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rkwhew_03
Reviews
Frozen (2010)
This really happens - sort of
Although it doesn't make national news, every year there's usually at least one story of a skier stranded overnight at an area somewhere in the world. Think about it. It's dark, gets really, really cold (and you've been sweating) and through a series of bad coincidences, sometimes a loaded chair is left hanging overnight.
I was part of an evacuation crew at a California Sierra resort in the late 1990s. The electric motor burned out on the lift, there was no diesel backup, and we had to unload the chair using cable winch "skywalkers". It was a disorganized mess. It took 5 hours to get the chair emptied, and some of them were nearly 100 feet off the ground. We lowered them by ropes, one at a time to the ground. Over 100 people. Little kids too.
Most of them were cold, terrified, relieved and grateful to be down as it was already nearly dark. The resort comp-ed them for the day, and gave them comps to come back (!). Yeah, come back real soon. It'll be great.
I quit the patrol after that season.
The Night They Saved Christmas (1984)
I just knew there was a scientific explanation for all of this
Science takes on a big one here: Santa Claus. How does he deliver customized presents to all the good little boys and girls all in one night? You'll finally get precise, detailed explanations for it all. Thus and forever taking all the fun and magic out of Christmas.
You won't get this knowledge, however, without paying a price. A scary guy in women's makeup with a sandpaper voice guides you to Santa's secret lair, which seems to be backdrops created by sixth graders. When you get there, Santa won't have trouble hearing you, 'cuz his hearing aid is huge. After you meet Martha, his wife, you'll listen to Santa explain all the magic away. Then Santa sends you back to where you came from, a land of wood-paneling and trailers, where your husband and a man named Gaylord accuse you of ingesting hallucinogens. You've gotta stop this Gaylord, 'cuz he's got scientific plans of his own - to get crude oil. Santa forgot to file mineral rights claims on his property, so maybe he's not so smart after all. But he seems like a nice guy, even though he's got some sort of little-person enslavement camp going on, so you save him from the evil energy consortium. The End.
Earthquake (1974)
The godfather of all subwoofer movies
This made-for-TV-looking "movie" somehow managed to make it to the big screen. I remember in grade school being excited to see it based on the gimmicky TV ads: Earth...Quake! Earth...Quake! In sensa-round! When I went to the theater, the sensaround was big box speakers placed between the stage and the first row of seats. It worked pretty well when they turned it on, the whole theater shook, which was probably annoying to the people in the next theater trying to watch "Love Story" or some such 70s quiet-as-mouse schlockiness.
The movie is painfully slow and most of the scenes are so corny and ridiculous it's funny to watch. Reminds me a lot of what used to be on Saturday morning TV. The scale models look pretty impressive though, considering this is before computers made big action scenes look even faker than they do here. But that doesn't make up for it. Not even close.
Hot Dog ...The Movie (1983)
The movie is a true story - well sort of
This movie was loosely based on actual experiences of the screenplay's author from his life as a ski bum hanging around the effervescent atmosphere of Squaw Valley. The "Chinese Downhill" was a real event at Squaw for many years (cancelled after a spectator was tragically killed after a collision with a participant/skier). If you're lucky, you may get to ride the lift with George/"Slasher" who still skis there regularly. Don't try and keep up though.
Living in a ski town near Squaw, I actually know a guy whose whole life changed after watching "Hot Dog". He moved to Tahoe and he's an instructor there right now. Can a movie like this change someone's life? It already has.
BTW, the 20th anniversary of the movie's party in 2004 at Squaw Valey was a hoot, with most of the original cast making an appearance, and the crowd dressed in vintage gear and reciting lines during the movie's screening. Maybe a 25th?