Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 9, 2017 3:35:09 GMT -5
Instead of doing a retrospective on The Fast and the Furious, I'll look into other schlocky car racing movies. First up... The Wraith (1986) Clint Howard and a group of teenage race car drivers spend their days at the garage, their afternoons at the local burger joint and their nights committing theft and murder. When police detective Randy Quaid can't do anything to stop them, it's up to the ghost of Charlie Sheen and his futuristic car to save the day. You probably think I'm joking or exaggerating but that's seriously the plot of the movie. It's an odd blend of action, horror, sci-fi and unintentional comedy. It only works cause of the absurdity. Forget the plot. The characters alone are ridiculous. Aside from the cops, there's no adults whatsoever. These kids are just running around, getting into all sorts of shenanigans. Take the female lead for example. She's played by Sherilynn Fenn from Twin Peaks and all sorts of T&A movies. Charlie Sheen shows up and a second later she wants to fuck him. You just met the guy! It must be that tiger blood turning her on - and us. The Wraith is difficult to resist. It's grade A schlock. |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 17, 2017 19:04:14 GMT -5
No Man's Land (1987) Written by Dick Wolf (Law & Order) and produced by Ron Howard, No Man's Land reunites Charlie Sheen and Randy Quaid for another movie centered around cars. D.B. Sweeney plays a rookie detective assigned to go undercover and investigate a car thief and suspected cop killer played by Sheen. Quaid plays Sweeney's boss. Think of Gary Busey in Point Break. Utah! Make it two! Throughout the movie, Sweeney and Sheen bond and Sweeney even falls in love with Sheen's sister. If any of this sounds familiar, that's because it's the same exact plot as The Fast and the Furious... and Point Break to some degree. But while Point Break is comically over-the-top and Fast & Furious is comically bad, No Man's Land is actually really good. They play it straight and realistically. 1987 was the year Charlie Sheen made Wall Street. This could almost be considered a companion piece. Both are about young men who get caught up in the excess of the 80's and who fall under the spell of another person's lifestyle. You could say the same about Point Break and Fast & Furious but 90's hippie and 2000's ghetto man don't have the same weight as 80's yuppie. This type of story works best when you can factor in the money along with the adrenaline.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Apr 17, 2017 21:08:04 GMT -5
I can always count on you to inform me about movies I've never fucking heard of.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 17, 2017 21:26:04 GMT -5
I can always count on you to inform me about movies I've never fucking heard of. Don't forget to add The Arrival to your list of Charlie Sheen movies: THE ARRIVAL (1996) Charlie Sheen, in possibly the best acting of his career, stars as a wacko scientist uncovering the truth about aliens on Earth. It starts as Contact, with Sheen trying to prove that the strange radio signals coming from space are of aliens trying to communicate with us, and ends as Men in Black with Sheen discovering that aliens disguised as humans are responsible for global warming. It sounds batshit crazy, but as thebtskink will verify, it's a-may-zing. It's unarguably better than Arrival. |
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Wyldstaar
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Post by Wyldstaar on Apr 17, 2017 21:31:55 GMT -5
I actually saw The Wraith last Monday at the Alamo. It was their monthly American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) secret screening. Since it was the same week as F&F8 being released, they decided that a car movie would be appropriate. By a strange coincidence, last Monday I also read an interview with Felicia Day about the return of MST3K, and when asked about what movie she'd like to pick for the show, she picked The Wraith. It's The Crow with a ghost/alien/race car driver, and without any of the mythology getting explained.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 17, 2017 21:39:45 GMT -5
SnoBorderZeroI actually saw The Wraith last Monday at the Alamo. It was their monthly American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) secret screening. Since it was the same week as F&F8 being released, they decided that a car movie would be appropriate. By a strange coincidence, last Monday I also read an interview with Felicia Day about the return of MST3K, and when asked about what movie she'd like to pick for the show, she picked The Wraith. It's The Crow with a ghost/alien/race car driver, and without any of the mythology getting explained. Yeah. The plot is that Charlie Sheen is killed by a gang while having sex with his girlfriend (Sherilyn Fenn before the pinup look). The gang leader then forces the girlfriend into a relationship. No grown ups in this movie except for Randy Quaid. Charlie Sheen returns from the dead with a new face and a futuristic car and kills the gang members one by one through a series of car races and also gets back his girlfriend.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Apr 17, 2017 21:45:16 GMT -5
I forget sometimes that Charlie Sheen was a movie star.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 17, 2017 21:46:23 GMT -5
I forget sometimes that Charlie Sheen was a movie star. |
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Wyldstaar
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Post by Wyldstaar on Apr 17, 2017 22:09:57 GMT -5
Yeah. The plot is that Charlie Sheen is killed by a gang while having sex with his girlfriend (Sherilyn Fenn before the pinup look). The gang leader then forces the girlfriend into a relationship. No grown ups in this movie except for Randy Quaid. Charlie Sheen returns from the dead with a new face and a futuristic car and kills the gang members one by one through a series of car races and also gets back his girlfriend. The futuristic car isn't even a ghost car, or an alien car. It's a Dodge Turbo Interceptor (the only one ever built), and has Dodge written in big letters across the back. The engine however, is otherworldly in some manner. The film also can't keep up with what kind of law enforcement officer Randy Quaid is. During the opening, there's a billboard about re-electing Randy Quaid for Sheriff, and he does dress like a Sheriff. Later in the movie though, he says that he's a Lieutenant with the Police Department. All of the rebellious "teens" in the movie who are into racing are strangely safety conscious, always making sure to don a safety helmet before starting a race. Don't get me wrong, it was a fun movie. Half of the fun though, is laughing at all the things that don't make any sense. |
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Apr 17, 2017 22:25:20 GMT -5
Okay, that trailer for The Wraith convinced me I should see it.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 18, 2017 0:32:06 GMT -5
Okay, that trailer for The Wraith convinced me I should see it. It's on Netflix. Also watch The Arrival. That movie is fucking great. Jibbs and thebtskink will vouch for me. |
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Apr 18, 2017 5:31:12 GMT -5
I vouch.
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Jibbs
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Post by Jibbs on Apr 18, 2017 16:55:33 GMT -5
Don't ever speak for me again.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Apr 18, 2017 16:56:47 GMT -5
Don't ever speak for me again. What's wrong with The Arrival? |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Aug 1, 2017 13:11:52 GMT -5
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Aug 1, 2017 23:04:46 GMT -5
Neverending I saw that The Wraith was on Instant Watch. My Internet works great, but I didn't have nearly the amount of alcohol and weed to make it play.
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Deexan
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Post by Deexan on Aug 2, 2017 1:21:08 GMT -5
You have my condolences.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 29, 2024 11:59:18 GMT -5
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jul 29, 2024 12:45:52 GMT -5
No thanks.
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