Time Capsule
Who says time travel is impossible? I rented a movie from 1998 the other day and they only had it on video cassette. Remember the dinosaur days before DVDs? The volume jacked up until the hissing envelops the dialogue and you can’t hear a thing? Ah, nostalgia.
But the biggest difference in content was the previews, a whole string of them. There was one for that Robin Williams movie “What Dreams May Come” where he’s dead and playing with Cuba Gooding Jr. and a multi-colored dalmatian (insert far-too-easy Cuba joke here). Studio executives drunk with the power of CGI attempt to tackle heaven. Screams “New Toy.”
Then comes the Tarantino Gen-Y, Echo Boom or whatever you want to call it. First “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”… which in German is “Jack, Queen, King, Pot” with a word-play of Ace and Grass for the marijuana. Chuckle. Watching the preview with 2007 eyes, the movie looks so derivative and dated that I probably should make a point of never watching the first “Matrix” ever again.
But there was another Tarantino rip coming, called “Thursday,” which I didn’t even realize had come out but is considered a lost classic of the era, judging from the comments on its IMDB page. Gore and giggles, juxtaposing Arizona suburbs with inner-city violence cue Rasta drug dealer. No seriously, sadly. I would watch this at 2 a.m. in a heartbeat.
I need to rent “Short Circuit” on video and relive sixth grade. By the way, through the magic of IMDB I just learned that the voice for the robot Johnny Five was also the voice for the pug in “Men In Black.” Nice comeback Tim Blaney.
To bring this weirdly full-circle, I heard “Who’s Johnny” playing on the radio while driving with a photographer and translator through the backroads of the Czech Republic and had it stuck in my head for days, and probably will again.
“Who’s Johnny?” she said
And smiled in her special way
“Johnny” she said
“You know I love you”
“Who’s Johnny?” she said
And tried to look the other way
Her eyes gave her away
Did you know that was by DeBarge, probably best known to an entire generation as nonsense in the OutKast lyrics, “DeBarge he large and got a ‘llac in the garage, few parts here and there, I declare hard”?
And I wonder why I have so few Shakespeare quotes at the tip of my tongue.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
This is weird, but speaking of time travel (particularly 1998) I just had to write. Congratulations on your novel - I look forward to reading it. I’ve only met you twice but I was once the girlfriend of your friend Nels, and I just want to say that I am certain he would be so proud of what you have achieved. You are living a life much like the one he might have made for himself, if he’d had more time. And as he would have said, Godspeed.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Dear Mr. Kulish,
Several years ago you wrote a piece for the WSJ entitled “Moussaoui as Art?” covering courtroom artist. I have a copy of the article, but the date (year) is illigible…… Thursday, May 30, 200….
Could you please advise the date of this? Thank you, Lark
April 13th, 2008 at 9:07 am
hi.
If you have any extra time, could I ask you some questions about how you ended up working in the position you do? I’m a college student, I speak German, and I’m really interested in figuring out how to move to Germany at some point while pursuing a career I enjoy.
So you have my email now–contact me please if you get the chance.
Thanks!
Katina Mitchell