Friday, February 27, 2009

BILLY JACK (1971)



This one is a pure classic in almost every sense of the "MISULF" word. In the later 70's and early 80's this one was constantly being aired on UHF, VHF, monthly pay, and some sporadic signals being picked up from other solar systems. I saw it many times, one because I was so heavily exposed to it, between repeat broadcasts, and two because my siblings dug it so much.

But why did I love it so much in my pre-adolescent mind? It wasn't the political messaging, which was hamfisted, because I wasn't ready for that yet. It wasn't the special effects, because there were none. It wasn't completely the martial arts scenes, though that helped.

It was the bullying.

As a kid I attended several elementary schools, one parochial, and it seemed like someone was always geared up to knock me off whatever good mood I may have been fortunate enough to wake up with that day. It got to the point of ridiculousness, and made me not want to go to school some days. Now I know being bullied is nothing new to many, but maybe that's why "Billy Jack" was so big with a lot of folks, not just the political views subscribed to by "dirty hippies" that were so much of the film's focus.

Billy Jack was the voice of pent up outrage at those who feel they are in control, and have to force that fact down the throats of everybody else. Tom Laughlin played Billy as a half-breed green beret Vietnam vet who wanders his Arizona locales becoming one with various natures, and protected the put-upon refugees from everyday life that comprise the student body of the "Freedom School", which is operated by Billy's friend, Jean. A local land baron, Posner, rapes the natural resources of the countryside for profit, while his spoiled rich son rapes, or tries to rape, the women of "Freedom School". It's a recipe for disaster.

It's Billy as vigilante that was the selling point for me. For a character that has the ultimate goal of peace for all mankind however, he does spend more than enough time whipping ass. As a bullied kid, that appealed to me. I was sold the moment Billy lands that vicious reverse crescent kick (terminology gleaned myself from two years of Tae Kwon Do study) to the smirking jowl of Mr. Posner, and leaves him laying in the grass of the town square, an embarassed and beaten soul.


The film however lingers far too much on the school and it's inhabitants, and those sequences can seem to drag on forever. It doesn't help the story. "Billy Jack" himself as a character wasn't what it could have been, either. I'm not saying Laughlin had to engage in a kung fu battle every 8 minutes, but the run time overall could have been trimmed to streamline the film into a more flowing narrative, giving it a brisker pace. The characterizations are there, but it seems like experimentation at times.

Nevertheless, a legend was born with the unexpected box office success and public endearment for the character, and there is a heavy nostalgia factor in it for me, as it is a leader in the MISULF (Movies I Stayed Up Late For) lexicon. It makes the MISULF Hall of fame. It's many flaws aside, I still have warm feelings for "Billy Jack".

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

SPECTRUM: LATE NIGHT VIEWING GETS A BOOST



In the early 80's we lived in rural Kenosha county in Southeastern Wisconsin. No HBO, no cable, satellite was in it's infancy. We had no VCR save for the gigantic Quasar Boat Anchor model we borrowed from a friend periodically. The answer: Spectrum, a monthly pay affair, that broadcast uncut first run movies using air time purchased from a VHF Channel 60 in Chicago.

Needless to say, this greatly enhanced my late night viewing. I'll be doing periodic posts about the great and not so great of Spectrum TV.

ZORRO (1974) One Don Diego, minus the Banderas, please

"Zorro" was a 1974 multi-country production starring Alain Delon, who made his biggest American splash as a pilot in the cumbersome "Concorde:Airport 79". My put-upon sister took me to see "Zorro" theatrically during a late 70's rerelease. I remember some serious swashbuckling, fantastic stunt work involving equine action, a lot of Alain Delon smooching, and the song "Zorro's Back", which was used to great effect a couple years back in the Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson collaboration, "Bottle Rocket".

This enjoyed some great late night runs on our pre-cable television sets back in the day, and I'm hoping to track it back down on DVD sometime in the near future. It would be nice if it would not fall into that category of movies & shows from back then that either I enjoyed or frightened me, which turn out to be not so great upon later-life viewings. This is an every growing phenomenon that I call BTARS.

It's an affliction that you lapse into when you collect the popcorn, soda, and snacks and pop in a days-long-gone-by movie that you're geeked up about seeing again only to realize BOY THAT ACTUALLY REALLY SUCKED. BTARS. There is no cure.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

MAGNUM FORCE



Yeah, I'd need both hands to count how many times I stayed up for the second film in the "Dirty Harry" Callahan film series. Many nights, I sat in front of the age-old Sylvania console television, rubbing the sleep out of my overworked peepers. I forced myself to stay alert with the single minded purpose of catching Clint himself as he blows away half of the crooked San Francisco police force, a single-handed, one man walking death warrant for the corruption that had infiltrated the SFPD, under the evil guidance of one Hal Holbrook.

Hal's soldiers included a then unknown Tim Matheson who went on to some fame in "Animal House", and as a side note, I believe I just caught his name on the small screen recently as a director of an episode of "Psych". A young David Soul, a few short years before "Starsky & Hutch", and the mini-series that had me defecating in my pants, "Salem's Lot", was also one of the "dirty" cops that spent much of their time pulling over known pimps and drug dealers for one reason, and one reason only, and that was to blow their brains out.

You might question why 'ol Harry, a damn-near vigilante himself, would have a problem with this sort of thing. That gets answered succinctly late in the film, when good old Mr. Holbrook's character asks Harry about his "hypocrisy" and the Inspector's frequent "bucking of the system".

"Until something better comes along....." was his answer.