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Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Diner - By Request

I must say that I am really happy that I have started up the “All-Request Wednesday” feature, because many of you have given me some fantastic ideas. I really do appreciate all of you for writing in to me via Facebook and Google+ and sending me your ideas. In fact, I am actively encouraging all of you to keep sending me your ideas on what you want to see in this blog.

In fact, why don't you also use the comments section in this blog to share with me your ideas on what subjects you want to see in this blog on a future Wednesday entry? I am always looking for new ideas, and I appreciate every one you send me!

Now, for this edition of All-Request Wednesday, I'm going to be taking a request from someone from Europe! (Well, okay, actually she was born in Canada, but works and lives in Italy). And, I want to extend a grazie to Cathy S. of Italy for giving me today's suggestion.

Before I go ahead with Cathy's great suggestion, I want to ask all of you something. And, I really want you to think about this answer, because for some of you we could be going back in time at least two or more decades.

Did you have a hangout during your teen years that you liked to go to?

I mean, in the world of pop culture, there are several examples. Archie and the gang hung out at Pop's Chocklit Shop, the Saved by the Bell gang hung out at The Max, the Happy Days crew had Arnold's, and the Winslows from Family Matters would spend time at Rachel's Place.

But, can you think of where you and your friends decided to hang out while you were teenagers?

I was really never one who did much hanging out in my own teen years (unless you could consider walking over to the local convenience store for a Slush Puppie with all the other kids as hanging out). But I think I know quite a few places in my hometown that could be considered hangout places.

There was the ice cream/tourist place on Block House Island which helped people meet and greet each other while indulging in frozen treats. And, well...I suppose that Dairy Queen has kind of become ice cream/tourist place 2.0 depending on the time of year one visits it.

Another place that some of the teens used to hang out at when I was a teenager was the local shopping mall. Back in those days, Walmart was the anchor store, and the food court was bustling with activity and delicious food. A lot has changed since then, but one thing I can say is that the food court still has delicious food...even though none of the original restaurants that were there fifteen years ago remain.

But you know something? There's a part of me that wishes that I had been born about ten years earlier than I was because there was one place in town that I used to love going to when I was a kid, and I would probably have loved to have hung out there in my teenage years.



Do you remember Woolworth's Department Store at all? We had one in town. And, I have likely told you several tales about how much I loved shopping in the toy department, and being able to choose whatever package of bubblegum I wanted to bring home with me whenever I took a trip to Woolworth's.

But the best part of Woolworth's was the awesome lunch counter. For some reason, I always found it a real treat to get one of those cheeseburger platters complete with french fries and gravy because it was a rare treat that I didn't get a chance to eat every day, and it was always a fun atmosphere. You got to sit on those awesome stools, watching the staff interacting with the customers. It was a really exciting time.

And, one memory that I had when I was a kid was seeing groups of teens hanging out at the lunch counter just having a good old time. I always thought to myself that when I was a teenager, I would have the same opportunity to do the same with my friends, but unfortunately, our Woolworth's location shut down when I was eleven. Still though, I think that's why I have such a love of 1950s style diners. The Woolworth's lunch counter kind of reminded me of being at one.



And, when you stop and think about it, I think that almost every teenager in the world has that one special dining establishment that they associate with their high school years. Whether it was a greasy spoon diner, a hot dog stand, or a Burger King franchise, we all had those special places where many of us spent our coming-of-age years.

And, that's why Cathy's idea is one that I wanted to feature, because her idea was about a movie that came out when she was a teenager herself...and it happened to take place at a diner.



In fact, that's the name of the movie. “Diner”, produced by Jerry Weintraub and directed by Barry Levinson.

As the tagline of the film promised when it was released nationwide on March 5, 1982, “suddenly, life was more than french fries, gravy, and girls”. And with a wonderful story and impressive casting, is it any wonder why “Diner” was one of the most well loved films of the year?

The film was set in Baltimore, right around the holiday season of 1959. Specifically, the days preceding the New Years Eve celebrations, which saw the end of the 1950s and the beginning of that turbulent decade known as the 1960s. And, the film depicts twentysomething men who have been friends since childhood, coming to terms with their adulthood, as well as the changing relationships that they have with each other.



The six friends are...

Edward “Eddie” Simmons (Steve Guttenberg) – a die-hard Baltimore Colts fan whose own wedding to Elyse on New Years Eve, 1959, is the event that is bringing all five men together again...but will Eddie be able to go through with the wedding?

Laurence “Shrevie” Scrieber (Daniel Stern) – the only member of the six-man diner crew who has already gotten married to Beth (Ellen Barkin), and who works as an electronics salesman...but when Eddie begins to ask Shrevie” for marriage advice, he may have to come to terms with the fact that he got married for all the wrong reasons.

Robert “Boogie” Sheftell (Mickey Rourke) – the womanizer and gambler of the group who finds himself in extreme trouble at the start of the film, and he is forced to confront the fact that his quest for fast money has gotten him off course.

Modell (Paul Reiser) - the timid one of the bunch - a very nice guy whose insecurities often prevent him from expressing what he really wants out of life.

Timothy “Fen” Fenwick Jr. (Kevin Bacon) – the rich kid of the group who has a trust fund as large as the hatred he has for his wealthy family, and who has dropped out of college to 'find himself'

William “Billy” Howard (Tim Daly) – the best man of Eddie, he is back in town to not only stand up for Eddie at his wedding, but to find out where things stand in his relationship with his girlfriend, Barb.

All six of these men have one thing in common with each other. They all loved to hang out at their...well...hangout. A diner that was located at the corner of Reistertsown Road and Rogers Avenue in Baltimore known as “Fells Point Diner”. And, because the film was titled “Diner”, most of the action took place at that very diner.

Now, I know what you all are thinking. How can a movie about six guys reuniting at a diner be anything other than...well...dull and boring?

Well, “Diner” certainly was not dull and boring. Not with scenes like this one...



...and this one...



...and even this one...



...or how about this one?



Now, I've purposely posted these clips randomly because of a couple of reasons. One, I think that all of these scenes are very well acted, and fit well within the film. And, secondly, because I think that in order to get a real feel of how good this movie was, you really would have to watch it in full by yourselves, because watching this film for research purposes, I can see why Cathy wanted to see a blog entry on this movie. It's a great film, and it seems to fit in with my opening spiel about teen hangouts. Everyone has a place in the world where they feel most confident and safe. For the guys in “Diner”, it was Fells Point Diner. Everyone has that one special place that they speak very fondly of because of the memories associated with the place. And for Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, Billy, and Fen, those memories will always remain, even as they grow older.

By the way, just to put things into perspective, all of the men who had starring roles in the film were in their twenties or thirties when this film was shot. Therefore it makes me feel incredibly old to know that Steve Guttenberg and Kevin Bacon are now 54, Daniel Stern is 55, Tim Daly is 57, and Mickey Rourke is now 60! Funny how time flies, isn't it?

Since we're on the subject, since I usually provide trivia for Monday Matinees, why don't I do the same with today's subject too? After all, “Diner” is a movie, right?

01 – Did you know that many of the scenes in the film were improvised? Barry Levinson encouraged the actors to make up their own lines in order to make scenes more believable.

02 – Actor Michael Tucker (“L.A. Law”) played Bagel in the film, and he talks in his native Baltimore accent in the film.

03 – The diner scenes were filmed last on purpose. Levinson wanted the cast to get to know each other first before filming all of them together on screen.



04 – You know the scene in which Eddie forces his fiancee to pass a football quiz before he will marry her? Turns out that scene was loosely based on a real-life moment in Barry Levinson's family! His own cousin allegedly did the same thing Eddie did. Kind of makes one wonder if that marriage worked out...

05 – Paul Reiser (who played Modell) didn't actually plan to audition for the movie at all. He accompanied a friend to the casting call. While he waited for his friend to audition, he was convinced to come back the next day to give his own audition, and the rest is history.

06 – Elyse's face is NEVER seen during the entire film.

07 – Believe it or not, the movie was almost never released as MGM believed that “Diner” would be a complete flop. It was only after Pauline Kael of “The New Yorker” gave the movie rave reviews that MGM did an about face and released the movie.

08 – This was the first movie project that Kevin Bacon worked on after leaving the soap opera “Guiding Light” in 1981 – ironically enough, he played the role of another guy named Tim on that show!

09 – Kevin Bacon was not in the best of health when he went to audition, as he was very ill. But believe it or not, that helped him win the role of Timothy Fenwick as he believed that as a trust fund kid/slacker he would be half-drunk, so he went ahead with the audition. He felt lousy that day, but it earned him the part!

10 – Would you believe that on the set of “Diner”, there was a trailer known by the cast as “the comraderie camper”? It was used by Levinson to keep the actors there whenever any friction developed between them.

11 – The main actors in “Diner” met a week prior to the film being shot in Baltimore, and the majority of the actors would hit the Baltimore night-life to hang out at bars and clubs and schmooze with women. The lone exception was then newlywed Daniel Stern, who just like his character in the film stayed away from the excitement.

12 – Apparently, there is talks to bring “Diner” onto the Broadway stage as a musical, and names linked to the project include Levinson and singer Sheryl Crow.





13 – There's a bit of a goof in the final scene of “Diner”. The music that plays is Bobby Darin's “Beyond the Sea”. The problem is that chronologically, it would be an impossibility. The film's ending takes place on January 1, 1960. The song “Beyond the Sea” wasn't released until months later.

14 – A television pilot was commissioned in 1983 based on the film by CBS, but it didn't become a full-length series.


And, that's our look back at “Diner”.

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

July 2, 1986

We are officially at the halfway mark in the year 2013. It seems hard to believe that 2013 is half gone! It's true what they say. The older you get, the faster time flies by. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. And, it's kind of scary to realize that time flows so quickly.

I think that's one reason why I love doing the Tuesday Timeline so much. It allows me to go back to a time in which I remember time flowing by ever so slowly...when the only things I had to worry about was deciding whether to use forest green or jungle green to finish colouring my pictures. Or, it allows me to go back in time to a period before I was born, and learning about all of the cool discoveries and pop culture trends that were in vogue back then.

So, let's take a look at what was going on in the world throughout history on this, the second day of July.

1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine

1776 – The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain; Declaration of Independence would follow two days later

1777 – Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery

1881 – President James Garfield is shot by Charles J. Guiteau; succumbs to an infection two months later on September 19

1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for the radio in London

1900 – The very first zeppelin flight takes place near Friedrichshafen, Germany at Lake Constance

1932 – Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, is born in Atlantic City, New Jersey

1937 – Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan go missing on Earhart's mission to be the first pilot to go around the world; their bodies are never found

1950 – Kyoto, Japan's “Golden Pavilion” at Kinkaku-ji burns to the ground

1962 – The first Walmart store opens up in Rogers, Arkansas

1964 – Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964

1976 – The Fall of the Republic of Vietnam

1993 – Actor Fred Gwynne dies at the age of 66 from pancreatic cancer

1995 – Krissy Taylor, the sister of model Niki Taylor, is found dead in Pembroke Pines, Florida at the age of 17

1999 – Mario Puzo, author of “The Godfather”, dies at the age of 78

2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly a non stop solo flight around the world in a hot air balloon

We also have a list of celebrities who are celebrating a birthday today. Among them are Pierre Cardin, Polly Holliday, Richard Petty, Larry David, Saul Rubinek, Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats), Jerry Hall, Bret Hart, Jose Canseco, Ozzie Canseco, Monie Love, Troy Brown, Michelle Branch, Ashley Tisdale, Dev, Margot Robbie, and James Forde.

There's also one more celebrity birthday that I want to discuss, and it happens to be someone who has recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. And, I just want to preface that this blog has never been one that likes take advantage of other people's misfortune, so if you're expecting a piece where I rake someone over the coals, it won't be happening here. While I will be talking about some of this person's bad choices, it won't be in a sneering tone. It will just be stated matter-of-factly. I want to try and keep this blog as positive a mood as I can.



So with that, I will state that this person was born on July 2, 1986.



And, I will also state that this person happens to be the troubled actress/singer Lindsay Lohan.

Now, for this edition of the Tuesday Timeline, I will be trying to do one of those “looking at the bright side” entries. I believe that for every mistake a person makes in their lives, there is an equal positive to counteract the negative...and in Lindsay Lohan's case, I will hope to showcase that for every negative action, there can also be a positive action. So, with that, on with the Tuesday Timeline.



You already know the basics about Lindsay Lohan. You know that she was born twenty-seven years ago in New York City to Michael and Dina Lohan. She's the oldest of four children (her younger siblings Michael Jr., Ali, and Dakota also dabbled in modelling or acting when they were children as well), and she began her career at the age of three, appearing in ads for Calvin Klein Kids, Jell-O, Wendy's, and Pizza Hut. When Lohan was just ten years old, she appeared in the NBC soap opera “Another World” for one year playing the role of Alexandra Fowler. She left the series in late 1997 to appear in Disney's remake of the 1961 classic “The Parent Trap”, and Lohan's performance was rewarded with a Young Artist Award in 1998, as well as a three-film contract from Disney. And, so, at the tender age of twelve, Lindsay Lohan was well on her way to becoming the next Shirley Temple or Hayley Mills.

So, what happened? Well, a lot of things.



Lindsay's parents were incredibly angry and volatile towards each other during their whole marriage. Although they had split up several times during Lindsay's childhood, their divorce was finalized by 2007. But with reports of Michael Lohan being incredibly abusive, and having been thrown in jail numerous times, and Dina Lohan starting up a reality show to put Lindsay's sister Ali in the spotlight, is it any wonder why Lindsay would end up hitting rock bottom on a couple of occasions? If I grew up in a family like that, I don't think I would be nearly as well adjusted. It certainly would explain such instances as the infamous theft of a necklace, the instances in which she has checked herself into rehab, and going from one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood to being barely unemployable.

I mean, yes...Lindsay is a grown woman now, and she is capable of making her own choices and facing her own consequences. And, I am most certainly not excusing her bad behaviour, and whatever consequences that come from that bad behaviour are whatever she has to endure in order to hopefully save her from herself. But back in the late 1990s and early 2000s when she was just a child...I don't know. I have to give her a lot of credit for having to go through that drama at such a young age. And, you know, I suppose in some ways, I can probably consider her to be a kindred spirit of sorts because she handles her frustration with things the same way I kind of do. In my case, I sometimes use this blog as a soundboard for what is going through my mind, and in most cases, it makes me feel a lot better. And, in Lindsay's case, she wrote a song about it.



ARTIST: Lindsay Lohan
SONG: Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)
ALBUM: A Little More Personal (Raw)
DATE RELEASED: October 18, 2005
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #57

Okay, so the song only peaked at #57, and was given mediocre reviews from critics. But I thought it was a necessary thing for Lindsay to do at the time. Clearly, she had a lot of anger towards the situation that she was in, and she needed a way to vent that frustration out. Hence came this single. I have to think that after she released this single, she probably felt better about herself for getting that anger out.

Like I said, this blog entry will be focusing on more of the positive aspects of Lindsay Lohan's career, as well as looking at the brighter side of things. I'm a positive person (mostly), and I always try to see the good in everything.

For instance, it seems hard to believe nowadays with her portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor in the 2012 television film “Liz & Dick” getting slammed by critics that at one time, Lindsay Lohan was a really wonderful actress – a budding ingenue who was expected to do great things with her life. And before it all began to spiral out of control, she was exactly that.



Her role in 1998's “The Parent Trap” was merely the first of many film projects that earned Lohan rave reviews. She appeared in another remake film, 2003's “Freaky Friday”, which also earned much praise from critics and fans. It also remains the most commercially successful film she has ever starred in.



But what was the most critically acclaimed film that Lindsay Lohan was a part of? Well, that would be 2004's “Mean Girls”, in which Lindsay was awarded the 2004 Teen Choice Award for Breakout Movie Star. But more importantly, critics applauded Lohan's performance in the film for showing “plenty of charm, verve, and deft comic timing”.



Of course, she has other success stories in film as well. “Confessions of a Teen Drama Queen”, “Herbie: Fully Loaded”, and “A Prairie Home Companion” were also well received, and cemented Lohan's status as the next 'it' girl.

But it was right around this time the the first of Lohan's problems began to be broadcast. She had had a couple of high-profile break-ups with “That 70s Show” star Wilmer Valderrama and restaurant owner Harry Morton, and she had begun to miss filming shoots because of constant illness. It certainly caused problems on the set of 2007's “Georgia Rule”, where the director of the film was so annoyed by Lindsay's demeanor that he actually wrote her a scathing letter which was made for public view, calling her out on her “excessive partying” and her unprofessional behaviour.

Though, again...looking at the bright side, Lohan's performance in “Georgia Rule” was such that I personally didn't know that there WAS so much turmoil behind the scenes. I guess that could be partly due to the strength of the cast that appeared in the film, which included Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman.

And, I'm pretty sure that Lindsay Lohan should probably never drive a vehicle ever again, as I have probably lost count of how many car accidents that she has sustained in her entire life.

And, yet, she managed to drive Herbie in “Herbie: Fully Loaded” with the slightest of ease. Go figure.

But, I suppose again, looking at the bright side of things...she hasn't killed or seriously injured anyone else.

(I'm really trying to keep this positive...believe me, I am.)

I guess if there's one thing that all of us can learn from the rise and fall of Lindsay Lohan, it is this. All of us are human beings, and for the most part, most of us never hit rock bottom in that we are left completely out of control of our own lives and have no idea of how to get out of it. But, I'm here to tell you that it is so easy to have that happen, and many times, we are caught off guard when it does.

And, I suppose that if I do have an ounce of sympathy for Lindsay Lohan, it's because I know how it feels to hit rock bottom. Okay, so maybe I've never been to rehab. Maybe I haven't smashed several cars. And, the closest that I've ever gotten to a jail cell was in sixth grade when my class went on a field trip to the local police station. But, I know how it feels to be completely and totally alone, without any support, feeling as though the world is against you. I know what it's like to have no prospects for the future because of the inability to handle your own problems. And while my definition of rock bottom is completely different from Lindsay Lohan's situation, I have felt as though I've hit rock bottom in some format. And, it's taken me a long time to claw my way out.

And, I think that it's going to take an extremely long time for Lindsay to do the same. But, she's already taking steps to try and repair her damaged credibility by staying out of the tabloid spotlight, and she's slowly taking on more acting roles in television to improve her image.



Here's hoping that as Lindsay Lohan turns 27, she will find a shovel and start digging upward.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Anne of Green Gables

The Canada Day long weekend of nearly 100% Canadian content concludes with an...interesting twist on a classic standard.



I knew well ahead of time that Canada Day would fall on a Monday. I'll also be the first one to admit that of the entire Canada Day long weekend, this day would be the one that would give me the most headaches.

Traditionally speaking, Canadian films have been largely ignored in the rest of the world. Canadian made films traditionally don't do very well at the box office (if they're even released in theatres in the first place). In fact, the last successful film that I can remember over the last ten years to be filmed entirely in Canada and starred mostly Canadian actors was the 2004 remake of the 1978 zombie classic “Dawn of the Dead”.

(I mean, don't get me wrong...I liked it and all...but still.)

So, to come up with a movie that was filmed entirely in Canada that most everyone has heard of? That was a humongous challenge.

Granted, many films that have been made within Canada many CANADIANS have not even seen yet, and I think that it's a real shame because many of them are quite good.

I mean, take a look at director David Cronenberg. He's released such critically acclaimed films as 1983's “Videodrome”, 1986's “The Fly”, 1996's “Crash” and 2005's “A History of Violence”. But, how many of you reading this blog right now will admit to even seeing one of these films?

I know that with the exception of “Videodrome” and “The Fly”, I can't say I remember seeing any of Cronenberg's films. I should make an effort to seek out some of them, because I think I should probably do at least one entry on one of his works.

(Reading between the lines, you already know that a Cronenberg film is NOT the subject for today.)

Atom Egoyan is another well-respected Canadian filmmaker, and the only reason I know so much about his works is because I watched a couple of them in various film studies classes that I took when I was a college student. If you get a chance to, check out 1994's “Exotica” and 1997's “The Sweet Hereafter”. Both are stunning pieces of film and well worth checking out. But, even though “The Sweet Hereafter” was nominated for a couple of Academy Awards in 1997, I have a feeling that not a lot of people remember watching it, and I really wanted to conclude this entry with a subject in which people all over the world could remember watching.

So, you see the dilemma that I was facing. How could I feature a Canadian made film that millions of people have heard of when Canadian films are often ignored by the general public.

It was at this point that I decided that the only way that I was going to make this work would be if I thought outside of the box.

If I couldn't decide on a feature film to spotlight, surely I could come up with another idea.

Not all movies premiere at a movie theatre with the red carpet premieres, the overpriced concession stands, and a gigantic movie screen. Some movies are specifically made for a television audience. Many television networks set aside budgets for made-for-TV movies, and some networks like “Lifetime” and “The Hallmark Channel” have had a ton of success with a plethora of films made specifically for television.

So, I decided to do some research on Canadian themed made-for-TV movies, and thought that by looking at the list of films over the last thirty years, I could be inspired to come up with a topic for today's Monday Matinee.

And, let's just say that I struck gold.

This film was actually a two-part miniseries. It debuted on the CBC network on December 5, 1985, and the four-hour miniseries was based off of a classic literary work by author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The book was about a red-haired thirteen year old orphan girl who has been adopted by two middle-aged siblings, and the adventures that she has growing up on their Prince Edward Island farm.

The girl's name was Anne Shirley. And, she was...



Anne of Green Gables.



Yes, I have decided to make today's Monday Matinee a television miniseries. But there's a very good reason why I have chosen such a classic to spotlight in this space for today. Firstly, the miniseries (which was filmed entirely in Canada) was based on a novel by a woman who was born in Canada. You can't get much Canadian than that.

Secondly, the miniseries is easily considered to be one of the most successful productions to ever come out of Canada, almost twenty-eight years after it was released. It was one of the highest-rated television movies of any genre to come out of Canada, and that success was repeated in the United States when the miniseries was broadcast on PBS in February 1986.

Thirdly, with the exception of a couple of actors and actresses involved in the production of “Anne of Green Gables”, the vast majority of cast and crew were Canadian.

And, lastly, the miniseries was so successful on CBC that it spawned at least two more films released in 1987 and 2000 respectively, as well as the long-running Canadian television series spin-off “Road to Avonlea”, which ran between 1990 and 1996 on CBC and The Disney Channel.



In the title role of Anne Shirley was the then unknown actress Megan Follows. The Toronto-born actress was seventeen years old when she won the role of the thirteen-year-old Anne. At first, director/producer/writer Kevin Sullivan wasn't sure if Follows was the best choice for the role, as he believed that the girl in her late teens could not convincingly play a thirteen-year-old. But Follows was persistent, and she was given the part, beating out at least three thousand other young girls who auditioned!

To Kevin Sullivan's credit, the miniseries follows along quite closely with the plot of Lucy Maud Montgomery's book. The only really major difference was that some of the events in the book were reordered in the film, and that there is a few scenes added into the miniseries that didn't appear in the book to help with continuity purposes.

The miniseries begins as we are introduced to Anne, who at the age of thirteen is not a very happy girl. Granted, looking back at my own experiences, age thirteen was a really bad year for me myself, but everything that I experienced during that period is NOTHING compared to what Anne had to deal with.

You see, Anne is introduced as a servant to the Hammond family in Nova Scotia, Canada. And the Hammonds are not exactly the nicest people in the world to work for. Poor Anne has to endure the family's constant cruelty and lack of compassion. It must have been so hard for her to go through that.



But when the patriarch of the Hammond family passes away, Anne is sent to live in an orphanage, freeing her of the indignities she had to suffer through while she was at the Hammond residence. Anne is later overjoyed to learn that she has been adopted by a Prince Edward Island couple, and when she arrives at the train station, she meets Matthew Cuthbert (Richard Farnsworth), who is stunned to see the flame-haired GIRL waiting for them. The Cuthburts had specifically requested a BOY to help them around their farm with the chores and work. But Matthew has an incredibly open-minded spirit, and his soft heart is charmed by the young girl. By the time that Anne meets Matthew's sister, Marilla (Colleen Dewhurst), Anne is immediately welcomed into the household.

But while Matthew is convinced that Anne can do no wrong, Marilla is a little less than welcoming towards Anne, who proves to be a major handful for her.



For one, Marilla is unable to cope with Anne's headstrong nature, and her penchant for saying things before thinking. Case in point, the relationship that Anne shares with neighbour and town gossip Rachel Lynde is best described as...interesting. Here are a few highlights below.



And, then there's Anne's little feud with classmate Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie), with whom Anne has an initially volatile relationship with. Let's just say that if you ever refer to Anne as a carrot, you might end up seeing stars, as poor Gilbert learned the hard way.


Truth be told, if there was one thing that Anne was the most self-conscious about was her hair. It was probably the reddest hair that one could have seen in all of Prince Edward Island, which made her stand out in a huge way. And, unfortunately for Anne, not all people were kind.

SOMEWHAT RELATED RANT: I don't quite understand the disdain that some people have towards red-haired people. I think red-haired people should be proud of their hair! It's one of the rarest natural hair colours to have, and that makes it special. So, lay off of the insults towards them, because it's not cool. After all, your insults may make the person with red hair feel so bad that they might attempt to dye their hair black, only for it to turn a sickly shade of green.

And, yes...that did actually happen to Anne in the film and the movie.

Anyway, back to the story of Anne of Green Gables.

As the story progresses, Marilla's opinion of Anne slowly starts to warm, and she grows to love the precocious girl. Matthew continues to be a doting parent to Anne and he teaches her a lot about what life is all about. And, gradually over time, her disdain towards her classmate Gilbert starts to thaw, even though both maintain a rivalry of sorts when it comes to education purposes. Though, somehow, Anne still manages to find some way of getting into mischief. And, well...getting her best friend drunk unintentionally certainly qualifies.

I don't really want to go into too much more detail about the plot because I really want you all to watch this miniseries. It truly is a wonderful Canadian masterpiece, and I think that if you really want to get a true feel of what Canada was like in its infancy, this miniseries is almost a perfect representation. But I can offer you a few clues as to what to expect.

Anne loses someone very dear towards the end of the book.
Anne is given the opportunity of a lifetime...but will she take it?
The relationship between Gilbert and Anne takes an interesting twist.

So, that's our look back on the 1985 miniseries, “Anne of Green Gables”, and I will say this. If you don't get a chance to view the miniseries, at least read the book. It is an outstanding piece of Canadian literature.

To conclude this entry off, would you like to know a few behind the scenes trivia about the miniseries? I bet you do.

01 – Schuyler Grant was one of the 3,000 actresses who was turned down for a part in the miniseries. But, don't worry. She still managed to get a part. She was given the role of Anne's friend Diana Barry.

02 – Mag Ruffman (who played Alice Lawson) would later have a co-starring role in the television spin-off “Road to Avonlea”.

03 – The final scene filmed for the miniseries was actually one of the very first scenes to be shown! It was the clip where Mrs. Hammond delivers Anne to the orphanage.

04 – Would you believe that Katharine Hepburn was once considered for the role of Marilla Cuthbert? She did turn it down, but ironically enough, her great-niece, Schuyler Grant was cast (see point #1).

05 – Do you want to know what the very first scene filmed was? It was the one with Marilla and Anne walking back home after Anne “apologizes” to Rachel.

06 – The miniseries won a record ten Gemini Awards in 1986, and was even awarded an Emmy that same year for “Outstanding Children's Program”.

07 – Kevin Sullivan was awarded a Peabody Award in 1986 for “Anne of Green Gables”.

08 – The miniseries was actually released theatrically in Japan, Iran, Israel, and parts of Europe! Considering that the miniseries without commercial breaks was a whopping 199 minutes in length, I am hoping that they had lots of popcorn to snack on!

And, that wraps up our Monday Matinee, as well as Canada Day weekend.

Happy Canada Day, everybody. Don your red and white with pride, have a barbecued burger for me, and set off fireworks responsibly!




Canada, 146 never looked so good!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Forgotten Songs of the Canadian Top 40

Happy Day Before Canada Day, everyone!



And on this, the last day of June, I've decided that I'm going to have a little bit of fun with this Sunday Jukebox for today.

As you well know, I've decided to make this Canadian holiday long weekend completely Canadian themed. And, when I was looking back at all of the Canadian artists who have graced their singles on the Billboard charts, I really had a difficult time choosing just one artist to focus on.

I mean, we have Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, Burton Cummings, and k.d. lang, just to name a few. And, certainly every single artist I have mentioned here deserves their place in Canadian music history from Mitchell's “Big Yellow Taxi” and Murray's “Snowbird” to lang's “Constant Cravings” and Lavigne's “Complicated”.

But what about all of those Canadian artists who were more or less one-hit wonders? Or what about Canadian artists who have had several singles hit the top ten in Canada, but only managed a couple of Top 40 singles in the United States? Or how about Canadian artists who eventually became successes in the United States, but released several albums in Canada that were rarely heard outside of Ontario and Alberta?

Well, this blog entry is for all of you. Because for this edition of the Sunday Jukebox, I've selected songs and artists that were born and bred here in Canada that you may have forgotten. In the case of a couple of these songs, the songs were recorded before these Canadian singers became huge stars.

But in all cases, these songs are the Forgotten Songs of the Canadian Top 40.

I'll be completely honest with you though. This list will mostly be featuring songs from the 1980s because many of these songs I remember hearing on the radio throughout my childhood. You have been warned.

So, let's begin with the list...in chronological order.



ECHO BEACH – Martha & The Muffins (1980)

Yes, believe it or not, there was a group in Canada known as “Martha & The Muffins”. Not exactly the most edgy of names out there, but the group did score a huge hit with their 1980 single “Echo Beach”. The group was founded by David Millar, Mark Gane, Tim Gane, Martha Johnson, and Carl Finkle, and the song “Echo Beach” was contrary to what some people thought, is not based on a real geographical location. Instead, it was meant to be a 'frame of mind' to escape the mundane aspects of life while on the job. It was written by Mark Gane at a time before he joined “Martha and the Muffins” when he worked a job checking sheets of wallpaper for printing errors.

No wonder his mind drifted to a place where he spent happier times.

Anyway, the song was so successful that it went gold status in October 1980, and it won a Juno Award that same year for Single of the Year. Unfortunately, the band's success following “Echo Beach” trailed off just a few years later, with the band's last Top 30 hit charting in 1986 with “Song in My Head”. But “Echo Beach” will always be a permanent reminder of the band's success.



MAKING IT WORK – Doug and the Slugs (1983)

Sadly, the band Doug and the Slugs lost its heart and soul in October 2004 when band founder Doug Bennett passed away from an undisclosed illness just days before his fifty-third birthday. But Doug's legacy will forever live on with this 1983 single, which was nominated for a Juno Award in 1983.

You have to admit that the song is a nice and catchy song with a great message behind it. Sometimes you have situations in which things might seem incredibly challenging, but you just have to find a way to keep your cool and make it work, no matter what.

That's the reason why I chose this song to feature by this band, even though “Who Knows How To Make Love Stay” was a slightly bigger hit. Both did make the Canadian Top 30 though.



I WANT YOU BACK – Sherry Kean (1984)

Many of you probably have never heard of this singer before. I know I didn't know of her until I became a teenager in the 1990s. Back in those days, MuchMusic (think MTV for Canadians) used to play nothing but music videos, and one thing that the station did was have theme weekends in which all the music videos were linked to that theme.

This song was one that was always played on the 1980s themed weekends, and you have to admit that it is a rather catchy song. Unfortunately, it was Sherry's only pop hit on the Canadian charts, even though she did win a Juno Award in 1984 for Most Promising Female Vocalist.

She attempted a change of style in the late 1980s by reinventing herself as a country music artist, but has not put out any commercial releases since 1989.



KISS YOU WHEN IT'S DANGEROUS – Eight Seconds (1986)

If there was ever a song that could be described as the quintessential Canadian one-hit-wonder, one has to look no further than the Canadian band known as Eight Seconds.

Bet most of you have never heard of this band, have you? That's because their success on the Canadian charts was almost as long as the band name they chose for themselves.

But, darn it if their eight seconds of fame didn't make one stunning piece of pop music. This was a song that I heard a lot of when I was in my kindergarten years, and the song did help the band get a Juno nomination in 1987. By all accounts, the reason the band didn't seem to take off was due to management issues with their record company, which lead to the band's second album being released almost four years after 1986's “Almacantar”, which is a shame, because I think that they could have done a lot more with their music than they were given the chance to.



ANGEL IN MY POCKET – One to One (1986)

This group was made up of the duo of Leslie Howe and Louise Reny, and their 1985 album “Forward Your Emotions” was released in Canada at a time in which dance music was starting to become all the rage on music charts all over the world. And, the success of “Forward Your Emotions” lead to a couple of smash singles. One was “There Was a Time”, which peaked at #14, and the other was this single, which made it to #24 on the Canadian Charts AND #92 on the Billboard charts.

True story: My hometown's AM radio station (now known as 104.9 JRFM) was obsessed with this song, playing it at least four times a day well into the 1990s. I often joked at the time that this record was the only one that the radio station owned! But, I didn't care much. It was a decent song! And following the demise of the group in the early 1990s, Leslie Howe became a record producer, most notably producing the debut album for Alanis Morissette (which you'll hear a song from a little later in this entry).



DANCING UNDER A LATIN MOON – Candi (1988)

Ah, Candi. These days, she's reportedly teaching music studies in the Toronto area, happily married to the drummer of her band, “Candi and the Backbeat”. But back in the days in which walkmans, Skip-Its, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all the rage, this sweet faced teenager was making sweet, sweet music. I suppose that you could call Candi the Canadian Debbie Gibson.




Candi certainly did have quite a few singles charting in her native Canada. I can still remember hearing the songs “Under Your Spell” and “Love Makes No Promises” playing on the radio during my second and third grade years. But the reason why I chose to feature “Dancing Under a Latin Moon” in this space is twofold. First, it was the only one of Candi's singles to chart on the Billboard Charts, peaking at #68. And, secondly, I remember hearing this song playing in the background when I had my first ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a summer carnival. Funny how some songs can trigger such interesting and fond memories, huh?



EVERY LITTLE TEAR - Paul Janz (1990)

These days, he's working as a professor, but back in the days in which he had long hair and rocked it out, Paul Janz had quite the long list of hits.  The one above just happens to be one of my favourites by him.  And, don't quote me on this one, but the scenes filmed at the train station were likely filmed at Toronto's "Union Station".  Having been there many times in my childhood, I recognize some of the scenery.  I could be wrong, but still...there's something familiar about it.



WALK AWAY – Alanis Morissette (1991)

Alanis Morissette is probably one of the most famous artists to come out of Canada. Her 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill” was one of the highest-selling albums of the 1990s, and she is still touring and recording music today. But “Walk Away” was recorded during a time in which she had outgrown getting slimed on “You Can't Do That On Television”, but before Dave Coulier broke her heart and she penned the angst-filled single “You Oughta Know” (allegedly). This was the time period in which the seventeen-year-old from Ottawa was still going by Alanis.




Sure, the song only managed to peak at #35 on the Canadian charts. But the single did have future Friends star Matt LeBlanc in the role of Alanis' thoughtless boyfriend. And, it was featured in the soundtrack to the 1991 film “Problem Child 2”. But, yeah...seeing Alanis Morissette trying to be the next Paula Abdul is always entertaining.



JANE – Barenaked Ladies (1994)

Long before the days of “One Week”, “Pinch Me”, and the departure of long-time lead singer Steven Page, the band was recording dozens of singles in their native Canada, all of which did incredibly well. Of course, most of the singles that the Barenaked Ladies did were not really the most serious of songs. One talked about how they wanted someone to be their Yoko One (complete with Yoko Ono singing), another talked about all the things they would do if they had a million dollars, and another was about some girl named “Enid”.




And then there was “Jane”, a nice ballad that peaked at #3 on the Canadian charts. And, there's actually a funny story about how the title character was named. Apparently, songwriter Stephen Duffy was doing some brainstorming during a songwriting session and happened to be staring at a road map of Toronto, where his gaze happened upon the intersection of Jane and St. Clair.

Hence the creation of the character “Jane St. Clair”. Neat story, huh?



OOH IT'S KINDA CRAZY – soulDecision (1998)

Okay, so I'll make a confession here. On one of my days off, I went shopping at a store in town, and this song was playing on the loudspeaker. It was a song that I hadn't heard for a while, and it was also a song that I didn't exactly gel to when it first came out on the radio, but it reminded me of the time period between high school and college as it was playing on the radio during that time.




But, I should mention that this was during the song's second time on the charts. It was originally released in 1998, peaking just under the Canadian Top 40 charts. But when the song was re-released in 2000 following the success of the band's single “Faded”, the song rose up to #18 on the Canadian charts, and #26 on the Billboard charts.

And, to conclude this entry off...I have to post one more song.  One song that almost every Canadian should know.



Happy day before Canada Day, all!