Peter Fonda Gives You the Finger

In the past few months, I've watched three of Peter Fonda's 1970s film efforts--Futureworld, Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry, and most recently, Race with the Devil. All of these were made after Easy Rider, which created the illusion that Peter Fonda had what it took to be a movie star.

In Futureworld, the sequel to Westworld, Fonda is a newspaper reporter (with attitude!) who is investigating strange goings on at Delos, the recently re-opened robot-populated adult amusement park--think Club Med with sex robots and historical recreations. He's aided by perky tv reporter (and old flame) Blythe Danner. The film is a sorry, confused mess of a sci-fi concept, not helped by P.F.'s total lack of charisma and likeability. He really works his 'rebellious' image in this (and all his movies), and just seems like a smug 70s a-hole. See above for his parting shot at the robot bad guys--I can't help but think that was his own improvisation. Peter Fonda just seems like the kind of guy who thinks flipping the bird is really witty.

Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry is a car chase/supermarket robbery movie co-starring odd British actress Susan George. In this one, Pete plays a smug 70s a-hole race car driver (with attitude!), who needs money to buy some great car to race in Nascar, or something like that. It has a fatalistic ending where their car runs into a truck and blows up. (spoiler alert) Also, he gives the finger again.

In Race With the Devil, Fonda, along with the great Warren Oates and their wives (one is Loretta Swit) are being chased across rural Texas by Satanists. Sadly, Peter does not get an opportunity to give the finger in this film, but this is mitigated by the fact that the vehicle he drives is a Winnebago (with attitude!), which is really a central character in the story. Much attention is paid to the impressive fact that it has a microwave oven.

In all these movies, I never saw one moment where Fonda demonstrates any reason why he should have been a movie star--and I'm pretty broadminded about actors in old films. I can usually find something I like, but in this case I'm stymied. Warren Oates, Susan George, and even Blythe Danner have to do a lot of work to make up for the void that is P.F.

No hard feelings, man!

Beebo Alert!

Hello!
Beebo asked me to alert everyone about some slight changes to her blog. Due to her busy work schedule, Beebo will now be updating her blog weekly, on Saturday. Think of it as really slow tweeting.

Why so sad?

Is it because you just paid $56 for a t-shirt?

Hallowe'en movie time begins

Beebo and I kicked off the season of watching scary movies last night--kind of a day early, but it was a dark and rainy night, so I didn't want to squander it. We watched City of the Dead (aka Horror Hotel), a nice, efficient little witchcraft story from 1960. It's about a cursed Massachusetts town called Whitewood, where it's apparently always nighttime, and they have a serious fog problem. It was filmed in England, but most of the cast does a passable American accent.

The big name star is Christopher Lee, playing a college professor teaching a course in witchcraft. This is the kind of course you can only take in the movies, from my experience.

It also stars lovely blonde Venetia Stevenson, who was married (at different times) to Russ Tamblyn and Don Everly. The funniest (non-scary) scene in the movie has her lounging in her room (at the creepy Raven's Inn), in a big quilted robe. Hearing that there's a dance going on in the lobby, she decides to take a break from her witchcraft research and join the fun. When she takes off her robe, she's wearing a baroque and ridiculously sexy merry widow with stockings and garters. If you've ever known a woman (or are one), you know that the first thing a girl who's just sitting around by herself does is get into the most comfortable lounging clothes possible. I could buy the part about the 300 year-old witches, and the cursed town, but this is where my suspension of disbelief was stretched a bit too far!

But it's a great movie--highly recommended!

Stella!

I just learned something interesting: Stella Artois, the beer with the pretentious commercials I have to sit through when I see a foreign movie at one of my local Landmark Cinemas, is nicknamed 'wife beater' in England! That's a different cultural interpretation!

From what I've read, its high-ish alcohol content allegedly makes British men get all 'aggro', though in truth, it's obviously the innate qualities of the louts who drink it that make them act out. However, some of the theories here are rather amusing--some people even think it has 'special chemicals' that turn a normal peace-loving chav fellow into a raging animal:

"I reckon it is true. My Mum used to work in a pub and the effect that stuff had on some of the guys in there was just awful. One in particular found himself with his hands round his girlfriend's neck after a night in it. He hasn't touched it since because he thinks it was because he had been drinking Stella that night. I think maybe it just brings out the very worst in someone, it doesn;t necessarily make them go home and beat seven shades out of the missus. My boyfriend had been drinking it one night when his usual lager was off and we had such a huge row on the way home, I've never seen him so argumentative.

"I think they should be allowed to conduct some kind of study into it, despite what it may do to the sales, because if there really is something in it which makes people behave aggressively, they should either change some of the ingredients or make people fully aware of the risks."

"In my last bar I was forced to change Stella to another lager because everybody who got drunk on it just ended up fighting. When the new lager was introduced there were no longer any problems. So in my experience it is true."

"It really do make some people very aggressive, my local pub will refuse to sell it to some customers."

"A policman told me it is true. It is well known to make men aggresive and abusive."

And my very favorite:

"Good question man, I always get in trouble when drinking that stuff, it couls be from the water they use to make it. Another side effect of Stella, it makes me poop really bad the next day. Anyone else have that problem?"

More information here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-494149/Where-did-wrong-beer-wife-beater.html

Do you want to know what the time is?

Scary and Inexplicable Yahoo Mail ads

I find this Zappos computer/puppet customer service person
disturbing, not 'fun'. Now I'm afraid to buy shoes!

So this girl beat up her mom for not having life insurance? Why?
How does that resolve the problem?