RE-Cycle: Rainy Day Watchings

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Rainy Day Watchings

It goes without saying a family of videophiles have...well...a lot of videos! And as hard as it may be to believe the bulk of our collection remains on VHS tapes! Remember those? Quite frankly I was sad to see the demise of these as I feel in most respects they are far superior to the DVD. We currently have over 1000 movies on tape (and no they re not copies but originals) Much of that was amassed about a year after the introduction of DVD's as most pawn shops had a HUGE selection of tapes for an average of .50-$1.00 and we would buy boxes at a time. I mean, lets face it, a DVD in a house with kids? "ooooo! Pretty shiny Frisbee!" And you have to handle the things as if they were made of precious metals, you get so much as a fingerprint on the bloody things and it's like watching a dub step! And if you pause it to long you have to start it all over, seek out the scene selection and try and figure out where you were (also a crucial problem in a home where bottle runs, diaper changes and fist fights routinely break up "Movie Time") Also, the original appeal of the DVD was the "Special Features" which nowadays, Special features seem to apply to previews and some boring "behind the magic, making of" that drones on about little of no interest! OH NO! you want the GOOD special features you have to buy the Blue Ray Special Editions! No, I'm OK with VHS. The only problem being the acquisition of VCR's that work. We currently only have three left but are always on the lookout for more to stick away in the closet for future replacements.
ANYWAY!
Went off on a tangent there! Couple days ago went digging through the vault (AKA laundry room closet) for some new/old films for the shop and stumbled on a classic flick I haven't watched in a while and plugged it in yesterday. Forgot how cool this one was. It is definitely a testosterone filled guy flick! But with a very poignant message of the evils of over zealous military in the face of the human need to just survive in peace. I'm speaking of the 1998 flick "Soldier" starring Kurt Russell and Jason Scott Lee with Gary Busey. Basic synopsis, in the not to distant future potential soldiers are chosen at birth and undergo rigorous life long training to become merciless killing machines in a world(s) blighted with war. As the protagonist Todd 3465 (a very buffed up Kurt Russell) and his regiment are getting older they are met with a new breed of genetically engineered soldiers. The ensuing "test" of endurance and fighting skills leaves Todd and two of his compatriots assumed dead and they are summarily dropped into a Disposal Ship and dumped onto a "Garbage Planet" where he is discovered by a group of survivors from a ship crash decades earlier eking out an existence on a planet of trash. There he begins to discover glimmer of his humanity and in turn becomes protector of the survivors as they are marked as "Combatants" by the ass in charge of the "new breed" of soldiers who seeks to wipe them out as part of a "training" mission. It really is just top notch action and I've always been a Kurt Russell fan ever since "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and in my opinion it is HE that should have played Nick Fury agent of S.H.I.E.L.D! Seriously...check this out!

AS SOLDIER!

AND OBVIOUSLY THE COVER ARTIST HAD THE SAME IDEA!

But what do we get?

DAVID FREAKIN' HASSLEHOFF!?!?!

From the embarrassing made for TV movie also from 1998! LORD! What was Marvel thinking!?

And with all due respect to a fine actor Samuel L. Jackson who admittedly I do enjoy in the role I can't help but wonder what would be the reaction to a remake of Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" starring Chow-Yun-Fat in the title role? Seriously politically correct and accommodating is one thing... but rewriting 50 years of history of one of the most pivotal of the Marvel Universe's characters is just wrong.

God Lord. That was one heck of a swerving digression!

ANYWAY! I think I have meandered enough for today and I'd better get back at it! Did manage to put out two new beauties yesterday! A sweet looking lightweight Schwinn MTB and a classic Schwinn Traveler Road bike! And to the more observant of onlookers you may notice something missing on the road bike. I was building it with one eye and watching Soldier with the other, and on top of that still a little tired from a late night with an insomniac 3 year old so it wasn't until I snapped the pic and put it online that Kaleb noticed the missing crucial piece! No fear, I installed it this morning.

See if you can spot what's missing!

See ya soon!