I forgot about this one...

A glimpse of my old Trapper Keeper or a whif from one of the ancient Trend stickers I got in school is all it takes to unearth some long forgotten nugget from my childhood. I am full of them and grateful for whenever one pops up.

Tonight while watching Arrested Development (the only reason to watch TV anymore) I breathed life back into the recollection of a great Made for TV movie I had recorded back in the 80's starring Jason Bateman called "Moving Target." I wore the VHS tape out on this one. Back then, there were the Jason vs. Justine camps. My sister was in the Justine camp and I was in the Jason Camp. Moving Target was Jason's answer to his sister's "Satisfaction" (which was equally 80's good)! I even remember a TV promo where both of them were reminding us to watch each other's movie. Cool stuff. Anyway, this was a film about a kid whose dad was in some sort of governmental office and gets into some kind of trouble with the mob. Jason is sent off to Music Camp (nerd!) for the summer but sneaks back because, you know...he's a rebel, only to find that his family is gone. Thing is, they have been placed in the witness relocation program and had actually sent for him to join them just about the time he snuck away to go home. The rest of the film involves him trying to make it on his own in L.A. while looking for his family and avoiding the hit man sent to take him out. What makes this film watchable for me is the great 80's So. Cal scene in which he finds himself all alone. Growing up in the midwest during that time period, I always fantisized about life out in L.A. I think that is what drew me to this movie over and over. For a TV movie it was pretty intense, the scene where he loans his friend a jacket (and is subsequently killed because the hit man thinks that it is Jason's character) stayed with me for days.

Needless to say, I was a dramatic and imaginative kid when I was growing up.