"What Song Do You Want To Hear?"

 

 

 

 

 

Freebird... The Movie (1996): 

 The concert footage film is, and always has been, a decent way to experience seeing a performer or band perform in a live concert without having to pay the (sometimes, these days) exorbitant price of a ticket to the venue to see said performer. 

Side note: My opinion is that it is convenient, but hardly as good as the actual experience. Sure, if you get to see it in a movie theater, or are blessed with the funds to set up a big (and I mean BIG) screen TV with surround sound, it is a quality experience in itself. Sometimes that is necessary, however. I was only 7 when the iconic Woodstock event happened, so even if I had been close enough to go, I was WAY too young. But Woodstock (1970), the film of the event is a pretty good way to experience, albeit vicariously.)

The band Lynyrd Skynyrd experienced the tragic plane crash which took the lives of three of the band members, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, and Steve and Cassie Gaines in 1977.  At that time, the only way to experience the live feel of Lynyrd Skynyrd was through the only live recording made during their initial run with the classic lineup (Lynyrd Skynyrd: One More From the Road). The band itself had disbanded because of the plane crash. 

But in 1987, somebody had the great idea to have a tribute tour with Johnny Van Zant, the brother of Ronnie,  doing the lead singing along with the surviving members of the band. The result gave the world a documentary, Lynyrd Skynyrd- Tribute Tour (see followup review below). Although that reunion was only meant last for the length of the tour, it proved that Lynyrd Skynyrd was such a draw that the band started it's second life.

This is what lead to Freebird... The Movie, a film and documentary that finally gave people who had never seen the original band a chance to see how the band performed in concert, with some interviews, both with current remembers reminiscing about the earlier years, as well as a few archival interviews from the time period in the study. It is pretty neat to see some talks with Ronnie recorded during the tour that is presented in the live portion of the film.

"Southern rock" still continues to have influence, even years after it's initial heyday. Although all but Artemis Pyle, the original lineup drummer for the band, have since passed away, the band continues to perform, adding new members as the need arises. The last tour had them paired with ZZ Top, another iconic southern rock band (and would that I could have afforded to go to that!) 

Most of the live performances in this film come from a concert performed in 1976 at the Knebworth Fair, and among the lineups playing that day were 10CC, Utopia, and the headliner, The Rolling Stones. Interestingly enough, one of the band members in this film, Artemis Pyle, claims they "blew the Stones off the stage." Not having any access to The Rolling Stones' performance that day, I can't say whether I would agree, but the performance caught here is definitely one for the books.

The most memorable shots of the crowd during the UK performance is seeing the number of Confederate flags flying along with someone waving a Union Jack. Now there's a vision of incongruity... And, BTW, if you are one of those people who object to Confederate flags, you probably aren't a fan of southern rock anyway, but such a thing is still a going thing at some of these types of concerts.

The song lineup you get here are the classics that Lynyrd Skynyd is famous for, including "Saturday night Special". "What's Your Name", "Gimme Three Steps", Sweet Home Alabama" and of course, "Freebird". Although the performance of "Freebird" is fantastic, I have to admit I was disappointed in not hearing Ronnie say "What song do you want to hear?" prior to the start.  Any one who has ever heard the classic version that was recorded live on their first live album probably expects it. But outside of that brief disappointment, the movie is an excellent introduction to the newbie to the band.

 

 

  

Lynyrd Skynyd- Tribute Tour (1987):

The event that pulled Lynyrd Skynyd back to touring. Except for the missing Van Zant and Gaines, most of the rest of the band were still alive, and began a still ongoing tour. Sure, since that first event, most of the rest of the original band have passed away now, although they just died as a result of age and whatever medical complications came their way. If you go see Lynyrd Skynyd today, there are no original band member with them,  and only one, Artemis Pyle, is even still among us.

The band members did it the right way on this first reunion tour, however, in my opinion. They got Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's brother to do the lead vocals, and he still remains as the lead singer, so technically you could say it's still in the family, despite the fact that none of the rest of the original band are on stage with him. The first post plane crash lineup, however had all but Allen Collins on stage. And he was there in spirit, since he had a say in who replaced him. (He had been paralyzed in the recent past, and was unable to walk and had limited use of his arms and hands.)

This film is more like a documentary than an actual concert film. It is narrated by Charlie Daniels of The Charlie Daniels Band fame, and includes not only interviews with surviving members of the band, but also with the parents of both Steve Gaines and Ronnie Van Zant (the two key band members who had died in the plane crash.

There are some full songs performed by the tribute band on stage, but early on you just get brief snippets of performances.  I kind of thought that was going to be it, but about 30 minutes into this documentary we get to see the tribute band perform the classic "Simple Man" (conveniently happening just after snippets of interviews with the parents.)

The concert portion of the video has a limited number of songs that are actual filmed while the band plays.  Instead you get a lot of little snippets, partial performances. That's not to say that you don't get to HEAR the band. During many of the segments featuring band members in family settings; cookouts, fishing and even a good old beer league baseball game, the film has live song recordings playing in the background.

But the important ones you do get a full performance of the tribute band. Of course that means the all-time favorites of "Sweet Home Alabama: and of course, "Freebird". And, finally, the iconic line, asked by Johnny himself... "What song do you want to hear?" And a beautiful thing, Johnny telling the crowd he is not going to sing the song. Only one person could ever sing that song, that was his brother, Ronnie. So while the tribute band plays, the sound mixers pipe in a recording of Ronnie singing the song.

I tell you what, if this film doesn't bring a few tears to your eyes for the love of family and fellowship, then I gotta say you ought to see a cardiologist to check and see if you actually have a heart.

Well, folks, time to crank up the old Plymouth and head home. And I'll give you a guess as to what music is going to be coming out of the loudspeakers on the way.

Quiggy

 

  

I want to thank the ladies at Pottsboro Public Library for having this double feature in their stacks. This is the best video I have seen all summer.

Q 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Green Men

This is my second entry in the Great Villain Blogathon hosted by Silver Screenings, Speakeasy and Shadows and Satin.

It's no wonder Martians are always trying to invade the Earth.  We Earthlings have a greener more hospitable planet conducive to life.  We have resources out the wazoo for making life more comfortable.  And we are definitely in a warmer space zone.  Which everyone and their brother seems to want.

But also it might be because they have an inferiority complex.  Most of them are as ugly as sin, which probably makes date night at the local Martian singles bar a pain in the ass.

Even I could get a date compared to those mugs.

Tim Burton must have had a long list of "favors" in order to garner the cast he got for this movie.  The long list of names above the title include such luminaries as Jack Nicholson, Rod Steiger, Glenn Close, Annette Benning, Pierce Brosnan, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short and Danny DeVito.  It also includes Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lukas Haas, Jim Brown, Pam Grier and, believe it or not, Tom Jones.

Mars Attacks! (1996):

When the Martians finally decide to come to Earth (although God only knows why they would really WANT to), I only hope we are more prepared to meet them than the Earthlings of this movie.   An indecisive President James Dale (Jack Nicholson in one of two roles) can't decide whether to approach the oncoming entourage of Martians with trepidation or with enthusiasm.

Even with advisers like the renowned scientist, Professor Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) urging that they must be coming in peace because, after all, truly intelligent races are not warlike (...are we, Earthlings?  Earthlings...?  Anybody there?  Is this thing on?).

Or General Decker (Rod Steiger) who urges to be wary of them because they are coming in droves and must therefore have nefarious purposes in mind.

Dale's Press Secretary, Jerry Ross (Martin Short) has only the President's popularity in mind, so he can't be counted on to give an opinion that doesn't involve the bottom line of how the President will appear to the people.

And Dale's wife, First Lady Marsha Dale (Glenn Close) is only concerned with how it will look if she is seen with such ugly specimens of interstellar life forms.  Especially if she has to serve them on the Van Buren china.

Meanwhile in the real world (or as real as it gets in Tim Burton's reality), the common people deal with the inevitable realization that we are not the only life in the universe.  In Las Vegas, Art Land (Jack Nicholson again) deals with how he can make a profit off of the coming Martians, while his wife, Barbara (Annette Benning), a new age recovering alcoholic is ecstatic with the idea of how life will improve with the coming of an enlightened race.

In a remote BFE part of the country, Billy-Ray (Jack Black) prepares to be a part of the armed forces who will be present to greet the aliens in Nevada. While his little brother, Richie (Lukas Haas) and the rest of the family send him off.  Billy-Ray and Richie's grandmother, Florence (Sylvia Sidney) is only concerned with getting back to the nursing home and her collection of Slim Whitman records.

Back in Las Vegas, Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker), the host of a cable fashion show, finds herself at the front of the pack when she lands an interview with Professor Kessler, despite her boyfriend Jason Stone's (Michael J. Fox) insistence that he and his legitimate news network should be given this plum job.

And former boxing superstar, (now just a glorified bouncer and attraction at one of the gambling casinos), Byron Williams (Jim Brown) is dealing with a less than accommodating boss as well as his estranged wife, Louise (Pam Grier) who is having problems of her own trying to raise their two boys.

Into this mix, bring on the Martians.  When the Martians declare they "come in peace", the hippies in the crowd release a dove, which the Martians incinerate.  And then lay waste to the assembled crowd.  Giving lie, it would seem, that they came in peace...don'tcha think?

But the ever positive crowd behind President Dale insist that the Martians may have just misread the dove factor, that maybe to the Martians a dove meant war.  So what does Dale do?  He invites the Martian ambassador and his coterie to appear before Congress.  Which the Martians waste with gusto.

President Dale: "I want the people to know they still have 2 out of 3 branches of the government working for them, and that ain't bad."

The Martians have everything going for them.  If you've seen War of the Worlds or Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, you know that alien technology almost always trumps whatever feeble attempts the earthlings can pull out of their proverbial pockets.  (Can't we all just get along...?)

But just when it seems like we might all have to die (or at least learn how to say "Yassuh, Massa!" in Martian), the bizarre wit of Tim Burton comes into play.  How the Martians are defeated is well worth sitting through this film. If that sounds as a bit like the film is a drag before the ending comes, it's not.  This is one of Burton's funniest films and is cool on so many levels.  The CGI Martians not the least of them.

But just when you think the nightmare is over, along comes Tom Jones, crawling out of a cave to sing "It's Not Unusual"...  (Hey, I warned you Tom Jones was in this thing at the beginning...)

Well, folks, time to head home.  The world is safe once again from those disgusting Martians.  Now if someone could just do something about all those politicians...  Drive safely, folks.

Quiggy

Birds of a Feather

This is my second entry in the Gender-Bending the Rules Blogathon hosted by Angelman's Place and ME

In 1978, an hilarious French farce, La Cage aux Folles appeared on theater screens.  The plot revolved around a gay couple, Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault), who are living together.  Renato's son, from a one-time encounter with a woman before he and Albin became lovers, has come to him because the son is to be married to a girl and the girl's father a conservative politician desires to met her beau's parents.  Chaos ensues.

In 1996, Mike Nichols bestowed upon the unsuspecting public an American remake of the classic French film.  And although the French film is funny in it's own way, The Birdcage surpasses it.  This is due primarily on the performance of Nathan Lane, who took on the Michel Serrault role to even more exquisite flamboyance.  The remake was a huge hit.  Possibly in part due to the presence of Robin Williams, but I personally think it made money on it's own merits, too.

The Birdcage (1996):

There is a problem at "the Birdcage", a gay cabaret owned by Armand Goldman (Robin Williams).  The star of the show, Albert, who is also Armand's lover,  is refusing to go onstage.  Albert (Nathan Lane), who performs a drag show for the cabaret as "Starina" is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, coupled with the fact that he thinks that Armand is fooling around while he is onstage as Starina.

This early tête-à-tête is one of the funniest scenes.

Albert: "Don't give me that tone!"
Armand: "What tone?"
Albert: "That sarcastic contemptuous tone that means you know everything because you're a man, and I know nothing because I'm a woman!"
Armand: "You're not a woman..."
Albert "Oh, you BASTARD!"


Albert: "Whatever I am, he made me.  I was adorable once.  Young and full of hope.  Now look at me! I'm this short, fat, insecure middle-aged THING!"
Armand: "I made you short...?"

Armand is able to get Starina on stage by appealing to Albert's ego.  He threatens to put what Albert considers an inferior substitute on stage in his stead.  While Starina is on stage, it appears that Armand is definitely seeing someone on the side, but it is really Val (Dan Futterman), Armand's son.  See, Armand had a liaison with a woman once while still in college, just to see what it was like to have sex with a woman.  And got her pregnant. (And how many couples actually  wanting children would give their right arms for his kind of success...?)

Albert and Armand raised him and he has since gone on to college, and now he has shown up to tell Armand the news that he is getting married to a girl he met in college, Barbara Keeley (Callista Flockhart).  The really tricky part of the situation is that Barbara's father is Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman), a conservative senator.  And one who is on a Congressional committee for morality.  A committee that already has a scandal on it's hands due to the fact that Keeley's co-chair has died.  In bed.  With a prostitute.  Who was underage.  And black.  (OK, at this point you have to accept the parody of conservative politics, which may or may not be based entirely on fact.)

The other problem is that Val and Barabara have not been entirely forthright with her Senator father and his wife, Louise (Dianne Wiest).  Barbara has told her parents that Val's father is a cultural attache to Greece and that he is married to a housewife.  Keeley insists upon meeting the parents, mostly as a political expedient, to get away from the press which is hounding him about the scandal surrounding his partner on the committee.

When Val tries to explain the situation of course Armand is offended, but he is willing to make some sacrifices for the good of the future of his son.  The fly in the ointment is what to do with Albert.  And what to do about a woman to pose as Armand's wife.  The second part is easily expedited because Armand still has contact with Val's real mother, Katherine (Christine Baranski), and gets her to agree to show up for the dinner.

But Albert is unwilling to go gently into that good night.  When it is certain that he cannot pose as Armand's lover, he still insists on trying to be present and pass as Val's uncle.  But attempts to try to get him to appear more masculine (did I mention Albert is flamboyant as all get out?), it appears that this idea would be folly.  So instead it is arranged that Albert will dress up in his drag costume and be Armand's "wife".  Only nobody tells Katherine....

With Hank Azaria appearing as the riotously hilarious house man Agador, who is also pretty flamboyant himself, the film was a huge hit at the box office.  And should have garnered more that one measly Oscar nom (that for Best Art Direction).  Nathan Lane is the star attraction here, and at least the Golden Globes got it right for nominating him for Best Actor (although he lost to Tom Cruise gak!), and he won the award at the American Comedy Awards.  Oh, and the whole cast was awarded the Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Cast.

This is one of those movies that will stick with you for years to come.  In truth I could have written this review entirely from memory.  I watched it again for this review, but I remembered most of it from that one time I saw it in theater when it first came out.  It is truly a wonderful comedy.

Well, that wraps up my tour for this blogathon.  Drive home safely, folks.


Quiggy

Waiting for The Snake

John Carpenter is my favorite director, and by extension, I guess you could say Kurt Russell is my second favorite actor (John Wayne is still #1).  The reason I say Carpenter is my favorite director and Russell is #2 on the list of actors  is because on my top 10 list of favorite sci-fi/horror movies, Carpenter/Russell collaborations occupy four of the spaces, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, and the two objects of today's post, Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.

One-eyed ne'er do well S. D. "Snake"  Plissken is a World War III Special Forces war hero, garnering two Purple Hearts, and being the youngest soldier to be decorated by a U.S. President.  But he turned to a darker side after the war, committing various criminal acts.  He avoids capture quite a bit, but does eventually come under the control of the prison system at various times in his career (hence the ability to have not one, but two feature films of his exploits in the criminal justice system.  His only real nemesis is himself, although he is driven by an intense hatred for the justice system and the nation and its political system in general.  In other words he doesn't "give a F*** about your country or your President".

Escape from New York (1981)

The pre-history to this one involves a rise of crime to astonishing levels.  As a result, the government converts Manhattan Island into a ultra-high security prison, building a containment wall around it, mining all bridges and tunnels, and sending all criminals into the prison, with just one rule: Once you go in, you never come out.  The prison itself is then allowed to run it's own self within the confines of the walls.  Gangs and cutthroats run their own system within.

Into this mix, Air Force One, the President's plane, is hijacked by revolutionaries and crashed into the center of New York.  The President (Donald Pleasence) [a President with an English accent, What IS the world coming to?] is launched before the crash in an escape pod.

"Jolly good show, eh what?'  The President encourages his staff.

Police forces, with Police Commissioner Bob Hauk (Lee van Cleef) are dispatched to rescue the President, but before they get there the President is captured.   Hauk and his contingent are told to leave immediately or the president will be killed.

Meanwhile, Snake has finally been captured and is being processed for internment in the prison.  Because of his experience as a guerilla war soldier, he is given a chance to redeem himself by Hauk, with all past iniquities removed from his record.  All he has to do is infiltrate the prison, find the President, and get him and his secret info back to civilization in 24 hours.  This is the overriding suspense of the story because a) the President has to deliver the secret info he is carrying in less than 24 hours, and b) to insure that Snake cooperates with the authorities, he has been injected with microscopic nuclear bombs which will explode if he doesn't get back in time.  (Thus preventing him from just taking off and saying "Screw it.")

Upon landing (at the top of the World Trade Center) he immediately descends into the chaos that is the prison system in New York.  Using a locating device he finds himself in an old theater in which, watching the floor show, among others, is "Cabbie" (Ernest Borgnine).

Snake Plissken?  I heard you were dead...

As referenced in the above caption, a running theme throughout the movie is whenever Snake meets up with someone, the first comment from the is "I heard you were dead."  Obviously these people don't know Snake Plissken.  You can't kill a snake that easy.  Anyway Cabbie informs snake that the Duke (Isaac Hayes) has the President.   He takes Snake to meet with the Brain (Harry Dean Stanton) who is essentially the Duke's adviser, and who also has a map to where the mines are on the bridge.  Brain resides in the New York Public Library with Maggie, his main squeeze.

The Brain (with the Bosoms)

 

 

 

It turns out that Snake and the Brain were partners in crime, but Brain (whose real name is Harold) ditched Snake, so Snake has trust issues with him.  But Snake convinces Brain (at gunpoint) to take him where the President is being held.  Things backfire when the Duke discovers what is going on and captures Snake.  He forces Snake to go one-on-one against the biggest, baddest mofo in the prison (Ox Baker).  While Snake battles it out, Brain and Maggie rescue the President.

Eventually the four team up again with Cabbie and begin a race down the bridge trying to dodge the mines, and being chased relentlessly by the Duke.  The Duke's car is a sight to behold,   It has chandeliers hijacked from some fancy hotel as headlights and looks exactly like you'd think a 70's era African-American gang leader would have.

The Duke's "Pimpmobile"

Not all of the heroes survive however.  But, of course, Snake does.  (Remember, it's hard to kill a snake.)  You'll have to watch the movie to see who else does.

Escape from L.A. (1996)

It's 16 years later from the time of Escape from New York, and, coincidentally, (or maybe not) the same amount of time since the first movie.  I don't know what the hell happened to the prison in New York.  For all I know it's still in existence.  But in the history since that time there has been a massive earthquake that completely separated the city of Los Angeles from the mainland.  The country is now being run by a radical right-winger (think Jerry Falwell on moral steroids), who, as President for Life (played with incredible intensity by Cliff Robertson), has declared L.A. to be a morally corrupt place.  It is here that all morally undesirable people are sent.

Right makes might

Not necessarily all within the confines are criminals by current standards of legality.  The "morally corrupt" inhabitants include those of non-conforming religions (Muslims and any non-Christian religions, as well as atheists), users of now illegal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, fornicators, and anything else that the devout Christian President deems a "sin".  Of course, being in that atmosphere, most of the residents, at least the ones we encounter on screen, are morally corrupt even by today's standards, but they could be seen as victims.



The President's daughter, Utopia (A. J. Langer), confiscates a secret weapon from her father and escapes into L.A. where she ends up hooked up with the leader of a counter-revolutionary group inside the compound, Cuervo Jones (George Corraface).  The secret weapon, the MacGuffin of the story, is a device that can be used to control satellites orbiting the earth and with pinpoint accuracy effectively shut down an area, an entire country, or as stated in the movie the entire globe.  It does this by sending an electronic pulse that shuts down all electric powered paraphernalia within the focus of the satellites.

Radical revolutionary 

Snake, our hero, is sent in to recover the device.  The President gives him explicit instructions, however, to eliminate his renegade daughter.  Under the direction of Commander Malloy (Stacy Keach), Snake is outfitted with various weapons and gear reminiscent of the latest James Bond film (Q, is that you?).   Among this is a holographic projector which gives him an ability to make a holograph of himself for a  15 minute period.  The impetus to get Snake to do the job is he is given a cut on his hand by a passing person which injects him with the "Plutoxin 7" virus, which he is told will kill him in a very short time.  (Once again, Snake is forced to comply with the less than reputable legal forces to do their will)

Among the people that Snake encounters is an aging hippie surfer (played by Peter Fonda), a smarmy scam artist, Eddie (Steve Buscemi), and a former cohort from his adventure in Cleveland (prior to the movie), "Carjack", who has been transformed into a transsexual leader of a competing gang, Hershe (Pam Grier).  I really liked Hershe and despite the obvious accoutrements on her chest, I had to watch the end credits to see if he or she was played by a male or a female... Pam Grier pulls off an incredible performance for a movie of this caliber.

Map to the Stars Eddie

Pipeline

Hershe

Much of the movie, as in it's predecessor, involves Snake trying to overcome delays in his quest, including a great scene in which he has to score 10 points on a basketball court against a countdown timer which will mean his execution if he doesn't score the points in time.  And of courso, Cuervo Jones has to have his own stylish ride.  The film is a little too dark for me to see, but it appears that there is a disco ball on the trunk.  What purpose it serves, I have no idea...

Having a (disco) ball.  Wish you were here. 

Snake eventually nabs the device, and, against his explicit instructions, takes the daughter back to the mainland.  The President, showing his completely nasty side, has the daughter taken to the electric chair and demands the device from Snake.  As his timer runs out, it is shown that he was lied to about the virus.  It was just a very intense flu, not a lethal toxin.   Snake still has an ace up his sleeve (this is Snake Plissken, after all). Remember the holographic projector he was given?  Well, he finally gets a chance to use it.  Nuff said.  You have to watch the movie to see how it all comes out.

Well, the theater has just gone dark, so it's time to crank up the old Plymouth Fury and see if I can dodge the mines.  Drive safely kiddies.  BTW, are you curious about that Plymouth?  Here it is for you to enjoy.

Quiggy