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Reviews
Beany and Cecil: The Special Edition (1999)
A wonderful trip down memory lane. I'd forgotten just how good it was
When I saw this available at Netflix, I put it to the top of my queue. All I remembered about Beany & Cecil were the title characters and that I had loved the show when I was about 5 years old. When I popped it into the player to watch with my two young girls and saw the intro, a whole flood of forgotten memories were awakened. It's weird, but hearing Cecil sing "a Bob Clam-pett Car-toooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnn!" was intensely pleasurable. Even though I hadn't heard that in decades, I remembered it instantly. Ditto for the villain, Dishonest John (Nyaa-ah-ah!)
The cartoons themselves were wonderful. They've been compared to Bullwinkle because their pop culture references (early 60's) and puns and jokes appealed to adults, but the cartoons are sweeter and sillier than Bullwinkle, but also more surreal. I particularly enjoyed all the Beatnik references when B&C when looking for Go Man Van Gogh, a beatniky wild man on the Hungry I-land.
My kids really liked them (and began singing "a Bob Clam-pett Car-toooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnn" around the house, so rent or buy this if you have young kids. But if you're in the 45-55 year old group, get it for the pure nostalgia overload.
Miracle (2004)
Even though I knew the outcome, I still welled up at the end. An excellent movie!
Kurt Russell has to be one of the most under-appreciated actors working today. For this part, he BECAME Herb Brooks. As for the movie, it's well-made, well-acted and extremely moving, even though you know the ending.
Al Michaels' call still gives me chills every time I hear it. Seen in the context of the movie, which showed the mountain Brooks and team had to climb, it was even more powerful. One thing the director did well was the opening montage which focused on the time during which the 1980 Olympics occurred. This was post-Watergate America, suffering from Jimmy Carter's malaise. Against that backdrop, the tonic the US victory provided can be better understood for those too young to have lived through it.
This is a movie to own and re-watch every so often. The DVD comes with additional footage of an ESPN interview with the real players. That's worth watching, too. This ranks up there with Field of Dreams as one of the best sports movies of all time.