I've seen too many movies and television series; it makes sense to find ways to apply that knowledge to today's events.
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What's in My Data Bank?
This is especially true for science fiction, action series, even comedies:
Science Fiction
- How is RDM Battlestar Galactica different from Classic BSG?
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine may have been "limited" to a space station, but it was so "realistic" that its realism carried over into the much-better critically-acclaimed RDM Battlestar Galactica.
- Connor MacLeod or Duncan MacLeod?
Action
- How underrated are On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Quantum of Solace as James Bond movies?
- Did The A-Team movie from a few years ago deliver the goods?
- Is ths 2006 Miami Vice movie better or worse than the 1980s television series, or simply different?
- The John Wick movies were good enough to make people forget that Keanu Reeves was also Neo, and that's saying something.
- Live Free or Die Hard is the best movie in the series since the original movie; sadly, the movie which followed is the worst and it wasn't even close.
- It took Wonder Woman to save the DC movie universe; it just needed more time to develop.
Comedies
- Ross was right when he insists "We were on a break!!";
- Seinfeld would be nothing without the supporting characters, but then again it would be even less as series about "nothing";
- My Wife and Kids would have been as great in the 1960s as it was in the 2000s.
- Betty White was still bringing it when she was a main character in Hot in Cleveland during the 2010s.
I May Know "A Lot," But Don't Call Me for a Lifeline
I won't claim to be an authority figure in this area, but usally people I know ask me what I think about some movie or other. Sometimes they're shocked that I hadn't seen something most people had seen:
- Although I've seen Goodfellas, to this day I haven't The Godfather or its squels. Will I ever see it? Perhaps someday, but not likely.
- At the time E.T.: The Extraterrestrial was playing in theaters, I made a point never to see it because even back then I thought it was overrated; I never said it was a bad movie, only overrated. Who talks like that in grammar school?
- It's hard enough for people to handle that I saw only 1 movie in the Fast and Furious franchise. When I say the only movie I saw was Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift?? Their minds explode! (Great soundtrack album, BTW!)
What Happened to VHS?
Like many people, I had a VHS machine. I remember Blockbuster Video and its competitors. Oddly enough, I didn't do much with VHS; television viewing was enough for me:
- The best use of censoring came with Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse when the profanity
M----------rwas replaced byMotivator; it was so good, I thoughtMotivatorwas part of the original screenplay! If it wasn't, it should have been.
Many of the movies and series I had seen came later with the benefit of DVDs and YouTube during the days when YT was still worth using. Thanks to YouTube, I was able
- to finally watch MacGyver.
- to finish watching Space:1999; it wasn't how I had recalled it.
Worth the Price of Admission (or Not)
Just as many I had seen in real-time as I was growing up and living life as an adolescent or younger man. For these movies and series, I had the benefits of historical context and layered memories. Among these movies were those starring (in my opinion at the time) the Big 3: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis.
- If anyone needs to get the endorphins rushing through the brain, the Rocky movies still get it done even after 46 years.
- While most people remember Sharon Stone for That Scene in Basic Instinct, I remember her for kicking Schwarzenegger in the nuts repeatedly in Total Recall.
- I had expected Bruce Willis' character in Armageddon to survice the mission. When he didn't, I found myself asking when he made the transition from leading man to supporting actor.
Why Do I Refer to My Viewing Habits of Years Ago?
Although I may not see as many movies as before or as much television as in years past, many events taking place these days give me reason to compare them to what I had learned from all that viewing I did long ago.
Situations which I glossed over when I saw the movies in real-time take on a sharper focus today. On the flip side, some situations today call to mind scenes from movies I had scene long ago.
When commenting elsewhere on Hive, I'll refer to these movies or series, and if asked what I mean I'll explain how I connect them to current events. Sometimes I surprise myself with the connections I make, but that's how analysis works sometimes.
Final Thoughts
I just wanted to give an idea of how my mind works sometimes as I post on Hive. Going forward I'll be more focused in posts I publish at THE WEEKEND.
Some great questions you've posed here and so many good movies too. I tried watching a few of the movies I watched on repeat as a child and couldn't believe how far acting and screenplay has come since then.
I found your question about Bruce Willis interesting though because I wouldn't necessarily have seen it that way at all. The problem I have with watching movies is that I don't find or make the time to and I don't remember them a month after watching them so it almost seems fruitless 🤣 you obviously don't have that problem.
Usually it's years later when I come up with some of those questions. I saw Armageddon years after it was released, so by then I was able to ask question a like that. Had I seen it in real-time, I wouldn't have asked the question then, either.
Then there are movies like Con Air which had so many supporting actors in it that I thought nothing of them until years later when I discover that before they made the Big Time they had roles in it. John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Dave Chappelle, and Danny Trejo are just 4 actors who come to mind.
Con Air, oh boy that takes me back. It was one of my favourite movies in school. Steve Buscemi is brilliant. He has had so many roles and I think is very underappreciated as an actor.
Danny Trejo is a very down to earth guy, he visited South Africa many years back and some people I know got to chat to him.
I think we come up with a lot of these questions once our brain has had time to mull over them. It's weird because I can watch a movie and not think much of it and then watch it again years later and see it from a totally new perspective. Maybe that's the subliminal messaging kicking in 🤣
For some movies, that's definitely it. Not just the classics but the guilty pleasures as well. Repeated viewing, periodic viewing, or even just one viewing after some critical event in life takes place.