The Warriors: Hey, That Was Trini!

Whenever I'd see some great movie over the weekend, I'd always talk to my friends in school the following day about it, and I remember gushing incessantly about some urban sci-fi fantasy I'd just seen on cable called The Warriors. Though a heralded classic nowadays, back then it was this little known and very strange movie with carnival-esque gangs fighting each other over turf, murder and revenge in a quasi-futuristic New York all set to the tunes of cool rock n roll music! But it was a hit among us kids, and back then cable showed the same movies over and over so everyone got a chance to see 'em!

Indeed, one of my classmates named Ross had already seen it, and said, "The Warriors? Yeah, it's cool- Gramercy Riffs and Baseball Furies, right? Cyrus and CAN YOU DIG IT?!" 

I agreed and then he added, " I liked the part where the Rogue dude threw the candy bar at Trini from 3-2-1 Contact!" "Eh?" I laughed. What was he talking about?!

In the scene, the Rogues have just killed Cyrus, a huge leader figure in the gang world and have placed the blame on the Warriors. But the heat is coming down on them and the other members are starting to worry.  In front of a newsstand, they discuss their future while helping themselves to the candy there. As they walk off, the girl running the stand says, "Hey, what about the money you owe?" to which the Rogue guy throws the candy at her and yells "FER WHAAATTT!"

A great scene, and I had to laugh, because the girl DID look a LOT like the aforementioned Trini, she  of course one of the three hosts (along with Marc and Lisa) of the PBS science-oriented kids show 3-2-1- Contact! back in the 80's...

I didn't think it was ACTUALLY her, (not that there was really any way I could find out back in those early non-internet years) but always laughed whenever that scene came on and thought of my classmate enjoying the candy fiasco and how funny it would be if it really WAS Trini!

Fast forward to 2025 and for some reason the Warriors crosses my mind and that mystery girl, and I realize that with the power of Google-Fu, I can FINALLY  find out just who she actually is!

Going onto Google, I type in "3-2-1 Contact, Trini" and it immediately comes up with "Trini: Played by Ginny Ortiz". With that info, I open a new window, and, feeling rather foolish, type in: "Ginny Ortiz, The Warriors". I hit 'enter" and...WHADDAYA KNOW:

Holy HECK, It totally WAS Trini running that Newsstand! WHAAAA! Guess my classmate really had an eagle eye for details ...or just really liked 3-2-1 Contact...(or Trini, for that matter!) HAHAHA, This is a mystery I've wondered about for YEARS that has been waiting to be solved! So COOL to find out, YEP, it's HER! Ain't technology grand??

I do think it's funny that in her credits, The Warriors is listed FIRST, and 3-2-1 Contact isn't mentioned at all! Guess her brief appearance is the highlight of her career!

Willy Wonka Collectible Cards

One of the great things about wearing your fandoms on your sleeve is that your friends tend to remember your loves when they happen to come across them in their regular lives. I remember an old girlfriend’s mother browsing a cookie store (in Vegas of all places) and, seeing a tin with the Wizard of Oz on it, remembered my obsession with the Judy Garland classic and brought it home for me!

In that same way, a friend of mine was taking his young daughter to the Shopping Mall’s Fun Factory to play games and ride rides. There was a ticket crane-type game where you could snatch up these hard plastic cards of characters from the 1971 Gene Wilder movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

After grabbing a few and seeing how nice they were, remembered, “Hey, Z was a really big fan of that Willy Wonka movie…bet he would LOVE these!”He then managed to get ahold of all 10 of the collectible cards and handed the whole deck over to me this past weekend, all bundled up with a rubber band.

MAN, these are some really beautiful cards! Not mere paper, they’re hard like credit cards and glossy. From what he said, you’re supposed to redeem these cards for ticket prizes but many opted to keep ’n’ collect ‘em instead!

Whooohoo, I sure lucked out! I’m the man who suddenly got everything he ever wanted…and I lived happily ever after! LOLOL!

Sing A Song of Sunsets: Richard Linklater's "Before" Trilogy

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in 1995's "Before Sunrise"

 I first saw the Richard Linklater movie “Before Sunrise” as a rental way back in 1995, and I mean to tell you, it blew me away! Besides giving my first glimpse into the loveliness that is Julie Delpy, I was taken in by the film’s slow, gentle pacing and attention to details. 

The story of two young passengers on a train named Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who make an impulse decision to spend an evening together walking around Vienna immersed you so completely that for weeks after I still felt like I had BEEN in Germany! 

After a chance meeting on the train, the two chat up, and taking a chance, Jesse works up his courage to ask this interesting young girl to spend time with him til his morning connecting train. Once they get off the platform and step out into the streets, it is one long, magical night of two people non-stop talking away the time, getting to know each other better and better.

 As witnessed by his other great classic “Dazed and Confused” (which I’ve raved about here), Linklater takes great care in introducing you to likable characters, dropping them into vibrant backdrops, and then sitting back and let you just take time to enjoy being with them. Restaurants with chatty regulars, Quaint bookstores and Record Shops, the two take in the nightlife of Vienna, and you are RIGHT THERE WITH THEM!

One of the things I really, really love about Before Sunrise is the subtle passage of time. As the two walk around, behind them you can see the day go from afternoon to sunset, to a bustling city nightlife to midnight where only the night owls are about, to very early morning where it seems Jesse and Celine are the only two alive, and then finally the crisp, chilly following morning!

 For weeks I couldn’t stop telling everyone around what a fantastic find Before Sunrise was, but the slow paced premise didn’t really draw much enthusiasm. In fact, one girl I recommended the movie to rented it and came back to me a week later saying, “Z, you know that movie "Before Sunrise" you suggested?” 
"Yes?", I asked, hopefully.
She shook her head disappointedly and exclaimed, “That Movie Sucked!!!” 
LOL, it was then that I realized the charm of the movie was not for everyone!

*Attention: Mild Spoilers ahead*

 Before Sunrise ended with Jesse and Celine promising to meet back in Vienna in one year’s time, and we are left with wishful hopes that the two would do just that. A perfect if ambiguous end, so I was surprised when I saw that in 2004, Linklater, along with now co-writers Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, had come out with a SEQUEL to Before Sunrise, called “Before Sunset”!

 The time is about 10 years since that fateful night, and Jesse, whom we know has had aspirations of becoming a writer, is now an up-and-coming author, out in Paris promoting his new book, the contents of which are (with names changed, of course) -all the events of that magical evening with Celine back in 1995.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprising their roles in 2003's "Before Sunset"

  At a book signing, Jesse looks up and whom should he meet but his beloved Celine herself. After the signing is over, the two get to talking again. Turns out that while Jesse did in fact return the following year to Vienna as promised, Celine’s grandmother had died so she hadn’t made the trip. 

  I have to say that at the time I couldn’t get into this second movie. It seemed to me like they created a reason for the two to NOT be together so they could re-use the plot of the first movie, and when the two began walking around the city that evening re-discovering each other, I didn’t connect like I did the first. Oh Well, I still really loved the first one.
  So, fast forward to this past year, where I’d recently dug up the 1995 movie “Killing Zoe” (which I talked about here) with Eric Stolz as a Safecracker in Paris, and my GOSH, Julie Delpy was SO freaking gorgeous, I was dying to watch Before Sunrise again. Going online, I found that there was a special collection that sold both Before Sunrise AND Before Sunset as a two-disc set.

 As soon as I got the set in the mail I popped Before Sunrise in and not only was it even MORE beautiful and magical than I remembered…but THIS time, even Before Sunset blew me away! As I re-watched it, I just couldn’t understand why I didn’t love this sequel the first time I saw it , but better late than never! My GOSH, I found that I loved it just as much as the first one now, rewinding scenes over and over, and MAN, the scene with Celine doing her little Nina Simone set was just MESMERIZING!!!! 

 After that, I wanted to read more about Linklater, Hawke and Delpy and, going onto trusty Wikipedia and reading up on Richard Linklater and his projects, I was absolutely STUNNED to find that just this past year, the three had made yet ANOTHER SEQUEL to the Before Sunrise Movies!!! 

Called “Before Midnight” the film takes us yet another 10 years into the future where we find Celine and Jesse vacationing in Greece. I couldn’t BELIEVE there was another film, and immediately ordered it! The film came in today, and once again, I am just TAKEN with the story of these two souls! 

Celine and Jesse in 2013's "Before Midnight"

Where the first film was about romance and whimsy, Before Midnight is a more realistic take on what happens to the two star-crossed lovers when reality sets in and you find you’re actually living your life... 

Greece Trip with Twin Daughters in Tow!

Having a chat with Son Hank

Jesse has his son Hank (from his previous marriage) with him, and we are to find that not only is he still with Celine after all these years, but they share two beautiful girls between them as well! A much more somber tone that the first two, but so good, I tell you, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are freaking’ AWESOME as the (now) 40-ish couple! So, sooo good!

Richard Linklater has, of course, most recently been the subject of praise for his latest wonderful movie Boyhood,(whihc also, coincidentally, stars Ethan Hawke as the Father) and his fantastic idea to shoot a boy’s life over the course of 12 years using the same actors so that you actually see them grow up in the film… Folks I talk to are surprised at the extremes Linklater has gone through for the sake of his vision, but as a fan of  Dazed and Confused and now his wonderful SUNRISE Trilogy, I’d expect nothing less!!!

PS: Years later, I met up with my friend who had had those less than praiseworthy words about Before Sunrise, and while we chatted about movies, she said, “Did you see that movie Before Sunrise?” 
I stopped, and cautiously said, “Yes, of course….”, to which she then said, “that movie was awesome!”
In shock, I stuttered back, “B-but you told me you thought that movie SUCKED!”
“Oh, Did I?” she shrugged and smiled, “Well, I saw it again recently, and I loved it!”
LOLOLOL