Never knew Game of Thrones was '96. I should read the signed copy I have.
'96 Books, Movies, TV
|
 On 08/14/2015 at 03:25 AM by KnightDriver See More From This User » |
Don't think I read much in 1996 unless you count sheet music. Read a bunch of that stuff for bass. I did notice that George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones came out that year. I guess I gotta check it out since it's such a huge monster these days.
Movies are a different story. Here's a list of films I most likely saw in the theaters:
| Kingpin |
| Star Trek: First Contact |
| Mars Attacks |
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do America |
| Brain Candy |
| Mystery Science Theater 3000 The Movie |
| Shine |
| When We Were Kings |
| The Cable Guy |
| Happy Gilmore |
| The Nutty Professor |
| Dragonheart |
Kingpin was a Farrely Brothers (Dumb and Dumber) comedy centered on bowling. Woody Harrelson is an ex-pro bowler who coaches an Amish kid (Randy Quaid) in order to win a big tournament. Bill Murray plays a jackass pro bowler. It has some moments, but isn't any classic. Randy Quaid plays his character so naive that he seems almost mentally deficient. It comes across slightly cruel as Harrelson's character corrupts him as he does. But it had a cameo by Chris Elliot. I probably screamed in the theater when I saw him. I do that.
Star Trek: First Contact is memorable for me just for the scene of the inventor taking off in his cobbled together space rocket to the tune of Steppenwolf's Magic Carpet Ride. Alice Krige was great as the borg queen too.
Mars Attacks! was a Tim Burton film based on a 1962 card game of the same name. It kinda captures the 50s scifi fear of invasion thing with Tim Burton's own great sense of humor. It has a great cast too. Martin frickin' Short is in it. Yah!
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America was a fun one. I only watched a handful of the TV show episodes, but I watched the movie. Farts of a nuclear power. That's all I have to say about it.
Brain Candy was sketch comedy group Kids in the Hall's first and last movie. I was a huge fan of the TV show and watched it religiously. Seeing the movie was a no brainer. Har har. I was so excited, and it was good. It was a grand spoof on everything Prosac (the anti-depressant). Summing it all up was what the rock star character Grivo said at the Suicide Club before a song, "Fuck happy!". In the context of happy pills, I couldn't agree more.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was a lot of fun. I was watching the tv show after work every night at like 4am. Kinda like when I do blogs now. Hum. . . I saw the movie in a tiny art house theater in Philadelphia. The movie they watch is This Island Earth which I actually like. Still there's lots of stuff to make fun of in this 50s scifi flick.
Shine was a biopic about piano prodigy David Helfgott and his mental breakdown. It's a beautiful movie that's also kind of sad. The real David Helfgott performed some concerts around the time of this movie.
When We Were Kings was a really great documentary about the famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman that took place in Africa. They called it The Rumble in the Jungle. It's a incredible story and an amazing fight. You get lots of behind-the-scenes stuff with Ali and Forman before the fight. So great.
The Cable Guy was another Jim Carey show. It was kind of a dark story as he stalks Michael J. Fox, "Oh billy.". Ben Stiller directed it and Jack Black is in it too. Carey was most funny when he was installing. He'd do karaoke and strange things with power tools.
Happy Gilmore is my favorite Adam Sandler movie. His character's problem with golf was mine with tennis. Just like Gilmore, I had the attitude of a hockey player playing a gentle sport. (I didn't get my nickname "Rhino" for nothing when I was a teenager). Gilmore even fights Bob Barker, "The price is wrong, Bob." Classic!
The Nutty Professor was probably the last really funny thing I saw of Eddie Murphy. He was a phenomenon in the 80s and was still on fire in this one. My favorite parts are when he's at the dinner table with his large family all played by himself. Those moments had some of the best jokes.
Dragonheart was a cool fantasy flick. A knight befriends a dragon, voiced by Sean Connery, and fights a tyrant. The story is pretty neat in that there's a strange connection between the tyrant and the dragon, even though the dragon is good. I liked it and just noticed a prequel story was released this year.
Now for TV. What debuted this year that I watched? Dexter's Laboratory. This animated show was about a child science prodigy, Dexter, and his nutty sister Dee Dee. It was created by Genndy Tartakovsky who also did Samurai Jack and Star Wars; Clone Wars. Man, I loved this show. I didn't get to see a whole lot of it though, for some reason, but every time I saw it, I loved it. I'm going to rent the whole series to watch for sure.
And that be it for stuff I watched then. There are many other movies I'd like to watch from this year, number one being Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket. Of course, I have to finish '95s Ghost in the Shell first, which is, by the way, awesome!
Comments