movie – Leigha Robbins

Teenage Dreaming

Back in 1979 I was a teenager, barely. But I was typical… wanting to fall in love and having crushes left and right. I was also into music and the men that made it. So when this movie came on one night about a 13 year old falling for her crush (her rock star wanna be guitar teacher) I HAD TO see it.

To this day I still own the soundtrack album for that movie, Sooner or Later. What does that have to do with anything other than my budding emotional overloads thanks to musicians? A song. Rex Smith (who played the the girls crush, Michael) sang a number of songs for the LP that was released. With that great feathered hairdo, how could he go wrong as a heart throb! So of course, I own the LP and still know most of the songs by heart. This is where the connection comes to play.

One of the songs on the album was a song called, “Ain’t That Peculiar.” Looking for a video of the song I came to find that not only had Rex sang this song, but also so did Marvin Gaye and the group Fanny among others. So, here is the version that hooked me and then Marvin Gaye’s hit.

Isn’t he just dreamy?

*****

Written for Fandango’s One Word Challenge (FOWC) – Peculiar

Let’s Go

Hurry up Mom. The movie is gonna start soon.

Relax Monica, we will have plenty of time to get there.

But this is the premiere and I have waited years for this book to become a movie. There will be a ton of people there.

Ok, but remember we have tickets already, so it is not like we are not going to get in to see it. And if the snack bar line is too long, you can go ahead into the theater without me. I am ready though, so we can go now.

Thanks Mom, I just can’t wait!

(100 words)

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – premiere

Rule Breaker

Yep, I am breaking the rules. I am jumping almost two weeks ahead… well not ahead, but to today. I haven’t done many of Fandango’s Who Won the Week challenges but I had to post today.

My winner for the week is the state of Iowa, specifically the city of Dyersville. After years of talk and planning and hoping… the first major league baseball game ever played in Iowa happened. But it wasn’t just a regular ballgame. This was a scene from a movie played out.

‘The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox met in the corn fields of Dyersville to play the Field of Dreams game. Old time uniforms, a audience of Iowan fans and a visit from the film’s star all made for a mgical night. No, I was not one of the lucky ones to get a ticket, but we did catch most of the end of the game on TV. It was so cool to see the homers disappear between the rows of corn.

Some of the best news was later on when I heard not only the game would be played again next year, but it was the highest watched ball game in the last 16 years on TV. So cool.

My winner for the week… the Field of Dreams.

Written for Fandango’s Who Won the Week (FWWTW) – August 15

Mumbles … Pristine

I hear the word pristine, and I can’t help but head back to my youth. The movie The Breakfast Club spoke for my generation and many more to follow. A timeless tale of stereotypes and the stress of teen life. It was a scene with Bender giving Clair a hard time and she flipped him the bird. His reply, “Obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl.”

The movie had me relating with Allison (Ally Sheedy) who was desperately trying to be herself but fitting in nowhere. And Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) who was under a lot of pressure to get good grades. I was incredibly shy and wanted to belong somewhere and was in the shadow of my sister’s good grades.

The prom queen (Molly Ringwald) and the jock (Emilio Estevez) were not in my league. I was awful at sports, very uncoordinated, and like I said, I was shy, not a social butterfly. And I was far from Bender’s (Judd Nelson) character as I was the daughter of a cop and walked a straight and narrow line.

I have watched the movie numerous times and still today feel a wave of emotions from the film. It was quality film making and helped launch the members of the “Brat pack” into stardom. I randomly still quote lines from the movie and can pretty much follow along with the dialog now if I watch it. If you have not seen this John Hughes gem… I recommend you watch it!

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – pristine

(A2Z) Ready to Rock?

REO Speedwagon, Ray Charles, Rupaul, Rascal Flatts… R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Radar Love, Raspberry Beret, Rebel Yell… Rhythm, radio, recorder, roadies… really want to relax with one of these.

I earlier mentioned my love of musicals during the letter F… this is one of my all-time favorites, Rent! The music is good, the story is heartbreaking but good. I have seen the movie and a touring stage production. Both have their own merits and are better in their own way. Just don’t ask me to pick a favorite.

By far my favorite part is when they go into the diner and sing “La Vie Boheme.” A close second is the introduction to Angel – “Today for You.” And you can’t dismiss the opening and closing song of the musical, “Seasons of Love.” It is all good, music, dance, acting… now I must get out my DVD!

Blogging A to Z April Prompt

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q

Know This One?

Kiss, Kenny Loggins, Kid Rock, Katy Perry… Keep Pushin’, Killer Queen, Kiss You All Over, Katmandu… Kettle drum, Koto, Key, kazoo… Keenly awesome collections.

I struggled a little with a K artist, song or music term to use for this one. I have decided since on occasion it happens to be on late night television and I do love her singing I will go with Kelly Clarkson. I am still not so sure I like her for her interviewing skills. But I love the energy she brings to every performance,

I will admit we had the DVD To Justin From Kelly in our movie library for a time. Whether my daughter will admit it or not, she, as a kid, thought it was a good movie. I barely remember it actually, but want to say it had some good music in it for a “teen movie.”

Here is one of Kelly’s songs that I enjoy…

Blogging A to Z April Prompt…

A B C D E F G H I J

(A2Z) First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Fats Domino, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Sinatra, Fall Out Boy… Faithfully, Fat Bottom Girls, Flowers On The Wall, F***ing Perfect… French horn, forte, fugue, flute… fun and fantastic finds.

What is your favorite type of film? I had seen the big music productions from the fifties, but it was when a movie about a group of high school kids hit the big screen I really connected. The movie was Fame. I saw the movie several times, read the book and then they did a TV series that ran from January 7, 1982 to 1987 and I would tune in weekly.

I was not a dancer, a musician or an actor want to be, but I did love words and had dreams of writing song lyrics someday. And I had the biggest crush on Lee Curreri who played Bruno Martelli. He was actually the first person I wrote a fan letter to… and he actually sent back an autographed picture. At 16 years old I was over the moon!

The show did not focus solely on aspiring performers, but kids in high school and all that comes with that too. But they did have musical numbers and dancing every episode… I loved the show! And I will share a clip from one episode where Lee/Bruno sang a song I loved, “Be My Music.” Incidentally it was cowritten by Lee Curreri and Ethan Hurt.

(isn’t he cute! 😊)

For Blogging A to Z April Prompt…

A B C D E

Trouble With A Capitol T

Way back when my mind was affected… I would never look at the word “trouble” the same way again. Travis Tritt tried to alter my view in 1992 but The Music Man kept me locked in with “a capitol T and that rhymes with P and that stands for “pool.””

Here is the Trouble song from The Music Man…

And Travis Tritt’s attempt to sway me…

For Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – trouble

Mumbles … Scalawag

I learned a couple of things today. First of all, Scalawag is not just a term pirates used. It was also a derogatory term used after the Civil War by Southerners towards those in the South that were working with the Northerners trying to reunite the country. I always just thought it was a term for someone like a scoundrel or rascal.

But that is not all I learned. I learned that Kirk Douglas wrote (along with Robert Louis Stevenson and two others), directed and starred in the 1973 movie Scalawag. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but I see according to IMDB it was made in Yugoslavia and only got a 5.1 out of 10 rating.

And I did a search for a quote with the word in it. Leave it to George Carlin to come up with something, “I went through the usual stages: imp, rascal, scalawag, whippersnapper. And, of course, after than it’s just a small step to full blown sociopath.”

I hope you learned a little something today too.

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – scalawag

Running Late

“Karen will you hurry up, we are going to miss the previews.” Sarah was standing at the door waiting for her roommate to get ready to go to the movies.

The apartment phone began to ring. “Sarah, can you get that? It might be Tom.”

“Hello?” she said with a sigh. It was not Tom; it was someone selling car warranties. “Let’s go Karen. It wasn’t Tom by the way.”

“Ok, be there in a second.” There were some noises coming from Karen’s room. “Here I come.”

The two women left the apartment and got into Sarah’s car. She may have gone a little fast to the theater, but Karen said it was ok, because there were no cops around. They pulled into the parking lot 7 minutes until start time. Sarah said, “You get the popcorn and pop and I will get our tickets.”

Finishing in their lines at about the same time, they headed to the theater. They flew open the door, found their seats and the lights almost instantly went down. Karen smiled and turned to Sarah, “See, plenty of time. It was perfect timing.” Sarah rolled her eyes in the dark.

Written for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (FOWC) – preview

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	leigha66 on Mumbles … Salvage