Here it is folks … the infamous interview Terry Gross did with KISS’s Gene Simmons for her NPR talk show “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” in 2002. The interview has been split into 3 parts for your edification. I can’t tell if Terry had any idea of what Gene was like prior to this interview … but Gene is playing himself to the hilt. It’s hard to tell who wins this battle of the bands, but I think Terry and Gene put up a good fight. I can’t tell if Gene is acting more like Ted Nugent or Andy Kaufman here. I think he’s way smarter than Nugent and there’s elements of this that seem tongue-in-cheek, but I also don’t think his performance in the interview is a complete put-on. Regardless, it’s one jaw-droppingly entertaining (almost) 30 minutes.
Here’s an almost 10-minute compilation of some of the funniest verbal abuse in TV history. It’s an anthology of Susie Green (wonderfully played by Susie Essman) dressing down Larry David’s character on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” from multiple episodes/seasons. Susie may seem unnecessarily harsh, but to be fair, Larry is an insufferably neurotic maniac who doesn’t always make the best choices. Not safe for work by any stretch of the imagination. But no one can sling an f-bomb like Susie Green.
The original version of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” by the Temptations is one of the legendary Motown group’s best songs. But Stewart’s explosive cover from his 1970 masterpiece “Every Picture Tells a Story” is one of those rare covers (like Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” and Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”) that blows the original out of the water. I feel bad for saying that because the original Temptations song is strong stuff. But I would argue that Stewart here, already one of the greatest vocalists of all time, invests so much of himself into this song that this is a peak which Stewart has yet to duplicate … even 43 years later. Not only does Stewart shred on this song, but that freakin’ drum sound by Mickey Waller will rattle your fillings. Greil Marcus once said that Waller deserved the Noble Prize for Physics for his drumming on this album and I do not disagree one bit.
Recognize this one? A cover of this was the theme of the UK version of the seminal comedy TV show “The Office.” However, the song was originally written by Manfred Mann’s Mike D’Abo. This version by Rod Stewart from his first solo album in 1969 (called “An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down” in the UK, but was released as “The Rod Stewart Album” in America). Makes you almost forget about “Tonight’s the Night” or “D’Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
One of the first major studio films to deal with the Vietnam War after the war was over, “The Boys in Company C” was released near the beginning of 1978. The film got mixed reviews at the time and whatever notice it got was overshadowed by the double punch of Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter” (released at the end of 1978) and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” (released in the summer of 1979).
It’s a real shame that “The Boys in Company C” has been shuttled to the sidelines over the years, because it’s a really good movie. Admittedly, it’s uneven at times (at one point, it shifts from a war movie into a sports movie). But the film is extremely ambitious, attempting to tackle several important subjects (combat, drugs, racism). And the film boasts several terrific performances, specifically by Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens, Craig Wasson, Michael Lembeck, James Canning, R. Lee Ermey, James Whitmore Jr., Noble Willingham, and Scott Hylands.
This was R. Lee Ermey’s first acting role and it’s very reminiscent of his role in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” which many people mistakenly believe is his debut. Ermey plays the same hard-ass drill instructor we all know and love (and — gulp! — are deathly afraid of), but in “Boys in Company C,” there’s also a humanity that’s missing from his performance in Kubrick’s film. The scene above is a compilation of Ermey’s entire performance, but the part you really need to watch is the scene that starts 3:10 into the clip. This is Ermey and Shaw having an intense discussion about boot camp, Shaw’s struggles with being company leader, and Ermey’s explanation of what he needs Shaw to do. It’s a powerful scene, wonderfully acted by Ermey and Shaw. Please note that because it IS Ermey playing a drill sergeant, the language is beyond rough and extremely politically incorrect.
And not to slight Shaw. Most people remember Shaw as the doomed Toomer from “The Great Santini,” but his performance as Washington is outstanding, and in a film that’s basically an ensemble piece, Shaw is the lead of the film. Had this film come out a few years later, Shaw arguably may have had the career Denzel Washington had. His performance in “Boys in Company C” demonstrates he has the talent and charisma to have gone all the way.
Another terrific Aimee Mann cover … this time of Harry Nilsson’s “One” which Three Dog Night turned into a big hit during the early 1970s. Mann’s version was brilliantly used over the opening of P.T. Anderson’s 1999 masterpiece “Magnolia.” I like this version WAAAAY better than Three Dog Night’s cover, which is the best known version.
Aimee Mann’s lovely version of Badfinger’s early 1970s classic “Baby Blue,” originally released as a B-side. The original played at the end of “Breaking Bad”‘s final episode, but I thought I’d give a shout-out to this great, but little-known cover.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to violence, the word and the act. While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains… sex. Violence devours all it touches, its voracious appetite rarely fulfilled. Yet violence doesn’t only destroy, it creates and molds as well. Let’s examine closely then this dangerously evil creation, this new breed encased and contained within the supple skin of woman. The softness is there, the unmistakable smell of female, the surface shiny and silken, the body yielding yet wanton. But a word of caution: handle with care and don’t drop your guard. This rapacious new breed prowls both alone and in packs, operating at any level, any time, anywhere, and with anybody. Who are they? One might be your secretary, your doctor’s receptionist… or a dancer in a go-go club!
OK, I did not write those words. They come from the infamous opening to the film director John Waters once called the greatest film ever made. Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” film is one of the most wonderfully sleazy movies ever made … and it’s also one of the most fun to watch. It’s one of those films that seems really, really dirty even though it probably would get rated PG-13 if released today (it was rated TV-14 when it popped up on Turner Classic Movies). It would make a great double-feature with “Road House.” There’s no nudity here, but the above clip not safe for work as this is from a less politically correct time. Go baby go! Go! Go! GO BABY GO! Work it out!
Jon Spencer, his sexy spouse Cristina Martinez, and the rest of the Boss Hog gang get their Russ Meyer on with this homage to “Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!”
Jon: I dig your groovy hips!
Cristina: I dig your barbecued lips!
Yowsah! That has to be one exciting marriage. From Boss Hog’s self-titled major label debut in 1995.
This has to be the strangest “happy” ending in film history … a declaration of mature love amidst massive destruction and mayhem … while the Pixies’ legendary “Where Is My Mind?” plays in the background. I realize this is a perverse selection here given my last entry about “United 93,” but to be fair, “Fight Club” was written / filmed pre-9/11. And just because some of the angst of “Fight Club” was rendered obsolete by the subsequent “war on terror” doesn’t mean that “Fight Club” still doesn’t raise several excellent issues about our culture. If there’s a film that summarized my mental state in my early 20s, this is it. Fortunately, I saw this in my late 20s after I was married and settled down … so the film left me with the weirdest, most perverse grin on my face I’ve ever had watching a film. Especially during the “Sixth Sense” – level plot twist that occurs 3/4 of the way through. Between this and David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome,” my all-time favorite film.
Sorry ladies … and maybe some gents … the infamous subliminal “pickle” shot has been edited out.
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