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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015
PARTING SHOT
A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers
The Lady Washington sails up the Columbia River on its way to the East End Mooring Basin Tuesday. The Lady Washington will be offering tours and sails during the Goonies’ 30th
anniversary celebration.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Cannon Shots: $¿OP¶VORYHVRQJWR&DQQRQ%HDFK
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
M
ore words have been writ-
ten about “The Goonies”
than all the works of Godard or
Antonioni, LOL, and this week
there are
going to
be a lot
more. It’s
the 30th
anniver-
sary of
the mov-
ie and
the North
Coast
will be
R.J. Marx
host to
fans and
buffs to meet the stars, trace hal-
ORZHG¿OPORFDWLRQJURXQGVDQG
share the fun.
For those who grew up with
it, in the words of one 33-year-
old Cannon Beach resident, “I
watched it so many times I wore
out the VHS tape.”
Alas, I was in the age group
that fell between the Goonies
cracks. But I did catch up with the
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Day weekend I powered up the
laptop DVD with the goal of un-
derstanding the Goonies phenom-
enon. Beware! There is a LOT
of screaming and long scenes
WRR FRPSOLFDWHG WR UHDOO\ ¿JXUH
out. Characters have names like
&KXQNDQG0RXWKDQG'DWD%XW
you’d be cheating yourself to get
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three decades because of a more
archetypal appeal.
I like best what Roger Ebert
wrote at the time of its release:
“‘Goonies,’ walks a thin line
between the cheerful and the
gruesome, and the very scenes
the adults might object to are the
ones the kids will like the best.”
,Q WKLV \HDU¶V 0DUFK $W-
ODQWLF 0RQWKO\ \HV *RRQLHV
UHFRJQL]HG E\$WODQWLF 0RQWK-
ly!) Garin Pirnia wrote: “Gen-
erations of Americans can still
Daily Astorian file photo
Cannon Beach and Astoria were the backdrops for the adventure comedy.
chise, or adaptations of over-
wrought young adult novels.”
The analysis is right on. The
audience Pirnia describes is re-
turning to Astoria and Cannon
Beach three decades later to cel-
ebrate the lost remembrance of
their youth, the inspiration and
the excitement they felt when
they were young enough to fall
hook, line and sinker for a magi-
cal adventure story.
How that story came to pos-
Daily Astorian file photo
sess magic was because of the
Filming in Cannon Beach during production of the movie.
VXSHULRUWDOHQWVRIWKH¿OPPDN-
ers, including executive pro-
remember a time when par- LQDO \RXWKRULHQWHG ¿OPV WKDW ducer Steven Spielberg, director
ents and their kids could go to weren’t either animated, part of Richard Donner, and scriptwrit-
the multiplex and enjoy orig- a billion-dollar superhero fran- er Chris Columbus, along with
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W E D E L IVE R!
6 20 O LN EY • A STORIA | 3 25 -285 5
the exuberant performances of
its cast. And the anchor for all of
us on the North Coast is the lo-
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to Astoria and Cannon Beach.
According to fast-rewind.com, a
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rally takes place near Haystack
Rock; Brand rides Data’s sis-
ter’s bike at the entrance road to
Ecola State Park, and along this
same long road is where the four
boys ride their bikes.
Long, long ago in a place far
away, the CBS documentary
series “The 20th Century” im-
mortalized “the Rock,” a stern,
imposing close-up of the Rock of
Gibraltar. “Get a piece of the rock”
was the message. “The Goonies”
made Haystack Rock its artful
symbol, a precursor of the worlds
that George Lucas and Pixar were
only able to construct using ani-
mation or computer technologies.
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Rock is real, solid, and offers
a pathway into the time-space
continuum. For those who live
and visit here, it is also part of
our backyard.
Remember: Goonies never
say die!
R.J. Marx is the editor of the
Seaside Signal and the Cannon
Beach Gazette and the North
Coast reporter for The Daily
Astorian.
a n n iv
ersa ry
celeb
ra tion
F A N S