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How much more badass would Ghostbusters have been if the Beastie Boys weren’t still cookin’ up License To Ill in their basement?

This is how…

Last weekend I watched a film that has long been known as the “ultimate chick flick,” so it surprised me that I’d never seen it before Saturday night. Steel Magnolias seems to have most men running for the hills, but I was astonished at this movie. Our generation’s flock of actresses can hardly hold a torch to the women that dominated the screen decades ago. Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis had me in stitches!

I wanted to post this scene because it was unbelievably real while at the same time undeniably humourous. Whether you appreciate Sally Field or not, you cannot argue that her performance was pulled from a place so deeply authentic that we can all relate to it.

If you’ve never seen Steel Magnolias but plan to, be aware that this scene contains all kinds of spoilers.

It’s been 14 years since I was a sophomore in high school. I have a hard time remembering what that was like, whether because too much time has passed or most of us generally end up subconciously blocking out that part of our lives.

The mid-1990s were a time when our most fashionable clothes and boots came from Le Château, our Sony Walkmans echoed the likes of Counting Crows, the Gin Blossoms and the Cranberries, and the biggest worry my girlfriends and I had on a Friday night was whether someone else had snagged our film-du-jour on VHS from the video store before we managed to get there.

At 14-years-old, I was awkward, goofy, entirely uncomfortable with my looks and didn’t know a thing or two about a thing or two. As a teenager, I liked the music I liked because the singers were cute and I watched the movies I watched because I had crushes on the actors. In junior high, my film of choice was Dazed and Confused, even though I was too naive and confused to understand most of the social relevance. I would spend hours fantasizing that I, too, could party at the Emporium with Slater, Jodi, Randall “Pink” Floyd and Mitch Kramer.

“That’s what I love about these high school girls, man…”
Photo: Universal Studios

In high school, I shifted from being stuck in the 70s to modern-day New Jersey. I can’t tell you how many times I watched Empire Records and how much of that film I can still quote to this day. However, like any other movie I obsessed over as a juvenile, it was just entertainment to me.

Last night Empire Records aired on KVOS, so I decided to forego my nightly ritual of Law & Order: SVU for a trip down memory lane. What surprised me more than how much I still loved the film was the understanding I gained from watching it as an adult. What I realized was why movies such as this, Dazed and even Singles were films I loved so much as a hopeful youth.

I was too young to be jaded, too inexperienced to be cynical. I believe that, as a young girl, I fell in love with the ideal that all the characters I grew up with, despite their shortcomings and marred relationships with each other, found a way to overcome. Every story had a resolution, every dispute found an answer. While that may not always be an accurate portrayal of real life, the characters we grew up with can give us a sense of optimism and remind us that there are still people in our lives that possess a little bit of true “human spirit,” whatever that may be.

“First time you ever plugged somebody?” Eddie Lee asked Jack Burton after Jack fired a number of rounds into one of the Wing Kong’s henchmen with a semi-automatic weapon. Visibly shaken, Jack composed himself, puffed out his chest and shrugged it off before replying “Course not.”

Big Trouble In Little China has been my favourite movie for as long as I can remember. That particular instant in the film, the first time Jack killed someone, has been seared into my memory since the first time I saw it. My young, saucer-like eyes understood the power of a gun.

It wasn’t until I first saw No Country For Old Men that I actually wanted to fire a gun.

Photo: Paramount Vantage Pictures on Rotten Tomatoes

Early in the film, Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon a drug deal gone really bad and finds a satchel full of cash and a shiny, silver handgun. Upon picking up the handgun, he pulled out the cartridge to inspect his new piece of hardware.

I was in awe. The sound of the cold steel in his hand, cracking against itself, echoed so heavy and so strong. I wanted to feel that gun in my own hands, to experience the weight of it as my slender fingers wrapped around the handle and to know what several rounds exploding feels like against my palms. There’s a fluttering in my stomach right now just writing about this.

Over the Christmas holidays, Amy and Lindsay felt the experience firsthand, and now Amy’s begging me to try. While we were hoping to visit the Pacific Shooters Association in North Vancouver, it appears to have closed down indefinitely due to licensing problems. That being said, does anyone know where we can go to get our shots off? And further, share your gun stories! Good or bad – I’m expecting flack from this post as it is, so feel free to fill me in.

It’s not a secret that I’m no fan of working on the weekends (one of the perks of a M-F job), but even though I spent both Saturday and part of Sunday in the office, I didn’t mind. The remainder of my Sunday was spent at Crab Park with my favourite boys, followed by grocery shopping, a nap, South Park and Snatch. Sounds pretty decent if you ask me…

My best friend has a virtual library of DVDs, and so on my frequent trips to the Island, I raid his shelves for flicks to watch on the ferry. This weekend I selected the Mel Gibson-helmed “Apocalypto” for my viewing pleasure. I won’t review it except to say that it was phenomenal and beautiful and the best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time. If you haven’t watched it yet, rent it.

Photo: Buena Vista Entertainment/Touchstone/Disney

Okay but here’s the problem. The movie is rated 18A for numerous human sacrifices, murders, stabbings, throat-slitting, beatings and impaling, but I didn’t bat an eyelash at any of that. There were also two instances that involved animals: in one, the impaling of a tapir (similar to an anteater); and the other, the senseless beating of a jaguar. The distress of watching those scenes caused me to turn away.

Am I just totally screwed up that animals being murdered is more bothersome to me than human beings?

Apparently I rock Darren‘s world. At least he said so because I promised him I’d blog about something that’s really important to him (and for good reason).

“The Bavubuka Foundation is a nonprofit organization that believes that connecting youth with music and the arts can transform lives and unify diverse communities. Bavubuka is dedicated to creating spaces and educational programs that will nurture and empower a new generation of young leaders in Uganda and all of Africa, who will use their voices to communicate positive messages and create positive change in their communities and the world.”

Next week, you all have the opportunity to be a part of a very unique event, celebrating an important project created to support youth on the other side of the globe who, normally, would fall through the gaping cracks of society.

Silas Balabyekkubo, founder of the Bavubuka Foundation, is screening his revolutionary film, Diamonds In The Rough, at the Tom Lee Music Hall in Vancouver. The film itself is narrated by Michael Franti of Spearhead. Following the screening, Silas will be engaging the audience with a Q&A session and wrapping the night up with an in-store performance. According to Darren, this is a very cool and rare opportunity to meet the man behind the hip hop tool of Bavubuka.

(For more information on the Bavubuka Foundation, click here to visit their website.)

The info you need for the screening is as follows:

What: Diamonds In The Rough

When: Thursday, May 29, 2008 (Doors at 7pm, Screening/Q&A from 7:30pm – 9pm, Performance 9:15pm – 10pm)

Where: Tom Lee Music Hall, 929 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia

How Much: Ticket are $15 (and almost sold out). Contact Kevin at (778) 847-6877 or info@beautifulstruggle.ca to get your hands on some.

Okay, not entirely because I’m lazy. It’s very, very early on Monday morning and I’ve got a lot of work to do. While it’s true I haven’t posted since Friday, I was enjoying myself with a relaxing time at home with my family and Charley. They’re soul food, I tell you.

Anyways, check back tonight for what will should be an interesting and/or useful post (at least if you’re a gal). But for now, in an effort to keep you entertained, here is what I believe to be one of the best fight scenes in cinematic history.

As a little girl, Big Trouble In Little China was my favourite movie. As an adult lady, Big Trouble In Little China is still my favourite movie. Jack Burton has long been this girl’s hero. It must be his knife.

Now you tell me: what’s your favourite flick from the 80s?

The day I never thought I’d see come has finally arrived.

I now call myself a fan of Star Wars.

Sunday was less-than-favourable for your humble narrator, so in an effort to cheer me up, one of my very best friends suggested we get tons of food to munch on and have a Star Wars marathon. Being that 9 times out of 10 he’s usually good at picking movies I’ll appreciate, I agreed and prepared to hunker down with Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Since then, we’ve subsequently slammed through Episodes II, III, IV and most of V.

Growing up, I never enjoyed the franchise beyond the adorability of the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi and the innocent, yet precocious, nature of R2-D2. The movies themselves, and most certainly the plot lines, had me totally confused and not in the slightest bit interested. However, now that I’ve seen all the films in sequential order and been very thoroughly educated on the ins and outs of the storyline, it all makes sense to me.

Star Wars is phenomenally entertaining.

Photo: Official Star Wars website courtesy of 20th Century Fox

I get it now. I understand what “The Force” is. The Jedi, the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire make sense to me. How the characters came to be is suddenly very clear; their objectives even more so.

There is, however, one tiny detail that doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense to me (among other discrepancies).

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

This is the quote with which each of the films begins. But, um, hold on a sec – humans and extraterrestrial beings living among each other, flying spacecraft, travelling at the speed of light, droids – aren’t these all very futuristic concepts? A long time ago my ass.

But I digress. Really, I have no complaints.

Now the only question (and a question on which all of you can add your two cents) is: how appropriate would it be for me to purchase and wear this t-shirt? As much as I’m not a logo tee girl, I really, really want it.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m tired, still full of last night’s 10 p.m. McDonald’s and would rather be watching CSI than sitting at my desk. Monday has arrived, and in an effort to chase away those ayem blues, allow me to point you to areas of the web that may bring you some much-needed distraction.