RENAISSANCE MAN is a really-not-that-bad inspirational teacher movie directed by Penny Marshall (A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN) and written by Jim Burnstein (a rookie who later did D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS). It’s corny in the usual ways but also benefits from the simple appeal of the formula and a more-subtle-than-usual performance by Danny DeVito (ROMANCING THE STONE, THE JEWEL OF THE NILE, BATMAN RETURNS).
He plays Bill Rago, a fuck up in the world of advertising who gets fired after missing an important meeting with out-of-town VIPs. Ed Begley Jr. (last seen two weeks ago in EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES) appears briefly as his friend Jack who hired him and still cares about him but has run out of jobs for him. While defending him to the boss Jack says “the man’s had a few personal setbacks the last couple years,” and we can infer that one of them is a divorce, but I like that they never elaborate. Maybe it was some weird shit too. We don’t know. (read the rest of this shit…)
I wasn’t intending to include CLUELESS in my Summer of ’95 retrospective, since I mainly like to look at “blockbuster” type movies. And I feel very familiar with it. I saw it a long time ago and then I’ll watch parts of it on cable now and then. But I think Mr. Majestyk or somebody said he was hoping I would do it and you know I’m like a DJ, I try to read the audience and move the crowd and what not.
And man, when you sit down and watch it from beginning to end for the first time in a while, CLUELESS really holds up. It’s a funny, unique movie, one that’s simultaneously very ’90s in attitude, music and cultural references, and timeless because of its stylishly heightened (I hope) depiction of the world of Los Angeles rich kids. And you know what, nothing against James Acheson, who won a costume design Oscar for RESTORATION that year, but do you think he ever sent flowers to Mona May, who did this shit? I mean come on. It’s brilliant. Apparently she got her start working with Julie Brown on MTV (not Downtown, the funny one who plays the gym teacher here).
Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, the spoiled daughter of an angry widower lawyer (Dan Hedaya, ALIEN RESURRECTION). She and Stacey Dash as her best friend Dionne (they were “both named after famous singers of the past who now do infomercials”) in some ways fit the stereotype of Beverly Hills teen girls: they obsess over expensive name brand clothes and their own popularity, they think less about school and their futures than about boys and parties (though they don’t seem very interested in drinking and look down on anything more than occasional drug use). They are superficial, but they’re generally well-meaning, nice people. Then one day, inspired by ex stepbrother Josh (Paul Rudd, GEN-X COPS 2: METAL MAYHEM)’s comment about Marky Mark* attending a tree-planting ceremony, Cher decides to try using her popularity for good.
*This was before FEAR, let alone BOOGIE NIGHTS, so nobody called him Mark Wahlberg, not even his parents.(read the rest of this shit…)
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Toss me a couple bucks a month, support the good shit, also get access to a bunch of exclusive writing. This is my primary source of writing money that has allowed me to cut down to part time at the day job. Thank you!
2. Buy my books from your local bookseller or somebody
(NOTE: My ten year contract has passed on the Titan books, so I don't get residuals on them like I do WORM ON A HOOK and NIKETOWN, but I would love for you to read them because I'm proud of them)
EXTRA CREDIT: Review them on Amazon! That would really help me out. Unless you didn't like them, in which case forget I said anything.
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
CJ Holden on Airheads: “I do remember 50 FIRST DATES as one of the more low-key Sandlers that I enjoyed because of its sweetness…” Aug 15, 22:26
Skani on Eddington: “Since we (okay, mostly just me) were arguing about horror and horror-adjacent things here, I will use this platform to…” Aug 15, 19:40
Skani on Airheads: “That is two votes for 50 FIRST DATES. You know, that one registers as just a blank for me, so…” Aug 15, 19:35
Skani on Airheads: “Curt, I take your point, but a shitty*, inconsequential, utterly shoehorned Eminem cameo seems like a “thanks, but no thanks”…” Aug 15, 19:33
Curt on Airheads: “Skani and CJ, I suspect that all of the “son of” characters were included as tributes to the actors from…” Aug 15, 18:43
Inspector Hammer Boudreaux on Freaky Tales: “Vern, I’m always looking for your posts everyday M-Th. And it’s a bit of a bummer when they don’t show…” Aug 15, 18:19
Mr. Majestyk on Airheads: “I would throw in 50 FIRST DATES as one of the good Sandlers.” Aug 15, 17:34
Aktion Figure on Weapons: “Amy Madigan = The Dark Half Also get her confused with Blair Brown inexplicably. Red hair I guess.” Aug 15, 12:05
VERN on Waking Life: “I would like to believe the Vern I have become would never refer to perfectly nice people I had a…” Aug 15, 11:24
grimgrinningchris on Airheads: “Skani- SPANGLISH has five words more important to it than Sandler… James Lawrence Brooks and Paz Vega. Seven words if…” Aug 15, 06:51
CJ Holden on Waking Life: “I try to generally be more positve about things and not to be too proud of my negativity, especially apparently…” Aug 14, 22:53
CJ Holden on Airheads: “Personally I distinguish between “Adam Sandler movies” and “Movies with Adam Sandler”. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE is a Paul Thomas Anderson movie…” Aug 14, 22:29
Skani on Airheads: “You’ve captured most of my favorites. The comedies of his that have high rewatch value for me are WEDDING SINGER,…” Aug 14, 19:20
grimgrinningchris on Airheads: “Relevant… the best version of “Degenerated” isn’t by The Lone Rangers or even the original Reagan Youth version.. it is…” Aug 14, 18:24
Dreadguacamole on Waking Life: “My favourite quote from Waking Life is when someone, just about to tell the protagonist all about his dream, prefaces…” Aug 14, 13:48
June 3rd, 1994
