SECONDS
The Preshow Entertainment was GET A LIFE episodes. Oh boy did I love this show when it was first on. And I still love it now. I rented it through Netflix (they have Volume 1, but not Volume 2), but the DVD didn't arrive on time. Luckily, I have a couple dozen episodes on VHS. So I dug (and I mean that) them out. The pizza took stupid long to arrive, so we watched two episodes (the 5th and 6th of 35)- PILE OF DEATH and PAPERBOY 2000.
For any of you uncool people, GET A LIFE (the title was always in lower case) was an early Fox show, featuring Chris Elliot as a 30 year old paperboy living in his parent's garage. I remember when the pilot episode aired I was roaring with laughter, not a common thing while one watches sitcoms. Chris's real dad is the Bob from Bob & Ray, and he plays his dad on the show. He killed me in Bob & Ray, and continued to murder me in GAL.
PILE OF DEATH- To save the playground that he loved as a child, Chris decides to have a fundraiser. He will raise money by beating the world record of having things piled on top of him.
PAPERBOY 2000- Chris is fired and replaced by Paperboy 2000, an urban tank-like vehicle that tosses the papers directly on people's welcome mats.
It's hard to describe the clever disguised as dumbed down (and often, simply dumbed down without the clever part) humor of GAL. I think a lot of people didn't get it, and that's okay. It's really an acquired taste show. I just happen to have that taste.
If you've never seen GET A LIFE you can rent them, or ask me nicely. Maybe I'll dub you some. Postage and Handling extra.
The Random Movie was SECONDS.
This is a sci-fi semi-thriller made by John Frankenheimer, and starring Rock Hudson(who doesn't show up until maybe the 35 minute mark, so he's only in the last hour). This film was released in 1966, a few years after Frankenheimer made THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (which many call the greatest American movie made...up there with CK, TG, and TG Part 2).
It's the story of a banker who gets a second chance at life. Literally. You pay a company (as secret as T.H.R.U.S.H.) to have your identity (and body, which isn't yours) killed, and you are "reborn" in a new place, new vocation, and....new face. But be careful what you wish for.
It's a mood movie, and, like GET A LIFE, hard to describe. It's very visual and slow moving, a plus for some, irksome to others. It's really a long Twilight Zone with incredibly horrid dubbing. It looked like the entire movie was looped. Everyone looked and sounded like, well, like Astro Boy and Professor Elephant were having a chat.
And cool, another black & white movie (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was last month's RMC). According to IMDB, cinematographer James Wong Howe was nominated 10, you heard me, 10 times for 10 movies (he won twice). Wow.
Tags: random movie club, seconds, get a life, john frankenheimer
