IMPress Polly (11-17-2018)
donttread (11-17-2018)
Speaking of Jurassic...
JURASSIC PARK
My favorite movie of the 1990s and current fourth-favorite of all time! I was HUGE into dinosaurs at the time that my dad took me to see this movie in theaters (I was 8 at the time). It terrified me, but I kept wanting to see it again anyway. It wasn't just the sense of genuine suspense (which the inferior Jurassic World movies of today seriously need to learn something about!), but also the sort of story that was told. As I grew up, I've only come to appreciate the basic theme of the movie -- that people cannot control nature no matter how hard they try -- more and more and have grown sort of aesthetically attached to the Chaos Theory-spouting character of Dr. Malcolm (at least as portrayed in this particular entry anyway). The characters in general though are lovable characters. I even kind of like how they didn't demonize John Hammond's character simply because he founded the park. They show him to be a complex, well-meaning, and in his own way endearing grandfatherly type of character (who literally is a grandfather in this movie) who most of us I think would enjoy being around. He is well-meaning and not concerned primarily with money, but rather ultimately disastrously misguided in his capitalist idealism. That is easy to contrast with the idiotically simplistic way that analogous characters are portrayed in the newer Jurassic films.
Also, the dialogue is just really good in general. And animatronics instead of CGI. It just feels more real. The other Jurassic movies are so much more commercial and cartoony (both figuratively and literally). Also also, Lex and Tim and Veggiesauruses. And believable geek girldom. The other Jurassic films may be one big pile of $#@!, but the original stands the test of time and serves up a healthy message about the nature of nature. And a bunch of mostly genuinely horrible people get mauled and eaten alive by some of the coolest creatures the Earth has even birthed (like raptors!), so you can't beat that.
BOUND
Speaking of excellent '90s movies, this is my second-favorite from that decade. Me and Heather were too young to get into the theater to see this movie when it came out in 1996, but we both wanted to really badly (and we didn't have the internet back then so there was no, you know, accessing online recording of movies by people), so we snuck in and hid. And made out for a lot of the movie. This memory in particular has given Bound a special place in my heart. Afterward, we also snuck into somewhere else and did mischief. It was one of the better and more genuinely fun days of my life so far all in all.
Bound has become an iconic cult classic for its at the time groundbreaking portrayal of a lesbian relationship. It's done much as you'd expect the Wachowskis (same directors who brought you The Matrix a few years later) to do so: fused with lots of stylized action and noir type stuff. It works!
The directors described the film as being about "the boxes people make of their lives", which makes sense, as the film has a rather claustrophobic feel to it with lots of characters being trapped in either a relationship or a physical closet, stuff like that. It's really about how Violet can only be her real self when she's around Corky, the film's other protagonist. The movie goes deeper than that though in its understanding of lesbians. It portrays the hand as a sex organ, highlighted by lingering camera shots of Corky and Violet's hands. As another example, Bound presents water as a motif representing women, present for example when Corky is retrieving Violet's earring from the sink. Wetness, for those who cannot figure out this allusion, corresponds logically to the biology of female arousal, as contrasted with how hardness can be seen as symbolizing male arousal. There is a thematic emphasis on "wet moves", if you will. The film, in a fairly rare gesture for its time, also challenges the stereotypical butch-femme dichotomy of lesbians in a lot of ways, including in the main sex scene. Much love!
Last edited by IMPress Polly; 11-17-2018 at 01:54 PM.
Ethereal (11-17-2018),Green Arrow (11-17-2018)
Peter1469 (11-20-2018)
POGS
Pogs was a version of milk caps that was really popular when I was in elementary school in the early '90s. So popular that kids were banned from bringing them to school by the time I was in fourth grade because it was seen to distract kids from learning. Here's how you played: Each player had his or her own collection of decorative, collectable milk caps called pogs and one or more slammers.
1) The players each would contribute an equal number of pogs to build a stack with the pieces face-down, which would be used during the game.
2) The players would take turns throwing their slammer down onto the top of the stack, causing it to spring up and the pogs to scatter. Each player would then keep any pogs that land face-up after they have thrown.
3) After each throw, the pogs which have landed face-down would then then re-stacked for another round.
4) When no pogs remained in the stack, the player with the most pogs was the winner.
It was the coolest casual $#@! since marbles!
Pogs.jpg
HEAVENS TO BETSY
My favorite riot grrrl band! And also my favorite band of all time. Riot grrrl was a feminist (typically also anarchist) underground punk scene whose heyday was the early 1990s. Technically the genre still exists (you may have heard of the Russian group $#@! Riot in the news, for example), but it's not truly the same these days and it's also not nearly as significant a social element. It's the kind of stuff that detractors often claim is "just noise". It's not noise, it's passion! To me, being authentic matters more than having a trained voice or being professionally trained at an instrument or being politically safe. I find the shrill screams and off-pitchness of Heavens to Betsy endearing in its humanity. I think their songs are beautiful. Here are some of my favorite songs of their's:
Last edited by IMPress Polly; 11-17-2018 at 03:53 PM.
This band (this is a somewhat more modern line up then in the 90's, when I was first introduced to them, but you can get the gist I think) Jiggle the Handle pretty much defines the 90's for me, I saw hundreds of shows, and became fast friends with the whole band...
*edit*
Come to think of it, it wasn't just Jiggle, but the entire 90's New England jam band scene as a whole. Magical times!
Last edited by jigglepete; 11-17-2018 at 03:48 PM.
Ethereal (11-17-2018)
IMPress Polly (11-17-2018)
" I'm old-fashioned. I like two sexes! And another thing, all of a sudden I don't like being married to what is known as a 'new woman'. I want a wife, not a competitor. Competitor! Competitor!" - Spencer Tracy in 'Adam's Rib' (1949)
Art thou every retard among us related to thine uncle or mistress by way of moral or illegitimate rendezvous? Thus, we are one side of the other's coin by luck or pluck. - Jimmyz