calzephyr | Entries tagged with 90s

There's a whole bunch of 80s and 90s movies I never watched because I was either too young, too old or too broke :-D In the case of Empire Records, even if I had the money, I would have passed on it. I hated movies and TV shows for teenagers when I was a teenager ;-D Part of it was because I was a snob. Part of it was that it didn't reflect anyone I knew, and yet another part was being sold something just because it had teenagers in it.

My younger self would probably find Empire Records the same as my older self--long and boring. I guess it's a cult classic for reasons I don't really understand :D It just felt like a poorly edited hot mess, and I understand 40 minutes were cut from the theatrical release. I couldn't work up any nostalgia for it. The save the record store plot felt really weak. Mitch was barely a villain, and Gina and Corey seducing Rex Manning was super cringe!

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I planned to watch more holiday movies this Christmas break, but I got caught up trying to binge Shadowhunters, a trashy young adult urban fantasy series based on a young adult book series before it left Netflix :-D Oh well...

Somehow, I missed watching The Muppet Christmas Carol up until now. It was on sale on Google Play for $4.99, and figured that was a good year after year investment ;-D

I kinda wish I had watched it when I was younger--knowing this movie came out the year after Jim Henson died made it bittersweet for me, and the main song, "It Feels like Christmas" gave me so many feels! It was hard to watch it through a child's eyes, and instead, I saw through my art student eyes, marvelling at the range of puppets, and noticing how well the old CGI held up. More interestingly, I noticed the scale of the sets and the angles of the buildings. And yes, pairing Michael Caine with Muppets was such a good choice! One thing I've always loved about Muppets is how you don't see them as puppets, but bona fide actors.

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Over the course of nearly half a century, Siegfried & Roy performed 30,000 shows for 50 million people and generated well over $1 billion in ticket sales. Although the German-born illusionists and pop culture icons were mega-famous, much about their private lives, eccentric public personae, and tragic final show remained shrouded in mystery…until now. Emmy®-winning filmmaker and journalist Steven Leckart, in his very first podcast, takes you behind the velvet curtain to reveal shocking moments, surprising details, and hidden truths about two men who were lionized by millions of fans, lampooned by the media, criticized by animal welfare advocates, and endlessly scrutinized by the public.

This podcast landed shortly after the Tiger King hype died down, but it's still a great listen. As an animal-loving teenager, I totally would have jumped at the chance to see Siegfried & Roy live--and they were still performing in Las Vegas when we went there for the first time in 2007. Probably a good thing--this podcast is a great reminder that many animal acts aren't always in the animals best interests.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/wild-things-siegfried-roy/id1599176021

Since it's snowing again, can I say, is there any better balm for a Canadian soul than California beaches? I can't remember why we weren't a Baywatch household back in the 90s, but after enough Plex commercials advertising it had been remastered for 4K, I was in!

Now, as awesome as it is to watch old TV shows in order of broadcast, I can't help but feel sad about how poor quality the shows are. The ratio is off and it feels like watching them on a misty CRT instead of a 4K TV. So, I have to thank the TV gods who remastered the show because so many of them will not get this white glove treatment.

The show looks fantastic--beautiful colour, sharp focus, and lovely audio. Baywatch was always controversial back in the day because of Pamela Anderon's boobs, LOL, but watching the first three seasons still makes me wonder what the big deal was. Her character, CJ, doesn't even enter until S3.

After watching three seasons, which is all that is available on Plex, I just can't figure out the why of Baywatch. The show really couldn't decide if it was a prime time soap opera, a workplace drama or something else. For example, sometimes they rescue people, sometimes they solve a murder mystery, and sometimes the lifeguards have relationship problems.

Usually there's a montage of people sailing, swimming, or other watersports activities. Sometimes an episode is a showcase for beautiful people doing beautiful people things or other times the characters passionately defend their profession as a real job.

I really wasn't blown away by the series and don't have any interest in the other seasons. It was a fun time capsule to watch though :-)

Next up from my winter watch-a-thon is The Commish, which I watched on Plex. The Commish was always a family favourite when it first aired. Instead of a tough-as-nails cop, you had a cuddly police commissioner, Tony, who often used his wits to get out of situations. I completely forgot Theresa Saldana starred as his wife--she was almost ten years older than Michael Chiklis!

The series was filmed in Vancouver, BC and it's quite obvious to me that it's not New Jersey 😄 Vancouver's film industry boomed during the 90s--there's a good chance many of your favourite shows were filmed there, like The X-Files.

Speaking of The X-Files, I would have loved to see a Commish/X-Files crossover because many episodes were written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. Wild, huh? Does this technically mean The Commish is set in The X-Files universe? Every now and then the writers pushed the boundaries with some episodes and I wonder if some unused Commish ideas were used in The X-Files😄

The Commish is a Stephen J. Cannell show and it's illustrious pedigree goes deeper than just the writers. Before The Commish, John Peter Kousakis worked on another cop show, Hunter. Walter Murphy composed the theme music for both shows too.

The switch to a kinder, gentler cop show doesn't negate the fact The Commish is a masterwork in A, B, and C plot structure. Almost every episode opens up with a family problem Tony has to face, then a workplace problem, then a crime. By the end of the show, all three are resolved with grace and humour. It's such a cozy watch!

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Got to be birds flying higher

in a sky more blue

Entries tagged with 90s

Empire Records

The Muppet Christmas Carol

[PODCASTS] Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy

Baywatch. S1-3

The Commish

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March 2026

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