Wednesday Film Block
You know I have watched this a few times and always thought
it was just okay. Kind of the same feelings but for whatever reason Damnation
Alley (1977) still is one of those post-apocalypse films I find rewatchable. I
think maybe it is because Jan-Michael Vincent is fun to watch and, like Harry
Bromley Davenport [director of Xtro II: The Second Encounter, featuring Vincent]
has mentioned in interview, has undeniable charisma. Peppard, as the “man in
charge” (he insists) who “calls the shots”, seemed to preparing himself for
A-Team a few years later. Dominique Sanda meets them, with much enthusiasm, in
Vegas while they encounter a young boy (Jackie Earle Haley) outside of Salt
Lake City. Poor Kip Niven is killed in a rolling Landmaster vehicle during a
tornado turnover while Paul Winfield (also in the same vehicle with Niven),
wounded and bloody, gets eaten by an infestation of “armor-backed cockroaches”
in Salt Lake City. The Landmaster is often recognized as a major source of
intrigue for the film, and I can vouch for that. As a kid, this was a reason
why I always wanted to see it after reading about it in some sci-fi magazine
(probably Starlog). Later on in 2010, my late uncle introduced me to Arc II
(1976) which had a similar motorized vehicle. That triple-tire mobility and
extended cab (for additional space) gives it quite an all-terrain look that was
just so off-road/desert-capable aesthetically nifty. The door that opens on the
driver’s side extending into a steps as Peppard exits the vehicle on occasion
and the back door that drops to the ground so that Vincent can motorcycle out
further encourages awe. But the superimposed giant scorpions at the beginning
Vincent must avoid on his motorcycle (carrying mannequin that first appears to
be a woman!) and the later roaches that just pop up then emerge as some
fast-moving threat are brutal…just not good. And the laser-green colored sky
and additional harsh reds of the atmosphere aren’t much better. The idea of the
planet off and then later on its axis just seemed so preposterous to me. Caused
by nuclear warheads launched by both the US and “the enemy” (insert foreign “menace”
of the time), the apocalypse of WWIII led to the “axis problem”. The film’s
military, led by Murray Hamilton (with no dialogue, just a face that grimaces),
are almost completely wiped out when a fire starts up through a sleepyhead
whose cigar lights a Playboy! When Winfield leaves the film and later Haley
joins it, the four survivors (Peppard, Vincent, Sanda, and Haley) encounter a filthy,
vile band of vagabonds at a gas station. So the film offers giant scorpions,
flesh-eating cockroaches, sand tornadoes, trashy bum marauders, and eventually
a giant flood after an atmospheric storm brought on by the planet returning to
its proper positioning in space. The blue skies return and Albany, the desired
location, offers a friendly, warm resolution as a Mayberry welcoming party awaits
our heroes. The military installation and gas station both going KABOOM give us
the explosions while the Landmaster gives us the automotive eye candy. **½
I haven't watched John Hughes' Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) since the 90s. I'd say probably mid 90s. In other words, it's been a while. Thanksgiving is approaching and it is on rotation on Encore Classic, for Starz.
I haven't watched John Hughes' Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) since the 90s. I'd say probably mid 90s. In other words, it's been a while. Thanksgiving is approaching and it is on rotation on Encore Classic, for Starz.
You can go a long time without seeing a film and it just
feels brand new. I think that was the
case for Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Martin
can’t get a cab, competes (and loses) with not only Kevin Bacon…but also John
Candy. In fact, if Martin doesn’t trip over Candy’s trunk, he would have gotten
the cab Bacon snatches. Not getting first class, having to take the plane ride
with Candy, listening to him yap, it sets off a disastrous series of events
that includes lost money (a thief takes the cash, Candy uses the credit card),
trips on trains, buses, rental cars (burnt rental cars), in the back of trucks
(quite cold), riding in the trailer of a diesel truck, staying in unflattering
hotel rooms, enduring near-death experiences (“You’re driving on the ride side
of the road!”), cursing out rental car counter clerks, getting punched out by
cabbies, and annoying stewardesses. And there is Candy, often either causing
trouble or securing passage that eventually gets them to Chicago. While Martin’s
wife awaits his arrival from New York (this whole experience is started by a
client’s inability to determine how he feels about pictures from Martin’s
marketing firm), Candy’s personality and antics, no matter if unintentionally a
nuisance they may be, are driving him crazy. Sinus “exercises” at night,
driving mishaps, grossout bathroom practices (Martin having to use a rag to
dry himself off, washing his face off accidentally with Candy’s socks and
drying off his face accidentally with Candy’s underwear!), masterfully selling
off goods for much-needed funds, using the wrong credit card, setting fire to
the rental car (he used Martin’s credit card to afford!), securing
transportation through contacts thanks to his sales success, and taking the
taxi Martin paid for have both helped and harmed poor Martin during his road
trip home to Chicago. Candy’s dejected face when Martin diminishes him for his “Chatty
Cathy” babbling non-stop is equally “awww” and “ooooohhhh”. Martin going off
(emphasis on “f”) on a rental car clerk is an iconic scene that does him no
favors. Yet when the road trip could separate them, fate (or a heart that can’t
let things go on bad or cold terms) brings them right back to each other. The
sight of Candy’s face when Martin is trying to find his way out of one bad
situation after another is a classic visual punchline each and every time. That
ending when Candy reveals he lost his wife 8 years previous, and how Martin
looks past the horrors of the past few days to offer him a place to stay with
his family just can’t be beat. Candy is so missed. I was watching bits and
pieces of The Great Outdoors (1989) just the
other day and I just continue to realize what a treasure we lost way too soon.
****
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