April 2-8: Sparks fly between Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Helen Mirren is the prime suspect, Morgan Freeman hunts a killer, the president gets a sitcom, Danny McBride and James Franco get high, Russell Brand makes either the best or worst remake ever, Workaholics is under-rated and the Borgias get cutthroat against Borgias. All that and more this week on Thirty Twenty Ten, your weekly look back on the week that was 30, 20, and 10 years ago.
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Hey. Long-time first-time here.
As a former Blockbuster employee in the early 2000s, I have a story about a DVD Easter egg on one of their employee training videos.
My store manager had me do a nonsense retail/up-sell training session one Saturday at a different store. They had me watch a DVD in the back room before testing out what I learned out on the floor. (I learned nothing.) After finishing the different chapters on the training DVD, I wound up back at the main menu. I fiddled with the arrow keys on the DVD remote; I was accustomed to looking for Easter eggs and wanted to waste as much time as possible.
Sure enough, I found an Easter egg on that training DVD. It was an outtake of what to do during a robbery at the store.
In the actual training video, it shows a person go up to the counter with a movie, set it down, and then pull out a gun. He asks for all the money in the register. The employees comply, and the robber runs out of the store.
In the Easter egg outtake, they replayed the end of that robbery. After the robber has fled, one of the employees notices the movie on the counter. He picks it up, opens the door, yells “Sir, you forgot your video,” and then runs out the store after the robber.
When I told the Assistant Manager about the Easter egg and showed it to her, she seemed only mildly amused.
Happy Easter, gang. Love the show. Keep up the great work.
Hangin’ with the Homeboys. What is a sub-group of American teenagers who have yet to have their own version of _American Graffiti_ made about them? That is a slice-of-life telling of them not going on any grand adventure but having realistic problems and obstacles that show the audience what it’s like for them to be teenagers?
Johnny Depp’s Blow. What is the film that you both dislike AND that you have watched many many many times?
Alec Baldwin on SNL Shweaty balls sequel about Wieners. https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-delicious-dish/n11456
The Sopranos “Second Opinion.” Thanks for the shout out and the episode where Chris talks in more detail about this episode can be found here. If any laserinos would be interested in appearing on our podcast talking about the Sopranos please get in contact with me. . https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sopranos-season-3-episode-7-second-opinion/id1514526610?i=1000508127553
Eden’s Crush – Get Over Yourself https://www.bustle.com/articles/68940-what-happened-to-edens-crush-the-group-wasnt-just-nicole-scherzinger-ya-know
A Place in the Sun. Is viewable for free on Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/Place-Sun-Montgomery-Clift/dp/B08BH2CH1Q/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+place+in+the+sun&qid=1617571008&s=instant-video&sr=1-1
Blockbuster not becoming Netflix Established companies almost NEVER end up as their own successors once some huge major massive disruptive change comes along in a previously mature industry. They try, sometimes, but it’s tepid and half-hearted or too late, and almost always bungled and/or internally sabotaged. Fundamentally new technologies (as opposed to incremental improvements) end up with new firms, unburdened by sunk costs, psychological barriers. The big problem with this is that truly majorly disruptive change would DESTROY the careers and positions of the most powerful people in a company. So usually (not always but usually) they do too little too late. That’s exactly what happened with Blockbuster.
Sharks are older than trees.
Are you aware of any fiction where the Wise Old Wizard in a young boy/teenager’s Hero Journey is actually a malevolent force to him?
#Thirtytwentyten Your Highness is NOT a good movie. At all. But it’s the only film (or book or tv show come to that) I’ve ever seen that tackles a common aspect of fantasy fiction that does raise a red flag for me. It’s very common in the Hero’s Journey for a young boy/teenager to hang out with an Old Hermit Man who lives far away from other people. As those two are far away from everyone else the young boy and the old men bond with each other. Now that -can- be perfectly innocent but as a parent there is no way in hell I’d ever want my real life child to be in that situation in real life. Your Highness straight up shows the possible downside to this trope in that the strange old creature could (and does) molest the young boy when he is far from his family and isolated with the weirdo oldster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yraA-nex4Ig
So I give it props for doing something in a genre I’ve literally never seen done before.
I’ve never seen it but I’ve been aware of Arthur for at least 35 years now. Which one is the best to watch in 2021?
Workaholics. My wife cannot stand Adam Devine and will not watch a single thing he is in ever, ever ever. She liked Pitch Perfect but wanted to fast forward anytime he came on. Which actor brings you the most pain/discomfort/disgust to watch?
The Borgias. Was the point when I realized that there was just no way that I could ever keep up with quality television anymore. It used to be that well acted, big budget, well written movie-quality TV shows were so rare that I felt I could watch everything I wanted to watch. But by the time The Borgias hit I realized that, “This show is up my ally. I like the actors. I’m fascinated by the setting. The first couple of episodes were good…. And I just don’t have time for it.”
The only Eddie Murphy character name I recognized was Axel Foley.