Post by Finaddict on Sept 7, 2007 22:05:50 GMT -5
From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Jack Garner is the author
Ice-T's first movie is part of this tour. Article is a great read for those 80's aficionados out there.
Dryden lines up movies from the big-hair decade for its latest series
(September 7, 2007) — Ah, the '80s at the movies. If Charles Dickens were a movie critic, he'd probably call it "the worst of times, the best of times." Indeed, there were masterpieces (Martin Scorsese's great Raging Bull, for example), but also a lot of pop-culture dreck. Fortunately, many of the latter films at least offer an element of campy humor.
I write this in recognition of "Radical! Music, Fashion, and 'Culture' in the Films of the 1980s," which began a two-month run Thursday night at George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre. Thursday's film exemplified bad as campy fun — Nancy Walker's disco disaster that details a fictionalized version of the story of The Village People (of "YMCA" fame). It's called Can't Stop the Music, and unfortunately, that's true.
The Dryden series forgoes the mainstream gems (like the Scorsese film) to concentrate on three areas of '80s culture not often explored by movie buffs. First, there are the disco and break dancing flicks like Can't Stop the Music. Then there are horror flicks, which series co-curator Michael Neault claims became "hip, irreverent and culturally relevant" during the decade. And, finally, there are a handful of true artistic successes that must surely be embraced even by folks who aren't children of the '80s.
In his notes about the films, Neault writes, "For this series, we've tried to explore the way it really was — for better or worse, and completely uncut — during the Me Decade."
Here's the breakdown. First, a couple of pop-culture flicks:
Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo, a rap-and-break dancing saga in which break dancers try to stop developers from bulldozing a recreation center. A young Ice-T is one of the rappers. As an imdb.com commentator says: "It's the cheesiest!" Graffiti Rock, a 23-minute short, is also on the bill. (7 p.m. Thursday.)
BMX Bandits, an Australian tale of BMX bikers who earn the enmity of bank robbers when they uncover walkie-talkies. The bikers' friend, Judy, is played by a 17-year-old Nicole Kidman, in her first theatrical feature. (8 p.m. Oct. 11.)
Then there are the horror films from the '80s:
They Live, an offbeat John Carpenter film in which the working-class hero discovers a pair of special sunglasses through which he always sees the truth, whether it be the actual intentions of politicians and other people, or even if some of the people may actually be aliens, intent on the overthrow of the Earth. The sunglass plot device is a prime example of the '80s term "shade tipping," which became an art in the Me Decade. (The definitive "shade-tipping" symbol became Tom Cruise on the poster for Risky Business.) Visiting actor Pat Healy — who is more specifically in town to introduce Great World of Sound, a 2007 Sundance Festival hit in which he stars at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 — will explain it all in a lecture, "The Art of Shade Tippin,'" which will precede the film. (8 p.m. Oct. 25.)
Evil Dead II, by Sam Raimi, and Return of the Living Dead, by Dan O'Bannon, two of the decade's more popular living dead flicks, which Dryden fans can catch in a two-film zombie jamboree, at 8 p.m. Oct. 27, repeating at 7 p.m. Oct. 28.
But, most importantly, we have examples of the cream of the '80s. They are:
River's Edge, a tale of teenage murder with two disturbing aspects: First that an adolescent slacker would kill his girlfriend, and then, even more unsettling, that his friends don't seem to care much, once they find out about it. The film helped launch the careers of Keanu Reeves and Crispin Glover, and was part of the Dennis Hopper comeback of the '80s (which also included Hoosiers and Blue Velvet). Director Tim Hunter will introduce the film and take questions. (8 p.m. Sept. 20.)
Repo Man, Alex Cox's cult comedy about the wacky world of car repossession, a film that boldly goes in directions you never expect but will almost certainly enjoy. Emilio Estevez co-stars with the great Harry Dean Stanton. (7 p.m. Sept. 30.)
Valley Girl and Night of the Comet, a cult celebration of the vacuous joys of Valley girls. The first is Martha Collidge's portrait, starring an entertaining Nicolas Cage as a punk who becomes intrigued by a VG. The second envisions a world nearly destroyed by a comet, with only a few Valley Girls left to save mankind. (7 p.m. Oct. 4.)
Stop Making Sense, perhaps the greatest rock concert film ever made, a full-length performance by the theatrical and musical Talking Heads, masterfully shot by Jonathan Demme. I remember seeing the film at the Toronto Film Festival and discovering there actually was a band of the '80s that I could get behind. (8 p.m. Oct. 18.)
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Jack Garner is the author
Ice-T's first movie is part of this tour. Article is a great read for those 80's aficionados out there.
Dryden lines up movies from the big-hair decade for its latest series
(September 7, 2007) — Ah, the '80s at the movies. If Charles Dickens were a movie critic, he'd probably call it "the worst of times, the best of times." Indeed, there were masterpieces (Martin Scorsese's great Raging Bull, for example), but also a lot of pop-culture dreck. Fortunately, many of the latter films at least offer an element of campy humor.
I write this in recognition of "Radical! Music, Fashion, and 'Culture' in the Films of the 1980s," which began a two-month run Thursday night at George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre. Thursday's film exemplified bad as campy fun — Nancy Walker's disco disaster that details a fictionalized version of the story of The Village People (of "YMCA" fame). It's called Can't Stop the Music, and unfortunately, that's true.
The Dryden series forgoes the mainstream gems (like the Scorsese film) to concentrate on three areas of '80s culture not often explored by movie buffs. First, there are the disco and break dancing flicks like Can't Stop the Music. Then there are horror flicks, which series co-curator Michael Neault claims became "hip, irreverent and culturally relevant" during the decade. And, finally, there are a handful of true artistic successes that must surely be embraced even by folks who aren't children of the '80s.
In his notes about the films, Neault writes, "For this series, we've tried to explore the way it really was — for better or worse, and completely uncut — during the Me Decade."
Here's the breakdown. First, a couple of pop-culture flicks:
Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo, a rap-and-break dancing saga in which break dancers try to stop developers from bulldozing a recreation center. A young Ice-T is one of the rappers. As an imdb.com commentator says: "It's the cheesiest!" Graffiti Rock, a 23-minute short, is also on the bill. (7 p.m. Thursday.)
BMX Bandits, an Australian tale of BMX bikers who earn the enmity of bank robbers when they uncover walkie-talkies. The bikers' friend, Judy, is played by a 17-year-old Nicole Kidman, in her first theatrical feature. (8 p.m. Oct. 11.)
Then there are the horror films from the '80s:
They Live, an offbeat John Carpenter film in which the working-class hero discovers a pair of special sunglasses through which he always sees the truth, whether it be the actual intentions of politicians and other people, or even if some of the people may actually be aliens, intent on the overthrow of the Earth. The sunglass plot device is a prime example of the '80s term "shade tipping," which became an art in the Me Decade. (The definitive "shade-tipping" symbol became Tom Cruise on the poster for Risky Business.) Visiting actor Pat Healy — who is more specifically in town to introduce Great World of Sound, a 2007 Sundance Festival hit in which he stars at 8 p.m. Oct. 26 — will explain it all in a lecture, "The Art of Shade Tippin,'" which will precede the film. (8 p.m. Oct. 25.)
Evil Dead II, by Sam Raimi, and Return of the Living Dead, by Dan O'Bannon, two of the decade's more popular living dead flicks, which Dryden fans can catch in a two-film zombie jamboree, at 8 p.m. Oct. 27, repeating at 7 p.m. Oct. 28.
But, most importantly, we have examples of the cream of the '80s. They are:
River's Edge, a tale of teenage murder with two disturbing aspects: First that an adolescent slacker would kill his girlfriend, and then, even more unsettling, that his friends don't seem to care much, once they find out about it. The film helped launch the careers of Keanu Reeves and Crispin Glover, and was part of the Dennis Hopper comeback of the '80s (which also included Hoosiers and Blue Velvet). Director Tim Hunter will introduce the film and take questions. (8 p.m. Sept. 20.)
Repo Man, Alex Cox's cult comedy about the wacky world of car repossession, a film that boldly goes in directions you never expect but will almost certainly enjoy. Emilio Estevez co-stars with the great Harry Dean Stanton. (7 p.m. Sept. 30.)
Valley Girl and Night of the Comet, a cult celebration of the vacuous joys of Valley girls. The first is Martha Collidge's portrait, starring an entertaining Nicolas Cage as a punk who becomes intrigued by a VG. The second envisions a world nearly destroyed by a comet, with only a few Valley Girls left to save mankind. (7 p.m. Oct. 4.)
Stop Making Sense, perhaps the greatest rock concert film ever made, a full-length performance by the theatrical and musical Talking Heads, masterfully shot by Jonathan Demme. I remember seeing the film at the Toronto Film Festival and discovering there actually was a band of the '80s that I could get behind. (8 p.m. Oct. 18.)
Last seven days of news
Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu
1999-Present Archive
Democrat and Chronicle Interactive
E-Newsletters
Sign up for E-Newsletters.
Samples:
Latest News