Crummy Scrimmage

I also agree that E.T. rises above the Goonies Conundrum, though I may need to reiterate my steadfast belief that I've always thought the Goonies was shit.

Also, a great would-be sequel to E.T. was pitched in episode #523 of Comedy Bang Bang

Growing up, my mom worked opposite hours of my dad so someone was always home. One weekend, she told my dad to take my sister and me to see E.T at the theater. My dad haaaaaates kid-related entertainment, so instead he took us to see Poltergeist (which, interestingly, was also rated PG). BUT we got there late -- right at the part where Steve Freeling was arguing with his neighbor about the television. Anyway, we missed the titles...and I mustn't have gotten the memo that we were no longer going to see E.T. So I'm watching Poltergeist, thinking it's E.T. and being like "Why is E.T. doing all this terrible stuff??!" I was 6 years old.

In the late 90s, I handled the artwork and marketing materials for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, which is north of Philadelphia. Greg Wood (Mischa Barton's dad) and Janis Dardaris (that terrifying woman in the kitchen) were in the repertory at the time, and it was a kick to see local actors I knew in a movie like this. They were the best!

Richard Dreyfuss aw man Marissa is a hoot

A penny gathered is a Penny Marshall'd

Little strokes fell great oaks, but the great Phil Ochs stroked a little

Yeah, as someone who lived through that whole "outlaw country" phase that was part of the late 70s-early 80s mainstream, I can affirm that it was easy to get those two confused -- especially if you didn't really give a crap.

Scribbles is an instant classic, but Paul's re-enactment of how the Cab Calloway phone call must've gone made me spit out my fajita.

Beercan is one of the best Beck songs, and I find myself singing it every time I pay my phone bill.

According to the back button, here is my list. If I recall my last listen correctly, I had this stuff playing in the background of a cookout. Luckily, no one was paying attention, because this set is not exactly optimal for a good time. Hey Girl - Jo Stance Do Yourself a Faver - Jamie Lidell The Ballad of the Sad Young Men - Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination and Brass Radio - The Members Mr. Bojangles - King Curtis Doing It All For My Baby - Huey Lewis & the News Backfield in Motion - Mel & Tim Stop - Howard Tate Softness - Les Hooper Coquette - Gary Burton & Stephane Grappelli

I personally enjoy how, when needed, Scott changes gears during a guest segment to ensure the show stays on the CBB track. It's a brave go-for-broke move on his part, and sometimes it's even funnier when his effort doesn't right the ship (the Maria Thayer show from a couple years ago comes to mind). In this case, the guest caught on and loosened up. Anyway, I enjoy those eps because it's Scott at his best.

With the exception of "creamy hazelnut," they really butchered the words to We Didn't Start the Fire.

Bizarre. This is not the first time that a Simpsons bit has paralleled my life. I saw an episode where a kid sings My Ding-a-Ling at a talent show. I DID THAT many years prior. Did a lot of kids perform that song at talent shows, or did I cross paths with one of the writers in my childhood???

David hit upon the bottom line with this film: it is meant to be seen while high, and preferably in a theater -- and liking the Who's music doesn't hurt. While I enjoy this movie, I felt it was a let-down compared to the album, which I think is fantastic. Tommy's strength is its compositions, and with the exception of Pinball Wizard (which sounds like Elton John was smartly given free reign to do whatever he wanted) and Amazing Journey (which also features some of the most impressive visuals in the movie), these performances just don't stack up to the originals. Nothing wrong with the acting -- Reed is particularly good here -- but the singing performances range from weak to misguided. And for a movie with no spoken dialogue, that's a tough pill to swallow. But I love the unapologetic 70s vibe that Russell sustains, and there is an uneasiness to this film that I'm drawn to. Does it belong in the Canon? As someone who's never chimed in on this board before and whose opinion is meaningless, sober me says "no" (high me says "sure, why not").

I can't get over how low the stakes are for Cru. It's initially set up like he has to make a life-altering decision between taking a chance on BMX racing or higher education. "Oh no! The qualifying race is on the same day as the SATs!" "Don't worry...you'll have a chance to take them again in six months." Aaaaaaand problem solved...like, a third of the way into the movie no less. The remainder of the movie presents other seemingly insurmountable random challenges that are just as easily erased, usually in the very next scene. The town hall scenes were my favorite. So many townsfolk concerned about the feelings of local kids who don't seem to reciprocate the feeling at all. Why do they suddenly like Cru and his pals so much? Their feelings about them in the opening montage are mixed at best.

I watched this movie for the first time last night with my 10-year-old son (who loved it, btw), and during the ass sliding scene, he said "what is that...a sewage pipe??" Then I listed to the pod and Jason said the exact same thing, haha. I just thought it was a drainage pipe, not necessarily for human waste. I remember the commercials for this movie (coincidentally, I was also 10 at the time), and I was angry -- as a kid who said "rad" a lot -- that a movie had the audacity to co-opt that word. I was like, "that's MY word!" and had zero interest seeing the movie that ripped it off.

Fair enough. He was hungry, though, when he made Jaws, and it shows -- even moreso when you learn about the genius improvisational decisions he was forced to make while filming and editing. To me, with Jaws, it seems he hit upon his formula for success, and (echoing what Amy said) he seemed to follow that blueprint moving forward. I feel like Raiders and ET were the result of Spielberg upping his game after the flack he got for 1941, and that in them you can see the last glimmers of sincerity in his work. But the die had already been cast. Such is the cost of success!

Yeah, it's too calculated. Nothing visceral -- Cameron doesn't seem to work that way. I'd argue that Kubrick didn't, too (and that post-Jaws Spielberg doesn't either).

I saw it once, in the theater. It's an impressive movie, to be sure, but I can't imagine enduring the slog more than once.

Ellis's mid-1960s band featured three double bassists. He'd nixed them for a single electric bass by 1971, but there are definitely echoes of that earlier band in this score.

Oh, and Mad Magazine played up the many loose ends that Paul and Amy mention in the pod by calling their satire of the movie "What's the Connection?"

Great ep. The score in its entirety is pretty cool, but Friedkin only used about 25% of the music that was recorded, deciding instead to let a lot of the scenes stand on their own. The composer, Don Ellis, showcased many of the devices he used in his own working LA band: odd time signatures, Eastern scales, electronic advancements of the day, etc. Friedkin excised mostly the arguably conventional cues, leaving in stuff like that crazy main title (in which the entire trumpet section uses special 4-valved horns that play quarter tones) and 7/4 "subway" cue that became known as the Theme from the French Connection -- as well as chopping up and reusing cues at his discretion.

Listened to this one twice in a row because it's so good.