Ok, Frank tells the mouse handler to staple the antlers on. After Frank dismisses the guy's pet story, Frank says "Marley...Perkins...the road".
Any idea what that bit references? I can't find a Marley Perkins in imdb.
Probably Marlin Perkins... from an Animal Documentary show in the 60s and 70s. Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
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This film is horribly dated now as it has a number of, not only 80s things, but 50s and 60s things (that Murray obviously grew up on, or the writers, as well) that don't play well to a newer audience. There's an abundance of tv refs that you had to have lived through either during their actual run or through re-runs. Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Addams Family, Courtship of Eddie's father, Little House. And anybody born after 1984 would probably say, "Who the hell is Lee Majors??" Six Million Dollar Man and Fall Guy weren't even popular in reruns.
There's also Tab, Buddy Hackett, Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr, the Solid Gold Dancers, Pioneer, VCRs!!!!
"If I had ya where I wanted ya, they'd be pumpin your ass full of formaldehyde!"
Guys, if you really think a film is "horribly dated" by those kinds of references, you are terminally screwed for enjoying anything made before 1990.
Or you could just realize you need to broaden your knowledge of the world and recent pop history, and look it up. Or just watch TV Land, where most of those shows still run.
Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com
Yeah really, I was born after this movie came out, I got most of the references, and any I didn't get, that's what you have a mother for who grew up in that time and can explain them.
shareYeah, just what I want to do during a movie. Turn to someone and ask "What's that? What's that?" or pause it every five minutes and head for Google.
"Jesus, does anyone?"
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Disney’s Aladdin was released in 1992. They let Robin Williams loose to make whatever jokes he wanted to and consequently dated that film.
shareWho doesn't know the name of The Minnow? I think I get six or seven channels now that play nothing but reruns, including The Six Million Dollar Man.
shareBut how many people actually watch that? Probably not many millennials, or later gens. And those folks are the audience that “counts” un Hollywood. They don’t even watch “channels” because they don’t have cable. They stream everything.
shareIt's even worse if you're not American. I'm in the UK, gen x and have never seen a single second of Gilligan's Island my whole life.
shareDon't feel bad. I am an American and have never watched it either.
shareI watched the Cartoon by Filmation a lot as a kid, never knew it was an actual show until my late 20s.
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They used a car to go back to 1955 "great Scott" lol
shareThe Richard Pryor joke totally went over my head the first time I watched this movie last year. But I've become a Pryor fan since then, and that joke totally blew my mind. Mostly because I didn't recognize it the first time, and this time it cracked me up. And I don't think it was in bad taste, even Rich himself made fun of it on stage.
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What was the Richard Pryor line referencing?
shareI don't know all the details but somehow Rich accidentally set himself on fire when he was freebasing.
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Richard Pryor was free-basing cocaine (very flammable) and lit himself on fire. He ran outside before the fire was put out.
shareI think it was the summer of 1980, when Pryor lit himself on fire by freebasing cocaine naked, then Pryor poured 151-proof rum all over himself and lit himself on fire. While ablaze, he ran down the street from his Los Angeles, California home, until being subdued by police and they put the fire out. I was too young to understand what happened then, I just remember my oldest sister and her friends talked about it. So throwing the water on him was putting the fire out on Pryor.
shareAnd then Michael Jackson's hair caught fire doing a Pepsi commercial and there was a joke going around about Pryor and Jackson being "Blazing Sambo's" (Pryor wrote "Blazing Saddles")
shareJust watched this movie for this first time, was born in 1987. I enjoyed the movie but it definitely feels fueled by pop culture references at times, more so than other Christmas movies they show reruns of on cable this time of year.
It's actually kind of fun; the movie acts as a time capsule of 1988.
Well said! There are so many films where one could attack the technology or the references, it's all about the era it was made; what else can you do?
"Guys, if you really think a film is "horribly dated" by those kinds of references, you are terminally screwed for enjoying anything made before 1990. "
That makes no sense.
The references were necessary to explain a character who was so obsessed with TV that he quotes or refers to TV shows throughout everyday conversation. He even mistakes TV show episode plots as memories. And (stating the obvious) he is a TV Executive!
Quite frankly, I think they are brilliant! So many movies miss the mark when developing a character. If you watch this movie, you know Francis Xavier Cross.
Bingo
shareIndeed. Many find stories by...say...Jane Austen, for example, fascinating because many of the things she writes about are completely dated...to the point of most of us not getting them at all or even getting them completely wrong. But the fans really enjoy learning about these antiquated/dated bits of trivia and feel better/superior(not in a bad way)/fulfilled whatever for knowing them. It's on the order of enjoying an "inside" joke. One develops a feeling of camaraderie with others who also know that "inside" joke and feels special in some way for knowing that joke while others miss it completely.
shareIt’s called FANDOM.
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I didn't get the Trump Tower joke. I mean, I know all about Trump and his buildings, but I don't get why the cellar/sewer supposedly looked like the Trump Tower.
shareHe was being sarcastic. It'd be like going into some woods somewhere here where I live in Southern Illinois and saying, "This looks like Chicago."
shareAfter doing some googling it seems to be a reference to the controversies regarding the construction of the building, particularly the criticism of its design and the destruction of the previous building.
shareHmm. I wouldn't know much of anything about that. I have never been to Manhatton.
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After doing some googling it seems to be a reference to the controversies regarding the construction of the building, particularly the criticism of its design and the destruction of the previous building.
spot on strntz , he was talkng about the opulence , or lack of it
shareIt dates fine. There are some jokes that might get missed, like the Marlin Perkins joke but you get the point of it regardless. My kids have never seen Marlin Perkins, I used to watch it all the time but it never hit syndication after the 80's.
It would be like me making a Marty Stouffer joke. It would fall flat on my kids, but if I was funny enough, the name doesn't matter. It's just a nature show joke.