We can call segment random stuff we found on Tubi TV, which sadly is not a sponsor, but we'll mention them anyway. Unless it's a few years from now and this movie isn't on there anymore, good we wasted our time on that.
Today we are looking at a movie, that's kind of well-known but too well known, that's kind of weird to say. It's an 80's family film called "The Peanut Butter Solution" from 1985, it's a movie part of a series of books and movies called "Tales for All" the second one. It's a fantasy movie from Canada.
The movie starts with narration by our main character named Michael Baskin, mentioning his sister named Susan who is making a smoothie and wearing an oversized robe because its their mother's who has oh well this is a movie so ...died? Oh no, she's just away tending to her dead father's needs in Australia. (what a twist) I wonder if that will be part of the plot in anyway later on.
There's raw egg in that drink / Copyright Les Productions La Fête
Their father is a stressed artist who is stressed because he is an artist and his wife is missing (that might do it). Michael's friend, Connie, comes over because we have to introduce the cast. They also mention that Michael plays soccer. A house had a fire, it's an old spooky house. This movie feels like it is all introspective then goes back to what it was doing. It's trying to be artsy. (Yes artsy)
Standing here and wondering that's the sent of Al Orange/ Copyright Les Productions La Fête
You can see through the start of the film that Suzie tries to take on a motherly role with her family since the mother is not home, she's trying to be the responsible one, since the father is distracted messy artist. Meanwhile, a guy who looks like Albert Einsten but is an art teacher is telling us how great a dog is for art. ( I don't know either) His name is Signor, and is a very seemingly passionate art teacher. Doesn't seem to like the idea of imagination though. (I was going to say it, but I'm not) Billy, the father, is having a hard time selling his bird art and there's a panting that's a present that he doesn't want to sell, even though the dealer says he could get money for it. I guess that painting will come up later.
I call this night at the park, but in the daytime/ Copyright Les Productions La Fête
Now back to the burnt out spooky house, where Connie and Michael go and see and try to get into this house where people died the night before. Michael goes inside gets frightened so much his hair stands up like this is a cartoon. (Good work) Connie brings Michael, who is unconscious, home. Michael saw something, but doesn't remember. They let him rest and the next morning, a surprise! He's bald! Michael is also surprised (he didn't chose this hair style then, or not hair style)
Oh no! This toaster is hot! / Copyright Les Productions La Fête
The family takes the boy to the doctor, Einstein Epstein, (What a name) and he concludes that Michael lost his hair because of the fright. (Makes sense) Art teacher is concerned, for some reason, that Michael hasn't shown up to school in a few days. Meanwhile, Michael is having weird dreams. He says that he needs to see what the freighted him. The principal talks to Signor who tells him she knows he has been kicked out of schools before and thinks he's the grand son of a famous painter. He's been fired. Michael is really angry that's he bald. (Poor guy, but doesn't look that bad.)
I only committed bank fraud/ Copyright Copyright Les Productions La Fête
His father and sister try to force a wig on him and yeah I guess that works (glue in movies always has more power than real life). We're like 30 minutes in and there's no peanut butter, I'm confused. There's only 1 hour left in this movie. maybe it's like the ending as the literal solution to whatever is going on here. I guess the wig brought some confidence or something, so that's something. Anyway at a soccer game, a boy trips Michael and they get into a fight and the boy pulls his wig off. (That glue was plot glue.) This causes Michael runs off was they laugh at him. (Almost as of they never seen a kid with a shaved head before, movies pfft)
That's a bad place to keep gum/ Copyright Les Productions La Fête
Michael is back to square one in sadness and he sees a figure in the dark and decides the logical thing is to follow it. It's a man and woman who apparently were in that house that burned down, so that means that they are ghosts. Mary, the woman, decides to help him with his baldness. Including peanut butter, there we go, and she warns him not to use too much. Since his father dumps the stuff he tried to make and now he needs the recipe again, and Mary wants to be mean. The guy ghost give him the thing instead and he tries again. (I wish they didn't do this in the dark, it's annoying) They also use better peanut butter, Skippy, who also paid to be in this movie, alright then. He puts the stuff on his head and adds more peanut butter. (Might be bad idea) It does seem that hair is starting to grow on his head. Connie wants to know how the hair is growing so quickly.
Stylish / Copyright Les Productions La Fête
His hair by time he's at school is 80's hair band length. By dinner he's cousin it. We are getting multiple cuts to Signor a lot he seems to be part of the plot in someway. Connie had put some of the solution in a ummm different spot, and his is growing too and he finds out it stops when you yell stop at it. (Simple solution) Meanwhile, Michael has a weird artsy dream. Later, Signor finds him and then it cuts to the boy is missing and Micahel's ather smashing stuff, then something about children missing. (This film is being too artsy) Connie and Suzie have to work together to figure it out, so they buy Suzie and Michael's dad new paint brushes and they notice the bushes are made of hair like Micahel's. That's right, it's Michael's hair. (Weird) Art salesman buys brushes from people he doesn't know (so he's a genius) until they find out that it comes from some guy named the Signor (That's right, the guy was evil all along.) Suzie has Connie ride in the red truck, while she follows it to see where it goes. (After the Signor asks her if she would like a ride, what?)
His coat is made of hair?/ Copyright Les Productions La Fête
Fun fact, there's songs sung by an younger Celine Dion. The tracks "Listen to the Magic Man" and “Michael’s Song" were her first English sung tracks. Since this movie was made in Quebec and had a French language version, she sung the songs in French too.
Apparently, the children that were kidnapped are being used for to make brushes from Michael's hair. (That's insane) One of the children is Connie's sister. The Signor feeds Michael a special diet of yogurt. (what?) Meanwhile there's like this painting where they apparently can be walked into, but they are hard to escape because they aren't real place. Billy finds out about the Signor and gets information to find him.
Work and wear weird outfits/ Copyright Les Productions La Fête
Michael has apparently accepted his fate (or starving) then Connie starts to stop the Signor, but when he grabs his sister he relents. Connie does something to get Singor to let him go by begging him to be his father. (What?) He convinces the guy to paint the brunt out house from earlier. (Good trick) The man goes inside the painting to walk up to the same window that Michael went through earlier. This trick works and causes him to get unconscious. Connie frees Michael, who now wants to try and see the fright again. (Maybe he misses being bald) It's like a metaphor to confront the thing that scared him. Inside, he sees ghosts and he's not afraid anymore. also the Singor is bald now. The kids manage to escape when Connie's sister is able to trip him. Signor gets arrested and Michael is back with his family. Also their mom returns just at the end of the movie because alright.
This movie is very something something. It's a weird movie , where it does some stuff where it's trying to feel artsy. It was enjoyable to watch, the pieces of the movie connect well. When researching, I've seen people say this movie is scary, and I can see it for a kid how it would be, I never got to experience this movie as a kid, so I missed out on it being a scary movie to me. I thought the movie would be more focused on them missing the mom, but it seems like that was just there for reasons. The movie is also about the power of imagination where fright is part of that. The idea of the father and the villain being artists, people who use their imaginations are nice touch. Singor telling his students not use their imaginations when painting, connects well because he had power of it to make paintings one could walk into. The movie being from the 80's has something about how it feels that also makes the environment work. It's a very substantive movie, so give it a watch.
That's it for now, tune in next time, when we help bald children by making the whole world bald. And Skippy is best Peanut Butter.
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