I generally refrain from weighing in, whenever possible, on all things Oscar, given that, on a certain level—to put it ala Stephen Malkmus—I don’t care, I don’t care, I really don’t care. I mean, I care when I have to, which generally involves remuneration, but as I’m footing the bill on this bit of internet real estate, no. Thank you. Also, the beat seems to receive substantial attention from many others, including the President of the He-Man‑F.W. Murnau-Haters Club, Mr. Tom O’Neil, who this morning spread the glad tidings that Dreamgirls director Bill Condon and his producing partner Laurence Mark would be taking the reins of the long largely-moribund Oscars ceremony for 2009.
I approve for many reasons, not all of them journalistically pure. For one, Condon’s a friend of a few of my friends, and at least one of my dearest. For another, the few times I’ve met him, he struck me as one of the most gracious, engaging, erudite fellows in the American film world or any other. I dig his movies—Gods and Monsters, which could have been a train wreck in less sensitive hands, is as graceful and moving as movies come; Kinsey has real balls, real wit, and real empathy; and Dreamgirls is one of the more ambitious screen musicals of any era—and for my money it hits more than it misses.
But truth to tell, the main reason I revere Bill (if I may call him Bill) is because he’s one of the geniuses behind one of the greatest moments in tout le cinema: the party scene in 1981’s Strange Behavior, directed by Michael Loughlin. Bill co-wrote the script, associate-produced, and co-starred, and yes, he cherishes the scene as much as I do. (Unless he was just humoring me when I brought it up.) Scored to Lou Christie’s immortal “Lightning Strikes,” it begins as a standard montage of kids dancing and busting each others chops, and gradually transmogrifies, for no “good” reason at all, into a fully choreographed number. I can’t believe it hasn’t made it onto YouTube yet, so here are some screen caps from the bit’s climax:
If Bill can pull off a single Oscar segment a third as audacious as this one, it’ll make the show.
I…see.
Yeah, the caps, as delightful as I find them, really don’t make it. You need to EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC. See the film. Live the film. Etcetera.
I suppose I’ll have to now. It features Robin, and an off-brand Batman, so I don’t see that I have much choice.
I think the picture as a whole is right up your alley. It starts off as a kind of sendup of teen slasher pics, but gets progressively nastier, and ends up über-creepy. Good stuff for horrorphiles.
Yeah, you know, I just went to Netflix to add it to my “overflow” list, and saw it was a horror film, and bells started going off. I haven’t seen it, but I think I’ve wanted to in the past, and then forgot that I wanted to. I might have even known, at one point, that Bill Condon wrote it.
Re: The Oscars
I love Bill Condon’s stuff, but if he’s smart, he’ll make it QUICK. And if the Academy’s smart, they’ll stream it live.
Re: Strange Behavior
I’ll have to check that one out, at some point. Even if the last time I watched a movie you blogged about, it turned out to be “The Gauntlet.” (for the record, tonally I think it’s all over the place and hasn’t aged well as an action film, but your Capra comparisons make sense, and it’s got a great sense of humor. I wish I had a screencap of Eastwood’s incredulous expression as the constable asks that oh-so-detailed question of Sondra Locke.)
Is that “The Apple”? I love that movie!
ummm, yes. can i please go to this party?
failing that, i suppose, there’s the dvd. wow, you just got some remuneration for that dude, didn’t you? at the least you got shadow goofs like us to rush to netflix. which may not wind up as _that_ much residual caysh, but, still, funny how these things work sometimes. to pick up the thread from below, and ask the same (stupid? navel‑y? def nasally) question as ever – what are we? are we only here to promote shit? i hate that thought. but i love that ghoul‑y girl dancing with her arms out even more… so, yes, thanks for the tip, GK. my plunge into dreyer just got delayed again. that shit’ll be there, right?
I remember the scene well and it is terrific. Last time i saw the movie i even went and downloaded an mp3 of “Lightning Strikes”. Didn’t Loughlin follow this movie up with an equally off-beat science-fiction movie caled “Strange Invaders”, with Paul le Mat, Diane Scarwid and the wonderful Nancy Allen?
I think the “Cut Your Hair” lyrics are, as usual with Malkmus, a display of his essential ambiguity (or in DFW words, Analytic-Paralysis). Pretty sure that particular lyric from “Cut Your Hair” goes “But I don’t care, I care, I really don’t care”…which is just delightful, because even thinking about whether you care or not about a particular subject probably means that on some level you care about it, at least as an abstraction/distraction, which pretty much sums up the Oscars anyway. Good to know you’re a Pavement stan though…