Childhood Movies That Still Hold Up

This comes to mind after having gone to see Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer last night at the McKay Center - fulfilling a childhood dream I've carried since I was about 5 years old (Oh, and if was as good as I could've hoped for). It makes me wonder what I'm at all justified in still enjoying at my age that I enjoyed as a kid.

In the wake of tons of Disney Channel stars invading the big screen such as The Lizzie McGuire movie, High School Musical, Jonas Bros 3-D, and I think the new Hannah Montana movie might be big screen but I'm not sure, it's easy for us to sneer at children and the horrible things they drag their parents into seeing. We all feel like kid's movies have gone way downhill since we watched the Disney Channel. For the most part, I agree. I think ours were better. However, we have to admit that there were a few things we loved as kids that were just stupid. Things we wouldn't tolerate as adults.

For example, I loved the Ewok movies Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor. Movies that I couldn't pass up whenever they were aired as a kid, yet could never be expected to sit through today. So, after much explanation, this will be a blog listing a few movies I loved as a kid that still hold up today and I'd recommend to anyone.

Now to do this properly I feel I have to avoid some of the more obvious ones. Everyone still loves Karate Kid and Newsies. Likewise, there are a few seemingly obvious ones that I can't quite list. An example of this could be the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Just about every guy I know who saw this as a kid still loves it and would chew me out for not including it. But, really, could any of us recommend it to a 25 year old who'd never heard of it before? It's a bit of a coin toss. Like Big Trouble in Little China. They might get it, but they could just as easily think we're idiots. Anyway, this is turning into a very long prologue when I'm only listing about four movies so I'll just get on with it.

For the first one I'm going animated. And not Disney animated either. This was a Don Bluth Film. I could, and maybe should, talk about An American Tale but instead I'm going towards The Land Before Time. There are a few reasons. I feel like this movie gets undue spite directed at it because of the incredible amount of terrible sequals it spawned. And they were terrible. To be fair, they were for kids. The first film was for the entire family.

The animation is beautiful and, aside from a few moments where it clearly re-uses previously used footage, still holds up today. It does with its animation the same thing great Disney animated films did. It took great amounts of time without diologue just showing us the depth of this new, hand-drawn world. 2-D animation hasn't bothered with that in some time.

I love stories about friendship. You'll find this list contains, well, ONLY movies with them as a prominant theme. This one is unique among them in that it deals with a group of characters, each with very unique and endearing personalities, having to pull together to survive. In the process they become the best of friends. I like this stuff.

Finally, James Horner's score is one of the best I've heard in any film. I have songs from it on my ipod and I'm not the least bit ashamed. When people ask what I'm listening to and I tell them, "'Whispering Winds' from the Land Before Time soundtrack" they almost always laugh a little. Again, it's that association with the sequals. This isn't filled with cheesey character sung songs. It's a quality symphonic score.

What a lot of people don't know about the musical theme is that it's actually taken from another film that Horner scored earlier called The Journey of Natty Gann. He was so proud of the music from Natty Gann and so sad that it was in a film nobody saw, that he re-used much of it for Land Before Time. This is actually a great lead-in to my next movie.

The Journey of Natty Gann is a little-known Disney movie about a girl growing up in depression era Chicago who's seperated from her father, and decides to travel across the country to Washington state to find him. Already the plot is a little similar to Land Before Time and several other Disney films. This one holds a special place in my heart though.

Why? Well for one thing it's one of John Cusack's earlier roles and we all love Cusack. He actually appeared in it the same year as Better Off Dead. One movie was critically panned and one was pretty well recieved. This one. He has a small role in it but does well.

The other reason I love this film, though, is because the main character - Natty - befriends a wolf during her journey. A WOLF! I freakin LOVE movies where a wolf hangs out with a person. For anyone who doesn't yet know, wolves have been my favorite animal since... I saw this movie pretty much. Beautiful creatures. In this movie, the wolf (who's name is Wolf. Something I loved) is played by the greatest wolf actor of all. Jed. For anyone who doesn't know, Jed also played the title role in...

White Fang, the next movie on the list. I watched this earlier today and it still effects me. Yet another story of friendship featuring orphans who find each other. In this case the orphans are Jack Conroy (in one of Ethan Hawke's earlier roles) and White Fang - a wolf-dog who's mother was shot and starts out on his own. Something I love about this movie is that, while a lot of time is spent on Jack's story, White Fang really is the star.

This film is about his road from lone wolf cub who struggles to survive after his mother's death, to work dog for an Inuit tribe, to a fight dog facing abuse and torture from his owners, until he finally finds his place with his best friend Jack whom he encounters at various stages throughout his life.

Again, a pretty basic formula for me goes boy or girl + loyal wolf friend = awesome movie. I just love animals and the enduring friendship theme. Which is yet another lead-in to the last movie on this particular list (whew what a long post!).

The Fox and the Hound. Holy crap I love this movie. Disney animation goes through both strong and weak times. Sometimes it puts out animation classics and sometimes it puts out a dud meant just to fill enough seats. Hand-drawn animation barely even exists at Disney these days which is tragic because every so often they'd use it to explore complex themes of friendship against prejudice, societal norms, and two drastically different backgrounds like they did with The Fox and the Hound.

It's the story of a little fox named Todd who's orphaned (yet another constant in these movies) after his mother is killed by hunters. He befriends a hound pup on a nearby farm named Copper. The two spend their days playing and growing closer, not realizing that they're supposed to be enemies. As they grow up, they struggle against the complexities of their different worlds that threaten to tear apart their friendship.

What I love about it is that it's not always black and white. Both characters find themselves making a series of compromises, and even, at times, giving into what the world expects of them. These best friends find themselves pitted against each other, and they play the part. They actually begin to hate each other. Even the ending isn't the perfect deus ex machina that one might expect from a Disney film where everything falls into place in ways it shouldn't. The struggles these friends go through really do change things forever. The resolution comes in the fact that their friendship endures. I love that.

Anyone who's seen this movie loves it and has undoubtedly given up a tear to it.

That's the end of this list though there are a few more I could name. I'd love to hear other peoples' recommendations.

First Short Story Post

I've decided that I'll start posting short stories I write on here. At least some of them. I posted one short story once on myspace and ended up deleting it. I guess I was embarassed. I need to work past that if I'm going to be doing anything with this in the future. The first story I'll be posting here is called Jaywalker. It's my first experiment in absurdism. Hope you enjoy! Special thanks to Mike, DeeDee, and Larry for helping me trim the fat and keep the meat.


Jaywalker by Jordan Kenney

Sean had given up eating. It wasn’t about appearance or health. He simply didn’t have the time. Sean had two full-time jobs, one accounting course at the community college, and zero friends. Several months ago he found himself consistently late getting back to his first job when he ate meals during his lunch break. He initially changed this by stocking up on granola bars that he could eat as he walked, but he found that the extra time spent at the store made him late for his second job.
He was distraught until, during one lunch break, he purchased a book on tape concerning the mind’s power over the body. It made him only 30 seconds late for work. As he listened to it, he determined he could survive without food and, (in order to save time) would no longer eat. While at his desk typing, he imagined himself eating delectable feasts of turkey and potatoes slathered in butter. When finished with his false meal, he would be rid of his hunger. Or if not, he used his willpower to ignore it.
During today’s lunch break Sean needed to restock on energy drinks. He may have stopped eating, but he still drank so long as it was coffee or energy drinks. He had given up sleep months before to improve his time management. He found that sleep took up far too much time. He weaned himself off of it gradually from six hours a night to four to two until he was able to function on copious amounts of caffeine and split second naps he took when he blinked. And it worked relatively well except on occasion when he would forget where he was or what he was doing mid-blink.
Sean scurried along the crowded sidewalk, his head downwards, counting the individual slabs of concrete while he tapped his thumb and forefinger together ten times for every slab he crossed. It was 57 slabs from his work to the store with an intersection after the 50th. He learned the amount so he could walk there without having to look up. Recently people’s faces had begun looking strangely ominous to him, like portraits on walls whose eyes never moved but always seemed to follow.
He turned up the volume on his walkman and decided to step more quickly. The moment he reached slab number 47, he blinked. As his eyes opened he bumped into a man he hadn’t noticed. One of his headphones slipped out. Sean very nearly collapsed before he was able to put it back in and breathed a deep, relieved sigh. The sound of the world was like a constant foghorn to him, and he had long since decided to keep his headphones on at all times. He stepped over the man who now lay dazed on the ground and continued walking.
Sean reached slab number 50 and, without hesitation, walked out into the busy intersection, not caring that the light on the other side showed a bright red “stop” hand. Sean found it took far too long for lights to change and hated looking up to watch it happen. He had become skillful in maneuvering through moving traffic. He wove back and forth and in and out between cars, staring down and counting the lines as he dared the five-lane street. When he reached lane number five, he blinked. He never heard the oncoming truck over his headphones, but he caught a glimpse of it just before it struck him. He died instantly. It was the only way an expert time manager like Sean knew how to die.
The line to meet St. Peter was short, but Sean still tapped his feet impatiently. The road he stood on shimmered glowing gold surrounded by white clouds. It infuriated him. He blinked and blinked, but the glare was far too bright for him to get his naps in. How was he supposed to sleep?
He heard the sound of choirs and harps. This hadn’t been what he was listening to. He had been listening to a book on tape about financial success. He checked his walkman to discover the problem when he realized it was gone. Someone on the street must have stolen it. He’d get to the bottom of this just as soon as he was finished waiting in this wretched line.
As his turn finally arrived, Sean approached St. Peter at his podium. In front of him was a large ledger that opened up as wide as Sean’s outstretched arms. He struggled to listen as the angel introduced himself. It was the first time Sean heard anyone speak in a long time. Years ago he had learned to read lips so he wouldn’t have to remove his headphones. Even then he preferred written memos and emails. He hated watching people’s faces and considered plugging his ears, but the beard on the angel was thick enough that reading his lips would’ve been difficult. Sean decided this time it was best to listen.
“Welcome to Heaven, Sean,” the angel warmly said. “I am St. Peter. You have died and your judgement is at hand. Depending on what is written of you in this book, you will enjoy eternal paradise or endure eternal suffering.” He turned the pages in the ledger to find Sean’s information. Sean folded his arms and tapped his finger. Certainly Heaven should have a more efficient, up-to-date system than this.
St. Peter leaned close to the book and ran his eyes along the pages. As he read he would occasionally address Sean. “Hmm,” he said. “I don’t see many sins in here but… hmm.” Sean began tapping his foot and glared at the haloed head behind the book. “Little interaction with your fellow man. No charitable deeds, but no dishonest deeds. No wrath or greed but no compassion. There’s much written but… hmm…”
“Dammit, man!” Sean burst out. “Could you speed this up? My lunch break ended five minutes ago!”

Sleeper Recommendations.

This is a blog where I recommend a few things media that have flown under the radar a bit. They're great and the world should know about them.

Film: In Bruges

It's the movie that scored several Golden Globe noms and even a best actor (comedic) win for Colin Farell. It even just got an Oscar Nomination for Best Originl Screenplay which, in my opinion it absolutely deserves. It's also a film very few people have seen or heard of. I've never seen a film that so completely utilized the concepts of set-up and pay-off. Watch closely and you'll see that nearly everything that's mentioned earlier in the film is touched on later on. But that's just the film geek in me talking. This film isn't so artsy that it's not enjoyable. It's very much the opposite. Like Grosse Pointe Blank (one of my favorite films) it takes a hilarious view at men who do murder for a living. It's the type of work a talented actor like Farell belongs in. Over the past few years he's been wasted in mindless action movies, here he's able to be funny and charming and even vulnerable at times. I loved watching his completely rude, un-pc, but tragically repentant character. Do yourself a favor and at least rent it.

Books: Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories
This book was assigned to us in my English class this semester to give us both quick examples of narrative styles and as a guide to concise writing. It also happens to be very entertaining. As you can tell from the title, it's a book of 72 very short stories from various different authors. In fact, no story is longer than 750 words and they're all about 2 pages long. Why is this great? Well if you're like me you don't have a ton of time to read these days. Here are stories you can read in just a few minutes. They vary in theme and style. Some are very humerous, some are very serious. Some are grounded in reality and some are complete fantasy. All are worth reading. Especially since it wont take up much of your day.

TV: Burn Notice
Ok, there's not a ton of depth to this one. It's a guilty pleasure. But everyone who knows me knows I don't feel guilty about my pleasures and will freely admit them. Burn Notice is currently in its second season on USA and I worry it'll be its last. I'm not sure it's catching on as well as it's sea of quirky detective shows. It's about a former spy who's been "burned" or black-listed and exiled to Miami. While he tries to figure out who burned him he uses the knowledge and skills gathered in his life as a spy to help every day people with their problems.
You can tell by now that this show isn't Mad Men or Weeds. There's not a ton of depth or social commentary to it. It wont be strutting around with bucket-loads of Emmies. It's more of, like I said, a guilty pleasure. You get to see Jeffrey Donovan as a spy kicking ass and essentially reciting every recipe from The Anarchist's Cookbook (in one episode he tells how to melt someone's engine block, build a flash grenade, and bullet-proof your own car all using items you can find at the grocery store) while interacting with his only two - very amusing - friends.
Oh, and Bruce Campbell's in it.

Music: Natalie Walker
I accidentally stumbled upon Natalie Walker's myspace page when I saw her on the friend list of some obscure featured artist that I don't even remember. Her music impressed me so much more. Since then I've downloaded her entire "Urban Angel" album and sampled as much of her work as I could. The music itself is soft, dreamy electronic with somewhat bluesy vocals. It's perfect for relaxing or snuggling up with someone. Also, I have a huge crush on her. But that came AFTER I found her music. So I'm not being biased. Good songs to start with would be "Crush" or "Quicksand." If you like what you hear, keep listening.

Internet: Cracked.com
The comedy magazine that used to be second to Mad as gone exclusively digital now (Michael Scott must've been crushed to find his subscription discontinued). The web site is filled with hilarious articles, blogs, and lists spanning various categories. Read over a list of urban legends that are actually true, a list of the most disturbing sex toys (that do exist and are for sale), or why it sucks worse to be single than you thought (lower pay and short life expectancy?). It's become my biggest time waster on the net. Give it a look sometime, but you'll be clicking links to other articles so often you'll think you're at wikipedia. Make sure you have some time on your hands.

That's all for now.

Welcome!

Welcome, friends, to Jordan's Blog or How I Tricked the World Into Liking Me. Here you'll find a continuation of my wonderful blog legacy that began back at that little site called myspace.com. For the first while I'll be duel posting my little writings at both sites. My blogs consist of everything from personal updates, to political rants, to poems, to short stories, to why Law and Order SVU is way better than regular Law and Order and Batman could beat Superman in a fight (don't argue with me on that one). I love to write. Anything and everything. It's one of my favorite hobbies and I love sharing it with others.

At the moment I'm very busy and the blogs aren't coming as often. This should hopefully change by the end of the month and you'll all be able to participate in my favorite hobby. Celebrating me. :) Til then, if you'd like to read any of my past blogs, head your pretty self over to http://www.myspace.com/modeman and enjoy! Be writing for you soon.