Or that time Robert Altman (yes, "Nashville"/"M*A*S*H"/"The Player's" Robert Altman) directed a wacky teenage comedy based on a series of 1982 National Lampoon articles that was finished in 1984, but not released theatrically until 1987 in limited release. Altman couldn't make a bad film if he tried, but despite a few borderline-brilliant vignettes (O.C. and Cynthia Nixon's Michelle tap-dancing/flirting like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Dennis Hopper as an "Apocalypse Now"-like crazy Vietnam vet, etc.), "O.C. and Stiggs" seems more interested in making thinly-veiled digs at Reagan's conservative silent majority than entertaining viewers. This is the "Hudson Hawk"-meets-"Tank Girl"-meets-"Freaked" of 80's teen comedies. Oliver Cromwell Oglivie, aka O.C. (Daniel H. Jenkins) and Mark Stiggs (Neill Barry) are Phoenix, AZ high school besties who seem obsessed with harassing, provoking and making life miserable for the upper-class Schwab family. Not just patriarch Randall (Paul Dooley) who forced O.C.'s retired grandpa cop (Ray Walston) into a group home prematurely via his job as regional insurance salesman, or perpetually drunk wife Elinore (Jane Curtin) sneaking booze from binoculars or ice cream straws, but also uber-nerdy son Randall Jr. (Jon Cryer) and borderline-invisible Lenore (Laura Urstein).
Heck, most of the movie is a flashback in which the duo make an expensive international phone call on Schwab's landline to Gabon President Omar Bongo, sharing with the African leader how they spent their summer getting even with the Schwab clan. Though I wasn't bored during its 109 min. running time, "O.C. and Stiggs" began grating my nerves by not giving me a moment's rest with either the leads constantly talking (usually in vapid, disposable dialogue), a wacky sound effect, radio station blabber about the hot Phoenix weather or any number of character conversations heard while other convos/music played loud (a Robert Altman trademark). Only the musical appearance by The King Sunny Adé and His African Beats band (whom Altman booked because he liked them) gives momentary relief by looking for a few minutes like a conventional concert movie. The finale involving a doomsday bunker and fireworks exploding during a party with a helicopter reaches appropriate levels of wacky, while also trying to make statements about homelessness (sudden death by hypothermia), parental hypocrisy (spouses are constantly unfaithful, but the women tolerate it because of materialism taking precedence), racism (no minority character gets by without a politically incorrect wisecrack), the importance of appearances (via a crappy Studebaker Champion used car they modify into a hydraulic monster) and suburban consumerism culture run amok.
I'm glad I've seen this forgotten Altman rarity, but I hope it stays forgotten and rare for another 41 years. 🫤 2.25 MEXICAN SOUVENIER BUS SALESMEN WITH 'NO STINKIN' BADGES' (out of five).
'THE BOYS HAVEN'T BEEN BACK IN TOWN IN 36 YEARS!' DOUBLE BILL! 165.- 48 HRS. (1982, 4K UHD). Streaming on NETFLIX.
It's always bothered me that "48 Hrs." is often referred to as an 80's comedy. 'Buddy Cop' comedy I'd buy, but just comedy? It's about 75-80% a gritty police action/drama and 20-25% comedy... and we have to wait almost 30 minutes before Eddie Murphy shows up to enliven what up to that point has been a very dour, depressing procedural. Escaped convict Albert Ganz (James Remar) and Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) want the money that former associate Luther (David Patrick Kelly) has kept hidden, and San Francisco detective Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) uses incarcerated former associate of Ganz's Reggie Hammond (Murphy) to track down the fugitives. There are great comedy beats involving Cates and Reggie insulting/punching the crap out of one another until they gain each other's trust, culminating in the redneck bar scene where you see Eddie Murphy turn into a movie superstar before your very eyes. 🤩🥹 James Horner's score sounds like a warm-up/tune-up for "Commando's" steel drum-heavy music, the stereotypes thick in the supporting cast (Frank McRae's scenes as fed-up chief of police are epic! 😁), the pace suitably slow and patient from an '80 movie still stuck in 70's production cycles, and the ending a major letdown compared with the action leading up to it. This once-classic is showing its age, IMHO. 3.30 MESSAGES FROM ANNETTE O'TOOLE'S ELAINE UNDERNEATH KEHOE'S DESK LAMP (out of five).
More or less the same movie as its predecessor (even the opening meeting of the bad guys and bar brawl for Eddie to shoot off his mouth feels lifted from '82), with Walter Hill's excessive stylistic choices (people falling in slow-motion, glass constantly shattered, etc.) showing about a decade's worth of improved experience. Eddie Murphy's name comes first in the credits now, followed by Nick Nolte's before the title. Star power, it's a bitch! 😅 An uber-villain that only Jack Cates knows about and is trying to track down, the mysterious 'Iceman,' wants Reggie Hammond killed as soon as he gets out of prison. Upset that Cates still has his $500K loot from the previous movie and under pressure by fellow prisoner Kirkland Smith (Bernie Casey) to deliver on his promise, Reggie is in no mood to deal with or even talk to Cates about helping the latter avoid an internal investigation that could get him kicked off the force. The goons that 'Iceman' hires to kill Reggie (including the brother of the James Remar character from the prequel) and all his old crime pals not wanting anything to do with him pushes the fast-talking ex-con to reluctantly work one more time with his old "partner."
It's still 75-80% cop action flick, 20-25% comedy, an imbalance that doesn't bother most people but irks me when it's brought up first as a comedy. Great supporting cast (Ed O'Ross, Kevin Tighe, Tisha Campbell for a hot second, Brion James returning as Kehoe, etc.), even more noticeable steel drums in James Horner's score and a slightly faster pace than its prequel make me like "Another 48 Hrs." over OG "48 Hrs." by the slimmest of margins. 3.40 PRISON BUS FLIPPING/TRUCK CRASHING STUNTS TO DIE FOR (out of five).
Finishing Junesploitation 2026 in a very weak way this year. The amount of tasks that have come up over the past week has made getting one movie a day in challenging. Hopefully there is time later to get to my last catch-up day. I got to over forty films this year. It is not a bad number, but I was planning on a watching more.
THE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS (1985, dir. Makoto Tezuka)
I stumbled onto this looking on Tubi just a couple of days ago, and it immediately became my first choice today. It looked weird, and the viewing experience was even weirder than expected. Two Japanese singers, one in a punk band and another a new wave group, are put together into a pop duo by a strange music mogul. The Stardust Brothers are born. They hit the top of the music charts, yet it is only a matter of time that another singer to comes along to take the spotlight. Then the crazy things start happening. All the while, everything is being presented like a zany music video, and one song is followed by another song. Visual gag is followed by visual gag. In all honesty, STARDUST BROTHERS became an exhausting watch at 100 minutes. So much is thrown at the viewer that it gets overwhelming. If you are looking for a weird experience, though, this might be the film for you. Did I say that it is very '80s? It is.
Any time/effort you put into Junesploitation! is welcomed, Casual. Not everybody can do a movie a day, let alone 165+ movies/cartoons like some freak I know. 😉🙃
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 30! 167.- PINK PANTHER AND PALS: PINK UP THE VOLUME, ZEUS JUSTICE, A PINK AND STORMY NIGHT (3/7/2010, YOUTUBE)
The last attempt (by Cartoon Network 16 years ago) at a 'Pink Panther' cartoon revival that, like the 1993/94 version, goes back to the theatrical shorts of the 1960's for inspiration (two Panther shorts with one Ant/Aardvark short in-between) and brings them up to date (internet, widescreen TV's, etc.). All characters except The Little Man (here renamed 'Big Nose') have been given a youth/shrinkage re-imagining, including the Panther, which makes them look much younger (teenagers maybe?). In 'Pink Up The Volume' Big Nose wants a day of peace and quiet with his dog, but the next-door PP wants to play/practice his musical instruments. The giant crystal dome Big Nose uses to try to keep quiet reminded me of Stephen King's "Under the Dome." 😁 'Zeus 'Juice' takes on the 'juicing' fad of that era (remember the informercials for juicers?) with the Aardvark bulking-up to chase after Ant, until the latter makes some bulking-up of his own. And in 'A Pink and Stormy Night' a mad scientist (Big Nose) and his Igor-like dog call on the PP pizza delivery to get a subject for a series of terrifying experiments. Wackiness ensues, including a fair share of goofy homages to "Bride of Frankenstein" that the diehard monster movie fans will appreciate. I might check out more 'PPAP' cartoons after I finish the 93/94 series, but based on this pilot episode's compilation of shorts this Cartoon Network series comes slightly below the 90's one. 3.15 DOME-CRACKING TINY MUSIC TRIANGLES (out of five).
And the 30 Days of Pink Panther and Friends! are officially over! 🥳🥰😋 It's my last day off before I have to work the entire 4th of July weekend (no 250th birthday celebration for me), so time permitting I might sneak an extra review or two today before finishing up Junesploitation! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING, and please remember to visit F This Movie everyday for new content and on the WEEKENDS for lively discussion about movies we watched the previous week and a lot of other stuff. We want to see you visit here more often than just every June. 😉 See you around. 👋😎
164.- O.C. AND STIGGS (1985, RADIANCE BLU-RAY)
ReplyDeleteOr that time Robert Altman (yes, "Nashville"/"M*A*S*H"/"The Player's" Robert Altman) directed a wacky teenage comedy based on a series of 1982 National Lampoon articles that was finished in 1984, but not released theatrically until 1987 in limited release. Altman couldn't make a bad film if he tried, but despite a few borderline-brilliant vignettes (O.C. and Cynthia Nixon's Michelle tap-dancing/flirting like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Dennis Hopper as an "Apocalypse Now"-like crazy Vietnam vet, etc.), "O.C. and Stiggs" seems more interested in making thinly-veiled digs at Reagan's conservative silent majority than entertaining viewers. This is the "Hudson Hawk"-meets-"Tank Girl"-meets-"Freaked" of 80's teen comedies. Oliver Cromwell Oglivie, aka O.C. (Daniel H. Jenkins) and Mark Stiggs (Neill Barry) are Phoenix, AZ high school besties who seem obsessed with harassing, provoking and making life miserable for the upper-class Schwab family. Not just patriarch Randall (Paul Dooley) who forced O.C.'s retired grandpa cop (Ray Walston) into a group home prematurely via his job as regional insurance salesman, or perpetually drunk wife Elinore (Jane Curtin) sneaking booze from binoculars or ice cream straws, but also uber-nerdy son Randall Jr. (Jon Cryer) and borderline-invisible Lenore (Laura Urstein).
Heck, most of the movie is a flashback in which the duo make an expensive international phone call on Schwab's landline to Gabon President Omar Bongo, sharing with the African leader how they spent their summer getting even with the Schwab clan. Though I wasn't bored during its 109 min. running time, "O.C. and Stiggs" began grating my nerves by not giving me a moment's rest with either the leads constantly talking (usually in vapid, disposable dialogue), a wacky sound effect, radio station blabber about the hot Phoenix weather or any number of character conversations heard while other convos/music played loud (a Robert Altman trademark). Only the musical appearance by The King Sunny Adé and His African Beats band (whom Altman booked because he liked them) gives momentary relief by looking for a few minutes like a conventional concert movie. The finale involving a doomsday bunker and fireworks exploding during a party with a helicopter reaches appropriate levels of wacky, while also trying to make statements about homelessness (sudden death by hypothermia), parental hypocrisy (spouses are constantly unfaithful, but the women tolerate it because of materialism taking precedence), racism (no minority character gets by without a politically incorrect wisecrack), the importance of appearances (via a crappy Studebaker Champion used car they modify into a hydraulic monster) and suburban consumerism culture run amok.
I'm glad I've seen this forgotten Altman rarity, but I hope it stays forgotten and rare for another 41 years. 🫤 2.25 MEXICAN SOUVENIER BUS SALESMEN WITH 'NO STINKIN' BADGES' (out of five).
'THE BOYS HAVEN'T BEEN BACK IN TOWN IN 36 YEARS!' DOUBLE BILL!
ReplyDelete165.- 48 HRS. (1982, 4K UHD). Streaming on NETFLIX.
It's always bothered me that "48 Hrs." is often referred to as an 80's comedy. 'Buddy Cop' comedy I'd buy, but just comedy? It's about 75-80% a gritty police action/drama and 20-25% comedy... and we have to wait almost 30 minutes before Eddie Murphy shows up to enliven what up to that point has been a very dour, depressing procedural. Escaped convict Albert Ganz (James Remar) and Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) want the money that former associate Luther (David Patrick Kelly) has kept hidden, and San Francisco detective Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) uses incarcerated former associate of Ganz's Reggie Hammond (Murphy) to track down the fugitives. There are great comedy beats involving Cates and Reggie insulting/punching the crap out of one another until they gain each other's trust, culminating in the redneck bar scene where you see Eddie Murphy turn into a movie superstar before your very eyes. 🤩🥹 James Horner's score sounds like a warm-up/tune-up for "Commando's" steel drum-heavy music, the stereotypes thick in the supporting cast (Frank McRae's scenes as fed-up chief of police are epic! 😁), the pace suitably slow and patient from an '80 movie still stuck in 70's production cycles, and the ending a major letdown compared with the action leading up to it. This once-classic is showing its age, IMHO. 3.30 MESSAGES FROM ANNETTE O'TOOLE'S ELAINE UNDERNEATH KEHOE'S DESK LAMP (out of five).
166.- ANOTHER 48 HRS. (1990, 4K UHD)
ReplyDeleteMore or less the same movie as its predecessor (even the opening meeting of the bad guys and bar brawl for Eddie to shoot off his mouth feels lifted from '82), with Walter Hill's excessive stylistic choices (people falling in slow-motion, glass constantly shattered, etc.) showing about a decade's worth of improved experience. Eddie Murphy's name comes first in the credits now, followed by Nick Nolte's before the title. Star power, it's a bitch! 😅 An uber-villain that only Jack Cates knows about and is trying to track down, the mysterious 'Iceman,' wants Reggie Hammond killed as soon as he gets out of prison. Upset that Cates still has his $500K loot from the previous movie and under pressure by fellow prisoner Kirkland Smith (Bernie Casey) to deliver on his promise, Reggie is in no mood to deal with or even talk to Cates about helping the latter avoid an internal investigation that could get him kicked off the force. The goons that 'Iceman' hires to kill Reggie (including the brother of the James Remar character from the prequel) and all his old crime pals not wanting anything to do with him pushes the fast-talking ex-con to reluctantly work one more time with his old "partner."
It's still 75-80% cop action flick, 20-25% comedy, an imbalance that doesn't bother most people but irks me when it's brought up first as a comedy. Great supporting cast (Ed O'Ross, Kevin Tighe, Tisha Campbell for a hot second, Brion James returning as Kehoe, etc.), even more noticeable steel drums in James Horner's score and a slightly faster pace than its prequel make me like "Another 48 Hrs." over OG "48 Hrs." by the slimmest of margins. 3.40 PRISON BUS FLIPPING/TRUCK CRASHING STUNTS TO DIE FOR (out of five).
Finishing Junesploitation 2026 in a very weak way this year. The amount of tasks that have come up over the past week has made getting one movie a day in challenging. Hopefully there is time later to get to my last catch-up day. I got to over forty films this year. It is not a bad number, but I was planning on a watching more.
ReplyDeleteTHE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS (1985, dir. Makoto Tezuka)
I stumbled onto this looking on Tubi just a couple of days ago, and it immediately became my first choice today. It looked weird, and the viewing experience was even weirder than expected. Two Japanese singers, one in a punk band and another a new wave group, are put together into a pop duo by a strange music mogul. The Stardust Brothers are born. They hit the top of the music charts, yet it is only a matter of time that another singer to comes along to take the spotlight. Then the crazy things start happening. All the while, everything is being presented like a zany music video, and one song is followed by another song. Visual gag is followed by visual gag. In all honesty, STARDUST BROTHERS became an exhausting watch at 100 minutes. So much is thrown at the viewer that it gets overwhelming. If you are looking for a weird experience, though, this might be the film for you. Did I say that it is very '80s? It is.
Any time/effort you put into Junesploitation! is welcomed, Casual. Not everybody can do a movie a day, let alone 165+ movies/cartoons like some freak I know. 😉🙃
DeleteBONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 30!
ReplyDelete167.- PINK PANTHER AND PALS: PINK UP THE VOLUME, ZEUS JUSTICE, A PINK AND STORMY NIGHT (3/7/2010, YOUTUBE)
The last attempt (by Cartoon Network 16 years ago) at a 'Pink Panther' cartoon revival that, like the 1993/94 version, goes back to the theatrical shorts of the 1960's for inspiration (two Panther shorts with one Ant/Aardvark short in-between) and brings them up to date (internet, widescreen TV's, etc.). All characters except The Little Man (here renamed 'Big Nose') have been given a youth/shrinkage re-imagining, including the Panther, which makes them look much younger (teenagers maybe?). In 'Pink Up The Volume' Big Nose wants a day of peace and quiet with his dog, but the next-door PP wants to play/practice his musical instruments. The giant crystal dome Big Nose uses to try to keep quiet reminded me of Stephen King's "Under the Dome." 😁 'Zeus 'Juice' takes on the 'juicing' fad of that era (remember the informercials for juicers?) with the Aardvark bulking-up to chase after Ant, until the latter makes some bulking-up of his own. And in 'A Pink and Stormy Night' a mad scientist (Big Nose) and his Igor-like dog call on the PP pizza delivery to get a subject for a series of terrifying experiments. Wackiness ensues, including a fair share of goofy homages to "Bride of Frankenstein" that the diehard monster movie fans will appreciate. I might check out more 'PPAP' cartoons after I finish the 93/94 series, but based on this pilot episode's compilation of shorts this Cartoon Network series comes slightly below the 90's one. 3.15 DOME-CRACKING TINY MUSIC TRIANGLES (out of five).
And the 30 Days of Pink Panther and Friends! are officially over! 🥳🥰😋 It's my last day off before I have to work the entire 4th of July weekend (no 250th birthday celebration for me), so time permitting I might sneak an extra review or two today before finishing up Junesploitation! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING, and please remember to visit F This Movie everyday for new content and on the WEEKENDS for lively discussion about movies we watched the previous week and a lot of other stuff. We want to see you visit here more often than just every June. 😉 See you around. 👋😎