I Am All In Minisode: Henry’s Movie Review (S1, E2) - “The Goonies”

fifty one minute running time, surround sound Dolby Stereo. It's starred Shawn Aston, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Carry Green, Martha Plimpton, k Jujuan, John Mattutzak and Ramsey, Joe Pantolion, Keith Walker. Uh. The executive production team is quite impressive, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. This is an Amblant entertainment production in conjunction with Warner Brothers. Dave Grusin did the original music. John Williams, the multiple Oscar winning John Williams,

along with about everybody else on this list. Uh did the non original music. The cinematographer was Nick McLean the film editor, beautiful job, Michael con Jane Feinberg, Mike Fent, and Judy Taylor cast to film all legendary casting directors, art direction, Rick Carter, production designer, j Michael Reeva brilliant job. Dan Cole's rude assistant director, very difficult job and well done. Linda Deskenna set direction. Just a brilliant film. And Henry

Marken is my partner in crime. Here. Last week we did uh, rose Mary's Baby. Rose there. I just wanted to hear. I love hearing you say that. Say it again, rose Mary's Baby. Nobody ever, nobody says it like that.

There you go. So we did that last week. Uh. And now this is episode number two for Henry's movie reviews on I Am All Mini Zodes on I Am All In podcast I Heart Radio and uh, we're gonna talk about the Goonies because it was mentioned, and it was it was episode two where Madeleine said I hate nature. So here's what I did. I was very entertained. I've seen it before, I hadn't seen it a while, but I thought it was Listen, here's what I think of goonies.

Hit me with your wisdom. Well, it's just it's it's a combination of At the time it was more modern filmmaking and it hearkens back to Disney type of filmmaking. But with I mean, these kids are so clever, it's so well directed, it's so well written, it's so well shot. I mean, you just do not get this kind of and it just shows how great a director Richard Donner was. He passed away, but he was. He was one of the best. He was as good at what he did in that film as what Spielberg has ever done in

any film. Because the the frame was so active and so full, every single scene, every single cutaway, every single shot, every single line delivered by these actors and these kids. And that's the sign of a great director, is how good are the actors and how how much are they filling the frame. It was so active and so busy and so fun, and these kids were so likable. They're good kids, kids, and it's like all the emotional nerves

every single time. It's funny you mentioned the you talked about Spielberg, because Richard Donner, we actually had a stacked staff, right, he had Chris Columbus on the screenplay of course he did Harry Potter and the Home Alonees and those weren't successful at all. And then uh, Spielberg was credited as story and executive producing and even shot a couple of scenes. I think he shot the water pipe scene, you know.

And so just the fact that, yeah, just the fact that Spielberg was just in in the back, you know, just just telling Richard Donna, who of course it's Superman. I mean, it's just like three guys who know how to make a good movie. You're getting script notes or directing notes when you need them, right, I'm sure you didn't impose himself from Steven Spielberg. Donner can make a phone call like Steve, what do you think of this? What do you think? I mean, just the i Q

of those guys in terms of their filmmaking. It was just youdging that writer's room, by the way, the energy and like the combustion, just everyone talking, firing ideas off of one another. It's like a it's like a squash court the balls. I mean, what a what a brilliant set up for um. I mean just really likable kids and and a great journey. Anyway, So if you want to go through the synopsis. Go ahead, and we'll get into this film, even though I only saw half of it. Yeah. Uh,

spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen The Goonies. I don't know it's been out since I don't, so you're a little late on the spoilers. But yeah, The Goonies. It is a out a group of kids who live in the goon Docks and they are known as the Goonies. And essentially their house is going to be four clothes and they all we have to move away from each other, and it's really sad, and as we discussed, it strikes all the emotional nerves of why you care about these kids?

And they find one of them. Sean Aston's character, he plays Mikey. He uh, he lives with his mom and dad. His dad owns museum, and he finds a map for this one eyed Willie, this pirate, this this mythic legend

who had buried treasure somewhere in the goon Docks. So him and his buddies, who are going to lose their house, set out for one final quest to make as much money and buried treasured as possible to basically pay off this wealthy land developer who's this evil figure is trying to buy out all the houses and turn into a big country club. Of course that's just evil, evil, evil. So they go off on this quest. Each kid has his own his or her own kind of like comic identity.

It's really just organic with all these people running around, they go in these caves. At the same time they meet this crime family, the Free Tellies just scum of the earth. I mean, by the way, it's it's not cliche because I feel like they're one of the first movies to like create this, Like it's innovative for its time. It's cliche now. But like the they were just like

they just looked like evil people. I mean, just with the criminal hat and the the mom the for Telling mother had like this raspy asked, boys, like, you can't love someone like that. It's just gross human being who a jerk. But still at the same time, you still feel safe with them somewhat correct, Okay, correct, you don't feel like I mean, you feel like the kids are in sort of you know, they could get a little trouble,

a little danger. I never felt, And I think that's one of the big discussions about the film is we're gonna put these kids in very close proximity and even being held captive either For Telly's Robert Davey plays one of the brothers, and Joe Pantalion brilliantly. I mean, these

these guys were great together. Um, and then they have that that uh, I guess another relative, another brother who's he's chained in a dungeon in this house in the basement, and he is how should say figured, He's a disfigured kind of black sheep brother who really they're not letting the sunlight see. And that's kind of the hidden jam of this is when they meet him, just when Chunk thinks he's going to die at the Foretelli's hand, he's

just teamed up with Sloth. They become best friends. I mean, just a great Disney you know, too odd ducks together become one great relationship. We're talking about a horribly deformed human being who is who's more animal than human being, and um, just kind of a terrifying character. But still there are comedic elements to each of these characters. So

it's that very fine line. This very difficult acting job and a very difficult writing and directing job is to keep these characters somewhat likable and somewhat not terrifying, you know what I mean, So that the kids I wanted to punch in the face. And it was like he was he was the son of the land developer, and he was he had a varsity jacket on. He was a jock. He was Spielberg love playing around with jocks,

growing up as jocks or the villains. And he's just I mean, he was looking up one of the girls. He was looking up somebody's skirt in the rear view mirror of the car. And I mean, I feel like those characters don't exist. And actually that's not true. They exist in real life all the time. I feel like I feel like you sometimes forget that it's easy to write up a really bad person. Uh, And it can be kind of cliche. But as I said, it's not cliche if you're one of the first to do it,

you're an innovator. It's only cliche when the next twenty years of filmmaking just copy you. It's cliche. So these guys did it first with creating these characters and these stereotypes that we see and sort of the comic relief, the funny fat kid and the jerk bully in Troy

who I really just wanted to ran the kisser. So we've already had the laughter, we've already fallen in love with the characters, but now we've got to really feel for them and fall in love with them to continue on this journey and keep this film at a very

high level. And it happens in one scene, and I think it's after Josh Broland gets the paperwork from the guys who are from the bank who are foreclosing and who are soulless and talk about, oh well, this is gonna be a wonderful golf course and it's gonna be great, and get these families out of here, this kind of thing. So it's so hits, so deep and so personally and it makes you so angry. But we're not yet seeing that affect these kids on a level that we might expect.

We don't really need it, but we get it anyway. In that one scene where you know, we see that Shaun Aston and Josh Brolin are brother, you know, brought Josh Brolin's the older brother and he's yes, stupid brother, and they're smacking each other and Sean Aston is just such an appealing young actor, right, and you just like him, and we never really see the love they have for each other as as brothers until this one moment where Shaun Ashton just collapses into Josh Brolin's arms because they

know they're gonna lose their home, and Josh Brawlin just hugs him and then drags him across the porch in the front house to the back door and they go in and Sean Aston is dragging his feet, he can't even walk, And for me, that was like, Wow, that's great filmmaking. I don't care what kind of a film you're watching. If you can make an audience feel that deeply for those characters, that's as good as it gets. You don't. You can't do it any better than that.

So now we're after seeing that scene, we're gonna be strapped in to that vehicle and take that ride throughout the entire film and be completely engaged. Anyway, that's my two cents. Yeah, well, we're talking about emotional scenes. I think you know. A good place for me to resume is my favorite scene was uh when mouth when they're

at the bottom of the well. So if if you kind of recall where they're going in their quest for paried treasure, their essentially going underground, and so they're right now they're running from the fertilities and there, and they're they got the map and their deep underground and now they're setting up booby traps. So they're going in the

right direction for some pari treasure. And essentially they end up underneath a road side well, at the bottom of a well, and they have this point where they can all go up, climb the rope and escape and call all tonight, or they go deeper into the story. And that's um As a writer, I think that's an awesome part where the protagonist basically says double down, we're we're in, We're all in, or let's quit now, and they keep going.

But before they do, my favorite part in the movie is actually when they're at the bottom of a wishing well and there's a bunch of coins and mouth basically says, you know, my dreams never came true, so I'm taking it back. Hell, I'm taking them all back. He grabs a coin, he grabs a lot of coins, and really cool moment because there's this level of complexity and deep emotions that come from a fifteen year old kid, and

I'm twenty one years old. This movie came out thirty years ago, and yet I still feel something when he talks about, hey, I I threw coins in this wishing well and nothing's come true. I'm taking it all back like that kind of like pessimism from a fifteen year old kid about how the real world works. It's like, holy hell, Like what I mean, what awesome, awesome moment. It makes you angry. It makes you angry at the world and angry what kids have to go through, and

makes you love those kids even more exactly. How dare anybody not grant the wishes of these children? How dare they? I mean, it's just so beautifully manipulent. If I love it, I love great writing. It's just so great. And then after that moment, they go and they you know, it's like one or two more booby traps. They come together, the guy with the tools he's got, like he's grappling hook plungers. Like again, very cliche and cheesey now, but

at the time, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, loved it. That brought up the comic book Lover and Me, Like it's like a Batman utility belt. Situation. They find this pirate ship loaded with jewels and cash and forever items to be cash in to save the homes. For Tellies catch up with them. There's a little fight. Of course, as you talked about, it's safe. The for Tellies aren't vicious people. They just want the golden stuff. Then here comes Sloth

and Chunk, two best friends. Um Sloth has the famous hey you guys line, uh, swings in like a pirate and essentially defends the kids, lets them escape, and there's this great moment. I don't know if you you might have you might have not caught it. I caught it because I'm just I'm just a total superhero nerd. But so Richard Darner the director of this film. He did a Superman one and two with Christopher Reeves. A Warner Brothers distributed both Superman films and this film. Sloth rips

open his shirt. Underneath he's got a Superman shirt, just the red and yellow crest on the blue shirt he's ripped, and the Superman theme plays in the movie. I totally forgot about that scene when I watched them when I was like five or six years old, but that that struck me. I was like, oh my god, forgot and my I got the chills, I get the harvest pounding. It was awesome. They escape, they get out of there, they get out of the caves and the landlord. They

see the cops, the land developer. Everyone's like, all right, well glad, you guys are okay, but the house is for closed. Right before the dad signs of paper to give it over. Oh my god, surprised. There's like six or seven diamonds in here. The houses are saved. Mm hmm. Such a simple premise, such a brilliant premise. How do we get money to save our home? I mean, my god, how do engage kids? I mean, just what a wonderful film? What did you what's your rating of it? What's your

what's your rating? Overall? I gave a rating of Rosemary's Baby last week was an eight point one out of ten. I gave a specific decimal calculated rating out of time giving this. I'm giving this a ten out of ten. I don't think it gets better. Oh, it doesn't get better than this. It does not get better than this, in my opinion, even if it is the best. Had me in tears in the first act because Seawan Asketon

and Josh Broland dragged a ten a big time. I've given it eleven if I could who great film, greatness, high numbers, but is like tell me what okay, So if you're not going to give it a perfect score, tell me you know how the gymnasts tumbled? Did they drop anything, did they stumble? Did they fall? I didn't see one flaw? And and as I recall, I give it a nine. I give a nine point zero just because I'm so, I'm critical, I'm tough, you know, But but where are the flaws? Point out the flaws? What's

wrong with the film? To doctor point, that's a big deduction. That's you're taking away ten from a perfect score, like like a ten is like The Godfather, like just like the Picture of Film, or or like The Dark Knight or Shaw Redemption where it's like the movie. But that's those are dramas. Those are dramas. Stay with the category. The category is is these are not dramas. This is a kid's film. So they kids film has their specific tasks that they have to complete to stay within the genre.

They can't just keep crossing genres. I mean, you get confused in the film falls apart. But for me, it's a ten for that kind of it's filmmaking at its finest because that's what you have to suspend the disbelief and also while also letting the audience know that these kids are not going to get hurt. That's hard. I think kids comedies are tougher to do and I don't and there's a ton of them, and they're not like the Goonies. I think they hit it out of the

park with that film. In my opinion, thank you, but no, I'm still waiting for you. What are the flaws? What are the flaws in the film that you take a point away? I just think sometimes I was like, all right, you know, we get the point that like there's like one sometimes they say one or two lines trying to force a joke that that you're just like, okay, we get Chuck's hilarious, mouth's grades ever, never shuts up, Mike,

he's good as the ambitious travel kids. I think there were just sometimes one or two lines that were extra that you need to cement for the five or six year olds and the seven year olds in the audience, which it's nobody's fault. Nobody's fault. It's still a train out of ten for me, it's a ten ten out of ten for you. I'm just saying it's not perfect because there's always those one or two extras, a little little redundant, Okay, yes, and redundancy. Redundancy just is slight flawed,

but by no means hurts the movie. It just means it's not a tent for me. That's that's that's that's fair. That's fair. That's all. I just I just wanted to. I just wanted is fair? Thank you? I got my free trial. Inquiring mindes want to, no want Scott, this was a blast, Thank you so much. Episode two with you the goonies. Can't wait for the next one. All right, Henry always fun. Scott Patterson with Henry markin reviewing movies.

I Am all Minisodes, Episode two. All right, everybody, we'll see you next time.