Camelot_2000

If there's one thing I liked about the 1970s, were those all-star disaster flicks that were delivered. There were classic icons of the Golden Era who either tried to survive overturned ships like in "The Poseidon Adventure" or ravaging fires in "The Towering Inferno".

My personal favorite though were those "disasters-in-the-skies" movies and this particular one stood out for me. This is indeed a major classic which got lampooned so many times afterwards and which introduced the problem - "Who is flying the plane!"

The glamorous Gloria Swanson plays herself as one of the passengers and she acts vain and like an eccentric snob, which brings to mind Carol Burnett's zany depiction of her on her show. There are also dignified stars like Myrna Loy who is hilarious as the alcoholic lady and then there's Sid Caesar, who's a lone traveler who keeps striking up conversations with the women and trying to get them to like him.

There's, of course, Linda Blair, the famous "Exorcist" gal who is given special treatment when she's brought onboard. She's a sickly patient who is in dire need of a kidney transplant or whatever organ it is that she needs. When the caring nun played by Helen Reddy, came to comfort her, I'm surprised Linda's head didn't start spinning around and she began to spill obscenities.

If you overlook that little oversight though, it is indeed a touching scene. I've always really liked Helen Reddy and her music and thought she made a perfect Nun. Her vocals were in fine form when she sang to the ailing girl and her pleased mother.

There's, of course, the disaster to unfold and it's when a small plane flown by one man, crashes into one side of the jet's cockpit, causing the co-pilot to get sucked out into the sky, killing the flight engineer and blinding the pilot from the debris.

Who is left to fly the plane? Well, a flight attendant, of course, except back then they were called, "stewardesses". She takes the helm with hysteria and screams on the radio to those at the airport's control tower, loudly declaring, "There is no one left to fly the plane! Help us!"

Well, the heroic Charlton Heston gets involved and after a lot of bickering back and forth about what to do and the attempts made to do it, he takes matters into his own hands. Yeah, he takes the daredevil action when it eventually comes to that.

Yeah, this disaster classic from 50 years ago can't be beat and it did indeed leave a mark on Hollywood history. This was a product of the times and could never ever be rebooted or remade again. It was one of a kind.

I admit that I've never been a fan of today's TV shows, preferring instead the oldies like Hill Street Blues, but this one got me particularly captivated. What drew me to it was my like for all the characters that starred in this show and it's not often that happens.

They are indeed a "pleasing" police family who are in different ranks of law enforcement. There's Frank Reagan, a Policer Commissioner and, his father, Henry, the respected patriarch of the Reagan clan and a retired Police Commissioner. There are also their children and grandchildren who take after them.

The major highlight are those dinner table scenes where the discussion of recent police activities dominate the conversation. There are agreements, disagreements, opposition and argumentative conflicts that can brew up, but through it all, they eventually work things out and have dinner again the following week.

How I often wished to have dinner with the likes of them while watching. They make their eating look delicious and they have really interesting topics to discuss, no matter how much tensions it can sometimes bring.

Danny Reagan can be too much of a hot headed s**t disturber while his younger brother, Jamie, acts as the troubled voice of reason and making sure the law is followed by "the book". Their sister, Erin, is a District Attorney who can easily fall into disagreement with her brothers whenever they feel her judgements are unfair and unjustified, but she seemingly knows her onions along with her co-worker, Anthony. Those two make a good pair in proving anything is wrong in a case.

Jamie was "single" for the longest time with chicks coming and going, but he found his concrete commitment with the female police officer, Eddie Janko. That proved to be a good choice. They eventually got married and later, in the last episode, cheerfully announced that a "baby was on the way".

I have to admit though that I didn't like that long lost family member, Joe Hill, when he first appeared. I felt he was an "unnecessary" addition, but after watching him in subsequent episodes, saw what a great actor he is.

He was unknown to the Reagan clan until Danny's youngest son, Sean, found the DNA link and, wouldn't you know, Joe Hill is in law enforcement too. He was the son of Frank's second born son, Joe Reagan who died in the line of duty.

When he got recognized for who he was, there was a lot of sentimentality for that by the Reagans who welcomed him with open arms, knowing he was connected with someone they held dearly. His father was deeply missed by them all.

Joe didn't accept that at first due to the conflict within him about his heritage and how he got thrown into a "royal police family". He was arrogant and easily made accusations about the demise of his father until his Uncle Jamie, finally set him straight on that, causing Joe to finally see the error of his ways. He happily became a member of the Reagan family after that and accepted the circumstances about how he came into being a part of them. That's what got him to be likable.

I enjoyed this show for many years though it got gritty at times and Danny's vicious nature got too far, but all those qualities carried the basis for a potent show.

I find Donny to be the best actor out of his Wahlberg family. He's so convincing as Danny Reagan that I'd rather see him as Danny, the Gulf War veteran, instead of a singer from New Kids on the Block. As far as I'm concerned, he's a tough survivor of that conflict in the Middle East which is why he's so brutal and has such a low tolerance level.

I wouldn't want to be arrested by him, I'd be confessing right away to my crimes before he even opened his mouth. Getting jailed would be a retreat instead of enduring his wicked interrogation methods. Whew!

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I watched this classic film tonight from eons ago and was entertained just like I was in childhood when I viewed it back then. It reminded me of how it was "relative" to what a kid goes through when they're adjusting to the ways of life and constantly curious about the world. Growing up in a small Northern town and later in Calgary, made me see how kids were in a different world compared to adults.

There was the bullies in elementary school, the assaults in the playground and the "gang wars" that erupted every now and then. Back then, there was no worry about charges for assault. We were too young for that.

Adults were also depicted in these Peanuts cartoons as alienated with a garble in how they talked towards the kids. Clearly showing the dividing line between them.

Yeah, there was another world kids were in compared to the older folks and there was a lot of adventure to be had in that. This movie accurately portrays that.

Charlie Brown and the gang compete in a raft race against a team of malicious bullies with a vicious cat who has a spiked collar and sharp fangs. Every dirty trick was played in the race to deter the good kids from winning.

Let's see, there are deflated rubber rafts, snow in the summer and wicked rapids to overcome in order to win the race. It doesn't help matters either when the bad kids are constantly ahead and change the direction of the signs to direct the good kids to the hazardous areas.

It reminded me of my times as a kid whenever the gang of bullies raided the playground. They'd chase us around and beat us up if they caught us. That was unforgettable.

Yeah, we were in our own world back then and it sometimes felt like a dangerous war zone. This Peanuts movie accurately captured that and it sure captures what kids go through. It wasn't easy, but still there was a strong feeling of adventure throughout it all, like a knight declaring war on a neighboring Kingdom.