The Cannonball Run DVD

 

TITLE-The Cannonball Run

SOURCE-DVD

Been  slowly rewatching piles of 70s/80s comedies that I saw once  as a kid when we rented them from Video Showboat and never seen  since. Not that long ago at what I have dubbed the Good Junkstore I got the DVD of The Cannonball Run for 50 cents. Remembering enjoying it when I saw it decades ago I added it to my pile.

And like most of my junkstore media purchases it sat in the to be watched pile for months. Getting dug out the day we got snow in late January. Wanting something to watch that none of us has seen in years plus needing a way to kill time before dinner this was perfect.

Got a pile of folks racing from the east coast to California. Fastest time wins. And this is loaded with stars of the era.

Dom Deluise and Burt Reynolds in a suped up ambulance,with Farrah Fawcett added as the "patient" and this one old dude I have seen in piles of stuff as the Doctor.

Adriane Barbeau and Tara Buckman,yes Silent Night Deadly Night/Night Killer star ,in a Lamborgini,who use their looks to get out of tickets.

Sammi Davis Jr and Dean Martin dressed as Priest and in a Ferrari,and also always Shitfaced drunk.

Plus so many others.  Including what I bet is one of Jackie Chan's first big roles in a US movie.Nothing but a long  chase film,and it works perfectly as that.

Having paid 50 cents for the DVD I was of the mind that worst case I consider it a rental and then pass it onto someone. Loved it so much I'm gonna see if there is a Blu ray of it. Then  pass this DVD onto someone.

The Cannonball Run gets a B.

The Toy DVD

 

TITLE-The Toy

SOURCE-Full Screen DVD

It is odd what sticks in my memory. I sometimes forget the month or year. But got clear memories of going in 1982 with my parents and the neighbors to see The Toy at the movie theater near the mall in Mobile AL.  Then about a year or so after that new video rental store opens in town,we already had 2 in town that we were members of,and we go and rent The Toy. So After school one day Mom wasn't home yet,Dad got off at 5pm and was never home before 6pm,I invited a pile of the local kids over and we watched The Toy. 

And that rat bastard Lil Colon,yes he was Colon Jr so got called Lil Colon(also his last name was Brown...) told his mom about the part when the robot dog pisses on Richard and the nude painting of Gleason's wife. His mom comes over chews out my mom and I catch shit.

All of that clear in my memory and it was 83 so 42ish years ago. Then when I put this DVD in a few weeks ago I remembered almost nothing of the film. 3 scenes tops.

This is a remake of a 70s French film,Richard Pryor is Jack/Jackie Brown. A vet that is about to lose his home to taxes. His lady is a lawyer for Klan Watch,a civil rights group. He is told by his buddy at the bank if he had "A real job" the bank would extend the time he had to pay the back taxes. Pryor is a writer and wants to work for the big newspaper. Which is ran along with most other places in Baton Rouge Louisiana back then by U.S. Bates. 

U.S. Bates is an older delisional white guy. Who pretty much puts himself first ahead of all others. Became rich by being born into the money and running shady schemes to get richer. And has dreams of getting into Politics.

Pryor puts his name down as Jackie Brown,to maybe  get a job as cleaning staff at a big party at Bates' mansion. Gets hired to do that and work a few nights a week cleaning the big department store Bates has. 

The party is a disaster.Pryor is dressed up in a maids outfit. Dumps the meal in Bates lap and gets told to "Shave that mustache and you are fired".

Pryor the next night is cleaning the department store late at night,right when Bate's young son is coming into town. The kid lives at a military boarding school. Only coming home for 1 week a year. He is told he can  have anything in the store,by Ned Beaty(who is a weasel like underling for US Bates). Young Master Bates,and yes that joke is made,sees Pryor being his normal comedic self and tells them "I want that" 

So  needing lots of money fast Pryor agrees  to come stay at the mansion and be young Master Bate's living toy for a week. 

Young  Master Bates is played by Scotty Schwartz,who was Flick in A Christmas Story. Thinking  this is his first role. He is good as the asshole kid that just wants some attention from his dad.

After having too much of Scotty's pranks and just being a general asshat,Pryor leaves goes home. Then middle of the night a drunk as fuck Ned Beatty shows up. With a check for 10k,the amount Pryor needs to save his house. All he has to do is come back and stay until Scotty goes back to boarding school.

Pryor comes back, lets the kid know he aint taking any shit. And talks Scotty into doing a free newspaper called The Toy. The paper will be all about US Bates. They start interviewing the various butlers,maids an chauffers  that have worked for US Bates for years and learn he won the butler in a pool game. And various other shady deals.

The published their paper and US is up in arms. But sees that his son is happy. 

This cast,wow this cast. Jackie Gleason isn't given much to work with as US Bates. Stories are the stuff he would say and stories he would tell between takes was funnier than this film. Richard Pryor has said he really enjoyed working with Gleason. 

Of course as an 8 year old kid when I first saw this lots of the jokes went over my head. Now I of course I get them. I had been wanting to re-watch this for a long time. Never seems to be streaming on any service I got. So finding the DVD for a buck or so I was happy. 

Load it up,fucker is Full Screen. Ok it's a comedy I can deal with that. THen 20 minutes before the ending it starts skipping and pausing. FUCK. Clean the disc and yea appears disc rot....Want to see the ending. Go look Amazon Prime Video has it for 5 bucks. Got 3 bucks amazon credit. So 2 bucks out of pocket I now own it digitally.

The film has this odd is it for kids nah it isnt for kids shift often. The interactions between Pryor and Scotty are totally 80s made of kids movie stuff.  It is rated PG,but this is early 80s when PG wasn't like now. 

Never noticed before Richard Donner directed this. Yea Lethal Weapon 1,2,3 Richard Donner.

The Toy is one where if you saw it as a kid or back when it came out I can see you having nostalgia for it and wanting to see it again. The DVD and Blu ray are both out of print.  Used copies of the DVD are still cheap,undder 10 bucks. The Blu ray starts at 30 bucks and goes up from there. I am happy with the buck or so I paid for the partially working  DVD and then 2 bucks for the digital copy.

The Toy gets a C+

The Dream Team DVD

 

TITLE-The Dream Team

SOURCE-Universal DVD

Talk about a forgotten comedy. Might be it got overshadowed by Keaton's other big hit in 89,some film called Batman,might just be this wasn't as big as I thought it was.

Michael Keaton is a pathological liar and has anger issues, which means he has spent the last year or so in a Mental Hospital in New Jersey. His therapy group has Peter Boyle,who thinks he is Jesus,Christopher Lloyd,a neat freak that believes he is a doctor at the hospital and Steven Furst ,who only speaks in TV soundbytes. Their doctor arranges for them to go see a baseball game in NYC. But on the way they stop for Furst to take a piss break.  I know the feeling when ya gotta piss you GOTTA PISS.

While in an alley for Steven to piss,the doctor sees to corrupt cops kill someone. Doctor gets knocked out and taken to a near by hospital. Listed as John Doe. Furst gets back to their van but can't explain to them what happened.So you got 4 mental hospital patients loose in NYC and the wacky hyjynx start. 

Keaton of course is the lead. And I sometimes forget he was always great in comedies. For me though Boyle and Lloyd steal the movie. One scene has the four going into the  hospital to see their doctor. Boyle is dressed up like a nurse. Sees a man laying on a gurney in the hallway "You are healed my son. Get up and walk" Boyle tells him. They keep passing by and in  the background you can see the man attempt to stand and just fall flat to the floor.

Lloyd has a great scene where he goes to visit his wife and daughter. Both of whom he hasn't talked to since he went to the hospital. All thru out the film Lloyd has a clipboard with him. Won't let anyone touch it. But when his daughter asks for it to put her drawings on you can see him struggle to let it go but he does.

Of course our group saves the day. The corrupt cops get taken down. And all ends well. With Keaton even meeting back up with an ex-girlfriend.

While the premise is nothing but that part from Once Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,when Jack takes the guys out for a day in the city,just expaneded to a full length movie. What makes this stand out is the casting. While Keaton,Lloyd and Boyle are still remembered for how great they are/were,Steven Furst is forgotten.. Back then he was a bigger name cause of St Elsewhere.

The dvd looks decent sounds good. And it is an older DVD release. The extras are a trailer and a few TV spots. I do know this has a blu ray release and I plan on  tracking it down soon.

The Dream Team while not even in the top 10 comedies from the 80s is still worth seeing.

The Dream Team gets a B-.

Joysticks DVD

 

TITLE-Joysticks

SOURCE-MVD DVD

I was the perfect age when the late 70s/early 80s video game boom happened. Just old enough to play and enjoy all the arcade classics. But still young enough that I had to ask for quarters.

Had to be early 2004 when I learned about Joysticks, a T&A comedy from the early 80s. Set at an arcade it is your normal old white dude wants to shut down "INSERT POPULAR TEEN HANGOUT". And the teens team up to stop him.

The cast is pretty much b level stars. Joe Don Baker is the lead villain. Got Jon Gries,from Napoleon Dynamite,as Vidiot. A video game addicted new wave looking dude. Corinne Boher as the love interest and daughter of Joe Don, yall might remember her from Revenge of the Nerds IV or High Spirit(TV SHOW). The from Newhart you got Daryl as one of Joe Don's henchmen.

Nerdy dude gets hired on at the arcade. Learns the manager won't play video games cause of an incident in his past. Joe Don wants the arcade shut down. And his valley girl daughter Corinne is dating the manager. Jon Gries as Vidiot has a gaggle of women that follow him around and act like the ghosts from Pac Man.

You watch this movie for 2 reasons. One is to see al the classic arcade machines. And it isn't just the well known stuff,there is a great scene with Satan's Hollow which has OVERSIZED Joysticks. The other reason is of course the nudity. And the film is packed with bare boobs.

No real extras on this release. It is a film I doubted would get past VHS.

If you have already seen and loved all those early 80s T&A comedies like Porkys and Revenge of the Nerds track down Joysticks.

Joysticks gets a B.

Neighbors 1981 Blu Ray

 

TITLE-Neighbors

SOURCE-Mill Creek Blu Ray

It was 1981,Mom was taking me to the two screener in Pascagoula to see a movie. Not sure how but we entered the wrong theater. 10 minutes later she realized we were not seeing the right film and I was wanting to see more of the film I would later learn was called Neighbors.

John Belushi and his wife live at the end of a road,under the power lines. New couple moves in next door,made up of Dan Ackroyd and Cathy Moriarty.

Now Belushi is playing against type and being the boring typical 30 something white suburan male. Dan on the other hand is in the role that normally Belushi would get.

Belushi quickly catches on that the new neighbors are trouble. Like when Cathy attemped multiple times to get John to bang her. Or when he gives Dan money to go get them dinner. And sees Dan  at his home cooking the food. Or the course of a few days Belushi and Ackroyd go to war with each other. Till a big reveal about this new couple next door towards the end.

Dark and oddly comedic I am still a bit shocked this did as good as it did. Sure lots of that is cause of Ackroyd and Belushi. 

This is the last film Belushi worked on before he ODed. It is also the reason why the punk band FEAR got booked for SNL. Belushi had promised them a spot on the soundtrack. Music was recorded and studio or someone said it wasn't gonna be used. So John used his pull and got FEAR booked on SNL. Which turned into one of the most infamous musical acts in SNL history.

For years this wasn't an easy movie to see. It wasn't until 2004 I finally saw the entire film. And that was a bad VHS rip I downloaded off the late great Tracker 3 bit torrent site. Thankfully Mill Creek put out this bare bones Blu ray. Which is part of their line of Blu Rays and DVDs that come with a slipcase making it look like a rental VHS.

For me this is my favorite Belushi film. Yes Blues Brothers is great and Animal House is fun. But Neighbors shows that John had way more range than people knew.

Neighbors gets a A-

Harlem Nights

 

TITLE-Harlem Nights

SOURCE-Paramount DVD

My brain was telling me this had come out when I was like 10 and that was the major reason why I didn't see it for years. Then before sitting down the write this I looked up the release year. Nope I wasn't 10. Guessing it was more the film got horrible reviews and with comedies my Dad normally waited and rented them on home video.

Set back in the probition era this movie was written,directed and starred Eddie Murphy.  Back when he was box office gold. Which is why when Harlem Nights flopped it hurt his career. Eddie is Quick a orphan kid who saves the life of Sugar a candy shop owner who also runs a speak easy and brothel. 

After this quick set up the film skips ahead to when Quick is grown and is now Sugar's number 1 man. Seems a corrupt racist cop has been paid off to harass Sugar. So Quick and the rest of the crew,which includes Red Foxx and Della Reese,come up with a plan to make them each enough to leave Harlem and start over in another town.

Harlem Nights is a comedic heist crime drama. Really it was Eddie wanting to do a period piece and cast lots of the older talent he loved.  So you get classic stand up comedians like Richard Pryor as Sugar or Red Foxx as a dealer in the casino. 

While this movie didn't do that great at the box office seems like thanks to cable airings it is now considered a hit. I know for me it was one if I ran across it on cable and it wasnt gonna be cut to shreds and packed with ad breaks I would watch it each time. That is why when I found this DVD cheap I had to grab it.

If you enjoy slightly raunchy 80s comedies this is worth seeing.

Harlem Nights gets a B.

Bad Manners

 

TITLE-Bad Manners

SOURCE-Scorpion Releasing Blu Ray

Back earlier in the year hit up the Kino Lober fall sale and really was just grabbing various items that caught my eye. And this 1984 comedy did that. I had never heard of it. Just saw Martin Mull and Karen black plus a orphanage full of bad kids and figured it was worth the 5 bucks.

Piper gets taken by the cops to a orphanage. Where he meets Girl Joey,a tomboyish referee shirt wearing tough girl.Mouse,small freckled faced terror. The one black kid at the orphanage,known as (this is how the subtitles spelled it) Blacky. And this blonde kid that I think they were trying to say was a skater kid. 

This orphanage is ran by nuns and the flamboyantly gay dude from Airplane,who in this one appears to have a crush on one of the younger nuns.

Or lead kids get put in medatation room,aka the freezer,and using Piper's switchblade cut their fingers.With Mouse cutting his middle finger,and become blood brothers.

Mouse gets adopted by Martin Mull and Karen Black. Who are some super rich 80s era Yuppies.Mouse goes to live with them and meets their oddball kids. Up first is their son. Who appears ot only ever watch Shogun Assassin ,the movie,wears his hair like a samurai and thinks he is Japanese. And their daughter played by Kimmy Robertson from Twin Peaks.

Back at the orphanage the remaining lead kids decide to break out. Make this wacky plan to shut off the electric fence that surrounds the property. The plan works in a way. They escape. 

Making it to a bus station they figure out they need about 11 bucks a kid to take the bus to where Mouse is. While trying to steal a purse in the bathroom Girl Joey gets caught. And speaking of girl Joey,I know this actress from something later on in her career. Can't be arsed to go look her up. Guessing there is another Joey at the orphanage that is a boy.

Back at Mouse's new home he is being a holy terror. Like hiding in the shower with a poloroid camera. And taking pictures of his new sister naked. Yep if you ever wanted to see Lucy from Twin Peaks naked get this film.....

Our lead kids get enough money and hop a cab. Their driver is drinking beer. Which leads to our kids drinking beer on the ride. And a conversation you wouldn't get in a comedy aimed at kids now. 

Mouse tries to escape by hitching a ride with a biker lady. He is almost to the Orphanage,yep he rather be there than be Mull's kid,but gets arrested along with a biker gang. So off Martin Mull and Karen Black go to bail their new son out of jail.

Piper and the rest arrive at the house. Kimmy talks them into tying her and her brother up to teach "My parents a lesson." Piper and his friends FUCK UP this house majorly.

Mull and Black get back home withh Mouse. More wackiness happens. And the film ends with Piper and the rest of the orphan kids,including Mouse,driving off in Karen Black's Triumph.

Credits roll over postcard like shots of the kids in various tourist areas. Including Hawaii.

Besides a some trailers and the subtitles there is no extras. The film looked good sounded good.

So yea this is very much a way too late ripoff of Bad News Bears. Got dialogue that feels like it was cut from Bad News Bears.

This was cheap in the sale. $5 IIRC. Scorpion is gone,the owner passed in 2023. So this is Out of Print and I really do not see another label putting it out on 4k or putting it out again on Blu ray. 

Bad Manners gets a C.