A bunch of people inquired about the classics I quoted in the last post and who Kurt Russel was playing. If your not a Quentin Tarantino fan-Kurt Russel played a sadistic stuntman who murdered women with his car in "Death Proof"-which was the 2nd feature of "Grindhouse"-QT's collaboration with buddy Robert Rodriguez-( From Dusk till Dawn, "Desperado", "Once a Upon a Time in Mexico ) that included "Planet Terror" a Zombie flick. There's a great monologue where "Stuntman Mike" talks about his career and how moviemakers are charlatans and pussies with the advent of CGI. He longs for the "Vanishing Point" days, the "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry days, the "White Line Fever" days-where you had great men doing great things with great cars. I quoted him in the last post and listed other classics. People have asked me to expand on them-I aim to please-so here goes.# 1. "Vanishing Point". This cult classic from 1971 gets the top spot, and it's still cool today. Barry Newman plays Jimmy Kowalski-who we learn in flashbacks is a Vietnam Veteran, an ex-cop, and an ex-stock car and motorcycle racer who's wife died tragically in a surfing accident. That's why he doesn't give a shit about anything. He's working as a delivery driver for a luxury car service. He bets his drug dealer the tab for some speed that he can make it from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. He's driving an Alpine White 1970 Dodge Challenger. ( They had 5 cars-4 were 440 / 4-speeds, the camera car was a 383 / automatic. ) That's why he's going so fast and not stopping for the police. Along the way he's guided over the radio by "Super Soul" a blind, and maybe clairvoyant outlaw DJ ( Played brilliantly by a young Cleavon Little-this was made even before "Blazing Saddles" ) ala' "Wolfman Jack" who tells him how to avoid the police. He meets a snake-charmer, some Jesus freaks and a naked motorcycle rider who help him along the way as the nationwide manhunts tightens around him. Try to get the U.K. version on DVD-it has extra minutes that show him fighting in Viet Nam, and a brilliant scene with Charlotte Rampling as a hitch hiker he has sex with who may or may not be his dead wife come to get him. These were cut from the U.S, theatrical release. The car-chase action is awesome, the music by Mountain, Jerry Reed, Kim Carnes, Big Mama Thornton, and Rita Coolidge is awesome, and the blaze of glory finale is great. The smile on Barry Newman's face as he drives into the bulldozers is priceless. # 2. "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" This 1974 classic stars Peter Fonda who really hadn't done much since the spectacular "Easy Rider". It actually has a good robbery / kidnapping plot gone wrong, and there's some excellent car-chase action early on in a '66 Chevy Impala. Fonda is a career criminal who used to be a NASCAR driver. The smokin' hot Susan George ( "Mandingo", "A Small Town in Texas" ) is a floozy he picks up along the way. She's largely wasted as Fonda and his mechanic / partner make fun of her a lot. But since she spends the entire move barefoot in ultra-tight hip-hugger jeans and a skimpy denim halter-top, we don't complain. The finale is them trying to out run the law in a yellow "Dukes of Hazzard / Bullitt Charger that in some scenes is a '68 and in others a '69. Awesome automotive mayhem and the blaze of glory finale where they hit a train was used as the opening sequence for Lee Majors hit show about a stuntman / bounty hunter- "The Fall Guy." # 3. "Bullitt" Steve McQueen is the epitome of cool as "Dirty Harry" type detective Frank Bullitt who gets screwed while protecting a key mob witness, and tries to find out who's pulling the strings. Robert Vaughn is excellent as the smarmy,ambitious D.A. who will do anything to advance his career, and Norman Fell ( yes, the future "Mr. Roper" on "Three's Company" ) is sinister as a police captain who may or not be dirty. To the letter police procedures, and the classic chase make it realistic even 40 years later. # 4. "White Line Fever" This 1975 cult classic stars a young Jan-Micheal Vincent as a Viet Nam vet who buys a big rig truck and tries to make a living as an independent trucker. However he soon runs afoul of corrupt trucking company officials, corrupt union officials, and corrupt cops. A young Kay Lenz is smokin' hot as his beleguared wife, and Slim Pickens, L.Q. Jones and Bo Hopkins round out the excellent cast of thugs against him. He becomes a union organizer, and the Blaze of Glory finale when he drives the "Blue Mule" through the corrupt union headquarters had people cheering in the aisles in the '70's. # 5. "White Lightning". Burt Reynolds at his "Good Ole Boy" best. He plays Gator McCluskey- a career criminal / moonshiner who we find in prison at the beginning of the film. After his college-boy brother is murdered by a corrupt Arkansas Sheriff-he makes a deal with the feds to get the Sheriff on income tax evasion charges. When he gets out of prison, he goes home to Bogen County, Arkansas. The baddies may see him coming, but it's too late to get out of his way. When Matt Clark tells him "If you want to get J.C. Connors, your gonna have to kill him." Burt doesn't flinch. Great car-chase action, and Jennifer Billingsley-who spends most of the film barefoot in a skimpy, mini-sndress, her dark brown roots showing in her bleach-blond hair, is poignant and sexy as "Shake a Puddin'" - a southern slut that can't help falling for the wrong guys, In my opinion Burt's best movie except for "Malone". # 6. "The Seven-Ups" 1974 thriller Starring Roy Scheider as the head of an elite cop unit that specializes in major crimes that carry sentences of 7 years or more. Hence the title. Tony LoBianco is great as his child hood friend who feeds him mob info and busts, and may be setting him up for a big fall. The chase involves two Pontiacs- a Grand Ville and a Ventura and since it was directed by Phillip D' Antoni-who worked on "Bullit" it's realistic and exciting and the finale is a huge surprise. If they could have got Steve McQueen, this actually could have been a sequel to "Bullit" but Roy Scheider did a great job. Anyhow like "Stuntman Mike" said-these flicks all had great action that was done by men and women risking life, limb and property not on a computer screen. Mastermind
.
No comments:
Post a Comment