Bakshi Pop

AMERICAN POP-1981-This is an unusual musical mostly animated drama from Ralph Bakshi. It goes through several generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant who come to the US to escape the Cossacks. He winds up as a Burlesque Singer, marries, gets involved with organized crime, loses his son in WW 2 and turns state's evidence in the '50's. It touches on The Beats, TV, alienation and restless youth. His grandson becomes a Kerouac type character hitching across the US, hanging out with hobos, washing dishes, smoking dope with hippies, tripping on acid and writing song lyrics. He becomes an addict and eventually a runaway he befriends becomes a pusher/lyricist (?). Many famous songs are partially performed but none by the original artists.

Bakshi made this three years after his disappointing version of LORD OF THE RINGS.

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Wrestlers Or Rock Stars?

THE MARINE-2006-You would have thought after the debacle of NO HOLDS BARRED in the ‘80’s dirt bag wrestling owner Vince McMahon Jr. would have learned his lesson about making movies. But of course being the self-centered bastard that he is, Junior decided the time was right to try it again. Too bad for us all!

All he could come up with was a cheap Swartzenegger rip-off starring the guy, John Cena who at the time happened to be the champion of McMoron’s wrestling promotion. Every cliché’ in the book is thrown in. Explosions abound. It’s the kind of action flick that gives CGI a bad name. Robert Patrick is the bad guy who kills a lot of people (there’s even a TERMINATOR in joke). Director John Bonito had previously done work for wrestling on TV. Hopefully we will never hear from him again. Chuck this shit and go watch John Woo’s HARDBOILED!



TWO LANE BLACKTOP-1971-A duo drag race their way around the USA. James Taylor is The Driver and Dennis Wilson is The Mechanic. Both need acting lessons. Warren Oates is GTO another driver who challenges them to a race in Washington DC. Laurie Bird is The Girl. Harry Dean Stanton appears as a gay hitchhiker. Everyone walks around a lot and works on their cars. Sometimes they talk. Cult Director Monte Hellman made this between THE SHOOTING and COCKFIGHTER (which also featured Oates & Bird). They didn’t seem to know how to end the movie so the final scene has the film burn away. Some have said this is the ultimate road movie. I say it’s pretty boring…



GREENDALE-(2003)-A few years ago it seemed like every actor or actress would direct at least one movie in his or her lifetime. Fortunately that “trend” has kind of abated. Still egotistic nobodies like Vincent Gallo make their own movies and actually get them released so why can’t a rock and roll icon like Neil Young?

Of course this isn’t his first attempt. He directed several of his own concert films (like RUST NEVER SLEEPS) and one very bizarre “real” movie called HUMAN HIGHWAY. This is totally different from anything he has done before and in fact it’s totally different from most other films too! It’s kind of a rock opera/musical/parable, which besides writing the music he also produced and directed (under his usual pseudonym “Bernard Shakey”). It’s filmed in grainy Super 8 except for some excellent CNN like news reports. The central characters are The Green Family including their hippie father, his two sons (one a painter, one a cop killer) and his environmentalist granddaughter. There’s no dialogue. The characters only mouth Young’s lyrics at certain points in his songs. The story involves topics that usually pop up in Young’s songs: saving the environment, not trusting the government and manipulation by the media. It’s kind of experimental I guess but not all that interesting, mainly because (much like Frank Zappa’s 200 MOTELS) with the exception of two songs (“Bandit” and “Be The Rain”) the music isn’t up to Young usual standards. The director appears briefly as Wayne Newton…

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Does This Kind of Review Look Interesting To You?

200 MOTELS-1971-Chaotic eclectic psychedelic musical from the brain of Frank Zappa that purports to show how “touring can make you crazy”.

Ringo Starr headlines as Larry the Dwarf who spends most of the movie disguised as Zappa (did Dylan see this before making RENALDO & CLARA?). Theodore Bikel is Rance Mohammed, a devil type character who tries to buy several souls. All the scenery and props are deliberately phony looking and it was originally shot on video then transferred to film. Howard Kaylan & Mark Volman (the future Flo & Eddie, form-erly of The Turtles), at the time front men for the reconstituted Mothers band are the other nominal stars but the other then current mem-bers (Ian Underwood, George Duke, Anysley Dunbar) also participate. The biggest role goes to the unknown bassist Martin Lippert, Starr’s real life chauffeur who got the role by default when original bass player Jeff Simmons quit the group right before filming began. Three original ex-Mothers (Motorhead Sherwood, Don Preston and Jimmy Carl Black who sings “Lonesome Cowboy Burt”) are also featured. Keith Moon is a harp-playing nun. Other characters include some real groupies, a newt and a vacuum cleaner. 

The story concerns wrecking hotel rooms, stealing towels, smoking dope, getting laid and selling out. The Mothers are constantly referred to as playing “Comedy Music”. Zappa (who’s barely seen at all) is viewed as the guy who is controlling everything and making serious musicians do things they wouldn’t normally do (much as it was in real life!). 

There’s a lot of strange video FX and a crude cartoon segment (The Dental Hygiene Dilemma) is fairly humorous. The Mothers play enough music but to be honest, and this is coming from a fan, Zappa has produced better music. Stuff like “Penis Dimension”, “She Painted Up Her Face” and “20 Provocative Squats” are some of his weakest ever. The finale of “Strictly Genteel” starts off ok but lapses into a mess as the film ends. He has more success with the neo-clas-sical soundtrack.

Credited director Tony Palmer had made CREAM’S FAREWELL CONCERT in 1969 and later worked on several BBC specials.





Not content to rest on his laurels Frank Zappa returned to the big screen in 1979 with BABY SNAKES, a three hour opus he refused to edit in order to get a distributor. Undaunted he rented out movie theaters in LA and NYC and showed it himself (George C. Scott did a similar move with his THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE). He also made the documentary THE REAL STORY OF 200 MOTELS in 1981.

Weird personal footnote: The day after I watched 200 MOTELS (only the second time in 12 years) I learned of the passing of the aforementioned Martin Lickett. His 15 minutes of fame long gone, he died in London after many years as a barrister. He was believed to be in his late 50’s.

Another personal note: Zappa appeared on TV to promote the film. He performed two songs with the band on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW, which is the only time "the Flo & Eddie"  Mothers appeared on TV in The US!

"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read"-Frank Zappa

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