My family ran a pizza restaurant in Aurora when I was growing up. It was a lot of work so there wasn't always someone around to keep an eye on me. This would lead to two things, destruction of property (we'll get into that another day) and discovering a love for movies.
In fact a lot of my upbringing came from movies. I got into skateboarding because of Thrashing and BMX because of the movie Rad. In fact it was a movie that got me into music! I have literally seen some of these movies more that 50 times.
I am gonna start with just 3 movies for this post.
Alright, let's get into it.
The First Three
RAD - 1986
This movie lives rent free in my memory although in actuality did spend a small fortune renting repeatedly. As a kid If I was given even just a few dollars it meant I was gonna hop on my bike and make a mad dash to Video 99 in Aurora to see if they had a copy of Rad in stock.
This movie was all about an underdog who was exceptionally good at BMX racing and stunt riding. I would watch this movie and get so excited that I would hop on my bike and go racing around town trying to imitate stunts from the movie. Usually without success but minimal injury.
I had rented this movie so many times that my mother eventually called the owner of Video 99 and told him he was not allowed to rent it to me ever again, and he never did.
However, I always found a way to watch it!
MONSTER SQUAD - 1987
I am a huge fan of Horror movies and Paranormal Thrillers and this movie is what started me on that track. I was definitely a kid who was influenced by movies and TV shows, and after watching this a few dozen times I was packing my bag and exploring old abandoned houses around town looking for monsters to hunt. Luckily, where I grew up in Aurora didn't have too many spots like that so I was never in any real danger, but at 9 years I was sure as heck ready for it.
Check out this trailer, “Wolfman's got nards”!
EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS II: EDDIE LIVES - 1986
This by far the most important movie in my life. I remember watching this for the first time and instantly falling in love with the music and the story. This is actually a sequel but you don't need to see part one understand EDDIE LIVES as they do a great job of giving backstory.
I was in grade 5 or so when I saw this movie and I immediately wanted to be a musician and more importantly a songwriter. I didn't even know how to play an instrument yet but I was walking around with a song book of lyrics, all lyrics from this movie soundtrack. Fair to say this film had a huge impact on my ideas of what being a musician/songwriter in a band was all about.
This movie is about a musician who everyone thinks has died and his death caused his music and popularity to sky rocket. Set in New Jersey (I love my NJ artists as some might know) and in some parts of Canada as well, we follow Eddie Wilson's return to music while trying not to fall into old habits and attempting to do things differently this time around.
Side Note
One of the opening scenes was filled at Club Metropolis in Montreal, Canada and in 2017 I was fortunate enough to get to play on that stage while on tour. It was a pretty awesome experience that I won't soon forget.
I assume you are aware by now that my favourite movies tend to be about exceptional people doing things others believed couldn't be done. I also assume you are aware that all of these movies are high on the “cheese ball” rating and essentially B movies at best. Well, I love'em and I'll watch them again and again.
Is there a movie you watched on repeat throughout your life or is it just me?