Mikey Is Now 25. Feel Old Yet? "Look Who's Talking"

Look Who's Talking (1989)
Rated PG-13 for language

Starring  John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, George Segal, Olympia Dukakis and Bruce Willis

Directed and Written by Amy Heckerling

The Story:

Mollie (Alley) is an accountant whose biggest client (Segal) is having an affair with her.  And then along comes unplanned baby, Mikey (Willis).  When Mollie goes into labor, she takes a cab driven by James (Travolta) to the hospital.  You can guess how this romantic comedy unfolds at this point, no?

Another Heckerling masterpiece.

Funny dialogue, great characters and wonderful music that helps tell the story is one of Heckerlings many attributes.

This film gets overlooked between Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, but deserves to be mentioned with those cinema gems as well.

While everyone claims that Travolta enjoyed a career comeback in 1994 with Pulp Fiction, this was only 5 years earlier, so it's not like he had completely dropped off the map.  Alley was enjoying her tenure on Cheers and Bruce Willis was finishing up his Moonlighting stint and about to be Mr. Movie Star.

Lightning in a bottle that wasn't quite as successful with the subsequent sequels, but is still charmingly fun(ny) 25 years later.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Yes to both, I'd forgotten how much fun this movie really was.

Tuesday's Streaming TV Show..."Melissa and Joey"

Melissa & Joey (2010)
TV-14

Starring: Melissa Joan Hart, Joseph Lawrence

Airs on ABC Family

The Story:

Melissa Burke (Hart) is a successful city council member who winds up as the legal guardian of her teenage niece and nephew when their parents wind up in jail and on the lam for embezzlement.  She's barely able to keep head above water with the two new kids in tow, and decides to hire a nanny.  Before she gets the chance, Joe (Lawrence) a disgruntled former co-worker of her brother in law comes looking for the money he is owed and offers to be the nanny as he is desperate for a job.  When he actually does a good job, Mel decides to keep him on for the time being.

Say, this sounds like Who's the Boss?

:)

That's okay, I liked that show back in the day.

So where was I?

Oh yes, so previously reviewed was My Fake Fiance ( My Fake Review! ), which starred both of our leads and aired on ABC Family.  As I commented, the two had a nice chemistry together.

Apparently I wasn't the only one that noticed, and shortly after that film aired, ta-da, a brand new sitcom starring them both is on the air, and beginning their 4th season.

Looking to watch something funny the other night, ran across this and figured, why not, 21 minutes never killed anyone.

21 minutes later, I let the next episode play.

Yep, it's a pretty cute show.  Melissa and Joe (am I referring to the character or the actor?!?) have the same chemistry and it makes for an enjoyable experience as they are clearly having fun with the show they are working on.

At Least One Chicken Was Harmed In the Making of This Episode

I am sure that someday the show will naturally force these 2 to become a couple, but for now, it will retain the chemistry and magic of the early Who's the Boss, Cheers, Moonlighting, Friends, etc. etc. of two lead characters who so belong together but instead create great sparks by getting on each other's nerves.

Therefore for now, I'm happy.

The writing is crisp and fast and works well for the duo to bounce off one another.

Not going to marathon this (30 episodes a season!), but whenever I have an hour or less to kill at night, an episode or 2 will do the trick nicely.

Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor  So far, I see no reason not to watch it again.  I've enjoyed each of the episodes that I've viewed thus far.  I'm now up into the 20s on Season One.  As for a purchase?  Probably not, I've found that aside from Psych, I just don't buy a whole lot of television shows anymore. 

It's a Good Week to "Die Hard"

Yippie-Ki-Yay...

The Story:

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) flies out to Los Angeles see his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) for Christmas.  When he arrives at the Nakatomi Tower for the Christmas party, he has no idea that the party is about to be commandeered by terrorists led by the enigmatic Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).  Managing to escape, McClane systematically takes down the terrorists one by one, but there is more to this group than terrorist motives.  McClane is going to save his wife...

Or die trying.

I think we all know where I stand on this movie.  It's in my personal Top 10 list of greatest movies I've ever seen.

It totally reinvented/reinvigorated the action genre of film in the late 80s.

We had grown so used to Stallone, Arnold, Chuck and the rest of the kick-butt generation, that McClane was an odd choice for a hero.

He's not big.  But he's tenacious.  His willpower alone is what sets him above, and apart, from the rest of the crowd.

It didn't hurt that Bruce Willis had charisma and charm to spare as the wiseacre.  Those who watched him on Moonlighting knew he would become a star.

Think John McClane is David Addison...with an attitude! :)

His one liners didn't come across forced, they came out as a snarky response to the bad guy... McClane was the everyman action hero.  He's not ripped and buff, but he would use his smarts and adrenaline to try and save the day.  That connection is one that the audience can grab and connect with.  25 years later, this movie still impresses as much as it did back in the day.

It really is a blueprint for how to make an action movie correctly.

The counterpoint for the everyman action hero, you have to have a great villain.

This is where most movies go wrong.  You can't just have a cardboard cutout/stereotype.

You need someone charismatic that audiences hate...but like.  Like to hate.  Hate that you like him.

Rickman owns Hans Gruber, so much so, that every installment since has been trying to catch that lightning in a bottle.  You've got the hero, but how's the villain? 

Sadly, every installment falls short, but when you come out this strong as a franchise, there really is nowhere to go but down.

I let the teens see Die Hard for the first time last year for Christmas...

Yes, this qualifies as a Christmas movie.

They sat glued to the screen.

I was so proud. :* )

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I loved it so much, I begged and whined a little... and they upgraded me to the Blu Ray set for Father's Day.  I have the best family ever!  It gets watched at least once a year... for Christmas!