October 26, 2009

Required Viewing: "My Bodyguard" (1980)

Serves well as a double-feature with Over The Edge (this was Matt Dillon's follow-up) or Harold and Maude (see, Maude didn't die, she just relocated to a Chicago hotel). My Bodyguard is by far my favorite bully film and my second favorite film set in Chicago. It does a lot of things well. First, the confrontations between the bullies, the bodyguards, and the victims are played very realistically. Second, the soundtrack is minimal. The absence of musical cues during the tense moments makes those scenes subtly nightmarish. Third, I've never seen Chicago look so gross! The entire city seems to be overflowing with garbage and peeling paint. It's dingy, dangerous and abused, like a public toilet, the exact opposite of the safe wonderland which served as the backdrop for the John Hughes films. And fourth, it's refreshing that the adults are played just as sympathetically and intelligently as the kids. I can't think of another film within this genre which does not treat some or all of the parents and teachers as crackpots, clueless buffoons, or overbearing bastards. Two final thoughts: 1) I like that Clifford (Chris Makepeace) resembles Regan, the possessed girl in The Exorcist, and 2) as far as I know, the band name "Ricky Linderman's Brother" is still available for the taking. As usual, check it out before the authorities pull it. The entire film is embedded. No need to hunt down the individual parts.

October 23, 2009

Absurd Juxtaposition #0020: Alternate Soundtrack

Play the video and the streaming mp3 simultaneously. Let them battle it out.

October 18, 2009

Required Viewing: "No Retreat, No Surrender" (aka "Karate Tiger," 1986)

Easily--EASILY!--the most satisfyingly stupid film I have ever seen. There are the "bad" movies which are simply boring, then there are the "bad" movies which have a few brilliantly stupid moments peppered in with a lot of tedious plot, and then there is No Retreat, No Surrender. It is THE "bad" film against which I measure all other so-called "bad" films. It's never boring, the stupidity is relentless, all the characters are moronic, it only gets more ridiculous with repeated viewings, AND it's got Van Damme & Soul Man. It will never be topped. This particular cut is some weird international version, which I prefer. The US version (here's part 1) has slightly more integrity and a better soundtrack, but because there are so many fantastically stupid moments which appear only here, I now consider this the definitive version.

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World - Ep. 2: Monsters Of The Deep

October 17, 2009

Three Interesting Moments With Diane Franklin

** BRONZE MEDAL ** As the French exchange student in Better Off Dead... ** SILVER MEDAL ** As the teenage ball-buster... ** GOLD MEDAL ** As the demon whore... Related: Is Better Off Dead An Under-The-Radar Sequel To Fast Times At Ridgement High?

October 14, 2009

Required Viewing: "Over The Edge" (1979)

The OFFICIAL juvenile vandal film of Pizza Teen! Enjoy it before the stinkin' pigs pull it. NOTE: The sound drops out a couple of times during part 3 due to music licensing issues with Van Halen. Related: "OVER THE EDGE: An Oral History of the Greatest Teen Rebellion Movie of All Time" via viceland.com

Absurd Juxtaposition #0019 a la Mexicana

October 13, 2009

October 11, 2009

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World - Ep. 1: The Journey Begins

New episodes will be published every sunday at midnight!

October 09, 2009

October 05, 2009

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October 01, 2009