'Calling Dick Tracy' 20 Years Later

If my childhood were categorized into anthropological stages, defining each stage would require no more effort than simply looking at the toys, TV shows and movies that I happened to be obsessed with during a particular segment of my youth. There was the He-Man era, the Batman period, the Ninja Turtles phase, the X-Men years and (briefly) the Power Rangers months.

But none of these obsessions came remotely close to the level of passionate interest I reserved for an old-time, crime-fighting comic book detective dressed in yellow. Warren Beatty's cinematic revival of Dick Tracy fascinated me in a way that few things ever have before or since.



A recent Slate article brought a startling fact to my attention: The movie that spawned my obsession came out exactly 20 years ago. Twenty years ago? How is that possible? Where has the time gone?
 
As the article aptly points out, the movie never lived up to the hype that Disney manufactured for it. In the summer of 1990,  the film's iconic logo of red letters outlined in yellow was ubiquitous ((I still get a momentary jolt of nostalgic excitement whenever I see it) and was plastered on any item that could possibly be sold. Many of these items were soon in my possession.

I obviously had the yellow trench coat and yellow fedora, as well as the trademark two-way radio wristwatch (both the clunky walkie-talkie version and the functioning digital watch variety). I also had action figures, trading cards, coffee mugs, pins, magnets, books and even Dick Tracy Converse shoes. Jealous yet? If it was Dick Tracy-related, I was interested. I'm pretty sure that every gift I received for Christmas 1990 was somehow tied Dick Tracy.


But why did I like it so much? The Slate article claims that the movie was a misguided Warren Beatty vanity project and not worth anyone's time. Well, first of all, the Slate critic is flat out wrong. I recently watched the movie again, fearing that the removal of the rose-colored glasses of my childhood would reveal the film to be a horrible mess (as other childhood delights have become upon adult reflection), but I was pleasantly surprised.

Twenty years later, the movie still manages to take me back to the engaging, bygone 1920s world that I longed to inhabit when I first watched the movie. There are ugly gangsters brought to life with phenomenal makeup and no CGI, a conflicted hero who must choose between duty and power, a hilarious and Oscar-worthy performance by Al Pacino, Madonna (even as an 8-year-old, this movie made me develop a huge crush), brilliant old-time-sounding-but-newly-composed songs by Stephen Sondheim, machine gun shootouts, antique cars and a vibrant color palette that brings a comic book to life on the big screen. If none of that does anything for you, the unending parade of celebrity cameos will definitely hold your interest. Dick Van Dyke as a villain? Yes. What's not to like?

In my adult years, I've found it frustratingly difficult to recapture the ability to get lost in my imagination--a skill that came naturally at every "phase" of my childhood, regardless of which toys I was currently obsessing over. It was so easy to don the yellow trench coat, strap on the wristwatch and chase Pruneface around my backyard with a Tommy gun. Watching this movie lets me peer through that youthful window one more time, and--20 years later--the view is still a ton of fun.


Dick Tracy Fun Facts

• After seeing the movie, I tried my best to get into the comic strip, but it was just too dang boring. I've looked at it every once in a while over the years and I stand by my initial claim that nothing ever happens in that strip. All they do is talk. I have yet to see a single bullet fired.
  
• During the summer of 1990, I forced my family to drive to Woodstock, IL for the grand opening of the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum, honoring the creator and author of the strip. Much like the comic itself, I found the museum to be somewhat of a snooze. I do have vivid memories of the grand opening parade, however, concluding with a shootout in which Dick Tracy shot a bunch of gangsters to death with a machine gun firing blanks. That was not boring.
  
• The museum closed in 2008.
• My first trip to Disney World occurred in the wake of this movie's release and the parks were crawling with merchandise and movie tie-ins. This might have played a subconscious role in my fondness for the place as a vacation destination...
  
• I just conducted a search for "Dick Tracy" on Amazon and realized that I once owned the majority of the 24 items on the first page of search results. Thanks to Disney's tremendous marketing and the film's failure to become a classic, it's reassuring to know that I could fairly easily reassemble my collection of Dick Tracy paraphernalia.
  
•  I had every Dick Tracy movie action figure, except for the one that no store seemed to carry--The Blank. I had no idea until looking it up just now that the figure was only sold in Canada and pulled because the Blank's mask was removable and gave away the movie's twist ending. Where was eBay when I needed it?
  
• This commercial (and others like it for all kinds of toys) really annoyed me because I couldn't buy all the cool backgrounds and accessories that the kids in the commercials had at their disposal. Where was I supposed to find an action figure-sized coffee cup to furnish Dick Tracy's office?
  
• The Dick Tracy Nintendo game was impossible.
• This is all more than you ever wanted to know about me or Dick Tracy.
  

My Top Three Commencement Addresses

Northwestern University finally held their commencement ceremony on Friday, so I think every possible member of the Class of 2010 has now officially graduated. Before the pomp and circumstance are too distant from everyone's minds, I wanted to share the three best commencement addresses I've ever heard. And, no, they do not include the addresses at my two NU commencement ceremonies (John McCain in 2005 and Barack Obama in 2006). It's amazing how much more heartfelt and eloquent speakers can be when they're not running for President of the United States...

If you don't have time to read/listen to these right now, be sure to bookmark them for further study. They are exceptionally well-written and contain tons of insights to chew on.


#3 Wynton Marsalis, Northwestern University, 2009

Our tour of commencement excellence (commenxcellence?) begins in Evanston, where the announcement of jazz prodigy Marsalis as speaker was greeted far too frequently by "Who's that?" from students. Due to a pending monsoon on the day of the ceremony, Marsalis had to shorten his speech, reading only the first and last pages. Even so, I was blown away by the force of his ideas, the eloquence of his prose and the awesomeness of the New Orleans ditty he played to close out his address.

EXCERPT: "See, we are always in the process of becoming ourselves. So, enjoyment – whatever it means to you – is something to pursue. Just like you lay out plans to be rich or in shape, plan to be happy. When something makes you happy – chase it. And if you’re not good at it, work on becoming good at it. And if you can’t be good at it, be happy being bad. The positive frame of reference and the power of affirmation create good health. Affirm people around you, and you will be affirmed."

VIDEO: Watch Marsalis's abbreviated speech and see him wail on his trumpet.

AUDIO: Fortunately, Marsalis agreed to record a full version of his speech, which I urge you to download and put on your iPod. I know I did.

FULL TEXT: Read it all here.


#2 David Brooks, Wake Forest University, 2007

I forget exactly how I came across this speech, but I liked the fact that so much wisdom was delivered with so much humor. I also really liked his definition of journalist.


EXCERPT: "Now, commencement is a ceremony when the university gets a rich and successful person to tell you that being rich and successful is not that important. Well I've got bad news for you. I'm not that rich and I'm not that successful. But I have been around successful people. You see, I'm a journalist. If you go to a stadium and you see the crowd doing the wave, there are some people who just sit there watching. Those people are journalists. We lead boring lives while hanging around people who lead interesting lives."

AUDIO: Click here to download the MP3 of the speech. This one is also on my iPod.

FULL TEXT: Read it all here.


#1 Tony Snow, Catholic University, 2007

This is the most powerful commencement address I've ever read. Delivered just a little more than a year before Snow succumbed to colon cancer at age 53, it's written with the compelling combination of faith and wisdom that so often seems to manifest itself in people who are staring down the barrel of a gun and wrestling with their own mortality. There's no multimedia version of this one, but it's well worth reading.

EXCERPT: "And once you realize that there is something greater than you out there, then you have to decide, "Do I acknowledge it and do I act upon it?" You have to at some point surrender yourself. And there is nothing worthwhile in your life that will not at some point require an act of submission."

FULL TEXT: Read it all here.

So those are my favorites. The best part about commencement addresses is the fact that there is a new batch of wisdom being unleashed on graduates every year. What other fantastic and inspiring commencement addresses are out there?

Who Needs the Olympics? Not Us!

Everybody loves the Summer Olympics. I understand that. But this year there seems to be even less love than usual for the Winter Olympics and you have to wonder why.

I remember a time not so long ago when the Winter Olympics were as culturally cool as their summer counterpart. And it wasn't just because Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding made for sensational tabloid headlines--people were legitimately interested in Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. Figure skating was the winter version of gymnastics and Team USA was golden. Other events were big, too. Remember Bonnie Blair? Of course you do. Can you name anyone on the 2010 Team USA Speed Skating Team? Me neither.

So why are the Winter Games so scorned these days? Aside from the fact that our culture now encourages the immediate cynical scorning of anything as quickly and often as possible (usually in 140 characters or less), I think the real reason behind our general Olympic malaise is the fact that we have become desensitized to competition.

The Olympic Games used to be the main venue for watching your talented fellow human beings perform feats of strength, precision, grace and athleticism. They'd head into the arena/rink/slope/course/etc., perform their skill for the judges and--panting from the exertion--wait for the scores to be handed down. The process was repeated for each participant and the drama built to a blistering crescendo until the Olympic medals were finally distributed. People tuned in to see the triumph of the human spirit and the culmination of years of hard work and training.

Now you can turn the TV on any night of the week and see any number of contests that follow the model outlined above: American Idol, The Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Next Top Model, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, Wipeout, American Gladiators, and on and on...

In these cases, the coveted Olympic Gold comes in the form of a record deal, a large cash prize, an impressive amount of weight loss or simply 15 minutes of fleeting pop culture fame. The scale is decidedly smaller than the international stage of the Olympic Games, but it still satisfies our need to watch someone achieve something extraordinary and be recognized as such on a continuum against others in their field.

In fact, we like this better than the Olympics. Anybody with vocal chords can try out for American Idol. The formal training is slim to none, so the gold medal seems much more attainable. Singing? Of course I can do that! Training on ski slopes for years and years? Don't be ridiculous. What do you think I am? An Olympian?

After watching regular people get rewarded for more down-to-Earth feats every week, the Olympics just don't hold the same high place in the American consciousness anymore.

I think it all comes down to one question: How can the Olympic Committee expect anyone to care about the Luge now that we've seen Donny Osmond do the Lindy Hop?

Groundhog Day and the Meaning of Life

Nearly every Groundhog Day, I make it my business to watch Harold Ramis's immortal 1990s romantic comedy classic of the same name. And every time I see the film, I enjoy it a little bit more.

For the unfortunate few who have not yet had the pleasure, the movie weaves the epic tale of Pittsburgh weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray, at his sardonic best) who is ready to sleepwalk through his annual trip to Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania for the town's hokey Groundhog Day festivities. After going through the motions, a snowstorm traps him, his producer Rita (the angelic and ageless Andie Macdowell) and his cameraman (character actor Chris Elliott). The following morning, Phil realizes that he is not only stuck in Punxsutawny, but stuck in the same 24-hour period that he just lived through.

The movie kicks into high gear when Phil starts exploring the options associated with eternally reliving the same day. At first he lives recklessly and exorbitantly--eating whatever he wants, stealing money, breaking laws, killing himself repeatedly, using his situation to creatively pick up women and attempting to manipulatively win Rita's affection.

After that lifestyle drives him to the brink of insanity and despair, however, we watch as sarcastic self-centered Phil begins to melt into sarcastic redeemed Phil. Those cyclical 24 hours--seemingly devoid of consequence by nature of his situation--felt even more inconsequential when spent on self-fulfillment and momentary thrill-seeking.

When Phil begins to use his endless string of days to better himself and the lives of those around him, the gray Punxsutawny winter begins to feel a bit warmer. Phil learns to play piano, read French poetry and carve ice sculptures. Better still, he spends his day(s) running around town on do-gooder "errands" that end up saving lives, flat tires and marriages.

Phil's fundamental attitude on life has shifted and--as in any romantic comedy worth its salt--this helps him win the woman of his dreams. To me, at least, this doesn't come across as unrealistic. While Rita correctly wrote Phil off as a jerk on February 1, he is a refreshingly changed man on February 2.

When I've watched this movie in the past, I've always taken it at face value: Phil had all the time in the world to improve himself and finally broke the spell when he learned to spend his life putting others before himself. In learning to do that, he got what he wanted all along.

But after this viewing I realized two things:
1. Groundhog Day is a sheer masterpiece and my vote for best romantic comedy of the 1990s. Sorry, Tom Hanks.

2. Phil isn't the only one with lots of time to improve himself. We may not be forced to repeat the same 24-hour period, but a lot of us live as if we are. The calendar moves forward, but our perspective remains unchanged.

How many days will you spend being annoyed by encounters with Ned Ryerson? How much time will you waste trying to convince that girl she's the one for you? How many Groundhog Days must pass before you realize that most of your all-encompassing concerns, needs and worries are about as important as whether or not Punxsutawny Phil sees his shadow?

I'm asking myself these questions right now. And it's time to start using my time a bit more wisely. This could be the end of a very long day.

'Nuttin' for Christmas' is actually quite somethin'

Courtesy of my animation buff brother, here is one last cup of Christmas cheer. It's a newly released animated short around a Christmas novelty song that I neglected to include in my previous post: Stan Freberg's immortal version of "Nuttin' For Christmas," which was originally released in 1955.

This animated version was single-handedly produced by animator Doug Compton and it's pretty brilliant. I've been listening to this song or many, many Christmases and Compton's animation closely matches what I've been picturing in my mind all this time. I like the fact that his interpretation gives the song new life and it really seems like this cartoon was meant to go with the song all along. It just took 55 years for them to come together...

Enjoy and Happy New Year!