Pop Goes the Culture

"Goonies never say die!" They do, however, say die-cast

Anyone remember The Goonies? One-Eyed Willy? The Truffle Shuffle?

The Goonies is probably one of the fondest movies from my childhood (and many from my generation would agree). It had everything - hidden pirate treasure, evil villains, action, adventure, young romance and a malformed strongman with a penchant for Rocky Road and Snickers. I still think this is one of Spielberg's best films from his heyday.

In any case, Mezco toys has announced that this summer they'll release a line of action figures based on the original gang. Mikey (the leader), Data (the "weapons" expert), Mouth (the one with the sharp tongue), Chunk (the lovable oaf who emotionally traumatized chubby kids everywhere) and, of course, Sloth (the malformed strongman) are all being immortalized in 6" of plastic, just in time for the "Gen X-ers" to introduce it to their kids.

And if that's not enough, Cartoon Network originally had plans last year to release a new cartoon based on the 1985 film. Word is they halted production because the original cast asked for too much cash for the use of their likenesses, but the possibility of an animated telling of new Goonies stories isn't completely out of the question yet. The project has been "back-burnered" for now, though.

 

Originally, 2 sequels to the film were planned but, much to the dismay of the fans, were scrapped after scheduling and financial conflicts. Regardless, the film still has a very strong cult following.

Besides, even if you didn't enjoy the film, how could you deny Cyndi Lauper, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant and the (then unknown) Bangles as a band...of scurvy female pirates!?!?

"Coming soon to MTV near YOU!!!"

- Jason

I ain't afraid a no ghosts

When I was younger, my best friends in the neighborhood were two brothers named Ryan and Nathan (they're the respectable gentlemen on the right). Back before kids were never allowed out of their parents' sight and children roamed the streets of Findlay from dawn until dusk in the summer (well, once our Nintendo broke thanks to our high school babysitter from hell), the Riker boys and the Mercer kids invaded the neighborhood every summer. We played the old standards - hide-and-go-seek, tag, climbing trees, swinging and annoying the older neighbors - but we added a few games unique to our generation.
We played Super Mario Brothers (I always ended up being Princess Toadstool, which meant I had to run after whichever brother was "rescuing" me from the other kids), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (ironically, I was the yellow-clad reporter, April O'Neil) and many a round of Ghost Busters. We vanquished hundreds of ghosts from each other's basement, from an abandoned shed, from a mailbox on the corner, from Lincoln Elementary School, from underneath my porch.

My brother, Matt, was a hardcore, no holds barred Ghostbuster fan -- he and our cousin, Cole, tormented my parents with his proton pack and every once in a while we'd see his little plastic trap skid out into the living room as the top flapped open and he made his own sound effects from the dining room. It was the movie that made me want to live in a fire station (I still want to slide down the one remaining pole in a Findlay fire station No. 1, but an rascally three-year-old may have ruined that for me).

I'm happy to see that the Ghostbusters will be back. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd have signed on to produce a next-gen "Ghostbusters" video game set for release in fall 2008. It's been in development for the past two years and brings the original film's cast back, with the exception Sigourney Weaver (so far, anyway).

Here's a first look at some of the gameplay footage:

I do love me some vintage Ghostbusters and I'd really like to see another movie, but this'll do for now. I needed another addiction anyway.

For the purists out there, check out this YouTube classic Ghostbuster tribute video:

Remember, whatever you do, don't cross the streams.

- Mariah

Gentleman Jim as Optimus Prime

I desperately wished my brother could have been with me last night to watch an advance showing of "Transformers." It would have been the perfect homage to our childhood.

When you grow up as daughter and son to one of the most skilled and well-respected semi-truck drivers in northwest Ohio, you sit on your living room floor in slack-jawed amazement when the magic picture box starts showing a cartoon that features your daddy's profession as the key to SAVING THE UNIVERSE.

The red cab-over semi stood up, brandished its laser gun and Matrix of Leadership talisman, and started talking about peace. Andrew and I didn't see just an anamorphic vehicle -- we clearly saw an image of our father.

Gentleman Jim (right), as he was known over the CB, entered into some sort of Be-The-Truck state every time he climbed behind the wheel of his big rig Dodge, whether it was for hauling iron ore, grain, fertilizer or stone. And when he was home, his massive jack-hammer arms magically transformed into a flyswatter every time he wanted peace between Andrew and me.

When Gentleman Jim taught Minnie Mouse to drive, we had a truck driver for a mother too. We happily played with our Transformer toys, but we still kept a keen eye on my mother's red and white Autocar semi whenever she started it up and the torque shook the engine hood. I mean, c'mon: Autocar ... Autobot ... you do the math in a pre-adolescent's brain.

I pushed the edge of responsible parenting by taking my son to see this flick last night (although any of the language in the film I'm sure he's heard in our own car), but he looks so much like my brother at that age that I couldn't resist using him as a stand-in. I was disappointed that I exposed him to what was, in addition to a product placement party, a 144-minute ad campaign for the U.S. military.

On the same day we watched this movie, there was a real-life "Bring the Rain" run by two U.S. F-16 fighter jets in the Shi'ite Muslim city of Diwaniya, Iraq, that reportedly killed 10 civilians, including six children. The U.S. military is investigating the incident, and I am doing some serious spin control with my kid on the difference between uniformed soldiers shooting at alien robots in the movies and the reality of war.

I don't remember those militaristic overtones when I was watching "Transformers" as a kid, but they were there (Lord Chumley and his Soviet jet). I also don't remember it being common knowledge in our house that the animation was Japanese. Daddy might not have been so impressed with our idolatry then. But there's something about Optimus Prime's conflicted sense of pacifism that I cannot resist even as an adult.

So I've spent the morning weighing my ethical concerns, my childhood romanticizing and my post-popcorn indigestion. My conclusion is that I am a weak-willed ninny who is SO going to see this flick again with my brother later this week and will have no qualms about having Bumblebee's bee-otch air freshener hanging right along with my Jesus Loves You card on my rear view mirror.

The lug nuts don't fall very far from the wheel stud, you know. Our father may be a tough old hauler of dry bulk cement now, counting down the days to retirement, but his kids still remember him as Gentleman Jim, independent BTO, lord of the road and keeper of the peace.

--Rebecca Conklin, online editor

P.S. LOOK FOR REVIEWS BELOW from Mariah, Jason and the Gabester.

My Childhood: The Sequel

See that picture to the left? Click on it. You know who that is? That’s Optimus Prime, and he’s about to kick some Decepticon butt.

No, I haven’t lost it (well, not yet). Chances are, unless you were born after the mid 70’s, you have no idea what I’m talking about anyway. Transformers was a popular cartoon in the 80’s, that magical time where pretty much all kids’ cartoons were glorified 30 minute toy commercials – a time when you could pour a big bowl of health-unconscious cereal loaded with sugar and preservatives, plop yourself down in front of the TV and veg out while the Autobots, He-Man, Sheera, Jem, Duke and Scarlett, Scrooge McDuck, Poppa Smurf and many other colorful characters took off on incredible adventures (usually to thwart the evil schemes of Gargamel, Cobra, Magica De Spell, Skeletor and numerous other haphazard villains).

And now it seems that Hollywood has aimed their sights at my generation. More and more of the aforementioned shows are being rehashed, revamped and remade for the next generation. The slick thing about this is that, not only are they drawing in today’s children, but the parents of those children who were children themselves back in the day.

And it’s working beautifully. Take a look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that opened earlier this spring. It was the number one film on its opening weekend, raking in over $25 million (not counting the merchandise). Not to mention that a lot of these shows are being remade into cartoons today. He-Man, Batman and a slew of others have gone back to the literal drawing board and are now playing on Cartoon Network and other stations, being consumed left and right by today’s youth. Add in the toys, merchandise and fast-food tie-ins, and you’re talking mucho bucks.

Us young’ uns who post to this blog (Zach, Sean, Mariah, Mike and myself) are all waiting with baited breath and hopping in our seats to see the Autobots and Decepticons duke it out on the big screen in a few weeks. Will Megatron still turn into a big gun? Will Bumblebee still be a stupid, little yellow VW bug? Just how bad will we want to flog Michael Bay afterwards? Rest assured, we’ll all find out soon enough, along with the rest of our demographic.

True, we’re buying into the hype, but it’s a fun hype. It’s nice to know that we can revisit our youth in a way that has more explosions and more breath-taking special effects. It’s one of the best forms of escapism and while a lot of it may not have a drop of originality or be great art house cinema or award-winning television, it’s still pretty darn entertaining. This is all whimsy and nostalgia and we’ll eat it up with our color-changing E.T. spoon all the same. And if we can share our own youth with the next generation, then all the better.

‘Cause now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

- Jason