A-to-tha-Zizzle: D

Well it's D Day. No, not that D-Day. The fun one. The one where the letter D takes over my blog. I almost feel like I should dedicate this post to my dad, since his name is Dennis, and he goes by Uncle D, Papa D, Daddy D, Big D and just plain old D. Plus, he rocks. For reals.

My dad in 1976. Looks like he just stepped out of Dazed and Confused.

Seriously, doesn't he look like he would be totally kickin' like chicken back in the day?

See? Told ya. Speaking of which, let's get down to it....the best D films:

Dazed and Confused

It's the last day of school/first day of summer in 1976. The juniors are about to begin initiating the incoming freshmen, parties are being planned and star quarterback Randall "Pink" Floyd is prepared to enjoy his summer before senior year. Unfortunately his football coaches want him to sign a pledge to refrain from using illegal substances. Yeah, right.

Along with his friends (including an awesome Rory Cochrane as Slater and Matthew McConaughey as Wooderson), Pink kicks off the summer with one thing on his mind: FUN. Fun, of course, includes paddling freshmen, pool, mailbox bashing, drinking beer, smoking pot and a massive party.

One of the most kick-A movies EVER. The soundtrack rocks, the dialogue rocks, the clothes rock, basically, it all just rocks. If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading, get in your car, drive to the store and BUY IT NOW. You'll thank me later.

Death Becomes Her

Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis star in this awesome movie. Helen (Hawn) is so happy, she's engaged to the up-and-coming plastic surgeon Ernest Melville (Willis), and she wants him to meet her lifelong BFF, "triple-threat" Madeline Ashton (Streep). They go see her awful play and Ernest is suddenly smitten kitten with Madeline. In no time flat Madeline has stolen Ernest from Helen and they get married.

After fourteen years, Helen is reunited with Madeline and Ernest in a most....unusual way. A murder plot, an accidental murder and magic potion weave a twisted web between them all, and it just gets more demented as the film progresses. Love it!

Dirty Dancing

Baby goes with her family on vacation to the upscale Kellerman's Resort in 1963. Baby is a humanitarian and daddy's girl, who has no interests in anything but saving the world. All of that changes when she meets Johnny, the bad boy dance instructor at the resort. After his dance partner is unable to perform, Johnny hesitantly goes about teaching Baby how to dance. Their constant bickering evolves into a love affair that will leave you hankering for some lovin' of your own.

The dancing is fun to watch, the music is great and Patrick Swayze - God rest his soul - is just a treat. Yum.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

Drop Dead Fred

Lizzie (Phoebe Cates) is a happily grownup woman, until she catches her husband having an affair. She moves back home with her controlling, bossy mother (think Mommie Dearest in pink), and is suddenly reunited with her childhood imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rick Mayall).

Fred kept Lizzie in trouble as a child, and is even worse now that she's an adult. He sabotages her everywhere - with her friends, in public, with her mother, basically 24/7. Lizzie wants to be rid of Fred, but she can't let go of the child inside of her.

I loved this movie when I was younger because I thought it would be so awesome to have an imaginary friend to blame stuff on. (I was one of those kids who never had an imaginary friend. I think I had too many siblings and cousins to need one.)


Dumb & Dumber

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels play doofus best buds Lloyd and Harry. After Lloyd loses his job as a limo driver and Harry loses his job as a dog groomer, Lloyd convinces Harry to take a road trip to Aspen to return a briefcase to his last client, Mary (Lauren Holly), a beautiful woman he had taken to the airport.

The roadtrip is packed with ridiculousness, from roadside diner scams to drinking piss from a beer bottle to picking up hitchhikers. Once the two arrive in Aspen, they realize the briefcase is full of money. They go on a spending spree, and end up both meeting Mary and falling for her. This movie is utterly stupid, but one of my most favorites. I like it, I like it a lot!


Today's episode has been brought to you by the letter D, and the numbers 4, 2 and 0. Hehe.

Movie Delight Monday

Well folks, today is my last day of summer.  I work tomorrow, and then I will officially be a college sophomore come Wednesday.  I will not freak out I will not freak out I will not freak out.

In celebration of my delayed return to school,  I've decided to cover a film that focuses on the grandness of childhood and why sometimes it's easier to stay a kid and refuse the whole grownup thing.  

I know most of you will not have seen this one.  I won't even be surprised if you've never heard of it, either.  99% of my friends who have seen it only watched because I bugged them about it until they caved.  Now it's one of their favorites, of course. 

Released in 1991, one of the best stupid comedies ever made (in my opinion):

 It stars one of my favorite late 80s/early 90s actresses, Phoebe Cates.  Guys remember her mostly for the pool/bathroom scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  I also loved her in Shag (another of my all-time favorite films). 

Also starring as Fred is British comedian Rick Mayall, who I have never seen in any other film or television show.  Ever. However, after checking out his bio on IMDB I've learned that he's done quite a bit of work in the UK.

The story begins with a little girl in her bed at night, with mother reading a story about a princess.   After a moment the girl asks her mother how she knows they lived happily ever after.  Her mother responds, "Because she was a good little girl.  If she had been naughty, the prince would have run away."  The little girl replies, "What a pile of sh#@." 

Fast-forward to present day, and Lizzie is all grown up.  She has the perfect husband (played by Tim Matheson), a great job, the perfect life.  Suddenly it all falls apart, and she goes home to stay with her mother (Marsha Mason, who really scared me as a kid.  Think Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest).  Lizzie's emotional state causes her childhood imaginary friend, Fred, to reappear.  

 Flashbacks show us various shenanigans young Lizzie (played by the adorable Ashley Peldon) got into with Fred, such as playing "burglars" and robbing her own house, making mud pies on the dining room table and cutting her hair.

Fred caused so much trouble for Lizzie that her mother got rid of him by taping shut the jack-in-the-box that Fred lives in.  The disagreement about Fred between her parents was also the last straw on their failed marriage, prompting Lizzie's dad to leave them. 

As Lizzie tries to get her life back, Fred interferes and causes problems at every turn.  People start to think Lizzie's crazy because she can see Fred and have conversations with him, but obviously no one else can see him.

Enter childhood friend Mickey Bunce (played by Ron Eldard), who seems amused by Lizzie's bizarre behavior.  They start to get closer - much to the dismay of a jealous Fred - and Lizzie's world just gets even more dysfunctional. 

Fred's antics lead to a houseboat disaster, a mall assault and a boardroom freak-out by Lizzie's best friend Janie (Carrie Fisher). Eventually Lizzie starts to get her old life back, only to realize it might not be what she really wants. 

This film is basically just a fun glimpse at what life with an imaginary friend would be like.  I never had imaginary friends (probably because I had siblings and about a dozen cousins) so I think if I had one, I'd want it to be someone like Fred!