Do The Right Thing. (Wikipedia) For those who have never seen Do the Right Thing, it’s about racial tensions in a diverse Brooklyn neighborhood. Spike Lee directed and starred in the movie which was released in the late 1980’s.

There were a lot of things about the movie that I related to even though I grew up in mostly white middle class neighborhoods. It was funny to see the fashions on display in the movie; the clothes felt VERY dated more than those from Yankee Doodle Dandy. I think this is because I remember when people dressed like the characters from Do The Right Thing, whereas movie’s like Yankee Doodle Dandy are just lumped into an ephemeral “old” category. The music was another throwback to the 80’s. The soundtrack wasn’t used as a tool for nostalgia as it was in Adam Sandler’s Wedding Singer; instead it was integral to the experience that Spike Lee was trying to project through the movie. Some of the acts mentioned and songs played were surprisingly vivid in my memory.

The movie reminded me about a lot of my experiences when I initially enlisted in the Army. I didn’t have many interactions with African Americans growing up. They were represented in my High School, but were a minority group that I didn’t interact with very much. The Army changed that. There weren’t any dramatic confrontations, or cinematic like epiphany moments between the various racial groups in my basic training unit. Instead the cultural gap was bridged as we got to know each other individually. I specifically remember one guy who was originally from Jamaica but had moved to NYC as a child. The stories he told painted a picture of life that was vastly different than what I had known growing up in various suburban neighborhoods. He and I weren’t best friends, but we were friends.

More than twenty years after it’s release, Do The Right Thing still has an interesting message. My hope is that the story of racial tensions grow to a distant memory. I know this will never be the situation universally across our country (or planet) as I think it’s human nature to view people who are different with suspicion. I’m hopeful for my childrens’ future every time I visit the elementary school my oldest daughter attends, and see the wide variety of skin tones represented by her classmates and friends.

What did you think about Do The Right Thing?

Blade Runner. (Wikipedia) It’s been hailed as the greatest science fiction movie of the last 30 years, possibly the best ever. Admittedly it’s a great piece of filmmaking on a number of levels. Ridley Scott has called it his most complete movie. Instead of debating the greatness or expounding upon the influence it’s had within the genre, I thought I’d point out some of what I found most interesting about the movie.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you a quick synopsis without spilling the beans: in the (not so distant) future, mankind has begun settling other planets to escape the crushing existence on earth; during this period of colonization genetic engineers have created artificial humans, known as replicants, that aren’t allowed on earth; the story is based around the hunt for four fugitive replicants. There’s a TON more to the story but that’s the quick version.

One of the first things to I noticed about the movie is how dark and gritty the future is portrayed. The movie was made in 1982 and set in 2019, what did they think was going to happen in that relatively short time span that would fundamentally shift our reality? I know it’s not a meant to be a realistic picture of the future but it’s not even close.  Although flying cars would be pretty damn cool!

The use of video payphones also stuck out to me. I’m sure at one point in the future I’ll have to explain to my children that there was a period where we didn’t have cell phones, but had to carry around change to make a phone call. Remember collect calls?

Everything considered though, Blade Runner is a great movie. I enjoyed watching it with my wife who had never seen the entire movie. It definitely deserves a spot on the Top 100 movies of all time, I dare say it could even stand to be placed higher on the list. If you’ve never seen it, add it to your Netflix queue today! Here’s the original trailer courtesy of YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Toy Story (IMDB), #99 on AFI’s Top 100 movies, is a great example of what animated movies should consistently strive for. It hit’s home runs in animation, story and talent performance.

Toy Story’s animation did a great job bringing toys to life, especially the small details that really make it hit home. While watching the movie for this post I noticed that the army men had small plastic circles on their backs, a result of the molding process evident on the real life version. This level of attention to detail lends itself to the stylized realism that Pixar employed in this and other releases.

Like many of the classic animated movies, and much of AFI’s Top 100 in general, a great story keeps the movie fresh without feeling dated. I watched the movie with my children who enjoyed it (see the video below) even though it was made 7 – 10 years before their birth. The same can’t be said about some of my favorite childhood animated shows. I’m sure they’d look at Thundarr the Barbarian much they same way I look at Howdy Doody from my parent’s childhood (thinly veiled amusement .. “you used to watch that?!”).

Toy Story avoids this issue by having a great childhood premise that everyone can relate to, regardless of age: what if toys were alive. Everyone has used this as the premise of countless hours of childhood playtime, Pixar brought it to life. Beyond a great premise, the script has the right mix of child & adult humor to appeal to the whole family. As much as I like the Shrek movies, there’s some jokes that I’m glad my girls didn’t get when they were toddlers.

Finally, the talent performances were world class. Tom Hanks is totally believable as Woody, the well intentioned cowboy. Tim Allen as the ego centric Buzz Lightyear was genius, he was able to perfect a similar character in Galaxy Quest a few years later. The rest of the cast was equally superb and delivered great performances that brought familiar toys to life.

Toy Story is a great movie that absolutely deserves it’s place on the all time greatest movies list, if not positioned a little higher than #99. It’s timeless animation, story, and performances still capture the imaginations of children and adults. I have no doubt that I’ll some day watch it with my grandchildren (hopefully that day is a LONG way off).

Here’s what my kids thought of the movie.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the opening 10 minutes on YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.