“Thief” (1981) dir. Michael Mann

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Michael Mann’s 1981 heist thriller “Thief” is not only one of the best crime movies of all time, it’s also one of the most influential. Watching it nowadays, you can see where Mann tried out a lot of things that would later become de rigeur on “Miami Vice” (which Mann produced), but it’s not quite as flashy. “Thief” is unapologetically blue collar. The movie has many stunning and intense scenes (including some heavy graphic violence towards the end). However, for me, this nearly 10-minute dialogue sequence between James Caan and Tuesday Weld is the best scene in the movie. Here’s some setup: Caan’s character has spent most of his adult life in prison. Since he’s gotten out, he’s become an extremely successful safecracker and thief (with a few successful legitimate businesses that act as fronts for his illegal activity). He has a lot of money and material possessions, but he also wants the kind of life “regular” people have, meaning marriage and a family. He senses something in Tuesday Weld’s character that he feels is on his wavelength. You see, Weld’s character too has a past, a shady one she’s trying to forget, even if it now means doing something mundane. Caan’s character, in his clumsy, but direct way, is trying to kickstart his future and take a chance with someone he feels will understand and take the same emotional risk he is. He guesses correctly.

“Walk on By” – Isaac Hayes

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

In memory of my pimpstrumental 1999 Town Car I just traded in for a 2013 Ford Fusion, I’m pouring some $5 Rex Goliath Pinot Noir on the ground in memoriam and dedicating this classic cover of Dionne Warwick’s already monumental “Walk on By” to my old wheels.

“I Can’t Control Myself” – The Troggs

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Is this garage punk? Is this bubblegum? Is it some hybrid? Or something weirder or more sinister? Seriously, when the beat hits this hard, the guitars drive home the clunky beats even further, and the vocalist contemptuously sneers the leering lyrics, does it really matter? What else would you expect from the creators of “Wild Thing”? Any way you slice it, this is some seriously cool s–t!!

“Neon Slime” – Wings Hauser (from the 1982 film “Vice Squad” dir. Gary Sherman)

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Yes, this song sounds more than a little ridiculous, except that I really, really love it. It’s the perfect theme song for one of the craziest, sleaziest films ever made, Gary Sherman’s 1982 film “Vice Squad.” Wings Hauser, who plays a sadistic pimp named Ramrod (is that a great villain name or what?!?), contributes this gem of an opening song, written by Simon Stokes, previously featured on Dave’s Strange World with his angry senior citizen anthem “Hey You”.

If I ever become a professional recording artist, I want to do a cover of this song as my first single. The video would feature me in a blonde jheri-curl wig and black Members Only jacket shrieking this song to some Traci Lords look-a-like in spandex.

Trivia note: Back in the day, Martin Scorsese said that “Vice Squad” should have been nominated for several Academy Awards that year. He liked the movie so much that he got into a screaming match with his then-girlfriend, Paramount studio executive Dawn Steel, over the merits of the film at a Hollywood party.

Here’s the brilliant under-one minute trailer I remember seeing when I was 12 years old:

“Strangers” – The Kinks (with scenes from “The Darjeeling Limited” dir. Wes Anderson)

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Next to “Celluloid Heroes,” “Strangers” is my favorite Kinks song. It was the song I always came back to on thier 1970 album “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround.” The song was effectively used in Wes Anderson’s 2007 film “The Darjeeling Limited” and the YouTube video is a montage of scenes from the film set to this song. A beautiful song.

“Being There” (1979) dir. Hal Ashby

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

What can I say? I’m in a very Hal Ashby mood tonight. This is director Hal Ashby’s last great film, a wonderful adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s 1970 novella about a simpleton who is mistaken for a genius and the next great hope of the American political system. Peter Sellers in his last terrific performance (a performance for which he should have won the Oscar … seriously, Dustin Hoffman for “Kramer vs. Kramer”?) plays the idiot savant Chance the Gardner, mistaken for Chauncey Gardiner, genius intellectual. This almost made my Top 10 films of all time, but I think I hesitated, because in a weird way, I identify with Chance. I don’t think I’m particularly smart, but somehow, I not only got into a top university (without the credentials of a connected family), but got into a fully-funded Master’s program as well, and a Doctoral program. The payback? My current job, which is decent, but let’s just say I’m not exactly setting the world on fire. There’s no such thing as a free lunch and your limitations will catch up with you, no matter what fancy words you drizzle on top of your mediocrity. Fortunately, you don’t quite get to see this in “Being There,” so it remains, prime intellectual entertainment you don’t have to be smart to enjoy. This is everything “Forrest Gump” wanted to be, but wasn’t. And while I actually like “Forrest Gump,” “Being There” smokes it on every level.

“Trouble” – Cat Stevens from the 1971 film “Harold and Maude” dir. Hal Ashby

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

One of the best uses of pop music in film history, this montage set to Cat Stevens’s “Trouble” from Hal Ashby’s “Harold and Maude” is sad and brilliant. I remember seeing “Harold and Maude” multiple times on cable TV during the summer of 1983 and was always struck by how effectively Cat Stevens’s songs were used in the context of the film. While many films have since aped its use of pop music to drive the plot of a story, this was one of the first and still one of the best.

“Aneurysm” (Live) – Nirvana

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Let’s get this straight once and for all. Just because Nirvana recorded for a Seattle label (SubPop) doesn’t make them a Seattle band. Nirvana was an Olympia band. Kurt wrote “Bleach” and “Nevermind” in the hovel that was one block away from where my dear wife worked for almost two years. This is my favorite track from my favorite Nirvana album (“Live at Reading”).

“The Ballad of Lucy Jordan” – Marianne Faithfull

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

Like Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nails’s “Hurt,” this is a case where a cover transcends the original by a tremendous degree based solely on the pathos of the singer’s life experience. Faithfull covered this song (written by Shel Silverstein, but originally recorded by Dr. Hook ?!?) at roughly the same age of the song’s protagonist. It’s a tremendous performance, especially given Faithfull’s troubled life prior to covering this song. Used to great effect in the film “Thelma and Louise.”

“Hurt” – Johnny Cash

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

I can’t add anything to what’s already been said about this cover or this video, directed by Mark Romanek. It’s the very definition of the old saying “It’s the singer, not the song.” To say this is the greatest music video ever made is damning with faint praise. It’s actually one of the best films ever made, of any length. And if you watch this with a dry eye, you have no soul.