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fandomhigh_ooc2008-01-13 09:04 pm
by137.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2008-01-13 09:04 pm
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Spotlight on Fandoms :: Empire Records.
What do you get when you take one music store, its wearied but hip owner, his zany and stereotypically varied staff, and a has-been pop star, mix it in with a franchise contract that goes against the carefree, c'est la vie rhetoric that embodies the youth of the mid-ninties, and stir it with a funky, psuedo-alternative soundtrack that will get more critical praise than the film itself, besides whacky hijinx?
Empire Records, that's what.
Check out the movie trailer, especially if you're lazy and don't want to read everything.
The Premise: Released in 1995, directed by Allan Moyle (Pump up the Volume), and written by Carol Heikkinen (center Stage), Empire Records is a typical irreverent, day-in-the-life-of, cultural reference film about a record store, the crazy kids who work there, and damning the cooperate, capitalist monster. It all starts late one night (the beginning of the day, as it's after closing, and they close at midnight), when, upon closing the independently owned record store, Empire Records, hapless beatnik-esque employee Lucas stumbles upon a contract that would turn Empire into a MusicTown franchise, unless the manager, Joe, can come up with ten thousand dollars to buy the store from the yuppie who owns it. So Lucas has the brilliant idea to take the short drive up the Jersey shore to Atlantic City where, "guided by a power much greater than luck," he plans to gamble with the earnings of the day to double the income, thus getting enough money for Joe.
This plan, of course, does not work. Lucas ends up losing all of the money.
NOT ON REX MANNING DAY!
Thus, our story begins, as the staff of Empire pull together to vanquish the evils of cooperate America by using their ingenuity and all-around quirkiness to gain the money needed to save the store that they love, all while dealing with the trials of young love, social mores and expectations, juvenielle delnquents, and one really, really pompous singer with really, really bad hair.
Nothing a BIG ASS PARTY can't solve, am I right?
Of course I am.
The Characters: As is typical of this genre of comdey-drama, Empire Records is a story based around several different character "types" and their little invidual stories to push along the mainplot line. Here's everything you'd need to know about "all the beautiful little tattooed, gum-chewing freaks," in order of relative importance to "plot," or, at least, in order of ease in introducing the various "plots."
Joe Reaves:
"Joe, I need to ask your advice. Now I know you know a lot about love and women and all that sort of thing.. "Oh yeah, my wife left me for another woman and my girlfriend forced me to leave at gunpoint. Does this qualify me?" "Oh yeah, definitely."
In case you had any doubts as to whether or not Joe Reaves, the manager of Empire Records, was cool and hip, there's a whole scene of him playing his drums angrily to AC/DC to prove it. Down-and-out Joe just can't seem to catch a break these days, and attempts to keep his sanity while trying to work out exactly how to deal with the MusicTown situation. Played by Anthony LaPaglia, Joe is sort of the center figure in the middle of Empire Records, although there isn't a lot of focus on him as a character. He does care supremely for the well-being of his employees, gives them a crap-ton of leeway with almost everything, and just wants to keep Empire true to its independant spirit.
Lucas:
"What's with you today? Yesterday, you were normal, and today you're like the Chinese guy from The Karate Kid. What's with you today?" "What's with today today?"
Self-proclaimed bad seed and ten-cent sage, Lucas is the one who blew all the money in the first place, as mentioned before. Played by Rory Cochrane, he goes about the day contemplating the depth of his loss and dispensing wisdom here and there as he tries to remain somewhat cool and collected over the chaos he inadvertently and stupidly caused.
Rex Manning:
"Who should I make it out to?" "Denise." "Denise; I've always loved that name." "Thank you, but it's not mine, it's my mothers. She loves you. I've never even heard of you." "Does your mother still have her own teeth? Forget it."... "Cool hair."
As it so happens, today is Rex Manning Day at Empire Records. Rex Manning, played by Maxwell Caulfield is a washed-up pop star with bad hair who used to be on some show called The Family Way, and his current "hit" single is the infectious "Say No More (Mon Amor)". In addition to the money situation, this overly pompous singer is there to sign autographs amd make life just so much better for everyone. Freakin' Rex Manning Day.
Corey Mason:
"WHEN did you find time to make these?" "Daddy says there are twenty-four usable hours in every day, thank you!" "You absolutely amaze me. You? Are a nerd." "That's me!"
One of the only employees with the chance to grace us with a last name, Corey Mason, played by Liv Tyler, is a high school senior of a relatively affluent family, set and bound for Harvard Law school. Quite the perfectionist thanks to the constant pressure from her father to be perfect, she's a bit high strung. Okay. Very high strung. She is also Rex Manning's biggest fan; her excitement for Rex Manning day is not to be contained, and she is not letting the opprotunity go to waste! Her goal for the day is to, in fact, lose her virginity to him. I'm sure, as you can expect, this goes over real well.
A.J.:
"Lucas, do you think it's possible for a person to be in love with someone else and not even know it?" "In this life? There are nothing but possibilities." "Well, that's good, because I have to tell Corey I love her by 1;37." "...That's an excellent time."
Hopelessly romantic and dorky, A.J., played by Johnny Whitworth, has been working at Empire Records for a while now ("on and off for six years"), where he dwindles away at his technical aptitude and artistic ambitions. He wants to go to art school, but has reservations about whether or not he's good enough. Oh, and he's absolutely, completely, buttcrazy in love with Corey and resolved that today (yes, the day when she decides to lose her virginity to a has-been pop star) is the day that he will tell her that he loves her. Yup. That'll go well.
Mark:
"Hey, Lucas. I've decided I'm going to start a band." "The first thing you need is a name. Then you'll know what kind of band you've got." "Right, right. Well, I was thinking about, um, Marc. How does that sound?" "Is that witha C or with a K?" "Well, um, my name is with a...uh, K, hee, so I was thinking my band's name should be with a C. That way, it's kind of that psychedelic, you know, trip thing." "Always mess with their minds."
I love Mark. Absolutely adorable and played by Ethan Embry (although he was Ethan Randall in the credits), Mark is a hyper, spaztic little stoner dude who LOOOOOVES music and LOOOOOVES "special" brownies and LOOOOOOVES....everything. He's the typical zany comic relief type, and you just want to smush him to zany comic relief pieces.
Gina:
"Well, Sinead O'Rebellion. Shock me, shock me, shock me with that deviant behavior." "God, that's so clever. I swear, you get smarter the shorter your skirt gets." "And you get smarter the shorter your hair gets, so it's a good thing you went with that." "Yeah?" "It's a lovely look for you, darling."
Played by Renee Zellweger long before anyone knew who Renee Zellweger is, Gina is Corey's BFF. She wants to be a signer, but seems to be going more toward the groupie path, as she's kind of mostly a major slutbag. This comes into play later with Rex, as I'm sure you can imagine. Also, Gina can really rock an orange apron like it's nobody's business.
Deb:
"Oh now, Debra, don't be bitter, surely with your ever growing collection of flesh mutilating silver appendages and your brand new neo-nazi boot camp makeover the boys will come a-runnin'." "Let's not fight; let's just rip."
We are introduced to Deb, played by Robin Tunney, when she comes silently storming into the store, ignores everyone with the exception of a flip of the bird, shaves off her hair, and then has to listen to a bitchfit on A.J.'s part regarding the bandages around her wrist. So, in case you didn't get it from all that, Deb is the "messed up" "disturbed" punk-type of the bunch. She's revealed, though, to break her stereotype by being responsible and work on Joe's taxes. She also makes really cool buttons and gets the best funeral ever (no, she doesn't die; no, that's not a spoiler).
Berko:
"Er, Joe, you know that Berko's going to insult him right to his face. I don't think that's such a good idea." "Look, I don't care if Berko sticks an m8o up his butt and lights it. In fact, I hope he sticks one up mine. It might be an improvement."
Berko, played by Coyote Shivers, is a bit of a throwaway character. He has a mysterious, assumingly romantic involvement with Deb and has a band. And that's pretty much all there is to him. Although it is interesting to note that, when he filmed this movie, he was married to Bebe Buell, who is Liv Tyler's mother, therefor he was her step-father at the time. Whooooa, man.
Eddie:
"Now Mark, you gotta understand something here. This music is the glue of the World, Mark - it holds it all together, without this life would be meaningless."
Eddie, played by James Wills, is Mark's BFF and stoner-music obsessed pal, who adds to the comic relief (and is an excellent dancer). He works two jobs, one at Empire and one at a pizza place, thus providing everyone with free food, which is pretty cool.
Jane:
"Who're you?" "I'm Jane." "Oh." "I, er, work for Rex Manning." "*snort* ...oh."
As it says, Jane, played by Debi Mazer, works for Rex Manning. She's his unfortunate manager, and, since she's an older lady, too, well, look. Nice convenient and poorly developed love interest for Joe. Imagine that.
Warren:
"Yeah, this is Joe Reaves from the Empire Records store. We have a shoplifter in custody....uh-huh...How old are you?" "Old enough to kick your butt through your skull and splatter your brains on the wall." "...yeah, he's a juvenille."
It was hard to pick a single quote for "Warren." A shoplifter caught by Lucas and played by Brendan Sexton III, "Warren Beatty" is a mislead youth who just wants to work in a record store. So he shoots the place up. Like you do. I love Warrenso does A.J. Seriously. Watch the film, and tell me he doesn't.
Mitchell Beck:
"Why do I get the feeling that I'm being royally SCREWED here?" "Because you are, Mitchell."
Mitchell Beck, played by Ben Bode, is 'the Man' trying to bring the Empire down. Tsk tsk. Damn yuppie scum.
Why should I watch this?
An easier question would be "Why not?" Empire Records has a running time of approximately 90 minutes (107 if you get the extended version), so it's not going to put any huge dent in your time. However, Citizen Kane, it ain't. So if you're expecting something epic and moving, continue on. It's just a fun, inccousious little slice of '90s culture, entertaining and unimportant. It's got some good music, some great lines, fun characters. The film itself didn't do very well when it was released, but there's a pretty decent cult following. Also? If you do get to extended version, you'll get to see a very young Tobey MacGuire. He apparently ducked out of the production due to health reasons. Huh.
Links and Things:
A few links for you all:
The Obligatory Wikipedia
IMBD
Amazon (*pushes you all to buuuuy iiiiiit*)
YouTube Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 (I believe these are all the original release of the film, without the deleted scenes)
And, because I will never, ever get tired of linking and exposing everyone to this horror:
Rex Manning -- Say No More (Mon Amor) (OH REXY, YOU'RE SO SEXY!)
That's all! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Seriously, I'm such a geek for this movie. I probably watched about four times a week in high school. No joke.
I'd also like to point out that this icon is erronous, in the fact that it suggests that I actually do like Rex Manning. OMG.My secret is out.
Empire Records, that's what.
Check out the movie trailer, especially if you're lazy and don't want to read everything.
The Premise: Released in 1995, directed by Allan Moyle (Pump up the Volume), and written by Carol Heikkinen (center Stage), Empire Records is a typical irreverent, day-in-the-life-of, cultural reference film about a record store, the crazy kids who work there, and damning the cooperate, capitalist monster. It all starts late one night (the beginning of the day, as it's after closing, and they close at midnight), when, upon closing the independently owned record store, Empire Records, hapless beatnik-esque employee Lucas stumbles upon a contract that would turn Empire into a MusicTown franchise, unless the manager, Joe, can come up with ten thousand dollars to buy the store from the yuppie who owns it. So Lucas has the brilliant idea to take the short drive up the Jersey shore to Atlantic City where, "guided by a power much greater than luck," he plans to gamble with the earnings of the day to double the income, thus getting enough money for Joe.
This plan, of course, does not work. Lucas ends up losing all of the money.
NOT ON REX MANNING DAY!
Thus, our story begins, as the staff of Empire pull together to vanquish the evils of cooperate America by using their ingenuity and all-around quirkiness to gain the money needed to save the store that they love, all while dealing with the trials of young love, social mores and expectations, juvenielle delnquents, and one really, really pompous singer with really, really bad hair.
Nothing a BIG ASS PARTY can't solve, am I right?
Of course I am.
The Characters: As is typical of this genre of comdey-drama, Empire Records is a story based around several different character "types" and their little invidual stories to push along the mainplot line. Here's everything you'd need to know about "all the beautiful little tattooed, gum-chewing freaks," in order of relative importance to "plot," or, at least, in order of ease in introducing the various "plots."
Joe Reaves:
"Joe, I need to ask your advice. Now I know you know a lot about love and women and all that sort of thing.. "Oh yeah, my wife left me for another woman and my girlfriend forced me to leave at gunpoint. Does this qualify me?" "Oh yeah, definitely."
In case you had any doubts as to whether or not Joe Reaves, the manager of Empire Records, was cool and hip, there's a whole scene of him playing his drums angrily to AC/DC to prove it. Down-and-out Joe just can't seem to catch a break these days, and attempts to keep his sanity while trying to work out exactly how to deal with the MusicTown situation. Played by Anthony LaPaglia, Joe is sort of the center figure in the middle of Empire Records, although there isn't a lot of focus on him as a character. He does care supremely for the well-being of his employees, gives them a crap-ton of leeway with almost everything, and just wants to keep Empire true to its independant spirit.
Lucas:
"What's with you today? Yesterday, you were normal, and today you're like the Chinese guy from The Karate Kid. What's with you today?" "What's with today today?"
Self-proclaimed bad seed and ten-cent sage, Lucas is the one who blew all the money in the first place, as mentioned before. Played by Rory Cochrane, he goes about the day contemplating the depth of his loss and dispensing wisdom here and there as he tries to remain somewhat cool and collected over the chaos he inadvertently and stupidly caused.
Rex Manning:
"Who should I make it out to?" "Denise." "Denise; I've always loved that name." "Thank you, but it's not mine, it's my mothers. She loves you. I've never even heard of you." "Does your mother still have her own teeth? Forget it."... "Cool hair."
As it so happens, today is Rex Manning Day at Empire Records. Rex Manning, played by Maxwell Caulfield is a washed-up pop star with bad hair who used to be on some show called The Family Way, and his current "hit" single is the infectious "Say No More (Mon Amor)". In addition to the money situation, this overly pompous singer is there to sign autographs amd make life just so much better for everyone. Freakin' Rex Manning Day.
Corey Mason:
"WHEN did you find time to make these?" "Daddy says there are twenty-four usable hours in every day, thank you!" "You absolutely amaze me. You? Are a nerd." "That's me!"
One of the only employees with the chance to grace us with a last name, Corey Mason, played by Liv Tyler, is a high school senior of a relatively affluent family, set and bound for Harvard Law school. Quite the perfectionist thanks to the constant pressure from her father to be perfect, she's a bit high strung. Okay. Very high strung. She is also Rex Manning's biggest fan; her excitement for Rex Manning day is not to be contained, and she is not letting the opprotunity go to waste! Her goal for the day is to, in fact, lose her virginity to him. I'm sure, as you can expect, this goes over real well.
A.J.:
"Lucas, do you think it's possible for a person to be in love with someone else and not even know it?" "In this life? There are nothing but possibilities." "Well, that's good, because I have to tell Corey I love her by 1;37." "...That's an excellent time."
Hopelessly romantic and dorky, A.J., played by Johnny Whitworth, has been working at Empire Records for a while now ("on and off for six years"), where he dwindles away at his technical aptitude and artistic ambitions. He wants to go to art school, but has reservations about whether or not he's good enough. Oh, and he's absolutely, completely, buttcrazy in love with Corey and resolved that today (yes, the day when she decides to lose her virginity to a has-been pop star) is the day that he will tell her that he loves her. Yup. That'll go well.
Mark:
"Hey, Lucas. I've decided I'm going to start a band." "The first thing you need is a name. Then you'll know what kind of band you've got." "Right, right. Well, I was thinking about, um, Marc. How does that sound?" "Is that witha C or with a K?" "Well, um, my name is with a...uh, K, hee, so I was thinking my band's name should be with a C. That way, it's kind of that psychedelic, you know, trip thing." "Always mess with their minds."
I love Mark. Absolutely adorable and played by Ethan Embry (although he was Ethan Randall in the credits), Mark is a hyper, spaztic little stoner dude who LOOOOOVES music and LOOOOOVES "special" brownies and LOOOOOOVES....everything. He's the typical zany comic relief type, and you just want to smush him to zany comic relief pieces.
Gina:
"Well, Sinead O'Rebellion. Shock me, shock me, shock me with that deviant behavior." "God, that's so clever. I swear, you get smarter the shorter your skirt gets." "And you get smarter the shorter your hair gets, so it's a good thing you went with that." "Yeah?" "It's a lovely look for you, darling."
Played by Renee Zellweger long before anyone knew who Renee Zellweger is, Gina is Corey's BFF. She wants to be a signer, but seems to be going more toward the groupie path, as she's kind of mostly a major slutbag. This comes into play later with Rex, as I'm sure you can imagine. Also, Gina can really rock an orange apron like it's nobody's business.
Deb:
"Oh now, Debra, don't be bitter, surely with your ever growing collection of flesh mutilating silver appendages and your brand new neo-nazi boot camp makeover the boys will come a-runnin'." "Let's not fight; let's just rip."
We are introduced to Deb, played by Robin Tunney, when she comes silently storming into the store, ignores everyone with the exception of a flip of the bird, shaves off her hair, and then has to listen to a bitchfit on A.J.'s part regarding the bandages around her wrist. So, in case you didn't get it from all that, Deb is the "messed up" "disturbed" punk-type of the bunch. She's revealed, though, to break her stereotype by being responsible and work on Joe's taxes. She also makes really cool buttons and gets the best funeral ever (no, she doesn't die; no, that's not a spoiler).
Berko:
"Er, Joe, you know that Berko's going to insult him right to his face. I don't think that's such a good idea." "Look, I don't care if Berko sticks an m8o up his butt and lights it. In fact, I hope he sticks one up mine. It might be an improvement."
Berko, played by Coyote Shivers, is a bit of a throwaway character. He has a mysterious, assumingly romantic involvement with Deb and has a band. And that's pretty much all there is to him. Although it is interesting to note that, when he filmed this movie, he was married to Bebe Buell, who is Liv Tyler's mother, therefor he was her step-father at the time. Whooooa, man.
Eddie:
"Now Mark, you gotta understand something here. This music is the glue of the World, Mark - it holds it all together, without this life would be meaningless."
Eddie, played by James Wills, is Mark's BFF and stoner-music obsessed pal, who adds to the comic relief (and is an excellent dancer). He works two jobs, one at Empire and one at a pizza place, thus providing everyone with free food, which is pretty cool.
Jane:
"Who're you?" "I'm Jane." "Oh." "I, er, work for Rex Manning." "*snort* ...oh."
As it says, Jane, played by Debi Mazer, works for Rex Manning. She's his unfortunate manager, and, since she's an older lady, too, well, look. Nice convenient and poorly developed love interest for Joe. Imagine that.
Warren:
"Yeah, this is Joe Reaves from the Empire Records store. We have a shoplifter in custody....uh-huh...How old are you?" "Old enough to kick your butt through your skull and splatter your brains on the wall." "...yeah, he's a juvenille."
It was hard to pick a single quote for "Warren." A shoplifter caught by Lucas and played by Brendan Sexton III, "Warren Beatty" is a mislead youth who just wants to work in a record store. So he shoots the place up. Like you do. I love Warren
Mitchell Beck:
"Why do I get the feeling that I'm being royally SCREWED here?" "Because you are, Mitchell."
Mitchell Beck, played by Ben Bode, is 'the Man' trying to bring the Empire down. Tsk tsk. Damn yuppie scum.
Why should I watch this?
An easier question would be "Why not?" Empire Records has a running time of approximately 90 minutes (107 if you get the extended version), so it's not going to put any huge dent in your time. However, Citizen Kane, it ain't. So if you're expecting something epic and moving, continue on. It's just a fun, inccousious little slice of '90s culture, entertaining and unimportant. It's got some good music, some great lines, fun characters. The film itself didn't do very well when it was released, but there's a pretty decent cult following. Also? If you do get to extended version, you'll get to see a very young Tobey MacGuire. He apparently ducked out of the production due to health reasons. Huh.
Links and Things:
A few links for you all:
The Obligatory Wikipedia
IMBD
Amazon (*pushes you all to buuuuy iiiiiit*)
YouTube Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 (I believe these are all the original release of the film, without the deleted scenes)
And, because I will never, ever get tired of linking and exposing everyone to this horror:
Rex Manning -- Say No More (Mon Amor) (OH REXY, YOU'RE SO SEXY!)
That's all! Questions? Comments? Concerns? Seriously, I'm such a geek for this movie. I probably watched about four times a week in high school. No joke.
I'd also like to point out that this icon is erronous, in the fact that it suggests that I actually do like Rex Manning. OMG.
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I'm not sure what happened in it. I'm fairly certain that it wasn't, strictly speaking, good. But it was a lot of fun.
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Yup. That just about covers it. It's like junk food: no nutritional value, pure fluff, but kind of addicting if you've got a hankering for a certain taste.
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A lot.
And I quote it far too often.
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And a Lucas journal I made and used for about a week before losing all confidence in my ability to play him right.no subject
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((and I totally have Corey and Deb accounts, myself. When it came around to apping A.J., I almost did Deb instead, but somehow, he weaseled out on top))