I noticed that this week they are going to be showing a lot of 80's movies on AMC. Today was "Cruise Control" with Risky Business, Born on the Forth of July and The Color of Money. I only got to watch Color of Money- wow- I coulda slapped Vince upside the head! Anyhoo, they had Karate Kid on last week on TCM, and since it's been many, many years since I saw it, hubby and I stayed up to watch it. I had coincidentally just finished a biography on Steve McQueen the day before. While watching Karate Kid, I noticed that one of the judges looked like Pat Johnson, who was a very close friend of Steve McQueen's, and he also taught him and his son Chad karate. He is also a close friend of Chuck Norris, who is the one who got him started with his martial arts school, and with the movie industry. I just thought it was kinda neat that he was in that movie- what a coincidence. Also on AMC this week are The Great Outdoors, Remo Williams, and the Jerk.
Posted by ISIS (Member # 1780) on :
I was just watching The Great Outdoors on AMC-which I have never seen before, and now Animal House is on.
Posted by eightieschick (Member # 4385) on :
quote:Originally posted by Miyagi-Turbo: They have been showing some great stuff on AMC and TCM. Some of the movies I have seen over the past 3 weeks include, TAPS, The Karate Kid, Born on the 4th of July, Valley Girl, Risky Business and a few others.
On the note regarding the Karate Kid, the ref who handles the last two fights and some of the other fights during the tournament scene is Pat E. Johnson. As you noted, he did teach karate to the great actor Steve McQueen and his son Chad. He was friends with Chuck Norris, and he also worked with Bruce and Brandon Lee. If you get the chance, the special edition version of the Karate Kid has a nice piece on Pat Johnson and how he helped define the Karate Kid.
I thought that was cool that Pat E. Johnson was the martial arts choreographer too. I will have to see if I can get a hold of the special edition of Karate Kid. Johnson met Chuck Norris, I think in Vietnam or Korea, and Norris told him to look him up if he ever needed a job or help getting into the martial arts business and the movie industry. He did just that after returning home, and he was an extremely successful businessman. He taught a lot of Hollywood stars martial arts. I just thought it was cool that it was such a coincidence to see him in Karate Kid right after I finished that book on McQueen. McQueen also became friends with Bruce Lee through his connection with Johnson. They were extremely competitive with each other.
Posted by eightieschick (Member # 4385) on :
Oh no Miygi- I meant that I had just finished reading a biography on Steve McQueen. I'm sorry-I did not state that very well! I bought the book at an antique store, along with a book on Andy Warhol, which I could not finish. (It was pretty disgusting- Andy Warhol was just a sick individual). I just thought it would be interesting to read about McQueen. I've only seen a couple of movies he was in- I never saw the Great Escape, but I will be keeping my eye out for any of his movies on AMC and TCM. Last year, TCM did a tribute to him and I watched most of that. I have seen Bullett and the last movie he filmed, the Hunter. He died about 6-8 months after they finished it and released it to the theaters. I remember seeing part of the Towering Inferno when I was a little kid on tv. But I'm sure I had to go to bed before it was over, ha,ha! As far as writing a biography on McQueen, I think there are already about 15 published biographies of his life!
Posted by JCU (Member # 2851) on :
One channel that should be included with AMC and TCM is the Fox Movie Channel. I always seem to find a complete variety of films for my liking but what really grabs my attention is that the movies are not edited. Nudity, violence and explicit language are kept intact which can really make the difference in watching the movie.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
If you really want to catch great 80's movies, you need to get Starz & Encore. They are always playing hidden gems from the 80's. Heavenly Kid, Private School, Modern Girls, Real Genius just to name a few.
Posted by MotleyRulz (Member # 3598) on :
Bullitt was my fave Steve McQueen movie...
Posted by imawalkingcorpse (Member # 1675) on :
I actually visited my grandma on Friday the 13th and we sat and watched Halloween 1 on AMC, it amazed me that she really liked it.
Posted by ISIS (Member # 1780) on :
I was up last night until the middle of the morning watching The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles on AMC...how can you fall asleep knowing your missing out at looking at Jake Ryan's face?
I love Justin Henry in Sixteen Candles...when he calls "Sam" ...birth defect...that is soooo totally 80's...I mean there are so many times in the 80's movies where someone yelled "You Retard"...that word doesn't seem to fly that well today...everyone's political correctness is completely over the top...it is ok to say bleep bleep bleep on everything...but you say "retard"...and your a jerk.
