Kurt Pankau Dot Com

 My Misspent Youth In Films... Spaceballs Directed by: Mel Brookes Starring: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis Released: June 24, 1987 A star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs. What I Thought Then We didn't own this, but we had friends who did, and whenever we visited, it was a must-watch. One of my favorite comedies. What I Think Now ... Look... I mean... Just... Parody is hard, right? When people talk about satirical films, they always mention Airplane!  for the way it skewers the airport-disaster movie genre. But what people don't realize is that Airplane!  isn't really a parody of airport-disaster movies so much as it's a remake of one particularly schlocky airport-disaster movie with jokes added. (For more on that, I would point you towards this youtube video .) That gives it a remarkable sense of focus, which allows it to feel universal, even though it...

My Misspent Youth In Films... Bride of Boogedy Directed by: Oz Scott Starring: Richard Masur, Mimi Kennedy, Tammy Lauren Released: April 12, 1987 A family with a great love for practical jokes is haunted by the family ghost Mr. Boogedy. What I Thought Then We taped this off The Disney Sunday Movie  and watched it often. It's a feature-length sequel to a short film called Mr. Boogedy  that we also watched quite a bit, although I definitely preferred the sequel. I didn't retain the plot, but a handful of jokes stayed with me. "It's Jack the Ripper--and Mrs.  Ripper!" I remember it fondly enough that I looked for it explicitly when Disney+ announced some of the legacy titles they would be featuring. What I Think Now It's still pretty fun. Richard Masur is Carlton Davis and his family runs a store selling novelties and gags. In Mr. Boogedy , the family moves to a new house in New England to start a branch there, only to learn that their house is haunted by an old ...

My Misspent Youth In Films... Little Shop of Horrors Directed by: Frank Oz Starring: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia Released: December 19, 1986 A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed. Mannequin Directed by: Michael Gottlieb Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty Released: February 13, 1987 A young artist, searching for his vocation, makes a mannequin so perfect he falls in love with it. Finding the mannequin in a store window, he gets a job there and his creation comes to life. What I Thought Then We owned a copy of Little Shop  and watched it incessantly, and Mannequin  was a regular rental. These were both fun movies with sing-along-able music, over-the-top supernatural plots, slapstick comedy, and big--dare I say campy ?--performances. What I Think Now Wow. Here are two movies whose plots revolve around the premise that you can save a store by putting something re...

My Misspent Youth In Films... Babes In Toyland Directed by: Clive Donner Starring: Drew Barrymore, Richard Mulligan, Eileen Brennan Released: December 19, 1986 A young girl wakes up in the realm of Toyland, where she teams up with her family and friends to overthrow the evil villain, Barnaby. What I Thought Then This was a movie my sister always wanted to watch--although I definitely enjoyed it as well. It's mostly individual lines that stick out to me in this: "My jeep has four-wheel drive!"; "Christmas time is snow time, and in no time it will be Christmas again."; "That's the way the cookie factory crumbles--haha, little joke." What I Think Now It's not the worst thing I've seen in the last year... but I did watch Cats in the last year. So this was a TV movie based very loosely on a 1903 operetta that keeps none of the original music, plot, characters, or anything but the title as far as I could tell. This version is about how Barnaby B...