With Memorial Day weekend being unseasonably cool, I spent most of Saturday at The Brattle Theatre picking where I left off last night following the 50th anniversary screening of Taxi Driver.
Today, I saw three films which had very little in common with each other - Kings of the Road, Ghost World and Massacre at Central High. The only thing which connected them is these films are commemorating anniversaries. Both Kings of the Road and Massacre at Central High are commemorating their 50th anniversaries this year while Ghost World commemorates its 25th anniversary.
Kings of the Road (1976)
Of the three films, I was most interested in seeing Kings of the Road for the simple reason that it is directed by Wim Wenders. Of course, Wenders directed Paris, Texas which is among my favorite films of all-time. I have also viewed Wings of Desire.
Kings of the Road has elements of both Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire. Like the latter, Kings of the Road is filmed in black and white. Like the former, Kings of the Road shows both the beauty and bleakness of the outdoor landscape in both rural and urban settings. I can also see why Wenders recruited Ry Cooder because much of the background music is played on acoustic slide guitar.
The two main characters portrayed by German actors Rüdiger Vogler and Hanns Zischler spend extended amounts of time not engaging in dialogue when they are together. Vogler plays a traveling film projectionist who aids Zischler who drives his car into the river. Both men are individualists who keep drifting apart yet their wills bring themselves back to the other until it is time for them to permanently go their separate ways.
Two things about Kings of the Road will stay with me. The first was the lack of adult women in the film. In just under 3 hours, there were only 2 adult women in the entire film. The first woman isn't introduced until halfway through the film and was played by Lisa Kreuzer (who was married to Wenders at the time). Kreuzer plays a potential love interest for the traveling film projectionist as she turns out to be a ticket taker in an adult movie theatre.
The second thing which will forever stay with me was seeing the act of defecation on film. That I cannot unsee.
Ghost World (2001)
I can be grateful that no one involved in the making of Ghost World defecated on film.
My curiosity regarding this film was that it included the likes of Steve Buscemi, Bob Babalan, Ileana Douglas, an uncredited Terri Garr and a young Scarlett Johannson - two years before her breakthrough role in Lost in Translation. Johannson was the co-lead in the film with Thora Birch portraying two high school graduates trying to figure out what to do with their lives. The two have been inseparable since childhood but a rift develops when Johannson's character focuses on employment while Birch's character slowly becomes obsessed with an older, socially awkward record collector played by Buscemi.
As time goes on, Birch's character proceeds, often unintentionally, to make the lives of everyone around worse. In the end, she acquires enough self-awareness to conclude that it is best for all parties concerned that she leaves town and start over.
Both Birch and Johannson give good performances. It is astounding to me that Birch, while a steadily working actress, has not enjoyed the same level of stardom as Johannson. Unfortunately, film is a visual medium, and Johannson is more conventionally attractive than Birch. It isn't to say that Birch isn't attractive but not in the way casting directors view beauty. Which is a shame. But such is life.
Massacre at Central High (1976)
What drew me to this film was the presence of Andrew Stevens (the son of actress Stella Stevens) who was in arguably the worst episode of Columbo to ever air. Other familiar names include Robert Carradine who sadly took his own life back in February and Lani O'Grady, who would later join the cast of the hit ABC sitcom Eight is Enough. On yet another sad note, O'Grady would die of a drug overdose in 2001 at the age of 46.
However, the lead here was a fellow named Derrel Maury whose face I recognized but could not remember where I saw him. Well, now I know I saw him on some episodes of Happy Days and the short-lived Joanie Loves Chachi where he was part of the main cast.
In any case, Maury plays a new student at Central High named David who is a friend of Mark (played by Stevens). Much to David's chagrin, Mark has fallen into with three student bullies who run the school. Eventually, David takes out the bullies when they attempt to rape two female students played by O'Grady and Cheryl Smith. Alas, the bullies get their revenge by slamming a car he is fixing on his leg forcing its amputation.
Following David's recovery, he swiftly kills the three bullies in brutal fashion which gives the bullied students a new lease on life. However, that lease would be a short-term one when the bullied students turn out to be every bit as cruel as the bullies they once despised. So, Robert sets about killing them one-by-one.
I must say this made for an unconventional plot device. The problem was with its execution as much of the acting was over the top. Meanwhile, the killings, while gruesome, were greeted with derisive laughter. What was also glaringly absent was the lack of both parents and teachers. It was as if the students, or at least the bullies, ran the high school themselves.
Then there was also the gratuitous nudity. OK, that wasn't so bad.
Nor was the film nearly as horrible as Bad Girls Go to Hell or Marty Supreme.
Even if some aspect films of the film were shitty, there was no on-screen defecation.
When it comes to Memorial Day weekend, I don't want to be couped up at home. And if the weather isn't conducive to being outdoors for an extended period of time, then 7½ hours at the Brattle isn't a bad way to spend a Saturday on a holiday weekend.
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