three films

hello there


so yeah, i have watched a couple more films. well, three, look you see, hence the title of this post. no, nothing "new" or fresh at the cinema. yes, some 66% of them were ones that i had seen before. but, if for some reason anyone is interested, i thought i would post some thoughts, comments and observations here.

a look, in a rare non-Commodore 64 mode, at what i watched, followed by the obligatory or if you like standard comments? sure, why not.

yes, indeed, i did knock up the above image - "collage" via the magic of the print screen button on my keyboard, and the most excellent of excellence in useful programs on a computer known affectionately, and accurately, as MS Paint.

if you are able to look at the above image and name all three films that i watched, what i would say is that is most smart, that is, to be sure. well done you, and nice one that for some reason someone else has my peculiar taste in how to spend some quality watching time.

to start with the some 33% what i had never ever seen before, that i could recall, would then be to commence all of this proper with a film called D.C. Cab, but that i shall call DC Cab just to make it easier on the typing.

it is a film also sometimes called Street Fleet, and i do not recall ever seeing it for rent down at a video store in the UK. truthfully, all information i have to hand says that this never got a release here. undoubtedly it did get a "direct to video" thing, though, as there are too many well known actors in it. probably just that none of my video stores of choice, which is to say within range of my bike, ever opted to have it on the shelf.

anyway, yes, there is "sort of" a plot. basically a mishmash of comedy vignettes featuring some rather poor cab drivers, sellotaped together with a basic plot of them trying to all get a taxi company to survive, and then a "kidnap and rescue" plot hastily thrown in at the end so as to give the film some sort of conclusion.

was it any good? Joel Schumacher went on to make better films, put it that way. not many of the cast did, with the possible exception being Adam Baldwin, who of course a mere four years after this played Animal Mother in Full Metal Jacket. anyway, the film starts off with a stack of nudies, presumably to lure the target market (me) in, but that soon fades away. you get left with a few hit and miss jokes, and some tasty racial jokes of a quasi Blazing Saddles nature.

if you are looking for motivation to find the film, there's stacks of Mr T without his trademark gold necklaces and with a decidedly ahead of its time gay pride march wardrobe. also, Gary Busey on one of the faster sections of his career slide, shouting a lot.

for some reason the film Starflight One came to my mind. not sure why, as i do not consider the works of Lee Majors as often as you might think. anyway, unsure of if i had ever seen it, i decided to watch it. soon in, yes, i discovered i had indeed seen it before, and had something of a total recall of memories of renting it.

we in the UK had to rent it, to be sure. from what i gather, or remember, it was a "made for TV" movie for the American audience, but such was the box office clout of Lee Majors internationally during the 80s (think prototype Tom Cruise), the motion picture was blessed with a full blown theatrical release and premium rate video rental fee.

plot? Lee Majors is the best pilot in the galaxy, so but of course he is chosen to captain (or whatever) the maiden flight of Starflight One, the first plane to "kind of" go into space, so as to make the trip from the USA to Australia only two hours long or something. no, no idea how long it normally would. but of course everything that could go wrong does go wrong. will the passengers and crew survive?

any good? it's one of those weird films that is decidedly underwhelming at practically every level (but with particular emphasis on the acting) yet proves to be strangely compelling viewing. yes, indeed, it echoes the great craze for the "disaster movies" of the 70s, and has proven to be peculiarly influential. more than a little, for instance, of Armageddon would appear to have been "borrowed" off of this film. except Bruce Willis is no Lee Majors. and neither is Ben Affleck. Steve Buschemi, maybe.

would i say it would be worth your time to find Starflight One for viewing pleasure, assuming you don't have a VHS, Beta or laserdisc of it kicking around? strangely, perhaps, yes. it seems the DVD is only out in Germany, and costs a fair bit. worth it, perhaps, for some simple, fuss free entertainment.

one that i was totes certain that i had seen before but wished to watch again was Night Patrol. an early to mid 80s "parody" film which is sort of like a Police Academy for grown ups. well, grown ups with a peculiar sense of humour.

plot? a mishap prone copper moonlights as a standup comedian, The Unknown Comic, to rave reviews and glowing adulation. things get complicated when someone steals the idea of the look of the unknown comic (a brown paper bag over the head) and starts doing robberies and all that sort of stuff.

the humour is lewd, crude, rude and at times "offensive". 12 or 13 or 14 year old me thought it was wondrously funny. north of 45 me cannot decide if i still found some of it funny, or if i was just fondly recalling how i found it funny at the time. undoubtedly, though, the midget, farting, ill tempered police chief is very funny indeed.

any value in you watching it? well, if you wish to see how absolutely any subject could be used for humour, off you go. also, it has Linda Blair in it, and for some reason her presence in a non Exorcist motion picture locks in a weirdly specific audience. further, Andrew "Dice" Clay appears, as Andy Clay. it may amuse one or two of you to see him before he briefly became well known (if not popular or successful) (but Adventures Of Ford Fairlane was smart) before drifting back into relative obscurity.

well, anyway, that's that. no idea if this is of any use to anyone. perhaps someone else out there got all nostalgic for one of these, and has stumbled on this by the magic of one of them search things. nice one, if so.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!