It's Not Just Hollywood

We spend some time around here moaning and groaning that Hollywood has run out of ideas so they're now just basically remaking our childhood. Well let's turn that vitriol east for a moment to Broadway musicals.

First there was The Producers, which was, at the time, kind of a cult Gene Wilder/Mel Brooks flick that made it's way to the Great White Way and because a huge mega smash hit. In fact, it was such a big hit it went from film to Broadway musical to film based on the Broadway musical, which was kind of hilarious given the show. Then, of course, there have been others, things like Monty Python And The Holy Grail, which hit the stage as Spamalot. Xanadu: The Musical. Yes, Xanadu, the terrible film with Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly (of all people), became a Broadway show. On roller skates. Footloose got the Broadway treatment. So did The Wedding Singer and Hairspray and Bring It On. And Legally Blonde. We won't even talk about Spider-Man or the weird London Batman thing that are both currently running. Currently in development? Ghost.

But what really set me all a fire today was the news that Jerry Zemeckis is exploring the notion of a stage adaptation of... Back To The Future. Are. You. KIDDING. ME?

McFly! Get Me Some New Shoes!

Cinemablend tipped me off to something AWESOME. Look at what Nike's working on:



Dude! Self lacing Nikes! There better be some hoverboards in the works too!

Admit it, you want them.

Back To The Nikes

While there's no need to continue to prove how iconic a movie Back To The Future is, Nike has modeled their newest shoe after the DeLorean, which we all know is the car best suited for time travel. Now all they need to do is make those self-tying shoes from BTTF Part II and I'll be a happy, happy geek this Christmas.



Even the box they come in is cool:

Gotta Go Back In Time

There's a lot of Back to the Future nostalgia right now as it's the 25th anniversary of the film.

Entertainment Weekly has an excellent reunion piece with Michael J. Fox and Lea Thompson. And they both look outstanding.



Spike is running this sweet ad for its 2010 Scream Awards:



And some superfans are having a week long Back To The Future fest in Burbank, California in November, that actually looks pretty fun. Hoverboard sessions!

Fess up, who else wanted an orange vest and a hoverboard after seeing the first two films?

Nice Going McFly!

Back To The Future is arguably one of the most perfect movies ever made.  It's certainly one of the best of the 80s, hands down.  It made us want a DeLorean and a mad scientist for a best friend.  But did you know that the role of Marty McFly, made iconic by Michael J. Fox, was originally played by Eric Stoltz?

I had always heard that they shot a portion of the movie with Stoltz, but had never seen any footage.  But as a part of the special Blu-Ray release of BTTF, we can now see what could have been if only Eric Stoltz had been deemed funny by Steven Spielberg.

They Say It's My Birthday

Today is in fact my birthday so I thought I'd compile a list of things that you all can give me, thanks to the Think Geek catalogue that arrived in the mail this weekend.

• The Back to the Future Lights and Sound Mark I DeLorean
  
  
  This bad boy makes all the sounds that the movie one does. Totally rad.


• Star Wars Chop Sabers with the R2-D2 Pepper Mill
  
  
  
  
  Because our home clearly needs to be geekier.


• Or maybe just some Canned Unicorn Meat. Unicorn: the new white meat!
  
  

Seriously, I love Think Geek. Go browse around - I bet you find one thing that you want.

Better Time-Traveling Flick: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure vs. Back to the Future

Now that the Hot Tub Time Machine has more or less been drained as it limps off movie screens, let's turn our attention to two classic time-traveling franchises. On today's Criss Cross Counter Punch, The Weirdgirl and Archphoenix debate who were the better time traveller(s): Bill & Ted or Marty McFly?

* * *

The Weirdgirl: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is pure energy. This immediately makes it the better pick of time travel movies. There are not many movies that can keep you grinning the entire time but Bill & Ted's manages to do it. It doesn't get bogged down in too many subplots or angsty worries about the space-time continuum (yawn) like Back to the Future. It's just plain fun.

I also think it's the more realistic of the two movies. Bill and Ted got mileage out of their time travels. They went to multiple eras. They partied with interesting people. Really, if you had a time machine, would you go back to one time and slouch around whining about your parents for the entire trip then slink back home? Or would you have taken that machine for a real spin as soon as you got it back up and running? Bill and Ted understood the value of the time traveling tool and theirs was the more realistic teenage response: deal with the crisis at hand and look for babes, while also having the time of your life. And no matter how crazy things got you noticed that not once did Bill OR Ted make out with a family member, right? (What's wrong with you Marty?)