The Nitty Gritty

But more than all of those I am an entertainer. I carry around a ukulele with me for the same reason a gangster carries a gun; better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Stage or sidewalk, Your Pal Pete shows are just where they happen.
Currently, I'm working on a musical, RagnaPOP(or she's got the bomb), set to premiere at this year's Capital Fringe Festival. I'm also working on music, comedy, and musical comedy; for kids and/or adults.
The fruit of these projects will be available on this site, so check back regularly!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Shitty Action Movies, part 2: John Carpenter edition

Oh my days off, I had just gotten back from Chipotle, having had my traditional day off burrito, and switched on the TV and saw that "John Carpenter's 'They Live'" was on. Any film geek worth their salt should be able to guess what part of the movie I was in the middle of when I tuned it in. That's right, the "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Keith David fight.
This is an oft-discussed subject among my roommates and I.
If you've never seen John Carpenter's"They Live" It stars Piper as a guy that discovers that aliens are living amung us and are manupulaing the human population into complacency, placing subliminal messages in billboards and magazines. The Rowdy one wanted Keith to put on his special sunglasses so he can see through the alien's brainwashing and see the world as it is. And Keith doesn't want to put them on. And so begins one of the longest and certainly the most pointless fight scene in all of film history. These moments are what I think about when a movie has the misfortune of being called "John Carpenter's" ANYTHING. I think about the basketball scene in "Escape From LA" where Kurt Russell does lay ups for his life. I think of every single frame of "Ghosts of Mars". That's what the name means to me.
What positive feeling am I suppost by know by knowing he's involved? Because of "Halloween"? I apologize if I'm upsetting anyone by saying this, but that movie has not aged well. Whatever happened to P.J. Soles anyway?

Roddy quotes in "They Live":"Life's a bitch and she's back in heat!"
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum"
"White line's in the middle of the road, that's the worst place to drive."

It's a shame, really, "They Live" has a great premise done in by clumsy and inept execution. It seems like it would fit well in today's political climate and the fever pitched, farflung senarios of the modern conspiracy theorist. It's still too out there to be real, right?

2 comments:

student teacher said...

are you kiddine me? i freakin love "They Live"! awesome cast- i love that chick with the crazy glowing eyes- and the fight sequence is my favorite of any movie. Aside from the fact that a real-life fistfight would come down to a quick wrestle on the ground and a couple of punches, it really is the most realistic fight scene I've ever seen in a movie. What this movie may be low on budget and talent, but it's big on conservative-establishment ass-kicking! and you gotta love that.

student teacher said...

are you kiddine me? i freakin love "They Live"! awesome cast- i love that chick with the crazy glowing eyes- and the fight sequence is my favorite of any movie. Aside from the fact that a real-life fistfight would come down to a quick wrestle on the ground and a couple of punches, it really is the most realistic fight scene I've ever seen in a movie. This movie may be low on budget and talent, but it's big on conservative-establishment ass-kicking! and you gotta love that.