vent, connect, and realize how special each other are and find solace that their wasted Saturday was not so wasted.

In the end, John Hughes gives you this:

“Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal...does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

But, don’t you forget about me…