Well, actually I found it pretty scary.  On a personal level, once the movie stopped being plausible (about the time that they found the two ruined buildings), I think it really started tapping into nightmare territory.  As a kid growing up during the "the Soviet Union could kill us at any time" era, I had all of…

Well, actually I found it pretty scary.  On a personal level, once the movie stopped being plausible (about the time that they found the two ruined buildings), I think it really started tapping into nightmare territory.  As a kid growing up during the "the Soviet Union could kill us at any time" era, I had all of…

Well, actually I found it pretty scary.  On a personal level, once the movie stopped being plausible (about the time that they found the two ruined buildings), I think it really started tapping into nightmare territory.  As a kid growing up during the "the Soviet Union could kill us at any time" era, I had all of…

I've heard some dismissal of the found footage use in Cloverfield as gimmick, but I really love it.  How often do giant monster movies actually make you feel small and helpless?  There were some dodgy choices (the close-up of the monster wasn't the best idea), but I think the choice was inspired.

Mel Brooks, you're adorable!

Mel Brooks, you're adorable!

Last time I traveled internationally we had to watch "The Mysterious Island" and "The War Next Door".  I assume this was to prep us for France's customs.

Last time I traveled internationally we had to watch "The Mysterious Island" and "The War Next Door".  I assume this was to prep us for France's customs.

Yeah, you're right there.  River Of Life does have a feel of a Fraggle Very Special Episode, albeit one handled better than most. 
I suspect seeing it as an adult with a bunch of Jim Henson's other environmental works at the excellent Gene Siskel Film Center has made it very hard to for me to see it in relation to the…

Yeah, you're right there.  River Of Life does have a feel of a Fraggle Very Special Episode, albeit one handled better than most. 
I suspect seeing it as an adult with a bunch of Jim Henson's other environmental works at the excellent Gene Siskel Film Center has made it very hard to for me to see it in relation to the…

She'll be fine.  Part of becoming an adult is realizing that 80% of the media you loved as a kid is awful dreck.

She'll be fine.  Part of becoming an adult is realizing that 80% of the media you loved as a kid is awful dreck.

I think part of the reason it was so stunning to a child of the 80s is that polluters were represented as almost comically evil.  They were either psychopaths two steps off of a Dick Tracy strip (ala Captain Planet) or ludicrous businessmen personally driving backhoes and shoving old people in the mud (ala about 90%…

I think part of the reason it was so stunning to a child of the 80s is that polluters were represented as almost comically evil.  They were either psychopaths two steps off of a Dick Tracy strip (ala Captain Planet) or ludicrous businessmen personally driving backhoes and shoving old people in the mud (ala about 90%…

Oh Fraggle Rock.  I wavered between liking and being apathetic to it as a kid.  We didn't have cable and without the background and world-building, the episodes we happened across seemed weirdly frantic. 
I am glad to see The River of Life on this list though, even as a secondary.  The environmental issues are…

Oh Fraggle Rock.  I wavered between liking and being apathetic to it as a kid.  We didn't have cable and without the background and world-building, the episodes we happened across seemed weirdly frantic. 
I am glad to see The River of Life on this list though, even as a secondary.  The environmental issues are…

My cable froze out in the middle of this episode and came back in the middle of the Annoying Orange x-mas episode.  Going from Pops wrestling a bear to Slash, Brett Micheals, Weird Al and Alice Cooper singing a song about… selling out, I think? with a talking piece of fruit was probably the surreal high-point of my…

My cable froze out in the middle of this episode and came back in the middle of the Annoying Orange x-mas episode.  Going from Pops wrestling a bear to Slash, Brett Micheals, Weird Al and Alice Cooper singing a song about… selling out, I think? with a talking piece of fruit was probably the surreal high-point of my…

I remember reading one or two of the translated novels a while back, but they actually just made less sense.  Also, whoever translated it would not stop called the hand-face the "countenanced carbuncle".

I remember reading one or two of the translated novels a while back, but they actually just made less sense.  Also, whoever translated it would not stop called the hand-face the "countenanced carbuncle".