And so the Killian name lives on

Jodie and I recently learned that we're having a boy. His name is Liam Matthew Killian and as of a few minuets ago I felt my son move for the first time. Outstanding!

Cinema Memoir #55

Predator 2 (November 21st, 1990)

I had really high expectations for this movie. I didn't see the first one in the theater but I certainly wore out the video.

I was in fifth grade and my good friend Tim Royal and I were huge Predator fans. We would spend most of the day drawing pictures of Ninja Turtles and Predator. Tim's family hardly ever went to the movies, so it was my job (or maybe more my pleasure) to see the movie and report back to him.

This movie came out during a week that my mom was out of town on business and so my dad promised to take me that Friday. The anticipation throughout the week was tremendous. Come Friday I get home full of excitement only to find that my dad had forgotten and wanted to postpone.

This is one of only two times that bawling my eyes got me into a movie (the other being Honey I Shrunk the Kids), only this time I wasn't being bratty about it. I took the news with dignity and saved my tears for my pillow. I guess he noticed and felt bad, because the next thing I knew we were in the truck. I hope he liked it. I know I sure did.

Check out the trailer.

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Cinema Memoir #54

Home Alone (November 16th, 1990)

A whole lot of people look back at Home Alone and scoff, yet I'll be willing to bet that most of them are responsible for Home Alone being the top grossing movie of 1990.

I saw this movie on Christmas day. I didn't even know the theater was open on Christmas day. After an exhausting morning of opening presents my parents decided, out of the clear blue, to jump in the car and go to the ole Cinema 90 6 plex. I can remember the place being surprisingly packed.

Any movie that can make my dad laugh out loud is a good movie in my book.

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Cinema Memoir #53

The Witches (August 24th, 1990)

Not a bad movie, although I don't know a whole lot of people who'd agree with that. But that's ok . . . guilty pleasure i guess.

My grandma took me to see this movie, which just so happens to feature a boy and his grandma on a witch hunt. It was a good experience. Every time I see this movie I think of her.

Anjelica Huston is pretty awesomely creepy as the grand high witch. It also features the kid who played Kevin Buckman, the whiny son from Parenthood. He was also one of the lost boys in Hook . . . and that's pretty much it according to imdb. Kind of makes you wonder what these kid actors are doing today.

Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) is also in it, playing a rather straight forward hotel manager.

Here's the trailer.

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Cinema Memoir #52

Problem Child (July 18th, 1990)

Ugh. I really hated this movie.

If you've ever seen Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear, you may remember the scene where Nick Nolte and his family are forced out of movie theater by Robert De Niro's cigar smoke and obnoxious guffaws. Problem Child was the movie playing in that theater.

I wish De Niro had been there when I was watching it so I'd have had an excuse to walk out.

I will say John Ritter (who died before his time) was underrated as an actor and comedian, and perhaps the only good thing about this movie. He was great in Sling Blade, a movie I wish I had seen in the theater. If I could, I'd trade Problem Child for it.

(Image from impawards.com)

Cinema Memoir #51

Arachnophobia (July 18th, 1990)

Eight Legs.
Two Fangs.
And an Attitude.

A fairly cool movie in 1990 . . . not so cool in 2010. Unfortunately this movie hasn't aged very well.

It's an interesting idea, but in the end makes very little sense to me. How is it they managed to kill all the deadly spiders, keeping them from spreading across the countryside? I know Jeff Daniels kills the general with the nail gun in the wine cellar, but killing the main spider isn't like killing the head vampire, they don't all turn good afterwards. Even at 10 the movie felt kind of unresolved.

Here's the trailer. It's funny how they seemed to market this movie more as a comedy when it comes across more as horror. I was certainly creeped out. One thing this movie sure did right was give me a terrible case arachnophobia. It did for me what Jaws did for so many people when faced with going swimming. I still hate spiders. I don't hate this movie, but I probably won't be watching any time soon.

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Cinema Memoir #50

Celebrating my 50th movie theater experience. Right on 1990! 50 movies by the age of 10 . . . not too shabby a start, I must say. Although, had I known at the time that prestigious number 50 would be Robocop 2, I might have held out for something a little more impressive. 50 down, 332+ more to go.

Robocop 2 (June 22nd, 1990)

I had great fun watching this movie, all thanks to a mom who was nice enough to indulge her ten-year-old son's twisted desire to see cheesy, "R" rated sci-fi flicks in the theater.

I liked the first Robocop a lot, but I remember feeling slightly uneasy with the amount of violence, and it always seemed to leave me feeling kind of down . . . but I suppose Paul Verhoeven's movies tend to have that effect on people.

The sequel was a lot different. It felt cleaner and a bit more campy (best scene from the movie), and seemed to raise the steaks just enough to get by. It was also directed by Irvin Kershner, who directed Empire Strikes Back. Robo 2 is certainly no Empire Strikes Back, but I can safely say it deserves it's place as a decent follow up to the original.

Also, robots fighting robots is kick ass. Only Michael Bay could ruin that.

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Cinema Memoir #49

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (June 15th, 1990)

This movie had one of the best teaser trailers of the decade. Check it out here if you don't believe me.

I was very excited to see this movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in the end. Growing up, Gremlins was one of the scariest movies I had ever seen. For a long time I couldn't get through the entire movie without covering my eyes during the scary parts. I lost hours of sleep, fearful of glowing red eyes in the darkness.

I was expecting Gremlins 2 to be similarly scary, but instead all I got was tongue in cheek humor and cartoon zaniness. I mean, check out the scariness of this scene from the original Gremlins and compare it to this scene from Gremlins 2. Nevertheless, I guess I still liked the movie and still find myself watching it occasionally.

You should definitely check out the DVD commentaries for both these movies. There's a lot of cool info about how this franchise came to be. And for those of you who are like me and prefer the darkness of the first movie, try to find the 2nd draft Gremlins script online . . . the "R" rated version. It's worth a read.

Also, the first movie has one of Jerry Goldsmith's best and most underrated scores. It's also extremely hard to find.

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Cinema Memoir #48

Back to the Future Part III (May 25th, 1990)

At one point in history, Back to the Future was the 3rd coolest trilogy in existence, following in close succession behind Indiana Jones and Star Wars. I suppose considering now that Indiana Jones and Star Wars are no longer trilogies, it ranks at number one on the cool scale.

This was the first time I had ever seen two sequels shot and released back to back. Today a big budget movie hardly gets made without a 3 part sequel and franchise deal.

This movie was pretty damn good, but as a kid I could have done without the whole mushy love story . . . or perhaps it was Mary Steenburgen I could have done without. Of course now as an adult I realize the whole mushy lover story is pretty much the backbone of the movie . . . but I could still do without Mary Steenburgen.

I can remember being sad knowing the delorian would never fly again, but I think Zemeckis wrapped the story up pretty well. I just hope he doesn't decide to try and remake or add on to these movies like he's doing with Roger Rabbit.

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