Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer (2004).

The Scoop:
If you haven’t become acquainted with Larry “Wild Man” Fischer, this is an excellent opportunity to do so.

Fischer was born with the double whammy of manic depression and paranoid schizophrenia, but buried inside that troubled mind is a strongly melodic musical sensibility. After an adolescence filled with family troubles and a stay in a mental institution, Larry found himself on the streets of Hollywood in the mid-1960s, where he survived by offering his songs – frenzied, a cappella outbursts of childlike enthusiasm mixed with the pathos of his life story – to passersby for a dime. He was found and befriended by Frank Zappa, who helped corral Fischer’s chaotic musical (and personal) energy for his memorable, if not always listenable, 1968 debut album, “An Evening With Larry ‘Wild Man’ Fischer.” After falling out with Zappa, the Wild Man continued his music career through partnerships with Rhino Records and Barnes & Barnes, punctuated by troubled interpersonal relationships and a growing cult of fans.

This documentary, by Josh Rubin and Jeremy Lubin, covers all this rich history, following the 60-year-old Fischer through his transient daily life as he tells stories, makes up songs, spins his paranoid theories and occasionally acts out. There are also revealing interviews with Wild Man acquaintances and fans, such as Mark Mothersbaugh, Billy Mumy and Robert Haimer of Barnes & Barnes, Dr. Demento, Weird Al Yankovic, Irwin Chusid and Gail Zappa.

Listening to Fischer’s music can be a difficult experience. Even those songs with professional backing sound raw, primal and disturbing. But they can also be fun and catchy; once you get one in your head, you’ll be humming it for days.

And therein lies the trouble, not just in considering Fischer, but also other mentally ill songwriters like Daniel Johnston, Roky Erickson or Wesley Willis. How much are fans and collaborators supporting the efforts of talented (although troubled) musicians, or how much are they simply exploiting the talents of people who can’t otherwise look out for themselves? And how much of their musical talent is merely a manifestation of untreated mental illness?

These are questions with no easy answers, and ones which Rubin and Lubin mostly choose to ignore. “Derailroaded” is a fascinating look at the inner workings of a talented, but very difficult man. But any insights into the larger questions will have to wait for another time.

Best Bit:
Wild Man's two performances of the title song. When he sings it on the beach at the beginning of the film, it comes off as just a fun, catchy little earworm. But when we see him do it again in concert near the end, it becomes something more, a desperate cry of pain from someone who has no tools to articulate it properly.

Side Note:
Because of his split with Zappa (allegedly prompted by Fischer throwing a glass bottle at then-infant Moon Unit), his debut album has not been re-released on any format since 1968. If you want to hear it, you have to either spend big bucks on eBay, or hunt it down on a torrent site.

Companion Viewing:
"The Devil and Daniel Johnston" (2005) and "You're Gonna Miss Me" (2005).

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.
eFilmCritic interview.
The Wild Man discography.

Take a Look:
The strange four-way conspiracy between Wild Man, Weird Al, Dr. Demento and Barnes & Barnes, that exists only in Larry's mind:


"Merry Go Round," Fischer's biggest hit:

Jawbreaker (1999).

The Scoop:
Rose McGowan seems born to play the queen princess ice bitch sex goddess, and this role just cements that reputation.

A catty '90s update of "Heathers," "Jawbreaker" finds McGowan as Courtney, the leader of a vengeful high school clique who accidently kills one of her friends then enlists others to help her cover it up. She hits all the right notes in her performance, creating a character that is both fuckable and detestable at the same time. The supporting cast, which includes veterans like Pam Grier, P.J. Soles and Carol Kane, is solid as well. And, as a bonus, we even get a cameo by the Donnas as the prom band.

Director Darren Stein's script may be filled with a few too many clichés, and may be a little too derivative of other teen revenge comedies, but it works well as light, sugary entertainment. And it is all carried by McGowan's terrific performance.

Best Line:
"I mean, food's cool and all. It tastes good and you need it to live, but the mere act of eating involves thoughts of digestion, flatulation, defecation -- even, shall we say, complexion defection."

Side Note:
William Katt and P.J. Soles, who play Mr. and Mrs. Purr, costarred together in "Carrie" (1976) while Charlotte Ayanna, who plays their daughter Liz, costarred in "The Rage: Carrie 2" (1999).

Companion Viewing:
"The Doom Generation" (1995) and, of course, the much better "Heathers" (1989).

Links:
IMDb.
The drinking game.

Take a Look:
The Donnas!


A Marilyn Manson cameo (big surprise!):


The opening sequence:

It (1927).

The Scoop:
Here she is -- Clara Bow in all her glory.

Although she was already a rising star, her role as "the It girl" catapulted her career into the stratosphere. Her performance as the free-spirited store clerk looking for love in the big is still a landmark, raising the film above its purely mercenary origins. "It" was conceived a not-quite-blatant promotion for Elinor Glyn's advice book-cum-novel of the same name, which set forth her vision of how young women should act to nab the men of their dreams (essentially an early version of "The Rules" or "Mars and Venus," or any of the other bogus relationship help books that still pop up from time to time).

Unfortunately, Clara's stay at the top would be short-lived. In spite of her charismatic presence, she wound up becoming one of the many victims of the film industry's shift to sound production. She could never quite shake her strident Brooklynese accent (think Fran Drescher through a megaphone) and the clunky early sound recording equipment forced her to bottle up her energetic acting style and stand still while on camera. Her final film, "Hoop-La," came out in 1933, just six short years after her success with "It."

Glyn's book may be a relic of the Roaring Twenties, but Clara and the movie still live on. Delectable.

Best Line:
"Sweet Santa Claus, give me HIM!"

Side Note:
Look out for a cameo by a pre-fame Gary Cooper as a newspaper reporter. Like so many of the young men in Clara Bow movies, he wound up as her sexual partner.

Companion Viewing:
For a couple of other great silent screen sirens, check out "Pandora's Box" (1929) with Louise Brooks and "A Fool There Was" (1915) with Theda Bara. To compare "It" with Clara's sound work, there's "The Wild Party" (1929), which features a great concept and Clara's bubbly personality both squashed by the limitations of the medium, and "Call Her Savage" (1932), her best talkie performance.

Links:
IMDb.
Silents Are Golden.
The Clara Bow Page.

Take a Look:
That Clara, she's a charmer:


A trip to the carnival:

Mighty Joe Young (1949).

The Scoop:
Sixteen years after the fact, the team behind the landmark "King Kong" -- producer Merian C. Cooper, director Ernest B. Schoedsack, special effects guru Willis O'Brien and actor Robert Armstrong -- return to their old stomping grounds to give the story a fresh, more kid-friendly twist with "Mighty Joe Young."

Blowhard producer Max O'Hara (Armstrong, essentially reprising his "King Kong" role) travels to Africa looking for wild animals to include in his latest vaudeville production. (Never mind the fact that vaudeville was all but dead by the late 1940s. Don't question Hollywood storytelling!) He and his guide Gregg (Ben Johnson) luck out by finding a 12-foot gorilla who was raised by a young woman named Jill (Terry Moore). Jill and her ape, now dubbed Mr. Joseph Young, are persuaded to travel back to America and go into show business. The show is a success for a while, until unruly audience members taunt Joe and push him too far. He goes on a rampage, then goes on the lam as Jill, Gregg and O'Hara try to keep him one step ahead of the cops and get him back to Africa.

Besides the same basic plot, "Mighty Joe Young" also shares the same thematic concerns as "King Kong" -- namely, the exploitation of Third World cultures and the tragedy of humankind's encroachment on nature. But the script by Ruth Rose gives these themes a lighter, more fun twist, complete with the happy ending that Kong deserved but never got. The biggest drawback is a final act that drags on a bit too long.

But the real treat here is the charming stop motion animation that brings Joe to life. While the character was designed by O'Brien, who got top billing, the majority of the actual animation work was done by his apprentice, the legendary Ray Harryhausen, who got his big break here. While the style isn't as smooth and expressive as most of Harryhausen's later work, it is still terrific, bringing a tender and almost humanistic side to Joe. And because Joe is smaller in stature in Kong, that means a lot more interaction with the human characters, which is pulled off skillfully thanks to the special effects team.

The end result is a wonderful companion piece to "King Kong" that is engaging and enjoyable. Forget the 1998 remake and stick with this one.

Best Bit:
The first nightclub sequence, which is highlighted by a bravura tracking shot through a set that is quite literally larger than life. The set was too big to be built as it was envisioned, so the tracking shot is actually an optical composite of several smaller sets.

Side Note:
Terry Moore had a long and varied career after this film. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1953 for "Come Back, Little Sheba," then made the jump to television with guest roles in everything from "Rawhide" and "My Three Sons" to "Knight Rider" and "Murder, She Wrote." She even played a villain in the original "Batman" series, and was one of the executive producers of "America's Funniest Home Videos." In the 1970s claimed that she had had a long--term secret marriage to reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.

Companion Viewing:
"King Kong" (1933) and "Son of Kong" (1933).

Links:
IMDb.
This Distracted Globe.
The Seventh Voyage.
A closer look at Joe's getaway van from I Love Trucks.

Take a Look:
A horribly colorized version of the strongman scene. (All these guys are playing themselves, by the way):


Some clips of Terry Moore's scenes:

Up (2009).

The Scoop:
Pixar has been around long enough now, and it's aesthetic has become firmly established enough, that the easy approach to evaluating each new film is to compare it Pixar's earlier releases. "Up," however, changes the expectations just a bit.

When we first meet Carl Frederickson (Ed Asner) he is a child in the Great Depression watching newsreel footage of his idol, explorer Charles Muntz, sharing his discoveries in Paradise Falls, somewhere in South America. The oddball Carl soon finds his match in fellow Muntz lover Ellie (Elie Docter). A montage quickly shows their life together -- fixing up their dream house; trying to save money to visit Paradise Falls, but never quite having enough; losing a baby and living childless; and finally Ellie's death, which leaves Carl alone and bitter.

This sets the stage for the main action, in which Carl not only escapes from the greedy developers who want to take his house, but also from the prison of his later years, by using balloons to fly his house away to Paradise Falls. Accidentally hitching along for the ride is overeager Nature Explorer scout Russell (Jordan Nagai). When they finally reach South America, they find a talking dog (Bob Peterson), a legendary bird and a few secrets about Muntz himself (Christopher Plummer). And, of course, it wouldn't be a Pixar movie without some lessons about the nature of family and cherishing the adventures of life.

The technical quality of Pixar's animation continues to evolve. While the characters are highly stylized takes on familiar animated "types," and the look of the scenery and camera work is the studio's most naturalistic yet. The aerial scenes are especially breathtaking.

Although there are some significant plot holes in the script by writer/directors Peterson and Pete Docter, they shouldn't be any concern for the young viewers who are ostensibly the main audience for "Up." But with the usual mix of comedy and action that are Pixar's hallmarks, Peterson and Docter have mixed in liberal doses of pathos, too. The many small compromises that get in the way of Carl and Ellie's dreams are vividly presented, as is the narrowness of Carl's later years. It's handled with a light enough touch to pass over the heads of younger kids, the message is unmistakable for the adult viewer.

It's this mix of humor and heavy subject matter that helps easily supplant "The Incredibles" as the most "adult" of Pixar's offerings so far. And it is also what makes "Up" so difficult to compare with Pixar's earlier efforts. Perhaps it is simply heralding the maturation of Pixar's vision, as the studio's earliest kiddie audiences are now moving into adulthood.

While "Up" may not be as flat-out fun as other Pixar films, the same message of living adventurously is still there, although it is delivered with some of the bitter pills of growing up.

Best Line:
"My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you. "

Side Note:
Of course, helium-filled balloons can't really pick up a house like that. And certainly not as many as shown in the movie. It would take a factor of more than 600 times more balloons to lift that much weight.

Companion Viewing:
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939).

Links:
IMDb.
Official site.

Take a Look:
The trailer:

Terror Firmer (1999).

The Scoop:
After decades as an underground cinema phenomenon, I suppose you can do anything you want to do.

Witness this little movie from our friends at Troma (which company co-founder Lloyd Kaufman directed, cowrote and stars in), in which every one of their familiar trademarks is thrown into a blender with the lid off. Weird sex, grotesque violence, drugs, familiar characters, hilarity, even a blatant ad for the company's website -- it's all here, coming at the viewer a mile a minute, along with bits of Kaufman's filmmaking philosophy and his take on film history.

Eventually the mayhem settles down enough to outline a basic plot -- the oddball denizens of a low budget movie set are being threatened by a mysterious serial killer. The cast is led by Will Keenan and Alyce LaTourelle and features such familiar faces as Debbie Rochon, Ron Jeremy, Lemmy, Joe Franklin and Kerry Kenney.

As with everything else produced by Kaufman and his partner Michael Herz, the right people will love this while everyone else is disgusted and appalled. It's sprawling and chaotic and not quite their best work. But if you are looking for the quintessential Troma movie, this may well be it.

Best Bit:
The hermaphrodite tolerance PSA at the end, which stars Trey Parker and Matt Stone as a hermaphroditic couple and is narrated by Lemmy.

Side Note:
Somehow, this is supposedly based on Kaufman's book "All I Need to Know About Filmmaking, I Learned From the Toxic Avenger."

Companion Viewing:
Troma, Troma, Troma!

Links:
IMDb.
Official Site.
Badmovies.org.

Take a Look:
The trailer:


Some typical highbrow Troma hijinks. (Warning -- contains graphic violence and a naked fat guy):


Building hermaphrodite awareness:

The Sidehackers (a.k.a., Five the Hard Way) (1969).

The Scoop:
This film blows the cover off the new sport of sidehacking -- guys racing motorcycles with homemade sidecars welded on to them. Obviously, it never quite caught on. And with films like this promoting it, it's no wonder.

What vague plot there is concerns a mostly-shirtless racer with the improbable name of Rommel (played by Ross Hagen) who seeks revenge against rival rider J.C. (Michael Pataki) for killing his girlfriend (Diane McBain). The beginning features an extended clichéd montage of the lovers romping through a meadow -- and the laughs just keep coming from there.

Weird and violent, with plenty of bad direction by Gus Trikonis (who later found a home directing several episodes of "Baywatch") and bad camera work by cinematographer Jon Hall (who wouldn't work on another film for 20 years). There were a slew of bad biker films flooding the drive-ins in that period, but this was among the worst.

Best Line:
"That's the nice thing about little girls -- they can grow up to be women."

Side Note:
Rumor has it that Goldie Hawn (who was married to Trikonis at the time) was an uncredited extra in this film, but not even the awesome power of the internet can confirm whether this is true. Keep an eye peeled while you watch it and judge for yourself.

Companion Viewing:
"The Wild Angels" (1966).

Links:
IMDb.
Daddy'O's Drive-In Dirt.
The Screengrab.

Take a Look:
Some bits and pieces:


You can watch the whole thing on the YouTube installment plan, starting here:


Some real life sidehackers. Don't try this at home, kids!