Modern soul jam in Repo Man (MSTR)
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Do you remember that scene when Emilio is hanging with the black dude, and he's like "do you like music? Then you'll love this! I was down with these dudes before they were famous" and he puts in some blue cassette featuring some rad mustache soul. Anyone know what group that was? Was it on the soundtrack?Also, since a lot of cool synth moder soul came out in the very early 80s, what's the deal with private moder soul on cassette?
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IT IS ON THE SOUNDTRACK.
anyhow the song is on the OST with the dialouge over the intro
and i beleive it is original soundtrack music by "the plugz" made for the movie
The movie is a fun to watch but it's only appeal is the cult appeal, IMO.
I genuinely think this is a good movie.
'let's go do some crimes' + the Circle Jerks = pre-teen heaven!
The Plugz, real punk rock band from LA, I believe mutated into the 80s new wave/roots rock band Cruzados. They also did the soundtrack to New Wave Hookers if memory serves. I think the lead dude is also in From Dusk Til Dawn as the singer in the house band.
Repo Man= my second favorite movie ever.
I honestly don't know what this means ... you are saying the appeal is
it's popularity with underground film heads but not the film itself?
I think she was an actress/model, not in any bands. On the DVD commentary, Mike Nesmith and the casting director remark that they had seen her recently, and that somehow she had managed to look exactly the same, as though 20 years hadn't even passed.
They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example;
show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp
out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either.
It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.
you eat a lot of acid, Miller? in the hippie days?
Do people know how the script was written? Apparently two dudes had a bet that a good movie script couldn't be written in 24 hours and..... repo man is it. I say really good movie, give the writer his money. Fucking classic up and down, watched it at least 6 times.
"...you're a suburban punk, just like me."
it is.
estevez (and sheen) have a pretty solid catalogue between them.
some dogs, no doubt, but a good body of decent movies also.
they should be proud.
"John Wayne was a fag."
All of those things make the movie enjoyable to watch and very memorable. It's no coincidence why this movie evaded the trash bin of history like so many other odd-ball sci-fi teen movies (anyone remember "My Science Project" for example).
But if you really look at the movie it's terrible. Directing is disjointed. Dialogue is often often awkward and delivered woody. Emilio cannot act at all. The pacing is fucked up. There are gaping plot holes were there doesn't need to be. This is not to mention the totally unnecessary love subplot or Emilio's random bursts of misogyny (they didn't offend me or anything, they just seemed out of place).
So, was it a good movie? Not really. Is it appealing? Totally, for the reasons I stated above.
Aside from your assertion that there are gaping plot holes(more to the point, entire side plots started and never completed), I couldn't disagree more.
I do, however, feel that it was Alex Cox's fluke....he directed one great film and a whole slew of junk with some shining moments. It may have been accidental, but that don't mean it ain't magical.
However, I'd like to hear your take on the Dialogue, the pacing, and Emilio's ad hoc "personality" in that movie.
I guess I have never picked it apart in quite the same way. To my eyes, the pacing is fine because it never lags, there is always something 'happening' but yet all the haphazard 'lattice of coincidence' seems organic and not forced or wooden. Otto seems intentionally disconnected and a bit out of it, and while I don't think Emilio is any great shakes as a thespian, he servicably imparts the dialogue with enough cynical conviction and laziness that it fits the role to a tee. The dialogue is no Shakespeare, granted, but in it's way, it's the kind of balance of wit, just-enough-irony, and sincere weirdness that would be almost impossible to do currently. As such it rides the fence of kitsch, exploito-trash, action-adventure, sci-fi, and highbrow concept beautifully, and like I said before, probably accidentally. Look at another film Nesmith produced with a similar jumble of concepts, Tapeheads. While it has it's charm, with excellent performances and off-kilter feel, it rarely succeeds as spectacularly as 'Repo Man'. It just isn't 'of-it's-time' the same way, and just misses the magic by a hair in a way that Repo Man hits improbably at every turn.
On top of it all, I would challenge anyone to find a film of that era more richly photographed than 'Repo Man', unless it was one of Robby Mueller's own films from the same period. I could go on, but Repo Man needs no defense, it is it's own reward.
John Wayne was a fag.
I saw it like 3 times right when it came out. It was in my top ten for years. Rented it a while back and decided it wasn't that great. I forget why. Propably the reasons you site.
The characters are great. Most of them are very real. The most outlandish ones are very real. It reminded me of jobs I fell into that had a bunch of sad guys working there who were all friends because otherwise they wouldn't have friends.
On the other hand I also revisited another cult film from the same time. Brother From Another Planet is still in my top ten. I dare you to find something bad about the acting in that movie.
I've seen Repo Man at least 20 times (I worked at a theatre), and I still like it, but you cannot compare it to the films of John Sayles.
Dude is
I like good story telling and Sayles is one of the best.