Today the Old stuff is laser discs. Remember those? 12 inch video discs, the precursor to DVD's. I have over 100 of them I bought while stationed in Japan. The African Queen, Bye, Bye Birdie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Amazon Women on the Moon. The list goes on, The Rear Window, Rented Lips, The Maltese Falcon, and the Love Bug
.
The list of actors is even more incredible, Danny Kaye as Hans Christian Andersen, Bing Crosby and Danny with Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline with A Fish Called Wanda, Bing again this time with Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong in High Society, a musical version of The Philadelpia Story; Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. or this one you you will recognize; Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia Dehaviland, I hope I don't have to name that one.
A little less grand but just as recognizable; Leslie Nielsen, in the Naked Gun, where OJ proves that a black man with a stocking cap and gloves can indeed be recognized at night.
We had one english speaking network in Yokosuka in 1987, Armed Forces Radio and Television. AFRTS. One local Station played american movies at 2 am, with a secondary Audio Channel in English. Not much choice So I bought laser discs at 20-25 dollars a piece. I could have put that money into mutual funds and been broke by now, instead I have a wonderful collection of movies.
Dramas; Rain Man, The Last Emporer, and The Accidental Tourist. How would you like a good adventure on a slow afternoon. Perhaps, Beany and Cecil, Winnie The Pooh and Tigger Too, The Milagro Beanfield War, Empire of the Sun, Return Of the Jedi, the previously mentioned Wizard of Oz or Godzilla 1985. Are you in need of a good laugh? how about Ghostbusters, or Twins, maybe Short Circuit or Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
My little trip down memory lane (or how to publicly age oneself): It was 1979 or 1980. Ex was a huge movie and TV watcher. He was rabid to be the first man on the block to own the original Sony BetaMax and I believe he achieved that goal. It cost $1,000 in 1970s money. The device was the size of a suitcase, its remote control as big as a paperback book, with seemingly 9,000 feet of umbilical cord attaching to the BetaMax. It was really hard to find any movies to play in it, although video stores soon began to pop up in spots throughout Las Vegas. Soon they could be purchased through catalogs. A bitter irony to me is that this machine ran beautifully until VHS was phased out and then we had to buy another device that ran beautifully until the media it played was phased out and then . . . . the same scenario with my daughter's various versions of PlayStation. She was a child whose toys and technology were well taken care of, but our feet were held to the flames by the manufacturers of the technology. I do agree some old movies are venerable things, but as you can tell, I don't like being extorted by Sony and other companies. Some old stuff still works well!
ReplyDeleteAt my last job I still used one of those old betamax decks. In 2004 we used it to premier a film by John Gresham at the Little League baseball national convention here in Virginia Beach. Yes some old stuff works well.
ReplyDeleteApologies. This is way too long for a comment, but I couldn't resist. On Emmylou Harris's Artist's Choice CD from Starbucks, I found a wealth of music I'd never known before, and now treasure. Gillian Welch. Lucinda Williams. There's also a man named Guy Clark and here is his song that makes me say "Yay!"
ReplyDeleteStuff That Works
I got an ol’ blue shirt
And it suits me just fine
I like the way it feels
So I wear it all the time
I got an old guitar
It won’t ever stay in tune
I like the way it sounds
In a dark and empty room
I got an ol’ pair of boots
And they fit just right
I can work all day
And I can dance all night
I got an ol’ used car
And it runs just like a top
I get the feelin’ it ain’t
Ever gonna stop
Chorus
Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall
Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall
I got a pretty good friend
Who’s seen me at my worst
He can’t tell if I’m a blessing
Or a curse
But he always shows up
When the chips are down
That’s the kind of stuff
I like to be around
Chorus
I got a woman I love
She’s crazy and paints like God
She’s got a playground sense of justice
She won’t take odds
I got a tattoo with her name
Right through my soul
I think everything she touches
Turns to gold
Chorus
Thank You for sharing Guy Clark, I'm familiar with some but I hadn't heard this song before. I needed to listen to it. So I did.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxgbrAvn4SE