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Celluloid Heroes: Rebels, Rockabilly, and David Arquette
Roadracers is a made-for-television movie made in 1994 about a rebel named Dude that’s played by David Arquette. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film originally aired on Showtime for their Rebel Highway series that took 1950s B-films and applied those concepts to original films made for the 1990s. It was shot in only 13 days.
In Roadracers, it’s a somewhat cynical looks at the a 1950s rocker: Dude’s an outlaw teen with aspirations to skip out of his dead end small town to become a rockabilly star. He’s got a hot little number for a girlfriend, played by Selma Hayek, who made her US debut with this movie. Dude’s dreams are derailed as he gets entangled in a feuds with knife-carrying thugs and the crooked local sheriff. Action-packed thrills, plenty of ultra-cool style, and lots of hilarity ensue.
There’s no reason why this movie didn’t make it to the big screen other than there’s just no accounting for taste. At least it’s a great cult classic for us cool kids.
At the end credits of the movie, the soundtrack for the album is listed in the end credits as being available on A&M Records, but was never actually released. It features music from Link Wray, Haskil Adkins, Johnny Reno, Glen Glenn, and Charlie Feathers among others.
After the jump, you can watch the intro to the movie. read more
Celluloid Heroes: Steve Buscemi and Hayden in “Trees Lounge”
Who doesn’t love a film fueled by booze and fantastic one-liners? This would be that film.
The film Trees Lounge, written and directed by Steve Buscemi, who also plays the lead character, Tommy, is a dark comedy about a 30-year-old alcoholic who is lost in life. After losing his girlfriend to his boss and his job as a mechanic (okay, ex-boss), Tommy becomes a fixture at the local bar, Trees Lounge, as the story follows him through self-examination and increasingly self-destructive behavior. The movie also features a rather large ensemble of actors, including Chloe Sevigny, Elizabeth Bracco, Daniel Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mark Boone Junior, among others.
The soundtrack for Trees Lounge, while it amazingly captures the mood of the movie, is such a great collective of music, you could practically pick up a copy without ever having seen the movie and enjoy it for what it is. Most of the songs featured, you’ll hear playing from the jukebox in various scenes of the movies, which is a mixture of Brenda Lee, Shane MacGowan & the Popes, the Ink Spots, and Hayden who sings the film’s title cut.
Roger Ebert gave the film three and 1/2 stars and said of Buscemi, “Steve Buscemi, who plays Tommy and also wrote and directed the film, knows about alcoholism from the inside out and backward, and his movie is the most accurate portrait of the daily saloon drinker I have ever seen.” Do yourself a favor, and see this movie.
After the jump, see the track listing and some clips from the movie that feature some great quotes. read more
Celluloid Heroes: The Doors Kick Off “Apocalypse Now” with “The End”
This may be one of the most intense opening scenes of a movie ever. One of the most amazing thing about this scene, featuring a then relatively unknown Martin Sheen (Captain Willard), is that it was completely unscripted. He told the camera man to just let the tape roll. Sheen was actually drunk in the scene and punched the mirror on his on volition, which was real glass. Apparently, Sheen also began weeping and tried to attack Francis Ford Coppola. The crew was so disturbed by his actions that they wanted to stop shooting, but Coppola insisted they keep the cameras going. Talk about tone-setting. Sheen also suffered a heart attack during the filming of this movie.
The soundtrack for Apocalypse Now was released in 2001 by Nonesuch, and mostly contains original tracks, the score composed by Carmine and Francis Ford Coppola, (although some tracks were co-composed by Mickey Hart and Richard Hansen). The Doors‘ “The End” is the 11-minute unabridged version.
Fun fact #1: Martin Sheen’s character name combines the names of the two eldest sons of Harrison Ford, Benjamin and Willard.
Fun fact #2: The emcee accompanying the Playboy Playmates is rock concert producer Bill Graham.
Celluloid Heroes: Soul Asylum and Kevin Smith
***Celluloid Heroes is a blog column in which we’ll explore the effects of music (namely of the rock ‘n’ roll variety) on movies, and thus movies on music.***
Me and Kevin Smith have at least one thing in common, and that’s that we both are longtime fans of Soul Asylum. Scoff if you want, but the band’s early material has more in common with Hüsker Dü and the Replacements than those radio-friendly pop tunes that climbed the charts. Their 1985 album, Made to Be Broken, is so good to my ears, I couldn’t ask for anything more from a record. I’m not overstating that either. I have a picture of David Pirner hanging in my home office.
While Soul Asylum have contributed to three of Smith’s films, including Chasing Amy (in which Pirner provided the score) and Clerks II, they specifically wrote “Can’t Even Tell” for the original Clerks. The song played during the end credits and went on to reach #16 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1994. The video for “Can’t Even Tell” was also directed by Smith, filmed at the same convenience store and featuring some of the same characters from Clerks.
Fun fact: The Clerks soundtrack features an array of alternative, punk, and grunge from the likes of the Jesus Lizard, Alice in Chains, Bad Religion, and Seaweed, to name a few. It’s been noted that licensing the music for the movie cost more than it did to make the film itself.
I doubt the plot of this film needs any introduction.
After the jump, check out some much beloved scenes from Clerks. read more
Celluloid Heroes: Tom Waits in Down By Law
Did you know Tom Waits had a major role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula? He’s made some cameo appearances in Coppola movies, this I know, but that I did not know. Wow. Anyway, you can see Waits play a lead role the 1986 Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Coffee and Cigarettes) minimal black-and-white movie Down By Law, which also features Robert Benigni and John Lurie. The film takes place in New Orleans and centers around three men who are arrested individually, put in jail and placed in the same cell, and then eventually break out of jail. Neither Waits, who plays the role of a DJ named Zack, nor Jack, the pimp, committed the crime for which they were put in jail. Their Italian, English-challenged cellmate Bob (Roberto) is oddly the optimist of the bunch even thought he was convicted of manslaughter. Rather than focus on the high drama of the escape, Jarmusch’s storyline is placed on the dynamic between the three men.
The most emotive part of the whole film might just be when they all get up and start singing “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” Which isn’t to say the movie lacked humor. The deadpan style lent the film an understated thread of comedy, while also providing a downcast mood.
Both Lurie and Waits provide music for the soundtrack. The two songs Waits provides are both from Rain Dogs, “Jockey Full of Bourbon” and “Tango Till They’re Sore.”
See a clip of a drunk Waits singing to himself, and also the ice cream clip, after the jump. read more
Celluloid Heroes: Midnight Cowboy and Harry Nilsson
The whole first act of 1969’s Best Picture, Midnight Cowboy, is underscored by Harry Nilsson’s cover of “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Originally penned by Fred Neil in 1966, Nilsson’s version of the song won him a Grammy after it was featured in this film. It’s one of the most famous works of either songwriter, and the song’s association with Midnight Cowboy is practically synonymous.
Featuring John Voight and Dustan Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy follows Texan Joe Buck (Voight) on his journey to New York City where he aspires to be a “kept” man. He runs into one problem after another, finding the streets of Manhattan far more harsh and unwelcoming than he’d ever imagined. He eventually runs into Ratso (Hoffman), who at first Buck tries to shake down for money (all $.64 he had in his pocket), but Ratso instead offers to help him out, and they form a business partnership by working together to pickpocket and steal. Without each other, the both of them would be entirely alone.
“Everybody’s Talkin’” carries with its ramblin’ sound themes of introversion and an inability to connect with other people, along with a need to escape to a more suitable place (”I’m going where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain / Going where the weather suits my clothes.”); the song is a flawless choice to soundtrack the first act of the movie as a foreshadowing of what is to come.
Check out the first act featuring “Everybody’s Talkin’” after the jump. read more
Celluloid Heroes: Halloween with the Offspring and Questionable Dance Moves from Jessica Alba
***Celluloid Heroes is a blog column in which we’ll explore the effects of music (namely of the rock ‘n’ roll variety) on movies, and thus movies on music.***
All you slacker stoners beware, they say idle hands are the devil’s playground. This idea came to fruition in the hilarious 1999 comedy/horror film, Idle Hands, a film that follows the life of lazy dude Anton Tobias whose right hand becomes possessed with murderous intent. When he finally realizes his hand is possessed and has already killed his parents, he cuts off his right arm, and the hand slips away and goes on a killing spree. Both comedy and campy slasher-flick moments ensue.
The movie culminates at the high school Halloween dance, where Tobias and his two pals, dead-alive already ( Seth Green and Elden Henson), go to find his missing mortal hand and save Tobias’ girl-next-door crush, Molly (Jessica Alba), from having the hand drag her soul to the netherworld at midnight.
Check out the rad scene with the Offspring as the house band and eyebrow-raising dance moves from Alba, who is, of course, dressed up as an angel.
I’m Not There
I’m Not There
Director: Todd Haynes
Killer Films: 135 min.
I walked out of the movie thinking, “Maybe I’m just really stupid and don’t get it, but that movie was pretty awful to watch.” Then, later, I looked on RottenTomatoes.com and saw that 81 percent of reviews (that are in so far, mind you, but a high percentage nonetheless) are in favor of I’m Not There, the fragmented biopic of Bob Dylan by Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine). And I think that, knowing people were going to garner this as “Dylan heaven” as I watched the movie, is the notion that freaked me out the most. That folks are going to love this biopic, which is more about getting hit over the head with blatant symbolism rather than Bob Dylan’s music. Cue the nuns, the giant tarantula, and the lady that lights her hair on fire; cue Allen Ginsberg (David Cross) riding up alongside “Jude’s” car as they both ride past a cemetery. And that ain’t even the start of it. Like one review said, the most amazing thing about this movie is the fact that Dylan gave his permission. Amen.
This movie’s target audience is anyone in film school, but it isn’t necessarily for fans of Bob Dylan’s music. For some folks, it’ll make them think the key to understanding Dylan is hidden within its layers upon layers, and it may, in fact, take several viewings of this movie to understand the core statement, if there is one at all. And if there isn’t one, it seems folks will say it’s Dylan who doesn’t have the core instead of the movie. It’s my belief that Haynes, while coming up with a lofty and interesting idea indeed, ultimately took on too much to give this film any cohesive narrative whatsoever.
Celluloid Heroes: Minimalist Punk in Suburbia
by: Jocelyn Hoppa
The punks are played by Chris Pedersen, Bill Coyne, and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ bassist Flea. In fact, other than Coyne, Spheeris recruited street kids and punk rock musicians to play each role instead of hiring young actors to play the parts. The film’s charm lies in the shared compassion of these teens in revolt. The idea of the punk rock family lives on in this movie, even though they are ultimately torn apart by tragedy.
The movie features a lot of punk music. There’s D.I., a Southern California punk band featuring ex-Adolescents and Social Distortion drummer Casey Royer on vocals, and perform “Richard Hung Himself.” TSOL (True Sounds of Liberty) perform “Darker My Love”, and the Vandals perform “The Legend of Pat Brown.”
Fun fact: The movie inspired the Pet Shop Boys song “Suburbia.”
After the jump, see if you can pick out Flea. read more
by: Jocelyn Hoppa
published: February 26, 2010
in column: What Goes On
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