Seeing that a slewful of movies coming out this summer had previous movies that came out in the 80s/90s, the Omaha World Herald thought it would be fun to give you a guide to all of them, 80s/90s style, as all of the movie theaters this summer are turning into 1990s video stores. Enjoy!
http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/go/omaha-movie-theaters-to-become-1990s-video-stores
So hurry out and pick up some blank VHS tapes, while they're on sale! If you get them before this Sunday, not only you get them at nearly 50% off (15.95 versus $27.95), but you will also be eligible for an additional $2 rebate, dropping your cost to over %50 off! Hurry, while supplies last!
BL.
http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/go/omaha-movie-theaters-to-become-1990s-video-stores
Omaha movie theaters to become 1990s video stores
Or: a summer movie preview told in VHS not Beta
By Micah Mertes / World-Herald staff writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Its no secret that Hollywood is plundering our memory banks of every single 80s/90s pop cultural artifact, poking our nostalgia while lightening our wallets. No secret.
Its just that its really pointed this summer.
Of the obligatory sequels/reboots/remakes coming to theaters in the next few months, the movies are aggressively 80s/90s in origin. Returning to theaters are (ahem) Mad Max, Ethan Hunt, Clark Griswold, the Terminator, the velociraptors, the Poltergeist and the Cameron Crowe. There are also a few non-sequels with a decidedly retro feel, including the vintage video game comedy Pixels, starring Adam Sandler, and the earthquake movie San Andreas, starring The Rock.
This lineup is as dispiritingly unoriginal as just about any other summer movie season. However. How. Ever. For 90s kids this roster is a miracle. After many long, desperate years of trying to go back to our childhood, our childhood is coming back to us. This isnt popcorn entertainment. This is time travel.
Heres whats coming soon to VHS.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Release: May 1
Summary: Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Scarlett Johansson (The Horse Whisperer) and Samuel L. Jackson (Jurassic Park) are heroes who fight an omnipotent robot played by James Spader (Stargate).
The 90s connection: OK, so the 90s connection is fairly tenuous here, but let us never forget the first Avenger movie, 1990s gloriously bad Captain America. From the director of Cyborg and Kickboxer 2: The Road Back, the direct-to-video film stars Matt Salinger (son of J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye) as Cap/Steve Rogers. The Captain is thawed out after decades of being trapped in ice to fight his nemesis, The Red Skull. Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty co-star. Riddled with a troubled production history and filmmakers who had no idea what they were doing, the final product was a catastrophe. But its the single-celled organism that would evolve into the modern superhero blockbuster.
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Mad Max: Fury Road
Release: May 15
Summary: Best actor of his generation Tom Hardy plays the titular hero, a man trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world. He finds an unlikely ally in Charlize Theron (Mighty Joe Young).
The 80s connection: This film is wholly, triumphantly tied to the past. Its written and directed by George Miller, who wrote and directed Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). This long-gestating sequel/reboot has gone through several variations over the years -- Mel Gibson was set to reprise his role at one point, but you know -- but the movie is undeniably of a piece with the series. It boasts brutal violence, pitch-black humor, and it looks like most of it takes place in/on/under moving vehicles. And with the exception of the fire tornadoes (FIRE TORNADOES!), most of the special effects look quite practical and dangerous. Most of the summer blockbusters this year look crowd-tested and safe. This looks illegal.
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Poltergeist
Release: May 22
Summary: A nice family moves into a house built on a cemetery. Some of the graveyards spirits are pissed about this.
The 80s connection: It appears to be a pretty straight-forward remake of the 1982 film, albeit with 2015 digital effects. Most important: The clown is back.
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Aloha
Release: May 29
Summary: A suave young man recovering from heartbreak finds love in a zany and delightful younger woman. She lets his love open the door to her heart.
The 80s/90s connection: Cameron Crowe is now a man in his late 50s, but, God bless him, he still makes movies like its 1996, warm and overly sentimental films about the young mans journey. Here, Bradley Cooper plays the young man journeying, Emma Stone his MPDG. Crowe hasnt made an unequivocally great film since 2000s Almost Famous. Perhaps this is his return. No question, though, this will have a killer mixtape.
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San Andreas
Release: May 29
Summary: Big earthquake hits California. The Rock is a helicopter pilot.
The 70s/90s connection: Its not a sequel or remake, but its got strong ties to disaster movies past. Its vibe is particularly that of a mid-to-late 90s disaster movie. Think Twister, Volcano, Dantes Peak, but with better effects and a much more muscular leading man. Additionally, this serves to codify 80s children's tales that in the year 2000, California was going to fall off into the ocean and become its own island.
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Jurassic World
Release: June 12
Summary: Scientists at a dinosaur park tamper with nature. Nature kills everyone.
The 90s connection: Its been 22 years since Jurassic Park redefined what a summer blockbuster could be. And in that time, we've seen a meh sequel and a less-than-meh threequel, and now, after many botched attempts at resurrecting the franchise, here we are. Jurassic World works as a direct sequel to the 1993 movie while retaining almost none of the original cast. The new movie returns to "Jurassic Park's" Isla Nublar, which has been home to a fully functioning dino theme park for the past 10 years. When attendance starts to decline, the parks operators create a new attraction (a new kind of dinosaur) that, of course, becomes too smart, escapes, kills a lot of people, ruins everything. Steven Spielberg didnt direct it (indie filmmaker Colin Trevorrow did), but all the movie needs to win our hearts again are the dinosaurs, the children in peril and this.
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Terminator Genisys
Release: July 1
Summary: All that stuff in the previous four Terminator films? Yeah, thats gone, at least for now. Its been swept away by the plot magic of timey-wimey time travel. In this timeline, um, a friendly Terminator (Arnold, reprising his role after sitting out Terminator Salvation) was sent back in time to save a very young Sarah Connor. He also ends up raising her. So when the plot of the first Terminator movie tries to take place, Kyle Reese goes back in time to find a well-trained and deadly Sarah Connor and an old-man Terminator whos already killed the evil young Terminator sent to kill Sarah. The three try to stop Judgment Day from happening, but (twist!) the machines have sent back in time a man-machine hybrid version of John Connor! And hes evil! What is happening?!
The 80s/90s connection: Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation were solid but uninspired entries. Terminator: Genisys seems to be ignoring that those later films ever happened, instead clicking hard into the stories of the first two Terminators. Not a bad idea, considering James Camerons movies are among the most entertaining and innovative sc-fi action movies ever made. Genisys nostalgia factor is strong, with Arnold back and the movie presumably taking place in 1984. But the alternative timeline is going to be a tricky beast to handle. Exciting as the big changes might be, those changes negate the first two movies. Terminator: Genisys aims to tickle your nostalgia while also murdering it. This might not end well.
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Pixels
Release: July 24
Summary: Aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war and attack Earth in the form of classic arcade games. The President of the United States (Kevin James I know) tasks his joystick wizard friends (Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad) with saving the planet.
The 80s connection: The idea of using Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders as an alien threat is charming. Someone should try it in a movie again sometime after we get this doofy Adam Sandler comedy over with. One thing in the movies corner, I guess, is director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). The guy knows his way around whimsy.
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Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Release: July 31
Summary: Ethan Hunt and his team take on the Syndicate, an evil organization every bit as cunning and crafty as IMF.
The 90s connection: The 1996 adaptation of the classic TV series didnt make a lot of sense (and had a big twist that many fans are still mad about), but it was breathless with thrilling action sequences and featured a performance that solidified Tom Cruises action hero status. The second and third M:I entries were disappointing, but the series came roaring back to life with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. That film, and apparently the upcoming Rogue Nation, wisely went back to what made the TV series so great: the team aspect. So Rogue Nation will embrace the tense, zippy appeal of the 1996 film while continuing to learn from its mistakes. Could be the summers most purely fun movie.
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Vacation
Release: July 31
Summary: Ed Helms is the sixth actor to play Rusty Griswold, son of Clark, who is now taking his family on a road trip to Walley World.
The 80s/90s connection: Were not only getting the original characters of the earlier films but also a few original cast members. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo will reprise their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold. And the outline of the movie is exactly the same as the first. With luck, it will be closer to a Christmas Vacation than a Vegas Vacation.
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Fantastic Four
Release: Aug. 7
Summary: Four young scientists gain superhuman powers following an experiment gone wrong. Together, they use their new abilities to defeat a tyrant.
The 90s connection: The new Fantastic Four looks to erase memories of all previous attempts, including the goofy Jessica Alba/Chris Evans movies. They've Nolaned the bejesus out of the series with this one. Gloomy cinematography, brooding tone and performances, a push towards gritty realism. If they pull it off, it will be no small feat, considering this is one of the sillier of Marvels prominent properties; I mean, one guys a rock monster. If the films swinging so hard in the other direction, its hard to blame it. The Fantastic Four characters are, after all, the victims of one of the worst movies ever made, the 1994 Fantastic Four. That turd was only made to secure copyright, the producers never intending for anyone to see it. But people did see it, and its since become a cult curiosity that fans of bad movies seek and cherish.
So hurry out and pick up some blank VHS tapes, while they're on sale! If you get them before this Sunday, not only you get them at nearly 50% off (15.95 versus $27.95), but you will also be eligible for an additional $2 rebate, dropping your cost to over %50 off! Hurry, while supplies last!
BL.
