Things That I Love Today: John Milner in American Graffiti

American Graffiti is the ultimate teen movie. It was the one that paved the road for all of the great 80's contributions to the genre, and we owe everything that we love about the teen film culture to George Lucas' 1973 film. Think about this for a second. Has there even been an Oscar nominated teen film since Graffiti scored FIVE 35 years ago?? None come to mind (and I'm too lazy to look it up at this exact moment). It is unprecedented as far as being not just a great teen movie, but a great MOVIE in general. 

Now, upon watching it again, I have recalled my great liking for Paul Le Mat, playing the rebel with a heart of gold, John Milner. He's just such a great character. The guy who was king of the town with no future to look forward to. He is just the right balance of street smart and book dense that he enacts emphathy from any one who watches the film. The fact that Paul Le Mat plays him just adds to his appeal. We know where Richard Dreyfuss ends up in the movie world, and so we don't necessarily relate with him. We know where Ron Howards ends up in the movie world, and because he went bald, we don't necessarily relate with him (and really, when you think about, he's kind of a dick for most of the movie). 

And then of course, there's Charles Martin Smith, who...well, no one likes to admit that they relate to him because he's just a big loser. Don't get me wrong, he's probably the most like any person from the real world, but it that of Milner whom every WANTS to be. They know he doesn't have any sort of future, but he has the car. He has the sex appeal. He has the suave deposition. He is who we all wish to be in the world of American Graffiti. And since Paul Le Mat never really did anything better than this movie, no one has any preconceptions of what to think of him. He's a blank slate in the movie world. 

Between him and Mackenzie Phillips as his annoyingly bratty sidekick Carol, the movie just never misses a beat. "Your car is uglier than I am!! (Pause) That didn't come out right." That still makes me laugh even when I think about. Oh Mackenzie Phillips. What perfect delivery you had. 

So that's what I love today. Carol, the 13 year old who is older than the rest, the greaser persona of John Milner and his kick-ass, piss yellow Deuce Coup. Well, him and Bob Falfa anyway. Yeah...Bob Falfa is great too. He's such a dick. 

Oh Harrison Ford. 

Things That I Love Today: Deleted Scenes from Wet, Hot American Summer

I'm sitting here, supposed to be finishing up a pretty major paper that is already a day late (don't fret, it will be finished by the end of tonight) and I just can't bring myself to write the words that need to written for it. I just can't do it. "Why" you ask? Well, simply: I don't care any more. I am literally at the point right now where I have decided that I only want to do the bare minimum of what I need to do in order to pass university. Of course this could change, because, normally, it leads to consistent boredom which is never fun, and I do like to feel as though I am accomplishing some things some times. But for right now, this paper is my third of five, and I've already long passed that line between "the best of my abilities" and "I don't give a tiny rats ass". So that brings me here.

I've been disappointed in myself for not writing anything on this blog as frequently as I had anticipated, so I decided to change that right this moment. I do, have a lot of thoughts, none really personal that I wish to really develop across the internet (I'll save those for close, in depth conversations with people I actually care to share those thoughts with) but rather, ones that general public may be interested in. I have been slowly, but surely, compiling a major entry titled "The @ Pack Initiative" which hopefully will come in to fruitation over the next little bit (essays allowing). There have been a few others I've been cooking up, but for right now, I thought this would be a rather nice and easy, semi-daily section that I could include, called "Things That I Love Today". It would feature random thoughts and fluff that I have hit me over the past day or so, and just write a little about it, hoping to light a spark of interest in it for any one who is reading it. I am really, really going to try and keep this going, so we'll see how bored I get after a while. Anyway, today's entry:

I just finished watching Wet, Hot American Summer for the second or third time around, and was truly reminded exactly how funny it really was. It makes me really miss high school, and wanting to make another Christmas Movie in order to expose more people to that spectrum of comedy. It's really great. Besides Ken Marino and Paul Rudd being equally hilarious, my favourite aspect of teh entire movie is Christopher Meloni as cafeteria chef "Gene". And since this is the first time I'd seen the movie on DVD, I had absolutely no idea of how epic of a character he actually was until I got to see the deleted scenes. Holy phuck. 

Really, his scenes that were deleted from the movie are hysterical. I watched them alone, and was laughing so loud that my neighbors now probably think I'm nuts. He has one line, that I'm extremely pissed wasn't in the movie. Not that it has anything to do with the plot, or anything like that, it's just the funniest part of the entire movie. Bar none. I won't ruin it by trying to describe what it is. Actually there are two scenes. Watch from about 45 seconds in.  Take a look at the link below. 

Wet Hot Deleted Scenes

I dunno...I thought it was hilarious and after watching it, it made me laugh pretty damn hard. So that's why its a thing that I loved today...that and the fact that I also get to write a paper on the entire movie for next week as well. Yeah.

"Blame it on the Bossa Nova"

For the second time around, I have concluded two seasons of The West Wing and feel compelled to extract my elicit enchantment with the overall series. It is in fact the perfect hybrid of humour and intelligence, something that is very rarely found in the television world today. Creator/writer Aaron Sorkin was able to duplicate the brilliance of TWW with his next series,  Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip but alas, it never caught the attention of the public. Stupid public.

As a writer, Sorkin amazes me. He has such an eclectic skill for dialogue that I am never bored when watching these shows. They are dramatic, but also highly funny and are never dependent on one specific character to carry any one episode. That is such a rarity. It's a horrible shame that we don't see more of it (or that more people didn't watch Studio 60 so we would still have it). 

Anyway, the purpose of this post is not to specifically praise The West Wing or Studio 60 or even really Aaron Sorkin (but I assure you, I will in a later post.  I can feel it in me the need to express that desire). What I wanted to just simply state in this post, is my fascination with the way Sorkin is able to write for his women characters. Don't get me wrong, there is quite something to be said for the Sorkin men, but I just can't help but admire the way he writes these roles for women.

I am in no means ready to write a full-fledged article pertaining to the fantastic representation given to these female powerhouses he writes about, as I have only made my way through 2 of 7 seasons of TWW and haven't even glanced at his first series Sports Night. I do feel that perhaps one will be called for a little later on, when I've conquered the rest of the missing seasons. But for the moment, I just wanted to state my pleasure of his ability to capture both the femininity and prowess of his women characters. In an era where television is lacking a strong female output, he shows that it doesn't have to always be the men with the wit. There are hardly enough CJ Craig's or Harriet Haye's out there in TV Land right now. We need more of what Sorkin provides to help support the Liz Lemon's and Patty Hewes's of today.

There will be more at at later date. For now, I just want to post the scene that made me come to this conclusion. I couldn't help but smile wide as the tight-assed, right-winged Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter) is let loose for the audience, giving us both the real her, and the right one. Enjoy. (or don't...see if I care).

http://www.youtube.comwatch?v=yUCWczTg4WE

Act I, Sc. i

9 o'clock at night. As average an apartment as you can come by. HE sits at his desk with that eery, comforting glow of the computer screen ever so slowly burning his skin and wrecking his retinas. HE seriously debates his every click of the keys, strategically placing each word, one after another, into perfectly formed sentences. 

Eventually, HE looks up at the TV, as "How I Met Your Mother" plays back across the room. HE laughs at the antics of Jason Segel, and returns to his snow covered page. Shovel load after shovel load, HE slowly clears the frost and reveals the workings of a coherent thought. 

Finally, HE reflects on his latest entry to the world of blogging.

HIM

Meh. It'll do I guess.

The words echo across the room, and HE feels the beginning of something with potential...or HE's just impressed that he actually sat down and wrote something. 

Satisfied, HE gets up from his desk and debates his next move for the night. 

We have to wait and see where it goes from here.

HE EXITS.