Mikey J.

The first recording I ever bought that was by just one artist (not various artists like the K-Tel records or NOW records of today) was the following:

I bought it on cassette in early 1983. I remember listening to the first track, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" while I looked out the window of my bedroom. After 5 or 6 minutes, I was like, "Damn, this is a long song". Pretty much every track on it is solid. When I bought it, there had only been 2 hits off of it so far, "The Girl is Mine" with Paul McCartney and "Billie Jean". So I heard "Beat It", "Thriller", "Startin' Somethin", "Human Nature", and "P.Y.T." well before they were ever played on the radio. I thought it was pretty cool to hear hit songs before they were actually hits. My mom bought my brother, Brian, the recording on record album at the end of '83.

Some people don't care to admit that they ever liked Michael Jackson, but I was a fan of his for pretty much all of the 80's. And I still like to listen to those songs from time to time. I prefer to remember him as he was back then.

1994

I had a lot of fun in 1994. I went to quite a few movies: I saw Schwarzenegger in "True Lies", Jim Carrey in "The Mask" and "Dumb and Dumber", Mel Gibson in a great summertime movie, "Maverick", and Jack Nicholson as "Wolf". I also went to "The Client, "Star Trek: Generations", and "Naked Gun 3".

My two favorite movies of the year came out in the summer and I went out of town to view both (At this time, I was living on 5th Street in Winona near Midtown Foods).

In late June, I went with my friend, Brian Chadbo, to LaCrosse. There was a movie that we both wanted to see that hadn't come to Winona yet. We had time before the movie, so we stopped at a used music store called Deaf Ear Records. We went in and browsed a bit. I found a used cassette by an artist I had heard of and was interested in hearing more from. It was only 4 or 5 bucks, so I purchased "Under the Pink" by Tori Amos. And thus began my fascination and love for Tori Amos. I now have all of her studio albums and have seen her twice in concert (once in '99 and again in '01).

While we sat in the theatre waiting for the movie to start, I put my headphones on and listened to the tape. After a short time, the movie began and it was a fantastic thriller. It starred Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock (in a breakthrough role). Yes, indeed, my 2nd favorite movie of 1994 was "Speed". After the movie ended, we were invited to stay seated to watch a sneak preview of a new movie. That movie was called "Airheads". It was a decent movie. Adam Sandler was a supporting actor in the movie and had some funny lines (This was before he was a leading man like he is nowadays). After spending 4 hours at the King theatre, we headed back home to Winona. All in all, a great day in LaCrosse.

I saw my favorite movie of 1994 in July. Mom took me and all my brothers to Valleyfair. We went on most of the coasters and also had a fun time at Challenge Park where we rode go-carts and also mini-golfed. After Valleyfair, we headed to our hotel in Bloomington. I had heard great things about a movie that had just opened. Our hotel was just a few blocks from the Mall of America, so I checked movie times and decided to go to it on my own at the Mall's 14-screen theatre. It was totally a crowd pleaser and I loved every minute of it. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis who had directed my favorite movie of 1985, "Back to the Future". The movie went on to be the top-grossing movie of the year and also won several Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks. If you haven't guessed already, it's "Forrest Gump". By the time it let out (at about 10pm), the mall was mostly closed. I took a moment to look out at Camp Snoopy (where all the rides are located). The rides were lit up, but no longer running. I headed back to the hotel, visited with the boys, and then went to bed, another great moviegoing experience to add to my collection.

There were numerous memorable lines in "Forrest Gump":

"Run, Forrest, Run!"

"Stupid is as stupid does", and, of course,

"Life is like a box of Ex-Lax, You never know what you're gonna shit"

Matt's movies

In 1987, my brother, Matt, enrolled in a video club (It works the same as a music club where you get a few tapes for a low price and then have to pay regular price for a couple sometime in the next year or two). I've always been intrigued by the choices he made (He was 10 at the time). The 3 videos he requested were "Howard the Duck", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Dorf on Golf".

Christmas Comes Early

In late 1981, my grandma Ruth (having some extra money) agreed to give each of us kids $20.

That was a lot of money back then (probably like having $30 - $35 today). So, on one autumn evening, Mom took us all to grandma's house to visit for a bit and then to the Winona JCPenney's located just a few blocks from her house. I was 11 at the time and had no problem finding what I wanted: the Empire Strikes Back Dagobah playset, an ESB Tauntaun, and Star Wars Marvel comic #56. Brian (7 at the time) was tremendously excited when he bought the General Lee remote-controlled car. Matt (4) and Mike (3) used their money to buy a crapload of Smurf figurines. Carrie (9) couldn't find anything she wanted at the store, so Mom took her to the layaway department where she ordered a doll from the JCPenney catalog. Yep, Grandma made us all mighty happy that night. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go smurf.

1993

The summer of 1993 is the one in which the Schofield girls grew up. At the tender age of 5, they went to 2 PG-13 (!) rated movies which also happened to be the top 2 grossing movies of the year: "Jurassic Park" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" (Sarah did put her fingers over her eyes when the T. Rex first showed up in "Park"). I did like both movies, but neither could compare to the power of my favorite.

Some other ones I went to that year included: Schwarzenegger in "Last Action Hero", "Wayne's World 2", Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", "Hot Shots: Part Deux", Macauley Culkin as "The Good Son" (he was a real bad-ass in that movie), and "Addams Family Values".

Over the holiday season of 1993, I saw my favorite movie of the year. A very highly-acclaimed movie had just opened in LaCrosse. I asked my mom if we could go to it. So on a wintry evening, we drove out to LaCrosse. First we went to eat at the Pizza Hut located right next to the theatre. I had gone through a depression earlier in the year (one of the factors being the passing of my grandmother) and my mom had been extremely supportive during this time. I was doing much better by the end of '93 which my mom was happy to see. After eating, we went to the theatre. Now for 1993, this was a real state-of-the-art theatre (something we weren't used to in Winona). There were hundreds of seats (all very comfortable) and each of them rocked. It was bitchin'. The theatre steadily filled up and then the picture started. It was mostly in black and white which made it all the more striking when color images were used every now and again.



It really was a perfect moviegoing experience. The crowd was quiet, but obviously moved by what they were seeing. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie I'm talking about is "Schindler's List". The movie finally gave him the Best Director and Best Picture awards that he should've gotten a decade earlier for "E.T." or "Raiders".

I've only seen this movie once, but it did leave an indelible impression on me. The disturbing content is probably the reason why I haven't revisited it. But someday I do plan to view it again.

The movie introduced the world to two fantastic actors, Liam Neeson and an actor that my mom pines for to this day: Ralph Fiennes.

The summer of 1993 also saw the release of another very strong motion picture (my 2nd favorite movie of the year). It was the number 3 top money maker of the year and starred one of my all-time favorite actors (Harrison Ford). I went to it with several friends in August. Tommy Lee Jones won Best Supporting Actor for his fantastic performance in "The Fugitive".

The Good Sheppard

In the early 80's, my mom and her sister, Ellie, couldn't get enough of the man pictured above, country singer T.G. Sheppard. I remember listening to the above cassette in our station wagon on many occasions. It's actually not too bad (It is country, but had several pop elements added in order to make it more palatable to people who might not usually listen to country).

Imagine the excitement and commotion when my mom and Ellie found out T.G. would be coming to LaCrosse to perform in concert. The former Vogel girls got 4 tickets, one for each of them and one for each of their husbands. Needless to say, they loved the concert and were able to get autographed pictures of T.G.

Ellie loved the autographed pic. She said she was gonna put it over her husband's face the next time they "had relations". Now, this was almost certainly a joke, but you wouldn't believe how riled up her husband got when he heard this comment. I'm not sure if their marriage ever recovered after that.

1992

Some of my wife's favorite movies were released in 1992 ("Sister Act", "A League of Their Own", "A Few Good Men").

The top money maker of the year was one of the twins' favorite movies, "Aladdin".

I did go to the number 2 and 3 top grossing movies of the year ("Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" and "Batman Returns"), but found both to be a bit draggy, though "H2" did have a few laughs (I remember going to Home 2 with my brother, Mike, on the first night it opened. My mom, Phil, and the twins were also there. They sat a bit closer to the screen than we were).

I also went to "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston (don't be hatin') and "Alien 3".

My favorite movie of 1992, however, was a comedy, a comedy that originated as a Saturday Night Live skit. Yes, indeed, the movie I'm talking about is "Wayne's World". I enjoyed the characters and humor.

The movie spawned a crapload of catchphrases. Check it:

"Party on, Wayne." "Party on, Garth.", "Excellent", "Schwing!", "We're not worthy!", "...NOT!!", "Shyeah, right. As if.", "No way." "Way.", "I think I'm gonna hurl", and who can forget, "Wayne's World, Wayne's World, party time, excellent!"

The movie also made use of the 70's Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody" and caused it to chart two decades after it was originally released.

Robert Patrick, who played the T-1000 in "T2" the year before, spoofed his own appearance in that movie in "Wayne's World".

Wayne and Garth also had a real kick ass car: A 1976 AMC Pacer!

For all these reasons and more, my favorite movie of 1992 has to be "Wayne's World".

Now, let's party!!

1991

My favorite movie of 1991 was a sequel (The original was one of the first movies I ever saw on a VCR back in 1985). It was the best movie I had seen in at least 5 years and was the top grossing movie of 1991. It had groundbreaking special effects (one of the earliest uses of computer graphics in a movie), a cool score, and only the future of the world at stake.

I really went nuts for this one. I went to it at least a dozen times. I bought 3 different T-shirts from it at the Suncoast movie store, I bought the soundtrack, the trading cards, even the screenplay.



There is a lot of violence in the movie, but its theme is actually about the sanctity of life. These are the last few lines of the movie:

Sarah Connor: The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.

I also need to mention my second favorite movie of '91 since it was also a good one. It was the 2nd top grossing movie of the year, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". I went to it with my cousin, Drew, one Saturday afternoon in June ("T2" was released a few weeks later). Like "T2", this was a great action movie, perfect summer entertainment while I was on break from WSU and working at Sammy's Pizza.

1990

My favorite movie of 1990 had a lot of laughs and was a real crowd pleaser. So it was no surprise when it wound up being the top money maker of the year.

Since 1980, my favorite movie of the year had always been released in the spring or summer. But not this time (November of '90). I went to it several times over the holidays. I can recall a couple evenings walking home from it while snow was falling on the ground (I was living in the upstairs of a house on west Broadway near Windom Park at this time).

I remember my stepdad took his twin girls to this movie in LaCrosse (they were 2 years old at the time) and when they saw their mother afterward, she asked if they liked the movie. They said they did, but that there were "two monsters" in the movie. My mom explained to the girls that bad guys aren't necessarily monsters.

A few months later, I was in the car with the girls and there was a radio ad that mentioned the movie. One of the girls then said, "Mommy, dey tay 'Home Alone'!"

Home Box Office

Sometime in 1981, my parents started subscribing to HBO. You know, new movies without the commercials. Well, since us kids were all still quite young, there were certain programs we weren't allowed to watch (at least initially).

One afternoon shortly after we started getting HBO, I saw that a PG-rated movie was going to be on that I had heard was quite funny. Now back in those days, a PG movie was much "harder" than it is today (There could be all kinds of swear words in a PG movie, something that is not the case today).

The movie I was interested in viewing was



I asked my mom if I could see it and she said, "maybe". I kept at her until she finally agreed. I couldn't wait to see it! And I was not disappointed. Here are some of the lines that had me rolling:

Junior: Daddy, I got to pee-pee.
Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason): Swallow it. I'm busy!

Buford T. Justice: Let me tell ya somethin', Junior. If you ever embarrass me like that again, I'm gonna get an ax, and you're never gonna have to open your fly again.

Junior: Daddy, look at that big, ugly alligator.
Buford T. Justice: That reminds me; I gotta call yo mama tonight.

And that was just the beginning. As time went by, we were allowed to watch more and more, even R-rated movies such as "The Blues Brothers" and "Caddyshack"!! :P

1989

Just as my favorite movie from 1983, "Return of the Jedi", was released the same week that I finished up elementary school, so, too, did my favorite movie of 1989 come out the same week that I graduated from high school.

A lot of good films came out in the summer of 1989. I went to the top money maker of the year, "Batman", in June, but found it unsatisfying. I did like "Ghostbusters 2", though, as well as "Star Trek V: The Search for Geritol", "Lethal Weapon 2", and "The Abyss". But my favorite was directed by an old friend. The number 2 top-grossing movie of the year: "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". Yes, Indiana Jones, one last time. It was a return to form for the franchise after the darkness of "Temple of Doom".

My folks kicked me out of the house in the early summer. I lived on my own in an efficiency across from Lake Winona (during the summer of '89 and '90, I was able to see the Midway carnival going on just across the way).

My favorite foods to eat that summer were Nutty Bars and Totino's pizza.

Make Your Tummy Go Yummy...

In the early 90's while attending college, I often ate lunch at Godfather's Pizza. They had a buffet, but I would always order the mini pan pizza with pepperoni and green peppers along with a pop. If it was really busy, though, (and I was still hungry), I would often go up to the buffet and sneak a piece of dessert or taco pizza off of it.

One afternoon, when there was hardly anyone there, one of the employees saw me eyeing the buffet and said, "Brad's gonna kick you out if you take anything off the buffet". Ah, fudge it!

I usually brought something along to read (like Country Weekly) while I was eating and sometimes even played a videogame or two as well. I loved to play songs on their jukebox. I would enjoy seeing people's reactions when I played something really lame, like say, "Achy Breaky Heart".

The restaurant was right across from the movie theatre, so there'd be many a time where I would have lunch there and then go to a matinee.

Godfather's eventually moved to a location overlooking the Mississippi, but for a few years there, it was my favorite place to chow down.

1988

By 1988, it had been three years since I had seen a film of "Spielbergian" proportions, something rousing like "Raiders" or "E.T." or "Star Wars", for that matter.

I wasn't quite old enough or ambitious enough to try to get into R-rated movies, so I missed out on the top moneymaker of the year, "Rain Man" as well as the Eddie Murphy comedy, "Coming to America".

I did see a fair amount of movies that year, however. I enjoyed Tom Hanks in "Big", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which was the number 2 movie of the year, "The Naked Gun", Beetlejuice", Bill Murray in "Scrooged", "Dundee 2", and "Biloxi Blues".

My vote this year, however, goes to a movie that though nowhere near as good as "Raiders" or "Star Wars", did provide quite a few thrills. Written and produced by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard, it's a Lord of the Rings-type fantasy movie. I went to it at least seven times that summer, including a couple at the good ol' Crossroads theatre in Waterloo, Iowa (where I had caught a sneak preview of "E.T." six summers prior).

I did eventually tire of the movie, though. One sunny afternoon, I was watching it yet again at the Cine 4 in Winona and partway through the screening, decided I'd had enough and left the theatre (something I almost never do). Still, it was the best thing I saw that year. My fave of 1988:



Note: My mom had her twin girls just a few months before this movie opened.

The North Country

In the early 80's, our family traveled up north, way up north, up by Duluth. We visited a place called Two Harbors which offered a fantastic view of Lake Superior. The most memorable part of the vacation for me was going on the Alpine Slide at the Lutsen Mountains resort. First, you had to take a chair-lift up the hill. Then, you got on your "sled" and went down through all sorts of twists and turns that spanned more than half a mile. The sled had a brake on it so that you could go down as fast or slow as you wanted to.



Going down that slide was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life (to be surpassed only by my discovery of the genius of Police Academy's Motormouth Jones several years later).

Premiere Video

I worked for a video store in the late 90's. It was a fun job (being able to rent movies for free, watching videos on the store TV, talking to customers who loved movies as much as me). Working there for more than a year, I heard a lot of interesting comments and questions.

The most memorable one, though, had to be the guy who came up to me one afternoon and, in all seriousness, said, "Do you have any empty movies?" Now, I knew what he was referring to, but I wasn't gonna make it any easier for him. I was able to drag it out of him that he was looking for blank tapes.

So if you're ever at a video store and want all the employees there to think you're an idiot, just walk up to one of them and say, "Do you have any empty movies?"

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1987

1987 was the year the Minnesota Twins won the World Series. They did it with Puck, Hrbee, Gaetti, Bruno, Lombo, Gagne, Viola, and Reardon. While the Twins were playing a fantastic season, there wasn't much playing at the movie theatre that I was interested in. The top movie of the year was "Three Men & a Baby". Some of the other movies in the top 5 for '87 were "Moonstruck" (with Cher), "Good Morning Vietnam", and "Fatal Attraction". I wound up going to 5 movies that year. One was the critically acclaimed "The Last Emperor" which wound up winning Best Picture. I found it a bit tedious, though. Spielberg's WWII drama "Empire of the Sun" was a well-made flick. I also went to "*batteries not included" and "Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol". Sorry to say, though, that "PA 4" wasn't my fave of the year, though it is somewhat tempting to name it as such due to the fact that Motormouth Jones had a cool rap over the opening credits.

What is my favorite movie of '87, then? Well, one sunny Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1987 (Incidentally, my mom's twin girls were conceived this summer. They were born on March 1st, 1988. If they had been born a day earlier, they would have been Leap Day babies), I went with my Mom, stepdad, and siblings to LaCrosse, Wisconsin for a day of fun at the Valley View Mall. I was able to talk my Mom and Phil into taking us all to a new movie from Mel Brooks that would mix my love of Star Wars with some good comedy. I'm referring, of course, to "Spaceballs". The movie featured a cameo from Motormouth Jones (He's everywhere!) as Dark Helmet's radar technician. He got to show off his awesome vocal skills for the millionth time. One of my favorite lines is near the end of the movie when Lonestar and Dark Helmet are battling with lightsabers. Dark Helmet has some problems with his stick and says, "I hate it when I get my Schwartz twisted". I hate it when that happens myself, Helmet...

1986

OK, this isn't gonna be pretty. If you look at my prior movie entries (from 1980-1985), you'll see all the fantastic films that I had been lucky enough to grow up with. In 1986, we (or at least I) entered, The Dead Zone. The top 5 money makers of that year were "Top Gun", "Crocodile Dundee", "Platoon", "The Karate Kid Part II", and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". Not exactly the kind of Spielbergian entertainment that I had become accustomed to. I didn't go to any of the above movies when they originally came out, not even "Top Gun" (After traveling into the outer reaches of the galaxy with the Star Wars saga, I didn't think traveling a couple miles in the air would be very compelling). I did like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", but I am only considering movies here that I saw when they were originally released ("Bueller", I caught on video). Taking a look at the top 50 movies released in 1986, the fact is I only went to 1 or 2 of them (I may have gone to "Soul Man", but I'm not positive on that). Either way, I am somewhat ashamed to say that, by default, my favorite movie of 1986 was "Police Academy 3: Back In Training".

My favorite character was Motormouth Jones. Going to these movies actually became an annual tradition for me (In the spring of every year from '85 to '89, I went to the new PA movie). Looking back, they're not the greatest films, but come on, I was a teenager in the late '80s. What else was I gonna do? Learn how to pop and lock? Work at Burger King? Fornicate?

VCR

I remember the day I was introduced to the Video Cassette Recorder. It was in late 1985. I saw an ad in the paper that you could rent one for 2 days for $9.99. You have to understand this was a totally new way of viewing entertainment. To be able to watch any movie you wanted at any time you wanted was unheard of. For decades, we had been ruled by what the TV broadcasters put on the air. Now there was this machine that could play movies.

Needless to say, I was interested, so I talked my mom into going with me to Sarnia East Video so that I could rent a VCR. Remember renting those things? How they were put in a case that had a handle on it so that you could lug it back home with you? I walked in the video store and was impressed. Cool posters all over the place. Hundreds of videos to choose from. I loved the poster for "The Terminator" (and rented the movie a few weeks later). In the end, I rented 2 movies that I had seen before: "The Empire Strikes Back" (how shocking) and the Henry Thomas-Dabney Coleman movie "Cloak & Dagger".

I also remember when stores used to have you sign a copy of the rental agreement each time you rented a movie. My stepdad had an account at the local grocery store Midtown Foods and had me and my siblings put on it so that we could rent movies whenever we wanted. Our stepdad had a different name than ours (obviously), so the boys would always sign the rental agreement with their actual first name, but my stepdad's last name. Those kids, I swear.

1985

By the early summer of 1985, living with my father and siblings had begun to take its toll. I'm a fairly quiet, laid back person and preferred a more peaceful environment in which to spend my time. Now, my brothers couldn't help it that they were loud and liked to wrastle. I just needed some space for myself. Fact is, I wasn't enjoying my time at junior high, either, so I was quite happy when my dad and mom decided that I should move in with my mom. This was in early July '85. I would now have the peace and time for reflection that I was seeking.

Just as I was moving in, there was a movie coming out that I was looking forward to seeing. It had 3 major things going for it: Steven Spielberg had a hand in making it, it had some sci-fi elements, and it starred one of my favorite TV actors. The movie was scheduled to open on July 3rd. I asked my mom on July 2nd if I could go see the movie, "D.A.R.Y.L." (The theatre was only 6 blocks away) that evening and then the Spielberg movie the next day. She said, "No" :P and to this day, I've never seen "D.A.R.Y.L." (I think it's about this kid who's a robot).

July 3rd came and I was pumped. I walked to the movie theatre and saw this poster displayed:



Both my mom and I went to the first showing that evening. I told my mom that I would prefer to sit on my own (Her twin girls requested the same of her when they were my age). I had a favorite seat now in which I liked to watch movies. It was located way in the back. There were two seats and a space where someone in a wheelchair could sit. The row had an incline so that I could see over anybody (Remember this was long before stadium seating). There were quite a few people at the movie that night. And I enjoyed every minute. I was a big fan of Huey Lewis at the time, so it was good to hear their music in it (Huey Lewis also had a cameo in the movie).

I went to the movie at least 6 or 7 times over the summer and it was interesting because on many occasions, I would see people that I knew at the show (friends of my parents and their kids, in particular) and they always spotted me because I was sitting in such a conspicuous place.

"Back to the Future" wound up being the top grossing movie of 1985.

I was a movie-going freak that summer not only going to "BTTF" numerous times, but also seeing "Fletch" at least twice, "European Vacation" at least twice, "A View to a Kill", "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", "Teen Wolf" (also with Michael J. Fox), John Candy in "Summer Rental", Disney's "Black Cauldron", "Weird Science", "Silverado", and Tom Hanks in "The Man With One Red Shoe" at least three times (Don't ask).

And I would be remiss if I didn't tell you my 2nd favorite movie of 1985, "The Goonies". It came out just a few weeks before "Back to the Future".

Chuckles

I don't eat much candy these days, but as a youngster, I ate quite a bit of the stuff. One of my favorites was Chuckles, the jelly candy that has 5 flavors in each package. Those things were tasty. When I went to movies in the early 80's, I was rarely without Junior Mints. In the mid 80's, my fave was Tart & Tinys (they were, indeed, quite tart). I remember the day I was introduced to candy cigarettes. My mom's sister offered me a pack at the Lake Winona park. I was thinking, "What the hell? Candy...cigarettes?" I looked at my mom and she said that it was OK for me to take them. Needless to say, I felt cool the rest of the day with those things hanging out of my mouth.