MY MOVIE SHELF: Wayne’s World

 

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 144  Days to go: 97

Movie #294:  Wayne’s World

As far as striking while the iron is hot goes, Wayne’s World maybe takes the cake. This silly little SNL skit from a post-Weekend Update time slot, that became a pop culture phenomenon among teens, took advantage of its popularity and released a movie (filmed in 34 days, because fame is fickle) at its height. It was a huge success, reeling in the eighth highest box office of the year and earning itself a far less satisfying sequel. It’s full of lines and references that still get quoted, and it still holds up really well as just a very funny film, but maybe it’s most underrated impact was on the popular music of the day.

Two months before Wayne’s World came out in theaters, the year-end top 100 songs of 1991 featured TWO SONGS BY COLOR ME BADD IN THE TOP TWENTY. There are also multiple songs by Bryan Adams, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Roxette and C+C Music Factory. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing — these are my teen years and I listened to and loved all (or most) of these songs. But Wayne’s World came out and suddenly kids in high school were rocking out to music from the ’70s — wildly different stuff than was popular at the time. “Foxy Lady” came out in 1970. “Ballroom Blitz” came out in 1974. “Dreamweaver” came out in 1975. And I don’t know a single person who didn’t loudly sing along and headbang to “Bohemian Rhapsody” in their car in 1992, even though it was a glam rock song from 1975. Which is probably why it ended the year in the Top 40. Yes, 1992 was also the year of “Baby Got Back” and “Achy Breaky Heart,” so it’s not like popular music became less goofy — honestly “Bohemian Rhapsody” probably pushes it far into “more goofy” — but the landscape definitely changed.

The music is also important to the movie because the band Crucial Taunt, fronted by Cassandra (robo-babe Tia Carrere), really does wail. I mean, I could listen to her scream sing for hours on end. She’s great.

GRATUITOUS SEX SCENE. (“Excellent.”)

I could probably go on about every single funny line in this movie for a while, but we don’t really have time for all that. Suffice it to say it’s funny as hell, with lots of silliness and lots of laugh-out-loud moments and lots of clever little jabs or winks. I love it all. And anyone who’s ever made or laughed at a foreign language translation joke in which a two-syllable response converts to a full paragraph of text, or vice versa, loves Wayne’s World too. But what I’m maybe most impressed by, in terms of committing to a comedic idea, is that a guy is introduced as Old Man Withers very early in the film for the sole purpose of a Scooby-Doo alternate ending. That’s fucking fantastic, I don’t care what anybody else says.

It’s also pretty impressive that Wayne (Mike Myers) can be goofy and sweet and fun but he also has a moment of true dickishness in his fight with Cassandra, which, honestly, most comedies are hesitant to do. Sure, he redeems himself pretty quickly, but that’s a bold move for such a seemingly frivolous flick. Likewise, I adore Garth (Dana Carvey) for his meekness but also his mental acuity, his willingness to stand up to Wayne, and his eventual wooing of his dream woman (Donna Dixon). Mostly, though, I like how Rob Lowe (a robo-babe in his own right, let’s be honest) shows up as the slimy, underhanded Benjamin. (“If Benjamin were an ice cream flavor, he’d be pralines and dick.”) He gets a full-body cavity search and has the walk to prove it, he speaks douchey Cantonese (“I’d like the cream of some young guy.”), he has a dick that can be mistaken for a snake (no doubt why he gets Cassandra in the super awful bad ending), and he even uses the word “litrally” just like his Parks & Recreation character Chris Traeger. (And considering I’m still feeling bittersweet over the series finale of that show, his “litrally” couldn’t have been more welcome today.)

(He doesn’t blow goats, though. I have proof.)

Add a psycho hose beast (Lara Flynn Boyle), and you kind of have a perfect comedy. (No way? Way.)

MY MOVIE SHELF: Spies Like Us

The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015.  Remaining movies: 173  Days to go: 121

Movie #265:  Spies Like Us

Laughter is the best medicine, they say,so how better to deal with the exhaustively long-running Cold War than to make a goofy comedy about it featuring a couple of delightful SNL alums?

“Doctor.”

“Doctor.”

“Doctor?”

“Doctor!”

I’m not saying Spies Like Us is on par with Dr. Strangelove or anything — or even other silly ’80s comedies, really — but I do like it quite a bit. I like the skewering of government officials of all types and positions. I like the subtle but pointed nod to Ronald Reagan’s career in goofy movies of his own, back in the day. I like the absurd levels of secrecy and security. I like the utter and total incompetence of the military as a general rule. I like how Dan Aykroyd routintely pimps out his wife to be the hot chick object of affection for one of his costars (or sometimes, even himself — see Exit to Eden). I like that schlubby goofball Dan Aykroyd is married to internationally recognized gorgeous person Donna Dixon. I like the ridiculous fur coats and hats they wear once they cross into Russia.

Dan Aykroyd is Austin Millbarge, a code breaker and languages expert working in the bowels of the Pentagon and hoping to better himself by taking the Foreign Service Board exam and get some sort of swanky overseas embassy job. Chevy Chase is Emmett Fitz-Hume, a smarmy, lazy, entitled diplomacy worker at the State Department who expects to sleep his way past the exam, or at least have his family legacy get him in. They come together during exam time, when Fitz-Hume railroads Millbarge into helping him cheat on the test in a most spectacular way. (Bonus! Frank Oz is the test administrator who is having none of their shit.) These shenanigans bring them to the attention of nefarious military dudes, who are looking for a couple of schmucks to send up as decoy spies into Pakistan and Russia so the real spies will stop getting killed. They go through a crazy mock-up of military training over the course of a day, and get dropped into the desert with a nebulous mission. Cue a Bob Hope cameo, a botched appendectomy, Donna Dixon as real spy Karen Boyer, scary Russian spies, and some hard-partying Russian missile guards, and you have one heck of a funny little flick.

Also, the Star Wars Defense plan doesn’t work, but it does blow up an MTV satellite, so it’s not all bad.