“Who Made Who” – AC/DC

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As someone who is increasingly trying to look at glasses half-full instead of half-empty, here’s a big positive that was created out of a negative. The positive in this case is a totally f–king kick-ass song by AC/DC, composed for the 1986 Stephen King-directed film “Maximum Overdrive.”

Now, I actually like Stephen King and have enjoyed a lot of the adaptations made from his novels and stories. If you sneer at this assertion, let me remind you of some of the awesome films that resulted as adaptations: Brian DePalma’s “Carrie,” Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone,” Bryan Singer’s “Apt Pupil,” Frank Darabont’s “The Shawshank Redemption.” And yes, I’ve even enjoyed a few of the lesser adaptations: John Carpenter’s “Christine,” Mark Lester’s “Firestarter.”

Alas “Maximum Overdrive” was not one of them. In fact, it’s probably in my Top 30 of the worst films I paid full evening admission to see in a theater. King later admitted he was snorting tons of coke when making this film, and sadly, that’s about right.

But … you can’t ignore the AC/DC score, especially this beyond awesome theme song. One of their best.

“Big Wednesday” (1978) dir. John Milius

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John Milius is a larger-than-life Hollywood legend. The character John Goodman played in “The Big Lebowski” was apparently based on Milius, which no one has yet to dispute.
Milius arrived in Hollywood at the same time that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did and made a big impression early on. He wrote the original script for “Apocalypse Now,” wrote the classic Dirty Harry sequel “Magnum Force,” as well as directing “Conan the Barabarian”and “Uncommon Valor” (the first … and best … of the “let’s plan a mission and rescue American POWs in Vietnam” films).

Since Milius was a passionate surfer, “Big Wednesday” was supposed to be his “Star Wars.” “Big Wednesday” was a rich tale of how a group of friends, who happened to surf, aged from 1962 through 1974 and how the turbulent times impacted their lives. “Big Wednesday” is the finest Hollywood film ever made about surfing and according to people who know surf culture better than I do, insist it’s the most accurate. It’s not a perfect film by any means, but it’s quite good most of the time and I’ve always enjoyed it immensely over the years.

Growing up in a beach community, this movie had a HUGE impact on many of my friends when it turned up frequently on cable TV in the 1980s. It’s especially poignant seeing Jan Michael-Vincent and Gary Busey doing such stellar and athletic acting work, especially given how dark both actors’ lives would become in subsequent years.

Back in the day, many of filmmakers traded points in each others films as a sign of solidarity, meaning Milius got points in “Star Wars” and Lucas got points in “Big Wednesday.” Apparently, when “Big Wednesday” came out and was a box-office disappointment, Lucas demanded his points back that Milius had in “Star Wars.” Ah, well.

Quentin Tarantino, a huge fan of “Big Wednesday,” said: “This movie is too good for surfers.” Tarantino was allegedly bullied by surfers in his youth, but also understands a good movie better than anyone.

“Election” (1999) dir. Alexander Payne / scr. Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor

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One of the most brilliant comedies of the last 25 years, “Election” is the kind of film Stanley Kubrick would have made had he ever made a high school comedy. However, as many other terrific films (“Citizen Ruth,” “About Schmidt,” “Sideways”) have confirmed, Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor are in a class by themselves.

The central plot centers around a high school election, but is actually a very dark satire of American politics in general. What’s so great about “Election” is how you can’t trust anyone in this film. With the notable exceptions of Chris Klein’s character Paul and his sister Tammy (played by Jessica Campbell), almost all of the characters are unreliable narrators. The way Payne juxtaposes each character’s narration with how their character actually behaves is consistently hilarious and unnerving.

With the exception of her role in 1996’s “Freeway,” Reese Witherspoon’s characterization of the ruthless Tracy Flick is her absolute finest acting performance. The film also contains Matthew Broderick’s all-time best acting performance as the high school history teacher in charge of running the election. He is the ultimate unreliable narrator of this film and his portrayal of a teacher in his late 30s who is secretly bitter about his fate while his students move on and move up is exceptional.

Easily the best film MTV ever slapped their logo onto.

“Cape Fear” (1991) dir. Martin Scorsese

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Dave's Strange World

When director Martin Scorsese signed a deal with Universal Pictures in the late 1980s to release his passion project “The Last Temptation of Christ,” I’m fairly certain he was required to deliver a commercial film in exchange for Universal releasing such a polarizing personal film. Well, in 1991, Scorsese delivered in spades.

Forget “Boxcar Bertha” (the exploitation film Scorsese made for Roger Corman in the early 1970s), “Cape Fear” is Scorsese’s ultimate balls-to-the-wall exploitation film. Granted, it wasn’t seen that way given the large budget and stellar acting cast (Robert DeNiro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis), but make no mistake, Scorsese’s remake of the 1962 shocker with Robert Mitchum is the ultimate Freddy-Jason stalker/slasher film.

Many Scorsese purists detest this film. To whom I say, f–k you! Scorsese loves ALL films, including the sleazy ones that used to play Forty Deuce. Legend has it that he got into a fight with one of his girlfriends, studio executive Dawn Steel, over the merits of the classic 1982 exploitation film “Vice Squad” (Scorsese angrily argued that it should have been up for Best Picture at that year’s Oscars).

Despite its disreputable pedigree, it did win Oscar nominations for DeNiro and Lewis. And it was Scorsese’s biggest box-office success until the release of “The Aviator” in 2004. I’m docking the accompanying trailer MAJOR points for NOT including the music from “Cape Fear” and substituting generic music instead. The music from Cape Fear (originally composed by Bernard Herrmann, but adapted for the remake by Elmer Bernstein) is one of the scariest scores ever composed for a motion picture. I’ve included a link to this score here:

Scorsese has always used music … especially pop music … effectively in his films. I wish I had a clip I could link to, but the use of Guns N’ Roses “Patience” during a vicious verbal fight between Nolte and Lange, while their daughter played by Lewis tearfully locks herself into her room, is brilliantly edited and shot.

Joe Pesci freaks out in Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991)

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At some point, I’m going to write a lengthy essay on Oliver Stone’s 1991 conspiracy blockbuster “JFK.” I’m not going to argue what’s true or what’s not in this film. Mainly because I don’t know. I don’t buy everything in this film, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not one of the most brilliantly directed and edited political thrillers of all time.

One of my favorite scenes is when Joe Pesci’s David Ferrie character freaks out when being interrogated by Kevin Costner’s Jim Garrison character and Garrison’s cronies. Yes, it’s over the top and hammy … but I freakin’ love it. The way Stone ratchets up the intensity while that brilliant John Williams’ score ratchets up the tension while Pesci’s character goes increasingly berserk and paranoid is a classic film moment.

“My Way” – Sid Vicious

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Sid Vicious’s biggest musical moment … this is Sid’s infamous punk cover of the Frank Sinatra warhorse, with new filthy lyrics. The video, originally at the end of Julien Temple’s Sex Pistols documentary “The Great Rock n Roll Swindle,” is equally as infamous, with a graphically violent climax that must be seen to be believed. Not safe for work.

Perhaps the best use of this song was over the end credits of Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic “Goodfellas,” a perfect choice that sums up the entire picture.

And … as a bonus … here’s the version of the scene from the 1986 Alex Cox-directed biopic “Sid and Nancy” with Gary Oldman dynamically taking the mic as Sid. While this is not Oldman’s first big performance, it was the one that made him famous.

“I Like Spiderman” from “Knocked Up” (2007) scr./dir. Judd Apatow

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkzgww_catching-pete-red-handed-part-3_shortfilms

This is one of the most realistic scenes of marriage malaise I’ve ever seen. And not because it involves any of the parties doing anything heinous, like starting an affair, or gambling away the family fortune, or becoming a porn, booze, or drug addict.

No, what starts this crisis is the husband making unexplained disappearances … to spend time by himself because he needs a break. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. Except for the fact that his wife needs a break too. And maybe … actually wants to have a break where she spends time with her husband. On the surface, the husband’s desire to see “Spiderman 3” by himself doesn’t seem like a big deal. And that’s sort of correct. But the wife’s reaction … and the knowledge that her husband wants to spend time away from her … is not wrong either. Leslie Mann’s pained reaction to her husband’s actions breaks my heart every time I see it. Key line: “You just think because you don’t yell that you’re not mean.”

By the way, if you can get the accompanying clip to work, more power to you. I can’t find this clip anywhere else and I can only get the clip to work on my phone. So, that’s why I’ve included a transcript of the scene below:

Pete: It’s just that I know you’ve been mad ’cause I’ve been working so much, and I didn’t want to upset you.
Debbie: I wouldn’t be mad. I don’t get mad.
Pet: It’s a fantasy baseball draft. I’m not cheating or anything.
Debbie: No, this is worse.
Pete: How is this worse?
Debbie: This is you wanting to be with your friends more than your family.
Pete: Look, the reason I make that up is because if I told you what I was really doing, you would just get mad. So you think I’m seeing a band, I do my fantasy draft, and it’s win-win.
Debbie: Well, what’d you do last Wednesday night when you said you went to see a band?
Pete: I went to the movies.
Debbie: With who?
Pete: By myself.
Debbie: What’d you see?
Pete: Spider-Man 3.
Debbie: Why do you want to go by yourself? Why didn’t you ask me to go?
Pete: Because I needed to get away, you know. With work and you and the kids, sometimes I just need some time to myself.
Debbie: I need time for myself. I want time for myself, too. You’re not the only one.
Pete: It’s not that big of a deal.
Debbie: I like Spider-Man.
Pete: Okay, so let’s see Spider-Man 3 next week.
Debbie: I don’t wanna go see it now. I don’t wanna have to ask you to ask me. I want you to just come up with it on your own.
Pete: I don’t even know what to say. What do you want me to do?
Debbie: You just think because you don’t yell that you’re not mean, but this is mean.
Pete: I’m not being mean. I’m being honest. You’re telling me I need to be honest.
Debbie: No, you’re not. You’re lying.
Pete: I’m doing it because I need to keep my sanity a little bit.
Debbie: You know what? I don’t want you at the house anymore, okay?

“Female Trouble” – Mink Stole

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Actress Mink Stole … who has starred in several John Waters films over the years … tries her hand at singing and the results are terrific! “Female Trouble” is her take on the theme song from Waters’ 1974 film of the same name and her slow, sultry take goes down well with a fine bourbon. I posted another song from Mink at the start of the year, “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun,” which is similarly stunning.

“Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun” – Mink Stole

Now, both songs, along with several others are available on Mink’s first (and hopefully, not last) CD, “Do Re Mink” which is available for download on iTunes or on Mink’s website:

http://minkstole.com/?page_id=58

A really wonderful selection of tunes for when you’re feeling especially bad … but in a good way.

“Are You Ready for the Sex Girls?” – Gleaming Spires

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Chalk this up to fallout from watching the great Rodney Bingenheimer documentary “Mayor of the Sunset Strip” recently, but I’m in a very KROQ-FM mood right now. Most people know this song from the soundtracks of two iconic 1980s films (“The Last American Virgin” and “Revenge of the Nerds”), but this was one of the songs you could hear in heavy rotation on KROQ-FM (from Los Angeles) back in the early 1980s.

If you’re a fan of Sirius First Wave, you must check out KROQ2, the HD version of KROQ that plays NOTHING but New Wave and (some) Punk from 1977-1985. It’s available on a lot of internet radio apps.

“White Cops on Dope” – N.W.H. with Ric Ocasek

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OK … this will likely only be interesting if you’re an EXTREMELY die hard music, comedy, and film geek. But this is a by-product of the rap “This is Spinal Tap” film “Fear of a Black Hat” from 1994. Director Rusty Cundieff decided to parody the collaboration between rappers and rockers (aka Run DMC/Aerosmith doing “Walk That Way”) by doing a version of the Tubes’ “White Punks on Dope” as “White Cops on Dope” … collaborating with the Cars’ Ric Ocasek. This did not make the final film, but managed to wind up as a special feature on the DVD.

Seriously, this is music / film / comedy geekiness on such an extreme level that only a very select few will appreciate this. If you don’t want to join the party, I understand. But if you can appreciate this on any one of these levels, I’ll not only buy you a drink but indulge you in more “bonus” material than you’d ever hope to enjoy in a lifetime. Embrace your inner music / film / comedy geek my little babies and drink the Kool-Aid!!!!