Quick takes on Blow Out and other 80s films

How about some classic 80’s films, featuring some heavy star power? Today I’ve got three from director Alex Cox and a couple from Brian de Palma, with an Albert Brooks comedy thrown in too. Starting off with Cox’s debut, Repo Man, starring the late great Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez. Parts of this film looked familiar, so I’ve either seen it long ago or caught bits and pieces over the years. Still “new enough” to me to be fresh. Or, to borrow from a popular website, maybe I should say “rotten.” I don’t get the praise this film gets, or maybe it’s just made for a different generation. It’s a haphazard mess about various groups including some repo men, government agencies, UFO thrill-seekers, and a local gang, all looking for a stolen Chevy Malibu, because apparently, there are the bodies of alien terrestrials in the trunk. Estevez plays Otto, a young punk going aimlessly through life when he is recruited by Bud (Stanton) to join his repo team. Their adventures include lots of crazy repos and interactions with the other seedy night-time inhabitants of Los Angeles. People talk about how funny this film is, but I only laughed exactly once: a great exchange between Bud and Otto where Otto comments there aren’t any bills in Russia because everything is free. Bud shoots back that nothing’s free in communism and that Otto better not be a communist. “Or a fuckin Christian neither.” That was funny. Other than that, this film’s a hot mess, and reminds me of all the things I generally used to not like about 80s low budget movies. ★

Thankfully I gave Alex Cox another try with Sid and Nancy, and, it’s funny, because for all the reasons I didn’t like Repo Man, I really enjoyed this one. The chaotic, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants film style didn’t hold well for a narrative film like the above, but it works perfectly in the rock and roll scene. Sid and Nancy tells of the last year or so in the life of the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his turbulent relationship with Nancy Spungen. The movie follows Sid’s rapid descent: leaving the band, further dependency on drugs, and eventually Nancy’s murder in a hotel room in New York. Their relationship is always front and center, how they fed off each other through manipulation, codependency, and the destruction it wreaked on their lives and those around them. Chloe Webb and a young Gary Oldman are absolutely fantastic as the star crossed lovers. I have no idea how accurate the film is (there’s lots to research online if you so care), but as a work of entertainment, it is tops. ★★★★

And, opposite to my reaction to Repo Man’s positive reviews, I mostly enjoyed Walker, despite its negative reception at the time of its release in 1987. It’s a fairly loose depiction of a man named William Walker, who, with a wealthy backer in the 1850s, led a group of Americans to Nicaragua to aid in a civil war against the president. Walker’s support comes from millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt, who wants friendly control of the area to use as a land bridge for moving goods (in the days before the Panama Canal). Like a lot of Americans in those days, Walker is a huge believer in the might and right of the United States, and he sees no problem in going to another country to exert its influence. His group hits the shores of Nicaragua and immediately finds success, assimilating the rebels that are there fighting into his group, and they continue on towards Granada. The film plays out with a lot of purposefully placed ridiculousness (but no more ridiculous than the material it is based on, where the real Walker did indeed find himself as president of Nicaragua for a couple years before being deposed), poking satire at the ego of the American viewpoint of , but is also stark in its brutality on both sides. As it goes along, it takes on undertones (and some not so under-) of the current situation (in the 80s) of America’s backing of the Contras in Nicaragua. Seems that we just have to keep sticking our noses in places. Anyway, the movie is out there, but I laughed more and enjoyed it more than Repo Man, and again, a strong cast doesn’t hurt (led by Ed Harris in the lead, who is donning that black hat decades before Westworld). ★★★

Lost in America is a delightful old-school comedy from Albert Brooks, starring himself and Julie Hagerty as a married couple with a midlife crisis. David and Linda have what most people would consider a successful life, making good money in Los Angeles. David has been eyeing a promotion at his ad agency, but when he is passed over and instead offered a (good, but not wanted) job in New York, he decides to leave it all behind. He convinces Linda to sell their house, liquidate all their assets, and hit the road in a Winnebago; completely drop out of society, “You know, like in Easy Rider.” Unfortunately they don’t get very far out of LA before things go south. In Las Vegas, Linda’s unknown gambling addiction loses all of the couples’ money. With just a couple hundred bucks to their name, their idea of an easy life on the road is dashed before it even begins. Brooks’ humor isn’t for everyone, but I ate it up. When he goes in to ask the casino manager for their money back, I laughed till I cried. When driving on their last tank of gas and pull into a mobile home park at night and he quips, “My legs are tired, guess this looks like a good place to live.” I laughed harder. It’s not visual gags, it is your old school humor with some intelligence. I imagine kids these days would scoff, but I wish they still made comedies like this. ★★★★

I’ve seen quite a few Brian De Palma films (Carrie, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Mission Impossible, Casualties of War, to name a few), but in his long career, there’s always more to unearth. Dressed to Kill dates to 1980, and begins with a sexually frustrated wife, Kate (Angie Dickinson). She complains to her therapist, Robert (Michael Caine) about her inept husband, and even makes advances to Robert, which he declines. One day, Kate hooks up with a stranger she runs into at the city museum, and when leaving his apartment that evening, she is attacked and murdered in the elevator. The only witness is a high-class call girl, Liz (Nancy Allen), and she becomes the police’s number one suspect. But Liz knows she is innocent, and she is aided in her personal investigation by Kate’s son Peter, a whizkid who wants to find his mom’s killer. The suspense in this film borders on 80s schlock, but there are highlights, and the killer’s identity isn’t (completely) heralded. Though the thrills are a bit old-timey, there’s still enough to enjoy for the modern viewer. ★★½

Blow Out is a fantastic mystery thriller starring John Travolta and Nancy Allen. Jack is a low-budget film sound effects editor, good at his job but with skills far above his current line of work. He’s out one night in the park with tape recorder in hand, getting new sounds to use in film, when he witnesses a car go off the road and into a creek. Jack jumps in and saves Sally, but the man in the car does not survive. At the hospital, Jack learns the dead driver was Governor McRyan, who was on track to become the next president of the USA. Sally was not McRyan’s wife; she was a call girl, so the powers at be are quick to do a coverup. When Jack reviews his audio recording, he becomes convinced that it was no accident, as he is sure he hears a gunshot before the tire blows out. The police don’t believe him, but Jack is relentless in getting to the bottom of who may have wanted the governor dead. That rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than anyone would have guessed, and it seems everyone is involved. Travolta is on his game here, and this is easily one of the best I’ve seen him in. Lots of twists, but nothing gimmicky, and some real suspense, with John Lithgow glowing as the sinister bad guy. ★★★★★

• TV series currently watching: Snowpiercer (season 1)
• Book currently reading: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan