Cam Bert

Just realised that his name was Beef not Meat. If only I had read CakeBug's signature sooner...

Yes! Archie Hahn who is also a regular in Joe Dante movies. Still why so many image changes? I get them changing to match Meat but why switch to a Beach Boys band?

Here's something I still not sure if I fully get or not. So we open on what must be Swan's house band the Juicyfruits. They are these greaser types. That's fine. They are mentioned again afterwards a few times specifically when the Paradise is about to open the radio claims the Juicyfruits will be performing the Faust song. Cut to them in the theater but in blond wigs singing a decidedly un-Faustian song. Now according to the credits these are the Beach Bums. Yet, their car that was used as a prop has a license plate that reads "JUICY-FRUITS." So are the Beach Bums suppose to be a new band or just a rebranding of the Juicyfruits? Odd that you'd promote them and then do an image change on them. Also when Swan hires Meat the Juicyfruits are back but now they're the Undeads? Again they're bandaged so this is suppose to be them right yet they've just rebranded yet again? What is most interesting about all this is that they change the singer with each reinterpretation.

Quick poll, which is better Swan/Paul Williams with his long hair: Or Swan/Paul Williams with his wig short hair: Maybe it's just because it was the 70s and that, but short hair is much better I think.

Again I want to thank SaraK for her pick. I'm really glad I got around to watching it and angry that I'm still singing the song to this day. Two things, I will be skyping with my mother tomorrow so expect a Ted Neeley Handsomeness update coming your way soon. Second tomspanks asked me to look up the promotional stuff they did for this movie in Japan. Well there was a bit of a snag. This film got titled すべてのあなたに　Subete no Anata ni lit. All for You here. The problem with that is the Whitney Houston song "Saving All My Love for You" is translated with the same name. Thus searching for things about the movie just kept turning up more and more Whitney Houston stuff. I did learn that while promoting the movie Tom Hanks went on a music show called THE夜もヒッパレ THE Yoru mo Hippare and he himself sang "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." While I couldn't find clips of this I did find him being delightful on Japanese TV if you want to watch and it's not region blocked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfZX3zPC9vw&t=1258s

Good thing this is on Youtube because based on my little poking around it never got released in Japan. Also second that about LeVar Burton Reads but you don't have to take my word for it.

Time for another... How Did This Get Named? It's been awhile since something with a completely different name or somewhat of a story behind it. The Wraith is know in Japan as 処刑ライダー (Shokei Raidaa) or Execution Rider. Fun quick aside, Boondock Saints is called 処刑人 (Shokeinin) or Executioners. So why this name and not a direct translation? Do the Japanese not believe in ghosts. Oh, they VERY much believe in ghosts and the supernatural. Rather this is a take on the long running Japanese special effects kid series Kamen Rider or Masked Rider. In another sense he is executing people I suppose too, I guess giving us further evidence for the spirit of vengeance take. I also found this interesting. While the DVD and BluRay of this movie use the more current Wraith in front of the car poster the original movie theater pamphlet is more akin to the current cover.

Yes!!! He's also seemingly there from open until close except for the day when he decides to take Keri home midday which again is odd when he's doing everything inside! Also when he gets beat up and everybody just stands around. If the man is beat up who is going to make your burgers people?

And where I fall

Don't take my word for it. It's merely how I made sense of this all. I think it's just as believable that in the end like Cameron said that she's cashing in her soul and Jake is collecting. Depends on how happy and ending you want.

Here's my take on the medical braces. Due to costuming constraints and budget they used medical braces but in fact they were not suppose to be medical braces but rather shackles or bonds. It seems he had one for each member of Packard's group that took place in his murder. Now if we assume the line of logic that he is some sort or avenging angle or spirit of vengeance and that his ultimate reward is returning to the corporeal world then this makes perfect sense. After vengeance has been gotten on each member of the gang one of the shackles/medical brace disappears. Their deaths are freeing him and bringing him closer to being back to life. The final one disappears after the death of Packard and once he transforms from the rider back into Jake he states "I won't be doing that again." That's because he is now free of his bonds and able to return to life.

No but I heard that the revival of Hello Dolly did very well which made me think of you.

When I was thinking of what movie to pick this was one of my ideas as to what to watch. I didn't pick it but watched it anyway. I think we'll have lots to say.

Also a crossing would imply an intersection of roads, yet they seem to stop the race in the middle of a straightaway.

I think the question that really needs to be asked about the graveyard scene is where did that tombstone come from? Unless Packard is a name passed down from generation to generation with the first born son in the Walsh family there is no way that tombstone was there to begin with. I already talked about The Wraith's ability to create a car, but I guess he also has the ability to create tombstones as well. While we're at it where did Jake's motorcycle come from as well? Did he create that as well? If we think about it further he must have also created that inflatable mattress that Jake is using to float on the water with. He didn't have anything with him when he was going to the watering hole so after he got there he went behind a rock and used his Wraith powers to manifest an inflatable mattress, swim shorts and a towel. There is a whole element of The Wraith's ability to just manifest things he wants and needs out of thin air that needs to be talked about.

What makes even more crazy is that Packard had to cheat to "win" the first race we see. He later tells Rughead that he needs to upgrade the car because he's worried he could be beaten soon. Again, they're the ones with all the power in that situation. Like you said they don't have to race but they are and they're worried about losing the race and not getting the car when they could just take it at any point. So they have a weird code of ethics that bounds them to do the legal work around of a race, but yet are still open to cheating to win said race which if you think about it would invalidate the actual race. Also, nobody sees the finish of these races except the two racing so at the end it's more of a he said she said about who really won.

In movies and stories like High Plains Drifter in which a ghost/spirit is brought back to avenge their death all end in the same way. Once vengeance has been served the ghost will then leave and go back to the world of the dead like they were never there. It's a simple formula. There was some debate over whether or not at the end of the film Jake/Jamie goes back to the afterlife, and this is simply can not be the case. How do we know that? Because he gives the car to his brother! By the mere fact he can pass it over to his brother means that the car is a real physical object. We see the car being created by the spirit orbs in the beginning making it seem like a ghost car. This would explain why it can do the weird things throughout the movie. Yet if it's a ghost car how can he give it to his brother? Wouldn't it just disappear the moment Jamie goes back to the afterlife? At the end of the movie the car has suddenly become a real physical object through Jamie's vengeance. Would this not also imply the Jake is now real as well. Otherwise his spirit comes back to the world of the living with a special ghost car that becomes real while his spirit goes back to the world of the dead. A car created out of thin air is now real, but the ghost that created it is not? That's nonsensical even for a nonsensical film such as this. This all begs the bigger question of what made Jamie so special. How come other murdered people aren't coming back from the dead with magical items all the time? Is this some weird world in which if you are murdered you can come back to life if you're successful in your vengeance or create special ghost items for those you loved?

If you follow the syntax of the phrasing "'~~' virgin" it means one hasn't experienced the proceeding action or noun. I.E. "I'm a Disneyland virgin" means I have not experienced Disneyland. Now if you are talking about a person and their lack of sexual experience virgin no longer modifies what precedes it. Thus if you were twenty and still sexually inexperienced you would not say "I'm a twenty year virgin" you would have to say "I'm a twenty year old virgin." By modifying virgin with a time you now are indicating how long it's been since that action has taken place or more accurately how long since you last experienced it. In the case of the movie he means that he hasn't had sex in four days. Nothing exceptionally deep to be had just a corny line.

Yea, a lot of trains here have a switch in which you can flip the seats to make a four person section or two two people sections. I once had a two hour train ride with a stranger who chose not to reverse his seat and just stared at me the entire way. I was at the end of the row and didn't have the luxury of turning my seats around.

Wow, I wish flying was like that now. I might go home more often if it was.

One thing I was curious about is Mr. White's seat on the plane. Maybe an historian on planes and aviation can help me out here but he was suppose to be in first class? He was at the back of the plane though, did first class use to be at the back? Also they were at an odd four seater with a table. Was that ever a thing? Could chairs turn around back in the day? Is that just a first class perk?

That's true. Like how he just freely gives his money away, gets praised by the executives all the time, etc. I think that's kind of a pitfall of writing a you surrogate character into something you write. There are brief mentions of him being sort of a playboy at the beginning the the movie, or that he's been around a few times at least. However, with the Rita Wilson scene even though she's coming on to him pretty hard he doesn't act upon it, He almost goes off with Mr. White and Howie Long (which when Howie Long says "Let's bring him along" makes more sense because of the resemblance to Tom Hanks, that would perfect for his character) but that's about it. Again it's hard to tell if that's him being pure or loyal to his girlfriend back home. Like you said he is just so nice and right it's hard to judge his actions. Faye clearly has feelings for him, as we see with her looking at the cut picture but we don't really get an equivalent scene for him.

Well again maybe it's because I saw the extended cut of the film, but there are subtle hints throughout about how much Faye means to him. Maybe as a friend much more so than a love interest. There is the bit where she brings them food and he's like "You gave a name and you're the genius behind us" and then Jimmy jealously jumps between them. He's also the one to go back and get Faye when they are going to the airport and take care of her when she was sick. Plus his little shout out to her. It's clear that they were very close friends and he cared more about her than Jimmy did. What the film I think needed was him realizing that Charlize Theron had moved on. At a certain point we see it and get it, but it we never see Guy realize that she's moved on. Just a small bit where Faye could have been like "I'm sorry to hear about Charlize. Don't worry you're a great guy you won't be single long" or something like that.

My search continues! Meanwhile enjoy Japanese punk rock band SHAKALABBITS doing a cover of the titular song!