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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

VHS Seventh Heaven

Some people went to
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
and memorized it.

I was always too timid
to venture out that late
among all the self-congratulatory
freaks.

But when VHS came about
I was in seventh heaven:

memorizing the rhythm
the cadence of
Groucho and Chico
bantering in “Duck Soup”

William Holden
leaving Faye Dunaway
with pithy eloquence in
“Network”

Dustin Hoffman’s
grand deception
unraveling with
masterful despair
in“Tootsie”

Richard Dreyfuss
and Marsha Mason sparring
and falling in “The Goodbye Girl”
set an ideal for dialogue
rarely encountered
in real-life,

almost every Woody Allen
film,
(pre-Soon-Yi)
schlmiel neurosis
giving a defiant voice
to this misfit teenager

Ray Liotta as
the amoral narrator
in “Goodfellas”

Bert Lahr in “The Wizard of Oz”

Zero in “The Producers”

Linus explaining
the true meaning
of Christmas

I’ve lived in
and through
these movies
more than five times
each

and now I want
to see them
all
again.

[Posted for http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-tuesday-platform_15.html .]

16 comments:

  1. Oh dude, you're speaking my language, big time. I am a VHS junkie! Well, I was, until life without a VCR ensued. :(

    All my faves, I watched probably 100 times each. I had the most ridiculous video collection in my early twenties. :)

    GoodFellas is high on my favorites list. I just watched it again a few weeks ago, actually.

    Hey, did you ever watch SuperBad? You're missin' out, if not. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, it comes on TV this afternoon. Comedy --- 107 on Dish Network, for me. See if you're getting it.

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  2. I could never memorize anything either except maybe Monte Python and the parrot...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... and the Crunchy Frog. "If we took the bones out of it, it wouldn't be crunchy, would it?"

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  3. I am a huge movie buff, so iloved this poem. I watch movies over many times.....

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    Replies
    1. IT's like reading a fave book again and again.

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  4. "I'm gonna be in PICK-chas!" ;-)

    The Producers is one of my all-time favorites, too. "The wrong star, the wrong script, the wrong director. Where did I go right?"

    la la Mosky

    whirrrrrrrrr (projector noises)

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    Replies
    1. "The next time I put on a play, no actors!"

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  5. ... yes! I have movies that I must get my "fix" every so often as well. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu - certainly make a difference as well. Love Producers - and the Rocky Horror we have actually been involved with in community theatre... really opens up your eyes to your "neighbors" ha ha

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  6. Loved this! I am a movie buff from wayyyy back as well. I enjoyed this.

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  7. I know that feeling!!❤️

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  8. So sad that the internet killed video.. just as it killed the radio star.

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  9. Oh yes, I know the feeling. I've lived and loved through many movie repeats.

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  10. I'll bring the popcorn! You are living my movie life (for the most part)
    I live at TCM; I have some others to offer up.
    I do not go to the movie theatre, so I am the one who has never seen . . .

    ReplyDelete