I was just about to edit my thoughts from yesterday about how much I don't like Queens (at least the going there part), and wouldn't you know it, I get an email from Jen K, the only one of my friends still in Queens. What's more, she and her boyfriend, recent Netflix subscribers, want to start a Mystery Movie of the Month sort of thing, where someone picks a movie for the group to watch, and no one will find out what it is until they're there. Then there will be a discussion after the movie. Food will also be served. It's billed as basically a book of the month club, except with movies. And you don't watch the movie in advance. I like this idea except for two thing. First, as you may have guessed is that SHE LIVES IN FUCKING QUEENS. Second, it's been a brutally cold winter, and if the only thing worse than travelling around New York during a brutally cold winter is travelling to FUCKING QUEENS in the brutally cold winter. Queens is just so damn inconvenient. I guess I don't really have anything against it per se, and I'm sure many people like it (though I don't know how many love it), but as far as where I live and what I like to do, there's nothing for me in Queens. Foreign food and strip clubs. That's most of what I think of when I hear of Queens. And pain in the ass train rides. It'd be one thing I guess if I lived and/or worked in Manhattan somewhere around or above Union Square. But the Brooklyn to Queens commute is the worst. Sharing the tip of the same landmass, you'd think getting from one to the other would be pretty easy, but usually the best route is to go through Manhattan. So that basically means it's going to take you about an hour to get wherever you're going, which is probably 5 miles away at most. Infuriating. Plus, to get there, or at least the neighborhoods of Astoria or Long Island city, you have to take some of my least favorite trains in the whole MTA system. Mainly, the N/R, G, or 7 train. And that just sucks the "NRG" right outta me.Ha! Get it? "NRG"? Whew, that was a good one. Fine, maybe it was lame. It's Queens' fault.
Still, I sort of like the movie idea. Plus, it will probably have a rotating location, so there wouldn't be that many Queens trips involved. Part of me doesn't want to indulge in this sort of thing. It seems grown up and yuppie-fied or something. Of course, it all depends highly on what movies are chosen. A short list off the top of my head would include Teen Wolf, Maverick, Operation Petticoat, Quick Change, and possibly a double feature of "Teen Wolf Too" and "Mannequin 2: On the Move" to finally decide what was the most unnecessary movie sequel ever. Though Jason Bateman's work in Arrested Development is going a long way in forgiving many of his post-"It's Your Move" sins. I guess you could throw in Weekend at Bernie's 2 in there also. Out of the three, I'd pick Mannequin 2 as least necessary, both because it's a terrible movie and because the first one wasn't that good anyway. Teen Wolf is an American classic, a one of a kind movie of which we'll never see again. A teenager, played by a major star, as a werewolf, who plays basketball? I surprised it even got made. No, I'm shocked. Plus, it was written by Jeph Loeb, who went on to become one of my favorite comic writers. And Weekend at Bernie's is good fun, plain and simple. Mannequin is just ok. And by "least necessary sequel ever," I refer back to a time when sequels were not a foregone conclusion if a movie barely made its money back. I'll take any of the three movies i mentioned over Too Fast, Too Furiouser or Scooby-Doo 2 or whatever. Back to Teen Wolf for a moment (and for me, things very often go back to Teen Wolf)- of all the live-action movies that spawned Saturday morning cartoons, I think Teen Wolf was one of the better ones. Though at the moment, the only other one I can think of is Back to the Future. So apparently I'm having trouble thinking of any saturday cartoon that originated from a movie not starring Michael J. Fox. Ah, the Ghostbusters. That cartoon was a-ok by me. Though it wasn't Saturday morning. Every see that Police Academy cartoon? p-yew.
Anyway, I'm going to have a tough time picking just one movie if I decide to participate in this, which I'll probably only do if I'm hosting it. It's tough, because I don't even know who would come, and I'd want something that's entertaining, yet thought provoking, and maybe a little humorous and suspenseful, and something that would provide for an interesting discussion afterwards. Something people might consider an underappreciated classic. I've got it... Teen Wolf! I'm serious.
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