Stuck in the '80s | John Hughes movies, retro-music and big hair

Still pining over Jessie's Girl: Rick Springfield to play Seminole Hard Rock on Dec. 30

2009-11-11T16:54:36-05:00

Rick Springfield is coming to Tampa on Dec. 30 to play the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. And I can say this securely and confidently:

If you're never seen "Dr. Noah Drake" live, do ... not ... miss ... this ... concert.

Sorry for the annoying punctuation, but I've seen Rick twice -- and hung out backstage with him both times (not to brag, but hey, yeah I'll brag. It was fun!). Both were excellent shows full of ever hit you can remember -- and some you shouldn't have forgotten. And if he's still doing the shtick where he comes out into the audience to play a couple tunes, then just cross your fingers that he'll launch into Jessie's Girl right in front of you.

Of course, Rick had a new album out in 2008 -- Venus in Overdrive -- so no telling if he'll throw in some current stuff with the old standards. Doesn't matter. The new album's good stuff.

Tickets for concert go on sale Friday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. through the Hard Rock Shop and Ticketmaster. Prices are $40 for general admission and $55 for reserved seating.

By the way, the Rick Springfield Cruise departs tomorrow (Nov. 12). Sadly, I won't be onboard. Somehow, I doubt the Rickster needs a wingman anyway.

[Times file photo]

Cusack-mania going strong: John talks '80s flicks with NY Magazine

2009-11-11T12:25:37-05:00

John Cusack is ALL over the place as his newest flick, 2012, is about to open nationwide. His latest appearance is in the pages of NY Magazine, where he actually goes back in time -- for a minute or so -- and talks about his '80s classics. Here are some highlights:

ON WHAT MOVIES STILL ENDURE: "Some of the ones that I make, like Say Anything, The Grifters, or even High Fidelity or 1408, those you can sort of feel right when they came out people were way into them. But I made a movie when I was a teenager, Better Off Dead, and people still come up to me and I'm like, "Wow." They quote lines to me and I don't even remember the movie that well."

ON 'ONE CRAZY SUMMER': "I remember even when I read the script for [Crazy Summer], they were mixing a teen movie with black comedy and even some surreal stuff. So I knew back then that this was a really cool tone and maybe this will be good."

Click here to read the full interview.

And if you're curious what Times film critic Steve Persall thought about 2012, here's his full review.

Michael Jackson speaks again during séance; mad that he's not buried with Monroe

2009-11-11T07:32:27-05:00

Michael Jackson has been contacted in the great beyond. And he's pissed.
On Friday night, celebrity medium Derek Acorah held an on-air séance on U.K.’s Sky1 to contact the King of Pop, according to PollStar.
"During the painful, one-hour exercise in the foolishness of people with too much free time on their hands, Acorah – who claimed MJ was speaking through him – revealed that, among other things, the King of Pop is furious that his final resting place isn’t near his idol, Marilyn Monroe," PollStar reports.
The only other palatable news from the séance: Jackson was singing Heal the World when he was contacted by Acorah.
We now return to the world of the living.

Sunny Days! Celebrate 40 years of 'Sesame Street' with a cool '80s t-shirt

2009-11-10T11:36:39-05:00

Sesame Street turns 40 years old today. And while I'm 99.9 percent sure I never watched a second of it during the '80s, I bet a lot of the Stuck in the '80s nation did. (Probably the same misfits who e-mail me every day begging for a Goonies podcast. Okay! I bought the DVD last week. I'll happen.)

One of our favorite sources for nostalgia T-shirts -- 80stees.com -- is celebrating the PBS show's milestone by offering 20 percent off all Sesame Street T-shirts. I'm seriously buying this one here.

Review: Devo's 'Are We Not Men' show is short but super

2009-11-10T10:31:21-05:00

Are we not '80s fans? No, we are Devo fans. At least many of us are, including Stuck in the '80s correspondent Christina Kajtsa, who lives in possibly the most un-'80s city of all: Seattle. (Death to grunge!) She caught Devo in concert last week and provides this short review:
Last night I went to see Devo in concert at the Moore Theater here in Seattle. They're only performing in 6 cities, doing two shows a night. One night they are only performing songs off their Are We Not Men?... We Are DEVO! album. The second night they're performing Freedom of Choice. I went to see Are We Not Men?....

The theater was sold out, and a little after 9 p.m. a giant screen came down from the top of the theater and starting showing old DEVO videos (specifically, Secret Agent Man and Mechanical Man). The crowd went wild once all the band members came on stage.

All of them wore their trademark yellow jumpsuits with the word "DEVO" printed across the chest and during the first two songs -- the setlist was the same order as the album... starting with Uncontrollable Urge and ending with Shrivel Up -- Mark Mothersbaugh kept ripping off parts of each of the band members suits (a sleeve here, a pant leg there).

I have to say, I was quite impressed with the show. I thought they would just stand around playing their old songs, but they had choreographed moves for each number (mainly just a lot of marching in place and in circles) and Mothersbaugh was all over the stage. He played the keyboard, the guitar, sang and ran around the stage with pompoms.

At one point in the show, they ripped off their yellow jumpsuits and wore nothing but black t-shirts and black shorts.

Unfortunately, the show was only about 70 minutes long. I thought they were going to play their greatest hits as well, but they mainly stuck to the songs on the We Are Not Men album.
Overall I really had a great time and I was impressed as hell that men who are well into their 50s and 60s still know how to show the crowd a good time.
[Click here to see if Devo is coming to your town.]
[Photo by SIT80s LA correspondent Brad Williams]

Married musicians focus on new sound of the '80s

2009-11-10T07:09:31-05:00

What do you get when you combine two New Yorkers -- one a kindergarten teacher, the other the grandson of a blind subway musician? Oddly enough, you an electro-pop duo that reminds me of They Might Be Giants with a dash of Oingo Boingo.

The Brooklyn band Jonka is actually a married couple, Jonathan Neufeld (the grandson) and Annika Kaye (the teacher), both 31 years old. The duo just released their debut album Slow and Steady Wins the Race on iTunes and cdbaby.com. Their music is definitely very upbeat and addictive. In other words, it's very '80s. [Listen to it here on their MySpace page.]

The pair recently fielded some questions from Stuck in the '80s about their band. Here are some highlights.

SIT80s: When I think of husband-wife music teams of the '80s, I think of bands like Timbuk3, ABBA and Fleetwood Mac. Very acrimonious. Do you ever worry about the pressure the band has on the marriage?

Jon: You know it's something to consider. There is a lot of push and pull in a marriage and with a band. If you are able to keep your perspective on the process and the enjoyment of both relationships, the marriage of the two can be seamless and productive.

Annika: Our romantic relationship developed way before our musical relationship. The further we grew in our relationship the better the music became. We've been together for eight years and just celebrated our first anniversary. Some of these songs were written on our honeymoon!

Jon: The steps towards our musical collaboration were organic and took time. The same can be said for our marriage.
Annika: By the way, my mom is Swedish and we listened to SO MUCH ABBA when I was growing up. They taught me a lot about singing a catchy and powerful harmony. Also, the first time Jon ever heard me sing my brains out was to a Fleetwood Mac song. He was like "woah."
SIT80s: What '80s bands were you both big fans of back in the good ole days? And which ones do you still listen to today?
Jon: We were impressionable kids during the '80s. You know, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Bangles, Prince, U2, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, etc. But we also listened to our parents' music which included Paul Simon, The Beatles, ABBA, Billy Joel, Elton John, etc.

SIT80s: What bands most influenced your music style?

Jon: We've been really impressed to find performers such as La Roux and Ladyhawke who are bringing electro-pop and retro-'80s back onto the scene. We're going to be a part of that scene in the not-too-distant future.

Are you ready for ... a 'Three Men & A Baby' sequel? ("That was rhetorical, boys")

2009-11-09T14:09:18-05:00

Steve Guttenberg, Tom Selleck and Ted Danson are set to reunite and film a sequel to 1987's Three Men and a Baby. (Because we refuse to quality 1990's Three Men and a Little Lady as actually existing.)
The working title: Three Men and a Bride, according to WENN.com. Disney is developing the film, in which their "baby" Mary would be given away as a bride.
“That’s going to be a smash. A smash hit. They’re bringing everybody back for that," Guttenberg told WENN. “Nobody knows about it. I’m the first to talk about it.”
(Is that anything like the first people to talk about seeing Ringo Starr's face in a droplet of water? Because that hasn't worked out all the well either.)
Guttenberg also claims to want to sequels for Police Academy, Cocoon and Short Circuit.
“They’re surefire hits and I think they’re good for the world," he says.
Okay, okay. Stop laughing. Maybe Guttenberg is right. We loved those flicks when we were kids. We liked all of Guttenberg's flicks in the '80s, from Can't Stop The Music to Diner to Bad Medicine and even High Spirits.
Wait ... Maybe it's really Steve Guttenberg who's good for the world!
(By the way, extra credit for anyone naming the movie I'm quoting at the top with the "rhetorical" line.)
TOP 5 UPLIFTING STEVE GUTTENBERG QUOTES:
5. "Anyone who could swallow two Snowballs and a Ding Dong shouldn't have any trouble with pride." (Can't Stop The Music)
4. "Hush little baby, don't you cry. When Peter gets home, I'm gonna punch him in the eye." (Three Men and a Baby)
3."I'm dead. So this is what it feels like. Like a hangover." (High Spirits)
2. "I hope you're not gonna to take your skin off! 'Cause I really like skin on a woman!" (Cocoon)
1."If you want to talk, you always have the guys at the diner. You don't need a girl if you wanna talk." (Diner)

Walk(out) this way? Joe Perry says Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith

2009-11-09T09:33:47-05:00

Has Steven Tyler finally quit Aerosmith? Guitarist Joe Perry told the Las Vegas Sun that it's true.
“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry told the Sun. “I don’t know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.”
Aerosmith has been on hiatus since Tyler fell off a stage and badly hurt himself over the summer. But in September, Perry told Times pop music critic Sean Daly that the band was still together. "It's just time for the band to stand back and let the dust settle," Perry said then. "Aerosmith is not broken up. We're going to take a good healthy sabbatical."
So something has obviously changed. Over the last week, reports on the Web have popped up about Tyler wanting to refocus on music career on himself -- something he has dubbed "Brand Tyler."
Still, Perry is thinking of continuing Aerosmith -- with or without its signature lead singer. (His Joe Perry Project, by the way, is playing St. Petersburg's State Theatre on Dec. 5.0
“Obviously he hasn’t been giving 100 percent to this thing for a long time,” Perry told the Sun. “He’s obviously had this planned for a long time. ... As far as replacing Steve, it’s not just about that, it’s also four guys that play extremely well together, and I’m not going to see that go to waste.”
[AP photo]

Reason #257 to hate the IRS: The taxmen hate the '80s!

2009-11-08T10:10:10-05:00

Echo & the Bunnymen have canceled their fall U.S. tour for which reason:
A) Tired of explaining band's name to clueless media.
B) They can't bring themselves to play Bring On The Dancing Horses from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack in the wake of John Hughes' passing.
C) They're in some sort of fight with the IRS.
Pretty sure the correct answer is "C" ... but don't rule out "A" or "B."
"It’s with the deepest regret that Echo & The Bunnymen have had to cancel their USA November tour," the band announced on its official website. "This is due to unreasonable demands been presented by the IRS for the band to enter the USA to tour. This is not a VISA issue as some websites have stated."
The tour was set to start Nov. 15 in Atlanta and run through the month. To see what we're missing, check out the Bunnymen's blog from their recent U.K. tour.
What the heck is the IRS doing getting involved with touring plans? Is this about the $12 I still owe the taxman for my 2008 taxes? Dude, the check is in the mail. Let the Bunny fun commence!

Beer shotgunning, mix tapes, skiing, professional assassinations: All from one '80s star

2009-11-07T07:59:54-05:00

Leave it to John Cusack to teach you everything you need to as a young male growing up in the glorious days of the '80s. And yes, I seriously still occasionally shotgun a beer -- The Sure Thing style -- lifting the empty, still-cold can high in the air afterward to salute my '80s hero.

Seriously. Look at the best movies of Cusack's career and you can learn a trade from any of them.

THE SURE THING: Sure, the beer thing. But also how to woo women. (Buy her a rose!) Actually, you learn how NOT to woo women. (Don't admit you're going across the country to bed a girl you never met.)

BETTER OFF DEAD: How to ski ... sorta. But more importantly, how to fix a Camaro and grill up a tasty Pig Burger.

SAY ANYTHING: Kick boxing, sport of the future.
GROSSE POINTE BLANK: How to kill the president of Paraguay ... with a fork.

HIGH FIDELITY: How to make the perfect mix tape. And how to make the worst decision of your life (aka passing up Lisa Bonet for Iben Hjejle. Dude! What ... were ... you ... thinking?)

I could go on and on, but I won't. Because frankly I'm out of ideas. And because we're going to cover all these bases again in this week's Stuck in the '80s podcast: Our salute to the best (and worst) John Cusack movies of all time. (Just a spoiler here, but Journey of Natty Gann didn't make it on either list.)
Click here to download the show. Or click here to get all our podcasts for free via iTunes.

The new Yogi: Dan Aykroyd is smarter than your average '80s star

2009-11-06T13:53:09-05:00

Hollywood is at it again, trying to force a Saturday morning kids program into a big-screen hit. (Worked great with Land of the Lost, didn’t it?)
The latest will be a real bear. Warner Bros. plans a live-action/computer-animated version of Yogi Bear. Hmmm, that could be good ... depending on the voices.
According to Variety, the first choices are Dan Aykroyd as Yogi and Justin Timberlake as his trusty sidekick. “Heeeey, Boo-Boo. This sounds tastier than that pic-a-nic basket!”
Aykroyd has the perfect voice for Yogi, and unlike other '80s stars, he seems to have a better eye lately for picking movie projects with potential. (Christmas with the Kranks? Okay, I take that back.)
As long as Will Ferrell doesn’t show up as Ranger Smith, we think Hollywood’s back on the right track again.
TOP 5 DAN AYKROYD ROLES OF THE '80s:
(BTW, it's totally worth clicking on the links below to see the videos, just to remember how truly bad trailers were in the '80s.)
5. JOE FRIDAY (Dragnet): "Look out. Muppets."

4. ROMAN CRAIG (The Great Outdoors): "Why do Chet's kids look at him like he's Zeus and my kids look at me like I'm a rack of lawn tools at Sears?"
3. BOOLIE WERTHAN (Driving Miss Daisy): "You're a doodle, Mama."
2. LOUIS WINTHORPE III (Trading Places): "Those men wanted to have sex with me!"
1. ELWOOD BLUES (The Blues Brothers): "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail us now."
Just missed the list: Vic (Neighbors), Austin Millbarge (Spies Like Us), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Ghostbusters), John Burns (The Couch Trip)

Not a chance: Clifford Skridlow (Doctor Detroit), Steven Mills (My Stepmother Is an Alien), Capt. Tom Everett (Caddyshack 2)

John Cusack talks up latest back-to-the-'80s flick 'Hot Tub Time Machine'

2009-11-06T09:38:14-05:00

John Cusack doesn't chat up the media nearly often enough, but here he is talking about his latest bizarre-beyond-belief project Hot Tub Time Machine.
"It's pretty fun if you like those old movies," Cusack tells i09.com. "There are some characters that make fun of those old movie characters like the stock bad guys on the ski patrol and the things like that."
Craig Robinson, Clark Duke and Rob Corddry are co-starring with Cusack. But look for '80s-centric performances also by Chevy Chase and Crispin Glover.
Cusack said he agree to tackle the movie because the studio gave him the ability to write the script on the fly -- on the provision that shooting start right away.
"It was a very insane project and time frame, but we decided to do it anyways," he says. "It was a mad dash. Because you know what the f--k? It's just this insane juggernaut."
Click here for the full interview. Click here for the latest trailer, which is full of NSFW language. The movie is set for a March 10 release. And wow, Hot Tub Time Machine has its own official website already.

Greatest sci-fi photo ever: Twin Princess Leias in slave bikini outfits

2009-11-05T12:07:38-05:00

In case you have any doubts as the brilliance (aka "puberty-inducing effects") of the original Star Wars trilogy, take a look at this: Carrie Fischer and her stunt double napping on the set of 1983's Return of the Jedi ... while wearing their epic metallic slave bikinis.
I'm sure that moments after this photo was taken, the photographer fell to his death after slipping in a puddle of his own drool.
Credit goes to SciFiWire.com and their astute contributor known only as Kottke.

U2 builds a new wall before playing big Berlin Wall show

2009-11-05T11:07:10-05:00

U2 is in Berlin, Germany, today to play a show in front of the historic Brandenburg Gate. The performance marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Here's a short video showing the scene today. Check U2Log.com for more updates.
But the big stink today is from fans who are outraged to find that a 12-foot metal barrier has been built around the concert site to block the view for those with no tickets.
"Both Berliners and tourists alike saw the irony in building a wall around a concert dedicated to the wall that has already come down," the AP reports.

Personally, I'm outraged that the Scorpions aren't on hand for Winds of Change! .... Still lovin' the Philharmonic version.)

This cuts like a knife: Bryan Adams turns 50

2009-11-05T07:46:30-05:00

Everyone's favorite '80s Canadian star -- well, besides William Shatner, Dan Aykroyd, Michael J. Fox, Eugene Levy, all the Kids in the Hall, the members of Rush and that guy who was once in that show I heard about -- what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, Bryan Adams turns 50 today.
Though he professionally resists being labeled an '80s musician -- his PR person once told me "he's more Stuck in the '90s than Stuck in the '80s" and hence wouldn't talk to the podcast -- Adams' debut album actually was released in 1980. It was his second album -- You Want It You Got It -- that contained his first big hit, Lonely Nights, in 1981.
Over the course of the '80s -- the Non-Adams Decade? Sorry, PR pro, that has no zing (or sense) to it -- Adams scored almost two dozen singles in the Top 40 in the U.S. (two reached No. 1). In the '90s, he'd score hit after hit with tunes for movie soundtracks, including (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman and I Finally Found Someone.
Adams is still recording and touring these days. His 11th album -- titled 11 -- was released last year and scored a moderate hit with I Thought I'd Seen Everything. Still, if you want to catch him live in concert, your best chance is to buy a plane ticket to Europe, where Adams seems to focus his touring efforts.
Happy 50th, Bryan. We'd still love to chat with you someday. Here are five hits from the '80s to remind you that you were once a part of us.
TOP 5 HIGHEST CHARTING BRYAN ADAMS HITS OF THE '80s:
5. SUMMER OF '69 (1985): Watch video
4. HEAVEN (1985): Watch video
3. HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1987): Watch video
2. SOMEBODY (1985): Watch video
1. RUN TO YOU (1984): Live performance

'Lloyd Dobler' mob invades NYC on 20th anniversary of 'Say Anything'

2009-11-04T07:31:06-05:00

"One question: Do you need ... someone, or do you need me? ... Forget it, I don't really care."

The John Cusack classic Say Anything turns 20 years old this year. (Technically it was released in April 1989). A new 20th anniversary edition of the DVD hit store shelves this week. And on Tuesday, mobs of Lloyd Dobler wanna-bes swarmed New York City to celebrate.

Whitney Matheson at Pop Candy has the full scoop and more photos.

Meanwhile, as Sean Daly and I prepare to release our own epic John Cusack podcast this week, we need to know this: What are your picks for BEST and WORST John Cusack movies of ALL TIME?

Leave us a comment below!

John Connor, get your checkbook: 'Terminator' franchise for sale

2009-11-03T14:24:38-05:00

How can we possibly be out of the recession if something as historically epic as the Terminator franchise is up for sale?

Deadline Hollywood says Sony, Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital are all fighting for the highest bid when the entire Terminator franchise -- movies, TV shows, the works -- is auctioned off this month.

"The sale is being conducted by FTI Capital Advisors for Halcyon which bought the Terminator rights 2 years ago for $25M from Mario Kassar," Deadline Hollywood explains. "Halcyon recently filed for Chapter 11 after a dispute with Pacificor, a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund that lent Halcyon the sum to buy the Terminator rights."

What the heck? That's Wall Street mumbo jumbo to '80s fans. We half-expected SkyNet to be involved.

TOP 5 MOST DEPRESSING LINES IN 'THE TERMINATOR':

5. "Pain can be controlled - you just disconnect it."

4. "Maybe it'll be enough if you know that in the few hours we had together we loved a lifetime's worth."

3. "I can't help you with what you must soon face, except to say that the future is not set."

2. "Nobody goes home. Nobody else comes through. It's just him - and me."

1. "Look at it this way: In a hundred years, who's gonna care?"

'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' sequel in the works

2009-11-03T11:01:07-05:00

It's been 21 years since Who Framed Roger Rabbit changed the way Hollywood studios thought of animated feature films. So you know what that means, right?

SEQUEL TIME!

Robert Zemeckis, who directed the 1988 flick, tells MTV News that he finally has commissioned a script, to be penned by Roger Rabbit's original writers Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman.

Still no official word on whether the new movie is a remake or a sequel. (Does it matter at this point?) Zemekis is also being quiet on what new technologies he'll use and which characters will return. If you've seen Kathleen Turner lately on Showtime's Californication, you might rethink wanting her back as Jessica Rabbit. Her voice sounds a bit gruff these days. (Too many cartoon anvils to the head?) Just remember: She's not bad. She's just drawn that way.

TOP 5 NON-CHILD-FRIENDLY LINES IN 'ROGER RABBIT':

5. "Not prostate, you idiot, PROBATE!"

4. "I would have been here right after you called, but I had to shake the weasels."

3. "Is that a rabbit in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

2. "Oh, Roger. You were magnificent. ... Better than Goofy."

1. "Nice booby trap."

Rusty and Clark Griswold back together for 'Community' reunion

2009-11-02T10:19:02-05:00

Anthony Michael Hall will reunite with his Vacation co-star Chevy Chase for an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom Community, TV Guide Magazine reports.

Hall played Rusty Griswold -- the son to Chase's "Clark Griswold" -- in the first National Lampoon's Vacation back in 1983. (Each sequel cast a different actor as Rusty.)

For Community, Hall is hardly the "Farmer Ted" from the '80s that we all remember. Instead, he'll play a bully who challenges star Joel McHale to a fight. His scenes were filmed last week. The episode is set to air Dec. 10.

“When I first heard about it, I said to the producers, ‘That’s great – you’ve got the Breakfast Club homage going,’ and they said, ‘Huh? Oh, right! Of course!’ " McHale told TV Guide, tongue-in-cheek. "But it’s also cool because it’s the first time Anthony and Chevy Chase have worked together since the first Vacation movie.”

Seems like every successful TV show these days needs an '80s angle. Does that mean we're in charge now? We promise not to use our newly gained power to do anything irresponsible. Like forcing John Cusack to make Better Off Dead 2: The Return of Johnny.