Mario Bros. Movies

 

   Today is March 10th, or as some people say, Mar10 day. Honoring the Super Mario bros. from games to movies.

    I want to talk about the movies, but first.... how it all started and how it became a global phenomenon. The story of two Italian plumbers....and how they became amazingly popular.

    It was started as a Nintendo game back in 1985 with Mario's first name being 'Jumper Man'. He had a video game that showed him saving a princess named Peach from an evil dragon named Bowser. 

      It's the whole save a girl from dragon thing. Soon he had a brother named Luigi. In earlier games, both Mario and Luigi looked similar. By the time the 90's hit, they showed a difference in look.

   I used to play some of the games, but we had a Sega Genisis. When Nintendo 64 came around, my brother bought the Mario 64 game and well.... he played until he got to the final round.

    It was worth it having 3D effects, and it was pretty cool. Then....came the movies.

  Before Nintendo 64 came out, there was movie based on the game. Super Mario Bros. starred the late Bob Hopkins and John Leguizamo. Bob portrayed Mario and John was Luigi.

     This was supposed to be a live action movie based on the video game. Dennis Hopper played King Koopa. He was supposed to be a Donald Trump like villain with a lizard tongue. (Similar to Donald Trump today) It flopped in theaters and let's just say.... there was not gonna be a sequel.

    It would take almost 30 before another film would hit. Some people were skeptical because they were afraid it would feel like the last movie. Thankfully, it was not live action. Chris Pratt would voice Mario.

    Some people were skeptical on that since they thought he wouldn't be that great. He was...fine. 

    Jack Black voiced Bower which was pretty good as he did an amazing job. Charlie Day voiced Luigi. The movie...was ok. Wasn't great, but it was better than the 1993 movie, which I think my brother saw.... but I don't know.

          In the movie, Mario and Luigi have a plumbing business that is.... not going well. They end up in another world through a magical pipe.

     Luigi ends up in danger as Mario soon finds a mushroom kingdom. He meets Princess Peach and some toads that are going to help Mario save his brother and get them home.

     However, they have to deal with other characters like Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogan) and try to beat him to get to where they need to go.

   In the new upcoming movie, Yoshi was going to be a new character and he's going to be voiced by Donald Glover. How do I feel about this.... I guess I'm fine with it. I like Donald Glover is a great actor, but Yoshi only says his name over and over again.

    I guess that's ok. I'm not going to see this movie in theaters. When it comes to streaming... I will.

    Here's a little hidden Easter egg. Well, there are many for video game fans. One of them is the original voice actor of Mario in video games and cartoons. Charles Martinet voices Mario and Luigi's father.

   He retired recently and made a voice appearance in this movie. He has since retired and I guess this was his last voice acting. He's still alive today, but taking it easy.

    Mario is very popular that he has a day named after him. Mar10, or March 10th is short for Mario. For that, enjoy it and his Nintendo amazement from the original game to the movies.

    For it being Mario day, it feels as if Nintendo created something that can't be stopped.

       From the beginnings of a video game, to what today is considered a phenomenom.

Freddie Prinze Jr. Never knew his father

 

    If you know who Freddie Prinze Jr. is, then you have seen him in movies like "I know what you did last summer", "She's all That." "Scooby Doo one and two" and many more. What some might not know is....his father was an actor as well. Sadly....he never knew him since his parents divorced when he was only a baby and his father took his own life at the age of 22

  Freddie Prinze was known for his comedy. Doing stand-up and starred in a show called "Chico and the Man" 

   Never saw one episode, but it starred him as a man named Chico and was with Jack Albertson (known as Grandpa Joe in "Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory") plays a drunk widower who befriends Chico.

     I never got into the show since it came out in the 70's and he was only in a few episodes before he took his own life.

     He was funny on the show, but nobody knew the dark side of Freddie Prinze Sr. He was doing stand-up comedy to hide his pain and depression he was suffering.

    Freddie Prinze Jr. was born in 1976. His father died a year later never knowing his son. Maybe Freddie Prinze Jr. does have a few memories of him, but they are not strong. His family went through a divorce when he was only a baby.

   That was the last straw for Freddie Prinze Sr. His depression worsened as he tried to hide it. It got stronger. Finally....he took his own life a year after his only son was born.

   Freddie Prinze Jr. is still alive and well. He was raised by his mother and his grandmother in New Mexico. He got his start in acting in the "I know what you did last summer" franchise. He started becoming the go to actor for 90's movies. 

   Meeting Sarah Michelle Geller and marrying her. They both starred in the "Scooby Doo" franchise as Fred and Daphne.

    I think both of them have stopped acting to focus on their family. Maybe Freddie has come back, but I haven't seen him in much. Sarah will be known as 'Buffy' to me. Freddie Prinze Jr. joined the "Punky Brewster" reboot...which didn't do well.

   Since then, I haven't seen him in much, but many people who used to watch "Chico and the Man" will see a bit of his father in him.

   Too bad he doesn't remember his father that well. Sad that he left us at a young age from depression that overtook him.

     If I ever had seen him in anything, it would be his comedy specials. No one knew the sadness inside. Similar to Robin Williams...you never know what comedian holds a darkness in them that some...cannot get out of. 

Zodiac Murder Obsession

 

   Many people have obsessions with certain things. For me, it's celebrity birthdays as well as astrology and Dolphins. But I Digress.

    I recently saw the move "Zodiac" which is based on a tragedy that happened in San Francisco back in the late 1960's. A few people were murdered, mostly women, and their lover that they are with either dies or survives.

    A cartoonist named Robert Graysmith was so captivated with the story, he wanted to know more about. Making his obsession the story of the movie Zodiac.

     Jake Gyllenhaal portrayed Robert as a cartoonist who soon decides to trade everything for making a story that would end in his marriage. Even the real Robert Graysmith, who is still alive today, said, "after seeing this film, now I know why my wife left me."

   The movie begins on the Fourth of July where a couple goes to a lake and is alone. Suddenly, a man comes and shoots them, leaving one of them alive.

   He comes back again stabbing another couple, one survives. Shoots and kills a cab driver, threatens to kill kids getting off a bus. And much more. To this day, the Zodiac killer had never been caught, and they believe he is long dead.

   Robert Downey Jr. portrays Paul Avery. Another worker of the San Francisco Chronicle and eventually decided to go his own way. Never knowing he would end up losing his job after his life is threatened by the Zodiac killer.

   Some of the movie is mostly "historical fiction" which means the names are real, but what they did, the fabricated information on

  People assumed it might have been more than one person involved. Who knows. He left puzzles for not only the police, but the people that worked with the Newspaper....which got Robert Graysmith involved with the obsession.

    In the movie, near the ending, there is a hidden gem. One of the survivors of the Zodiac Killer, Bryan C. Hartnell, is seen only quickly as an extra walking past Mark Ruffalo and Dumont Mullrony.

   He doesn't remember much of the tragic incident and has come back to ID who he thought was the killer

   Some people thought a man named Arthur Leigh Allen was the killer. His birthday was around December which is when one of the first killings occurred.

    He was accused, arrested, and his brother was estranged from him. He is portrayed by John Carroll Lynch in the movie "Zodiac" He did a pretty good job portraying someone who was fingered as a killer in people's eyes.

  The last time he is seen is when Robert Graysmith meets him in his new job working at a hardware store.

   The book came out in the 90's and the movie was out in 2007. After the movie ended, the case went back open. However, Arthur Leigh Allen died of a heart attack back in the 90's and they considered him to have been the real Zodiac Killer.

   I don't know if the case is closed or not. All I know is.... this movie shows an obsession from one man's point of view, and how far it would go. I don't know if Zodiac won any academy awards.... but it did get San Fransico to reopen the case wide open. However, I fear this case will remain...cold. 

Turning 30 this year....from music to movies

 

   I've talked about what turned 40 this year, now to what is turning 30 this year. From Bill Clinton's second presidency (God I miss him) to tickle me Elmo...a lot of things are turning 30. I can't believe 1996 was 30 years ago...I was eleven going on twelve that year.

   The first Scream came out that year. I never got into it and I never saw it. Now there are so many sequels of this movie that even Matthew Lillard, who played the villain in the original is going to be in the new one.

   Ooops....I gave away the killer. It was an ok movie, but it was predictable. Plus, they killed off Drew Barrymore

   It seemed around the 90's a lot of movies involved a natural disatser. Like Mother Nature was the supervillain. 

   Twister was one of those movies. I never got into that movie either since I found it to be...not worth seeing. Bill Paxton is a tornado chaser, and Helen Hunt is his ex. But they fall in love again at the end.

  Independence Day is another movie that made a sequel that bombed. The original had Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum trying to fight off an alien race. 

    It was...ok. Not bad, but it seemed a little overhyped. The movie became a big blockbuster hit as it made Will Smith a star and it was one of the movies we saw in theaters. What did I think of it? Meh

    Music has also changed. Some of their songs have turned 30. Songs like "Un-break my heart" by Toni Braxton, "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, "Wannabe" by Spice Girls, "Ironic" by Alanis Morrisette, "No Diggity" by Blackstreet...and many more songs.

    Some of the bands are still together; however, 30 years have gone by. God....time has flown by.

   Like I said, it has been 30 years since "Tickle Me Elmo" was a huge hit and became the number one selling toy.

 Like in 1983, Cabbage Patch Kids were the number one toy. That happed a year before I was born...but I remember this craze. By then...I stopped watching Sesame Street, and for some reason it felt more like a vibrator than it did a tickling toy.

 Can't believe it's been 30 years since certain songs, movies and even tv shows were on the air. I'm feeling old thinking about them.

    All the music and movies and toys and many things are around 12 years younger than me. 

  Nintendo 64 was considered a new version of Super Nintendo that made the games three dimensional. Like Super Mario 64, Mario Kart and many other games. 

   It was all right. We had one and my brother spent hours playing and winning Mario 64.

    

  30 years since Summer Olympics in Atlanta, movies that became famous, a toy that drove people crazy, TuPac's death and much more have happened. Even the death of JonBenet Ramsey happened 30 years ago.

   Time have flown and before you know it, ten years later, they'll be 40

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Alan Rickman

 

  Even if he is no longer with us, it doesn't mean we should remember a man who was considered an amazing actor. Alan Rickman. Born on February 21st in 1946. He would be 80 today if he were here. Let's talk about his life...his amazing life that was cut short from cancer.

Born in London, Alan got his start in theater in the 1980s. He didn't get his true starts with movies till later. 

   He was considered a Shakespearian actor with being in many plays like The Segall and Romeo and Juliet. He even worked in the Royal Shakespeare company 

   In 1989 he had his breakthrough role as the lead villain in the movie Die Hard as Hans Gruber. YES, IT IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE! He was nervous taking the role, but he was a pro portraying a villain taking a company hostage, even killing a few people to steal for the company.

   Burce Willis plays the hero. The irony is.... Alan is portraying a German villain, but he's British. Him trying to play an American as well. Bruce Willis was born in Germany. 

    Alan portrayed the villain in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I really don't remember this movie very well, but he does play Prince John well as Kevin Costner is Robin Hood.

  Roger Ebert had said kind things about him saying, "The man is Rickman, who you will look at the screen and know you have seen him somewhere."

   In 1999, Alan Rickman went into a comedy action movie called Galaxy Quest. It was a movie that was parading Star Trek starring Rickman as a Leonard Nemoy character with Sigourney Weaver and Tim Allen in it.

   I thought it was pretty good, Rickman couldn't get along with Tim Allen since they were from different acting worlds. He was considered a Shakespearian actor while Tim was more comedy.

   He went into some voice acting from an episode of King of the Hill to voicing a Caterpillar in the horrid Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie. His final voice appearance was voicing a Caterpillar in the sequel. The movie was dedicated to him.

    I don't want to forget one more performance he was known for the most. Staring as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies. From the first...to the last.

   With me not being a fan of the Harry Potter series, I don't know much about his character. Some people thought he would be a villain. But he was more a mentor to Harry Potter and his friends. I think I don't remember. I only saw the first movie.

  Alan passed away ten years ago before he turned 70 from cancer. I can't believe it's already been ten years since he left us.

   But he will always be remembered in the movies and tv shows he starred in. Especially Die Hard, where he got his start. He is one amazing talent that was taken from us too soon. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Alan.

Remember Siskel and Ebert?

 

  A lot of people have their opinions when it comes to movies, music and even TV shows. I watch Nostalgia Critic. His name is Doug Walker, and he talks about movies as well as tv shows.

   But there was a time where there were two men that made finding out what movies were considered the best, and what were the worst.

   There were others that were talking about Movies like Roeper, Shallot and others. But Siskel and Ebbert were the first to make it happen. 

   But both Siskel and Ebert had something different. They hated and loved each other movies. They even feel the same way about each other.

  They have a thumbs up/thumbs down system. Where... If they like a movie, they will talk about it and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down if hated.

    There have been many movies that I didn't like but Ebert and Siskel did. Or I liked a movie that they didn't.

    It amazes me that every year they pick one movie that was the worst of the year to them. One year, there was a movie called "North" that starred Elijah Woods and was directed by the late Rob Reiner. 

   Ebert commented on the movie saying, "I Hated this movie! I hated it, hated, hated this movie. I hate this movie more than the years we've have talking about these movies. It's making me cringe just talking about it. One of the worst movies ever made." 

   That was harsh. There were other movies he didn't like and yet...I did

  

   The reason I didn't know about them is because I found out about them after Gene Siskel died from brain cancer in 1999. He and Ebert were the best buds ever. Then, in February of 1999, Ebert found out his best friend since the 80's had died and he was on his own.

   They put the show on hiatus after Gene's death to find a replacement...but things defiantly have changed.

  In 2000, there was a new movie critic named Richard Roeper. He was the new Siskel, but he wasn't the same. 

  He did his best to help out as they still kept the thumbs up/thumbs down system as they too fought on movies that they either liked or disliked. But it didn't have the same spark that Siskel brought. He still was there until Ebert died.

   Roger Ebert had thyroid cancer that claimed his life in 2007. Roper kept the show going with other people when Roger was out dealing with his cancer. They had to take out part of his jaw, and he looked different from how he looked before.

   It was disturbing and depressing to hear his voice had changed too. Sad that he is now in the heavens with Siskel.

   Now both critics are looking down to see others talk about movies. The likes and dislikes of certain ones and thinking... "did we start a revolution involving rating when it comes to movies?"  I guess the answer is...yes.

   Now certain critics and influencers like Rotten Tomatoes rate on how good or bad a movie is by using a tomato splat or a rating.

  After Ebert's death, someone decided to write a book, memoir if you will about how movies changed us and how they are rated and it all started with two thumbs and two men who agree or disagree in movies.

    Even if they're gone, their ratings and words will still ring on...epically on movies they hated