Episode 171 - Miami Connection: LIVE!

[grudlian. 4725]

Is Miami Connection actually a Musical?

 

In the Film there are several FULL LENGTH songs where the lyrics help explain the narrative, with the lyrics for Against the Ninja as well as Friends being sung in the first person. Song lyrics were even referenced during the podcast when trying to clear up confusion about the plot; "bikers by day, ninjas by night" as heard in the song Escape From Miami... If the movie only had some of the biker gang singing the lyrics for Escape From Miami or Toughguys this would undoubtedly fall into Musical Film territory. Without the antagonists getting some time on the mic I am not sure if it qualifies as a Musical or not?

I don't want to giveaway my Musical Monday pick too early but...

[Cam Bert 8145]

Is Miami Connection actually a Musical?

 

In the Film there are several FULL LENGTH songs where the lyrics help explain the narrative, with the lyrics for Against the Ninja as well as Friends being sung in the first person. Song lyrics were even referenced during the podcast when trying to clear up confusion about the plot; "bikers by day, ninjas by night" as heard in the song Escape From Miami... If the movie only had some of the biker gang singing the lyrics for Escape From Miami or Toughguys this would undoubtedly fall into Musical Film territory. Without the antagonists getting some time on the mic I am not sure if it qualifies as a Musical or not?

 

I have to say it would have been AMAZING if Yashito and Jeff went into a "ToughGuys" duet at the biker rally though.. Oh sweet baby jesus that would have been amazing.

Now I just want somebody to put "Bad Guys" from Bugsy Malone over top of the biker rally scene.

 

[tomspanks 9039]

Now I just want somebody to put "Bad Guys" from Bugsy Malone over top of the biker rally scene.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsi2FeRxG0A

 

And now I have so many questions about this clip.

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

And now I have so many questions about this clip.

If it were more easily available we might be able to talk about it in two weeks

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

 

Kind of like Mr. Hogan?

 

 

Who is also from Florida...Maybe "brother" is a Florida thing? Although, I grew up there and I never said it. Then again, we did all say "bro" a lot, so maybe "brother" was a thing in the Eighties that got shortened later....

When I took Kung-Fu, we referred to students who were senior to us in the class as "Si-Hing,' which, in that context, translates to "older brother," and the teacher as "Sifu," which is analogous to teacher/father. I know Taekwondo is leagues apart from Kung-Fu stylistically, culturally, and geographically, but I think the connotation here is the same. Martial arts schools, traditionally, would "adopt" students into the fold (especially because students would often live there for years), so the concept of a new family would be reinforced by everything from daily rituals to the terminology you use to refer to one another. That tradition lives on in numerous schools around the world, even if students only take classes a few hours a week.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

I might be following this tangent a little too far, but as we've discussed the presence of (and dependence on) uncredited extras in this movie pretty extensively by this point. So this seems normal enough:

 

We've established that the international computer programming contest (ICPC) is a real thing that has been occurring continuously since the early 1970s. UCF in fact finished 4th in that contest in 1986, just before the filming of this movie (Cal Tech finished first, followed by Rice and RIT, just as written on the chalkboard). So it stands to reason that the professor in that scene is an actual CS professor at UCF. And indeed, the actor credited as professor #1 is John Leeson. It appears that Leeson retired a few years ago, but he was a professor at UCF and still has a ratemyprofessor page.

 

If that's not convincing enough, there's this from another website's review:

 

...another scene I liked takes place in a computer lab with students coding Logo (I think) on old-school IBM machines, presided over by John Leeson, my friggin’ computer science teacher. No, for real – to all you UCF alumni with comp-sci degrees, it’s really Dr. Leeson!

So, with all that established, this was an actual class, right? Did Y.K. Kim have that much pull that he could barge in on classes at a major university and film impromptu scenes without clearances? Pretty impressive if so.

[tomspanks 9039]

So it stands to reason that this was an actual class, right? Did Y.K. Kim have that much pull that he could barge in on classes at a major university and film impromptu scenes without clearances? Pretty impressive if so.

 

From the imdb trivia page again: The man who plays Jane's professor was a real computer science professor at the University of Central Florida. A scene was filmed showing the men in their class but it was deleted.

 

I want to see that scene!

[Cameron H. 23786]

It appears that Leeson retired a few years ago, but he still has a ratemyprofessor page.

 

Oof! The reviews aren't exactly glowing, are they? He doesn't even rate for "hotness."

[tomspanks 9039]

That shot may be more homoerotic than the YMCA scene of Can't Stop the Music.

 

This reminds me - WHAT. IS. THIS.

 

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

Keeping in the musical theme, that drummer guy reminds me a little of Pulp-era Jarvis Cocker.

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

Keeping in the musical theme, that drummer guy reminds me a little of Pulp-era Jarvis Cocker.

Dragon Sound aren't common people though...

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

This reminds me - WHAT. IS. THIS.

 

 

What was weird about this scene for me was that it was supposed to be showing us how much of a badass Mark is, but since they're all supposed black belts, shouldn't their sparring be a little less one sided? Like, I think it's supposed to be showing Mark training them to be awesome Tae Kwon Doers, but instead, it just looks like he's trying to teach them how to take a fall like a movie ninja. Was "going Hollywood" Dragon Sound's Plan B?

[Pluto Nash Bridges 6]

I still can't get over the fact that for almost 25 years the only people to ever see this movie were those who stumbled into one of eight Orlando-area theaters during a three week period and the attendees of the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.

 

That's like finding out the best caviar in the world was served for one night only at the French Laundry or in one of eight Orlando-area theaters during a three week period.

[tomspanks 9039]

 

I saw this on IMDb too:

 

In the original version, Jim dies at the end on the way to the hospital. However, when the film was screened at Cannes in 1987, Y.K. Kim was told by all potential distributors that the ending was a downer. Director Woo-sang Park had already returned to Korea, so Kim himself re-shot the ending. The final fight between Mark and Yashito was added. But Si Y Jo was unavailable so Yashito is played by William Ergle instead.

 

So, the actor who played Jeff was Yashito in the final fight scene.

 

Update: I picked up the Miami Connection disc today. I was reading through the accompanying booklet and got to the last page...

 

 

 

This must be the picture of them filming the final fight scene with "Yashito", aka Jeff. LOOK AT HIM. All the hair on his head is indeed condensed into a beard like the gang said on the episode.

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

What was weird about this scene for me was that it was supposed to be showing us how much of a badass Mark is, but since they're all supposed black belts, shouldn't their sparring be a little less one sided? Like, I think it's supposed to be showing Mark training them to be awesome Tae Kwon Doers, but instead, it just looks like he's trying to teach them how to take a fall like a movie ninja. Was "going Hollywood" Dragon Sound's Plan B?

Maybe YK Kim was trying to go all Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg on us and this fight scene was suppose to foreshadow all the moves he was going to use on Yashito in the climatic fight.

 

Another reason they are going slow and soft is maybe they have a gig that night and they need Jack on those drums.

[JammerLea 2070]

Just popping in to say Miami Connection is absolutely amazing. We first saw it a few years ago on Netflix and were just dying of laughter the whole time. Currently own the movie on BD. So glad HDTGM finally got to enjoy it!

 

Also wtf, Paul. Lay off of Kia. I drive a Kia Soul and it's a great little car with a lot of room!

[JammerLea 2070]

Has anyone mentioned that the song "Friends Forever" was used as the credits theme for the game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon?

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

 

paul should get his own chapter when they write the history of blockbuster video

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

paul should get his own chapter when they write the history of blockbuster video

 

It looks like it would have been a real hoot to work there