Adam Rifkins’ “Detroit Rock City” is the movie in the vein of “Rock n Roll High School” that seeks to unabashedly pay tribute to the magic of KISS and how they inspire four guys to travel across the country and break the law for them. Because they’re so fucking awesome, you see. Hawk (Edward Furlong), Lex (Giuseppe Andrews), Trip (James DeBello), and “Jam” (Sam Huntington) are four of the most hardcore KISS fans alive and are preparing to travel to Detroit to see the band in concert. Sadly, Jam’s Conservative Christian mother discovers the tickets he and his friends bought, and burn them. Anxious to find more tickets, the foursome win a call in contest but are so excited they hang up on the DJ before they can give them their names, disqualifying them.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Wayne’s World (1992)
I grew up during the second golden age of “Saturday Night Live,” and I admit that I never saw why so many people loved “Wayne’s World.” Even with the knowledge of what public access TV is years later, the sketch was always very one note to me. That said, we were lucky enough to get the feature film adaptation on VHS when it was released in stores, and it became an instant favorite. The movie itself was a hit, but “Wayne’s World” is a genuine childhood favorite mainly for breaking out of the single setting trappings and expanding the universe of Wayne and Garth. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey are back as the hosts of the public access TV show that celebrates all kinds of random humor and appreciation of hot women.
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Forever (1991)
If you want to experience a movie where you’ll begin to think you accidentally slipped some acid, “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Forever” is that movie. A very loose sequel to the 1979 original movie, rather than the follow up being a tribute to an iconic punk band, it’s another dated teen comedy about high schoolers committing pranks because they can. There just isn’t much about this movie that makes a lot of sense. And the fact that nothing here makes the slightest bit of sense is a distraction from the notion that the movie has no narrative behind it. Nothing happens here, but the movie does attempt to continue perpetuating the idea that Corey Feldman is still some kind of rebel who works to his own tune.
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)
If there’s any band out there that deserves their own movie, it’s the Ramones. Allan Arkush’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” is a bonafide love letter to the punk juggernauts that ruled music in the seventies and eighties. While the movie is a genuine tribute to the band, even with them appearing constantly to perform some of their greatest hits, “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” is also a very funny and silly movie, to boot. It’s a kind of a parody of a teen high school comedy that would oddly become the norm in the eighties. It’s also kind of a satire of Roger Corman’s own teen oriented films that has the foresight to tackle punk rock over the then popular disco. “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” is way ahead of its time in satirizing a lot of cliches that would become the standard, including the snooty classmates, uptight teachers, and of course, the evil authority figure.
5 TV Shows I Enjoyed in 2016
I still am a big TV Junkie, but I admit there is just too much TV to really keep up with these days. So with shows appearing on all kinds of online services, and shows getting cancelled left and right, I don’t commit to a new series very often. While I have my old favorites like “The Walking Dead” and “Ash vs. Evil Dead” and while I buzzed about my favorite show of the year, “Stranger Things” earlier in the year, I managed to squeeze in time to watch a few other new TV shows that I had a very good time with. These are five shows I kept up with adamantly and plan to return to next year.
What were your favorite TV shows in 2016?
My Five Favorite Episodes of “The Honeymooners”
Not many people know this, but both of my parents are hardcore fans of “The Honeymooners” and growing up I must have seen every episode of the Jackie Gleason sitcom at least a thousand times. I have every quote memorized, I remember every episode, and yes, I’ve even sat through the painfully unfunny, and boring “Lost” Episodes. I’ve also never seen the cinematic reboot with Cedric the Entertainer since, as a fan, I have to draw a line somewhere. In either case, 2016 marks the sixtieth anniversary of when Jackie Gleason voluntarily cancelled his sitcom “The Honeymooners” after thirty nine episodes.
The series lived on in syndication for decades after, becoming a cult classic and garnering an immense following of loyal fans. There was even at one time a convention for the fans of the series. “The Honeymooners” is a New York staple, and every single year the local TV station in New York (WPIX/Channel 11), plays a twenty four hour marathon of all thirty nine episodes. Since it’s been almost a hundred years since the show bowed out, I thought I’d list my top five favorite episodes of the series. It was not an easy feat, at all. With great pain, I had to omit a ton of great episodes in favor of this five, including “The Worry Wart,” “Trapped,” “A Matter of Record,” “Mama Loves Mambo,” and so many more.
In spite of that, these are the top five episodes of “The Honeymooners” that always stand out most for me. If you have never seen “The Honeymooners,” I highly suggest these five.
Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
“If you must blink… do it now!”
It just serves to prove my theory that bad animated movies can be excused since they’re “for kids” is a cheap cop out meant to let crap pass by us. Animation studios are providing amazing kids fare, including Laika who seemingly snuck out of nowhere to deliver yet another stop motion children’s masterpiece. “Kubo and the Two Strings” is probably their great animated stop motion achievement to date. It’s an immense, epic, and heartfelt ode to the art of storytelling and the power of memories. It’s teeming with fantastic Asian folklore offering a very respectful view of its characters, and creates a wonderful hero who is capable of defeating evil not with his fists or guns, but with magic and his ability to think outside the box.