Tag / Beverly Hills Cop

by admin

Fifty Years Of Music – 1985

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1985, the year I wrapped up fifth grade, moved to sixth grade, did the Super Bowl Shuffle, and turned 11.  31 songs of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with only fifteen of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#97: Don Henley – All She Wants to Do Is Dance
iTunes stats: N/A

The sixth solo single from the Eagles drummer peaked at #9 on the Hot 100.

#92: Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
iTunes stats: 15 plays

Ranked as the 275th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone, the track broke the top ten, hitting #9 in January of 1985.

#88: David Lee Roth – California Girls
iTunes stats: 22 plays

Roth’s first solo single after leaving Van Halen, this version matched the original by the Beach Boys, topping out at #3.

#75: Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Hitting #9 on the Hot 100 in 1985, the song was briefly banned in the southern US after Hurrican Katrina in 2005.

#74: Bryan Adams – Summer of ’69
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #5 on the charts, the song was ranked at #70 on Blender’s list “The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born” in 2005

#67: Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days
iTunes stats: 14 plays

The fifth of a record-tying seven singles from the Born in the USA album to hit the top five, it stalled out at #5 in the summer of 1985.

#61: Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F
iTunes stats: 18 plays

The instrumental theme to Beverly Hills Cop, the track reached #3 on the Hot 100.

#58: Madonna – Material Girl
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending two weeks at #2, the second single from Like a Virgin gave Madonna two simultaneous top five hits.

#57: Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)
iTunes stats: N/A

Turner peaked at #2 with this hit from the soundtrack to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which also earned her a Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

#56: Animotion – Obsession
iTunes stats: 16 plays

The band’s first single reached #6 on the Hot 100.

#53: Don Henley – The Boys of Summer
iTunes stats: N/A

The track, which earned Henley a Grammy in 1986, hit #5 on the Hot 100 and topped the Top Rock Tracks chart for five weeks.

#51: Prince & the Revolution – Raspberry Beret
iTunes stats: 5 plays

Peaking at #2 in 1985, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #33 in 2016 following Prince’s death.

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by admin

You Ought To Be In (20) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the three actors that have starred in exactly 20 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton burst on to my movie going radar with 1983’s Mr. Mom.  He had two different years, 1995 and 2000, where I saw three of his films.  After a nine-year absence from my screen, he returned in 2015 to increase his total once again.  The last time I saw him in a starring role was back in 2020, where he starred as McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc in 2017’s The Founder.

Eddie Murphy

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land.  My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop.  Seven of his films were seen before I started my database, so I can’t be entirely sure of when I first saw them.  Of the seven years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, five of them have been multiples.  After a 15-year absence, Eddie Murphy returned to my screen in 2019, when I finally took in 2003’s Haunted Mansion.

Sylvester Stallone

My first exposure to Sylvester Stallone was through the Rocky franchise, whose eight films make up 40% of this total.  Add in the Rambo franchise and is exactly 50%.  My biggest Stallone years were 1991 and 2007, when I took in a grand total of two films each.  His longest streak was four years, which ended with my most recent experience with his films in 2021, seeing the 1992 comedy(?) Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

by admin

You Ought To Be In (20) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 4 actors that has starred in 21 movies that I have seen, an increase of three from 3 years ago.

Samuel L. Jackson

26 years ago, I first made the acquaintance of Samuel L. Jackson in 2 polar opposite films, Pulp Fiction and National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1.  After 1994, I also saw 2 Jackson films in 2000, 2006, 2019, and 2020.  There was a 6 year break between Lakeview Terrace, which I saw in 2010, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which I saw in 2016.  The last starring roles of Jackson’s I took in earlier this year were 2019’s Shaft and 2015’s Barely Lethal.

Scarlett Johansson

I was first introduced to Scarlett Johansson in 2001 when I saw the comic-book adaptation Ghost World.  Starting in 2004, there was a 6 year run where I saw 11 of the 14 films that make up this total, including 5 in 2006 alone.  Another 3 films came in 2014.  She is riding an active 3-year streak, with my most recent experience with her coming last year in Netflix’s Marriage Story.

Eddie Murphy

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land.  My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop.  7 of his films were seen before I started my database, so I can’t be entirely sure of when I first saw them.  Of the 7 years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, 5 of them have been multiples.  After a 15 year absence, Eddie Murphy returned to my screen in 2019, when I finally took in 2003’s Haunted Mansion.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts burst on to the scene in 1990’s Pretty Woman, which was one of 2 films of hers I saw in 1991.  I’ve seen multiple films from her in 1991, 1994, 2000, and 2017, with her big year for me being 2000, when I saw 4 different films in which she starred.  My last Julia Roberts vehicles, 2016’s Money Monster and 2011’s Larry Crowne, were seen in 2017.

by admin

You Ought To Be In (19) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we dive into the 3 actors that have starred in 19 movies that I have seen.

Ben Affleck

The first Ben Affleck starring role that I saw was in 1997, when I saw both Going All The Way and Chasing Amy.  In 1999, he kicked off a 6 year run where I saw 11 of his films, including 3 films in both 2000 and 2003.  There were 5 years total where I had seen multiple Affleck outings.  In recent years, he has been focusing more on directing, including the last film in which I saw him, 2012’s Argo which I saw last year.  He’s likely to move up this list in the future thanks to his casting as Batman in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel.

George Clooney

George Clooney was bouncing around Hollywood for a while before becoming a superstar on a little show called ER, whose pilot movie was his first entry on this list.  That launched him to great film success.  2 films is my high water mark for Clooney, one which I have reached 5 different times, most recently in 2012.  Like Affleck in the future, Clooney also had the opportunity to wear the cowl and cape in 1997’s Batman & Robin, which killed off that franchise and set the stage for Christopher Nolan’s Bat franchise.  My most recent Clooney experience, which will actually bump him up to the next tier, was Gravity, which I saw earlier this year after the cutoff for this list.

Eddie Murphy

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land.  My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop.  7 of his films were seen before I started keeping track, so I’m not sure of when I first saw them.  Of the 7 years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, 5 of them have been multiples.  It’s been over a decade since I’ve seen one of his starring perfromances, as I suffered through both Showtime and Adventures Of Pluto Nash in 2004.

by jim

CBS Upfronts

PersonOfInterestRelevance1The big news out of the CBS upfront presentation wasn’t what they did pick up for the fall, but what they didn’t.  Leslie Moonves and company passed on yet another NCIS spinoff and a Beverly Hills Cop sequel with Eddie Murphy on board for a recurring role.  Instead, the network decided to take some chances in favor of higher-concept dramas and single camera comedies.  Hawaii Five-O gets shunted off to Fridays.  Person of Interest, with Sarah Shahi onboard as a series regular, moves to Tuesdays.  Thursday’s comedy block expands to two hours, where The Crazy Ones, a new series created by David E. Kelley and starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar anchors the second hour.  Beyond that, a lot of CBS being CBS.