SUMMERFEST '22: Musical Double Features IV

In anticipation of Baz Luhrmann's upcoming biopic about The King, I couldn't resist making one of these an Elvis double feature.

Jailhouse Rock (1957)

Trailers: Viva Las Vegas, King Creole

Most of Elvis’s movies are not great, but this one is charming enough and a good (if formulaic) story about the cost of doing the music business and choosing whether to leave people behind in order to get what you want. The jailhouse number is obviously iconic, and that’s the lasting impression I have of the movie and not much else). Would make an interesting double feature with Penitentiary (1979), which I'll be watching in a few weeks for Junesploitation and which also has a meaningful mentor relationship between fellow prison inmates.

Elvis (TV, 1979)

Trailers: Elvis (2022), Rocketman

Directed by John Carpenter and starring his soon-to-be frequent collaborator Kurt Russell, this is your standard made-for-TV biopic that waters a whole lot of stuff down and was made frankly too soon after Presley’s death to be objective in any way. I kind of liked the framing device of his comeback concert in Vegas, and the thread of his relationship with his mother and the memory of his lost brother is a nice emotional touch. I was frustrated, though, that there is not one mention of his life after that, notably his eventual heavy drug use (though maybe not a lot of that was public knowledge at the time?). Russell makes a compelling Elvis, though, and would play him again years later in 3000 Miles to Graceland.

JUNESPLOITATION '22: Musical Double Features III

Today's double is a pair of girl-punk movies.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)

Trailers: Satisfaction, Sing Street

Diane Lane was 17 when this was made (and Laura Dern 15), and everyone in this, down to the Stains’ copycat fans, feels painfully real. This reminded me a lot of THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN (which I watched for last year’s Summerfest), particularly in the way that the Stains become a movement. I love that this isn’t a portrait of a band’s whole career (though we see a few snapshots of their eventual success in the movie’s final moments). This is about the initial phase, where they’re trying to define themselves. And I LOVE that, even though they have a crisis of authenticity at one of their shows, it’s too late for it to derail their momentum — they’re already on the radio and most people won’t care (or even know about) what happened at one gig.

We Are the Best! (2013)

Trailers: Her Smell, Prey for Rock & Roll

This was not quite what I expected but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Because the characters are so young, there’s a lot of screen time devoted to them just being kids. I feel like a lot of people have experiences like the story of this film. Two friends start a band, maybe add one or two people who actually know what they’re doing, ultimately write one or two songs, play one gig, and then perhaps it’s all over and they move on (the end of this film is ambiguous in terms of whether these characters ever play together again, but I imagine they drift apart and move on not long after the credits roll).

SUMMERFEST '22: Musical Double Features II

A couple of musicals with motorcycles for today. I would not have thought to put these two films together, so thanks to the Twitter user whose name I can't remember for putting it into my head.

Streets of Fire (1984) (rewatch)

Trailers: The Warriors, Slumber Party Massacre II

The plot here matters less than the style and the music. It’s wild to see Willem Dafoe this young (and this leather-clad). It also features maybe the least wimpy character I’ve ever seen Rick Moranis play. I find myself less and less interested in the doomed romance of Diane Lane and Michael Pare, though, the more I watch this. The mild dystopian elements and the all-night chase remind me a lot of The Warriors (1979), also directed by Walter Hill, which I loved. I live for this movie’s soundtrack, though, especially the two Jim Steinman songs.

Grease 2 (1982) (rewatch)

Trailers: Shock Treatment, Can’t Buy Me Love

Yep, I still prefer this to the original. The original has better songs, to be sure (though I love the songs in 2 as well), but the story here is much better, as are the gender dynamics. I love that the Sandy-equivalent Michael doesn’t change everything about himself at the 11th hour to appeal to Stephanie. He develops a skill (and a cycle) over the course of the whole film, in an effort to cultivate a shared interest between them. And he’s pretty much the same person as Cool Rider as he is as nice guy Michael. I also think this movie just looks better than its predecessor. The colors pop and it’s far less drab, and the director (having been a choreographer on the original) has a knack for filling the frame and making everything dynamic (though she almost always does so by throwing a dance number in the mix). Some of the shots are downright gorgeous (hello, motorcycle heaven!). 

SUMMERFEST '22: Musical Double Features I

For the past couple of summers I have set myself a ridiculous summer movie-watching schedule with a theme for each week and a movie for every day. This is generally a way to get me through the summer tedium until I take my end-of-summer vacation. I also tend to use it to get to a bunch of movies that have been on my to-watch list for ages, as well as rewatch some favorites. I also picked a couple of trailers to go with each movie because I am That Nerd.

Regardless of the calendar and solstices, I typically count Memorial Day weekend as the start of summer. So to kick things off, I'm filling this holiday weekend with some musical (or music-themed) double features. This and the next three days' posts were inspired by a tweet I saw where a theater was doing a double feature of Streets of Fire and Grease 2, which I decided I needed to do for myself (see tomorrow's post). It ended up being an excuse to scratch half a dozen movies off my to-watch list.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Trailers: Vox Lux, Stunt Rock

Great and hilarious mockumentary, in the style of Behind the Music (or whatever the modern equivalent would be). Written, directed and starring The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone), and featuring loads of their songs, created specifically for the film. Full of cameos from real life music industry personalities, lending everything a veneer of authenticity. This is first and foremost, though, a story of the importance of friendship and keeping your relationships intact through the ups and downs of success. I liked this more than I expected to.

Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

Trailers: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Dreamgirls

This has been on my to-watch list for some time. Another story about a music group that follows the Behind the Music trajectory, but the cast and the writing make it great. I confess I enjoy the villain’s plot a bit more than the boilerplate stuff with the band. But it’s still a lot of fun. Nearly perfect, in fact. I say nearly because I kind of despised the gag with Carson Daly. There’s nothing wrong with him being in the film as himself, as he was at the time a ubiquitous presence on MTV. But teasing a romance between him and Tara Reid’s character (Reid being his RL girlfriend/fiancee at the time) was incredibly cringy and took me right out of the film for a few minutes.