FrancisRizzo3

Watching this crazy movie, it's actually shot pretty well, but the editing is terrible, and the writing doesn't help either. I have to imagine the reason it's not available anywhere is the cost of licensing the music. In the first 30 minutes there are at least four major music cues. And I think there's a Letterman clip in there too.

Just watched this movie, and holy cow. What was obviously intended as an attempt to make Dave Sheridan into a new Jim Carrey, this movie is rarely funny, but is rather insane, and has a cast of celebrity cameos bigger than a season of The Love Boat (from Scott Baio to Kevin Pollack to Emmanuel Lewis), along with the lead in an extended blackface scene and a remarkable amount of gay jokes. It is pretty stunning to watch. Plus it has Dolly Parton and Randy Quaid (in what looks to be the start of his insanity stretch. (I did a search but didn't find anything for this. I was rather surprised

It would have made sense to give Cliff a Revenge of the Nerds-like plot to peep on a sorority house. Cliff was planning for a war we didn't know would be fought.

Thus Lance saying "name" is what tipped off Ragnar that he was there under false pretenses, leading to the bug sweep. Never underestimate the mental acuity of Velvet von Ragnar.

I get that, but that was three years earlier. That's a long time for something like that to gestate. If they were all jumping on a bandwagon, it took a long time. Maybe the zeitgeist worked differently back then.

I completely expected him to say "Have mercy" at that point, and we find out that when Lance Stargrove gave up the spy business, he moved to San Francisco, changed his name and started a band.

Yeah, I knew he was a bad guy from the way the camera lingered, but I didn't realize it was Ragnar until he said he's close. Then it was obvious. Similarly, I had no idea that Ragnar was Simmons until I saw the tongue and looked up the cast,

Watching this film, it struck me that If John Stamos at some point doesn't play Zac Efron's dad (if he hasn't already) it will be a true shame.

A minor point, but the script Jason reads from says "god joy" but the subtitles on the film says "gut joy", which i think was a term Kerouac coined. Doesn't change much.

Watching Ragnar's crazy crew of punks (especially Pyramid), I couldn't help but think of Bobcat Goldthwaite's gang of similar psychopaths in Police Academy 2, which came out the year before. One would think perhaps it was the influence of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but that came out the same year as Police Academy 2. Weird Science (also 1985 like Police Academy 2 and Beyond Thunderdome) also featured insane marauders. So, what the heck was happening in the mid-'80s that gangs of post-apocalyptic mutants were a big element in all these films?

This is a legitimately fun movie to watch, and the episode is a great listen. So what happened to Riley (played by "Nightmare on Elm Street";s Robert Englund (who even got a special credit)? After yelling "Good boy, Ripley", Ragnar leaves him behind, and the two punks protecting Riley get gunned down by Danja, but Riley is just left sitting there. Danja and Grady go running off to the chopper (after the hilarious image of Grady running one direction and then course correcting to follow Danja) and Lance jumps on the motorcycle. You'd think the guy who built the valve system might be useful in shutting the whole thing down.

Nevermind.

When the bodyguards shoot at the congressman, Terminator and Erin, the congressman says "That's why I voted against gun control. Weapons can end up in the wrong hands." Isn't that the entire point of gun control?

Maybe I missed it, but how did Jerry know about Erin's custody battle? It doesn't seem like girls at the Eager Beaver interact much with customers (walk on stage, then off) so how in the world did he have this knowledge? The only thing I could come up with is the fact that she unbelievably danced under her real name, and Jerry the crazy stalker tracked her down through court records. This would tie in well with the fact that they found photos of Erin all over his place (which is another issue, since, at the time, they would have no real way of knowing who this woman is.) Where did Jerry get photos of Erin? I don't believe taking photos is normal at strip clubs. Jerry was a dangerous man.

As I own this motion picture on Blu-ray (jealous?) I got to enjoy the benefit of a high-definition image, and saw a sign on the wall that says "No more that 3 girls in the dressing room at one time." Now, it makes sense as a business practice (the owner would want girls on the stage and floor bringing in more money) but it's a rule that is never followed. At one point there are at least 10 girls backstage, and there are usually around four or five. Now, we know Shad is terrible at his job, but Orly wasn't likely to let this slide. On a similar note, there's another sign that says "Haircuts Tue & Thur - 7:00 to 9:00" I can't even begin to explain that one.

I know it was touched on that the lighting in the Eager Beaver is too elaborate for such a club (and it is, considering how dramatic it is during Erin's first dance) but I was wondering who exactly is running that lighting. There's no way a club like that has a computerized system (hell, the idea that they have robotic lighting like the ones in the ceiling is ridiculous.) There are maybe four non-dancing employees seen in the film (the owner, Shad, grown-up Samm Levine and the bartender) and the one who might be working the lights--the DJ--definitely isn't, as he can be spotted clapping (completely out of rhythm) to the music. Since the owner was looking at creamed-corn wrestling as a way of making money, I doubt he sprung for a lighting tech.

Regarding the blacked out names in the credits, those were writing trainees that the filmmakers wanted to credit, but WGA rules wouldn't allow it, so they had to be cut out.

Move title: Bike Rock

I have to agree with Jason's reaction to the bike dancing song, Reel Life's amazing "Send Me an Angel." It is the reason I bought their album as the first cassette I ever purchased. Have you ever seen a soundtrack song played in its entirety in a non-musical film?

As someone who lives in Bay Shore now, I had the same reaction as Paul when the twins were announced as being from Bay Shore, Long Island. In watching those neverending introductions, it struck me that every other place mentioned is either a big city or a state. So why Bay Shore? Is not like viewers in 1986 would assign any character traits to the twins based on common knowledge of their hometown. The actors are from Oregon, so no connection there. The one writer, Geoffrey Edwards, is Blake Edwards' son and from LA, so no connection. And the other writer, Sam Barnard, didn't have much info out there. From a resident's perspective, the twins could certainly be from Bay Shore, buy, based on their attitude and likely wealth, would have probably been from the rich side of town, and would have said they are from Brightwaters, not Bay Shore (for non-residents, Brightwaters is an incorporated village that's part of the hamlet of Bay Shore.) Also, Paul, we need you to bring HDTGM home triumphantly for a show at the Boulton Center Theater on Main Street.

I think one of the biggest examples of the shortcomings of the shooting style on this film is Paltrow's running around the robots. That's the most half-hearted running ever captured on film. and it's likely because she had limited running room, as the blue-screen area was set up in a relatively narrow space (per the DVD.)

I do think she plays the "brassy broad" well. She didn't have much of a character, but she's fun to watch.

Based on some behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD, the movie was intended to be a relatively small film done by a small group working in the middle of the porn industry (Van Nuys), but as it was being shot it was decided that the animation should be 3D rather than the planned flat look, which required rebuilding the group's entire hardware system and an expansion of the crew working on the film. It feels like a lot of the blame for what happened could fall on producer Jon Avnet, who probably should have had tighter reigns on his first-time filmmakers. It also sounds like a classic case of a niche film getting blown up by ambition and the involvement of big names. If Sky Captain had been produced like the indie effort it was intended to be, it wouldn't have cost so much and wouldn't be viewed so negatively (even if the story is pretty weak because it was essentially a tech demo by people more interested in visuals than plot.) I still feel bad for director/writer Kerry Conran. To be one and done like this must suck. Also, Marsha Oglesby, the producer who brought this film to the attention of Avnet, was a co-producer on the HDTGM movie 88 Minutes, and the likely-one-day HDTGM movie Righteous Kill.

Unironically love this movie. The soundtrack is fantastic.