Back in the early 90's, a trend of movies came along that spoke to us growing kids. They weren't completely innocent, but fine for the whole family, having just enough edge to them. There were a bunch of titles, including 'The Mighty Ducks', 'Little Giants', 'Rookie of the Year', 'The Big Green', the list goes on. A lot of these movies would relate to us all pretty directly, as they showed certain aspects of our childhood, along with some problems we have to face when going through that tough time called puberty. They all did a pretty decent job at speaking to us, and we all had at least one that we could watch time and time again, without it getting old. My title was, and still is 1993's 'The Sandlot'. As a kid who was never really into sports, only playing them because I had to, I was never good at any of it. I had a short time doing well at basketball for a few years, but that was in my youth. My second best sport (or at least the one I enjoyed a bit) was baseball. Again, I was never very good at it, but it was a sport that felt fun to me. So, our main character, Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) is pretty relatable to me. Scotty, his mother (Karen Allen) and stepfather, Bill (Denis Leary) move to a new town. Scotty tends to be a bit of a recluse, and has almost no time to make new friends before a new school year begins. He makes the extra effort by walking onto "The Sandlot" - a place where a group of kids comes to play ball and have fun without keeping score. However, his first impression isn't exactly a good one. Scotty's new neighbour, and leader of this kids gang, Benny Rodriguez (Mike Vitar), invites him out to try again. He's empathetic towards Scotty, and helps walk him through how to play, since his step dad doesn't really take the time to. Eventually, they all become friends, and one day lose a ball over the back fence. It's one of many they've lost, but they have to educate Scotty on why it's gone forever. Long story short - a gigantic monster dog lives over there, and would easily kill any trespassers. The kids spend the remainder of the summer playing ball, making memories, and playing on the audience's nostalgia. Ultimately, not thinking anything of it, Smalls one day brings a new ball to play with, autographed by Babe Ruth, himself. No one realizes this until it's too late, though, and the last portion of the film is all about getting that ball back from the clutches of "The Beast" (what they call that killer dog). The film also features Patrick Rena ("Ham"), Chauncey Leopardi ("Squints"), Marty York ("Yeah-Yeah"), Brandon Quintin Adams (Kenny DeNunez) , Grant Gelt (Bertram Grover Weeks), Shane Obedzinski (Tommy "Repeat" Thomas), and Victor DiMattia (Timmy Thomas). All of them went on to star in other roles, and are still going, though their roles are a little more under the radar these days. I daresay, this might be the highlight of just about all of their careers - at least it's the only place I can honestly remember seeing any of these guys, save for Patrick Rena, who was in a few other things I remember. Being that it takes place in the 60's, one might consider the ideas here a bit dated before taking a look. But honestly, the themes in this movie are timeless. It speaks to anyone who has fond memories of their childhood friends. One day, it all ends, and you don't even know it, and this is a movie that will make you remember a simpler time in your life. It's a beautifully done story about kids just being kids, and it fits how I remember acting as a kid. As I mentioned before, there's just enough edge here to make it family friendly, but relatable to the kids watching it all the same. I give it the highest of recommendations for anyone just looking for something simple.
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Before I get into this, the format in which I credit the cast for this film is "voice/guy in suit", as each main character here has one of each, including Tatsu for whatever reason... moving on, however. Going way back to being about 6, I was introduced to these guys through a handful of close friends. For me, it was word of mouth at school. I checked out the cartoon, was instantly hooked, and got quite the haul of Turtle toys over the next few years. It can't be explained, but there was just something about them we all loved. This particular movie is about as close as things get to the original source material. Not the cartoon, I'm talking the old, black and white comic book that made these guys dark, totally badass, and every one of them wore red bandanas, not just Raph. Instead, they were really only distinguishable by their weapons. However by the time this movie came along, the cartoon and the toys were what we were focused on. So the film combined the efforts of the comic book with the cartoon to give us kids everything we deserved. To this day, I still claim this as the end all, be all of 'TMNT' films. Okay, so basic plot - a backstory within the film tells us a brief origin of the characters, and those taking the time to read this probably already know it. Hell, you probably know it from today's material anyway. These guys never really went away or took a break. Basically, lost ooze in sewer = 1 mutant rat named Splinter (Kevin Clash) and 4 mutant turtles named after Renaissance artists, Leonardo (Brian Tochi/David Forman), Michaelangelo (Robbie Rist/Michelan Sisti), Donatello (Corey Feldman/Leif Tilden) and Raphael (Josh Pais). They find themselves up against a gang of ninja thieves known as the Foot Clan, headed by Shredder and his lackey, Tatsu (Michael McConnohie/Toshishiro Obata). These guys are going all around the city of New York, robbing it blind. Their paths cross with news reporter April O'Niel (Judith Hoag) who is doing a story on the whole situation. The turtles get involved when Raph finds her in the subway, having been attacked in an attempt to keep her lips sealed. He takes her back to their lair for recovery, but is unknowingly followed. Shit really hits the fan when their master, Splinter, is soon kidnapped by the Shredder, who holds him captive, trying to get answers from on how the turtles know how to fight like they do. April ends up helping them out, and caught in the middle of it all are one runaway teenager named Danny (Michael Turney), who's caught between helping the turtles and working for the Foot, and Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) who's kind of a random addition to everything, but makes for some decent comedy relief and is a great help in a fight. It might sound crazy, but this is one of those childhood films that I don't only love due to nostalgia, but love because it actually does tell a good story about characters I care about. You can watch this as an adult and see it as a sort of coming of age movie, as the Turtles have to learn to work as a team, have to come into their own to rescue Splinter, and have to take Splinter's teachings seriously in order to do it. While Leo and Don are doing pretty well, we do get that Mike and Raph have a bit of growing to do - Mike with his immaturity and Raph with his temper. I could always find myself empathizing with those two characters the most, especially after the bonfire scene, which I'm not ashamed to admit manages to move me when I see it these days. I mean, while it's a fun movie, one may argue "for kids", it actually does get pretty deep at points. It's not just some action movie where you see these turtles kicking ass and taking names. They take the time to get some messages across subtly, and a big part of it all is how important family is - remembering that family can also mean friends! Anyway, as I mentioned before, the 'Turtles' never really went away or took a break. They simmered down here and there, but have pretty well remained a constant in pop culture. But I can probably say with all sincerity that they were never, ever as big as they were in the late 80's and early 90's. They were everywhere back then! If the cartoon didn't give us enough (which was already an overload), the movie pretty much marked their taking over of the world (at least in my head). So, if you're a fan who hasn't taken a look at this 1990 classic, I strongly urge you to do so. Parts may be a bit dated, but everything that made this movie great is still there, and that includes the master puppetry of Jim Henson's Creature Shop when the man was still alive and kicking! |
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