Film Strip

Last week I watched Smokey and the Bandit for the first time. Well, technically, I had seen bits of it here and there when I was a kid, but that was edited for television, so I’m saying this was the first time.

And I have to say…fun movie.

While highly unbelievable, both in concept and characters, I couldn’t help but like this movie in the end. I suppose having unbelievable inconsistencies in a comedy movie was just something you did back in the late 70’s, early 80’s (see Caddyshack). From the bumbling Sheriff to the fact that Sally Field fell for Burt Reynolds after about 20 minutes.  Heck, does anyone ever notice that they never paid for the beer. They just stole it!

For those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a Trucker named Bandit (Burt Reynolds) who takes on a bet to drive from Georgia to Texarkana, TX to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer, and get back in 28 hours. Now at this time, Texarkana was the farthest east that Coors was sold, and carrying it across state lines was bootlegging. To pull off this feat, Bandit enlists his friend Snowman to drive the truck, while Bandit speeds ahead in a Pantiac Trans Am. In essence, Bandit will draw the cops attention by speeding, then lose them, all the while Snowman drives in freely. Along the way they pick up Carrie (Sally Field), who…let’s just say comes along for the ride for no apparent reason. There’s a reason, she’s being pursued by a Sherif (Jackie Gleason), but there’s really no reason why she’s there other than to be a love interest, and partial comic relief.

That’s the gist of the movie. A bet to haul 400 cases of Coors across state lines in 28 hours. Like I said, highly unbelievable. But to tell you the truth, it is fun.

Basically, the movie is Burt Reynolds and a one hour car chase. That’s about all you need to know.

They don’t really make actors like Burt Reynolds anymore. Sure, he’s not the greatest, but the fact that he was a man’s man, a ladies man, and a comedic actor is quite the combo. I can’t think of a single actor today who fits the bill. Maybe George Clooney and Brad Pitt came close, and to a lesser extent Matthew McConaughey, but all of them definitely lacked the mustache 🙂

And they sure don’t make chase scenes like that anymore. Now they’re all serious and “realistic.” At no point in Smokey and the Bandit did I fear for Bandit geting caught or injured. I actually didn’t fear for anyone getting injured. It was all good fun despite any destruction. Like you would see in a Herbie movie.

Hopefully one day we’ll see another movie come along with this sense of fun, adventure, and mustache.

But please don’t do a re-make.

Our Friday Blog segment “What’s Friday’s Entertainment” continues. As is the custom, we will look at 1) What movies are coming out, 2) What movies are tops in the box office, 3) What DVD/Blu-Ray might be better, or 4) a Wildcard of my choosing.

1) What movies are coming out?

• Source Code
• Insidious
• Super
• Hop

2) What’s tops at the box office?

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
2. Sucker Punch
3. Limitless
4. The Lincoln Lawyer
5. Rango

3) What DVD/Blu-Ray might be better?

• Deja Vu
• Paranormal Activity
• Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, The Professional
• Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

4) Wildcard!

• April Fools!

Alright friends, it looks like another less-than-stellar week at the movies. Each of the four movies coming out this week have rentable counterparts that would be much better. Yes, I’m saying Deja Vu looks better than Source Code, and I don’t know how Jake Gyllenhaal keeps getting starring roles. By now he should be a cameo at best until he can prove otherwise.

Insidious looks like it’s trying too hard to be a scary movie. You know, like all those knock-offs of The Ring a few years back?

Super just looks bad. I like Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson, but this looks like a parody of Kick-Ass without trying to be a parody of Kick-Ass. It’s as if the studio wanted Kick-Ass mixed with Scott Pilgrim and a side of The Professional. Hints my suggestion of all three of those as substitute rentals for this movie.

Hop simply looks bad, but if you have kids, you’re probably going to watch it some time this weekend. I’d suggest any good children’s movie as a substitute, but I’ll go with Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (original with Gene Wilder) since the Easter Bunny theme reminded me of Willy Wonka.

Again, the tops at the box office look like a fall-back plan at best.

So that leaves us with…The Wildcard!!

Yes folks, today is April Fools Day. Unlike some websites and blogs that will try to trick you, I’m giving you a heads up (assuming you’re reading this in the morning) to let you know to be on the lookout. Also, this way you can plan a quick trick for someone.

Some good easy-to-do tricks are to put a sticky not on the TV that it’s broken and someone’s coming to fix it later. Another is to switch the handle on your fridge from one side to the other, while still keeping the opening on the original side.

Those are just some easy ones. You can search the Internet for others. But please remember, a good prank doesn’t damage property or injure people. (For some reason everyone doesn’t know this.) This means, don’t watch Jackass to get any ideas.

Happy April Fool’s Day Everyone!