Hello, all.
When I put TOP SECRET! in a sort of honorable mention spot the day I recommended AIRPLANE!, I was almost kicking myself for having not put it in the "series" as an official recommendation. It's just so good... not as good as AIRPLANE! in the spoofs category, however, so it had to get the boot.
But there's another Val Kilmer comedy from the 80s that really shines in its own right, and I don't know why I connect with the movie as much as I do - it could be that that "I feel out of place; I don't know how I fit in, or even if I do" shtick that drives the narrative [not to mention the awesome Rush tune "Subdivisions," but I digress] - but it hooked me from the very first frame.
And no, I'm not trying to be self-aggrandizing by recommending [nor saying I connect with] the movie:
REAL GENIUS
From IMDb, the plot is about how "Teenage geniuses deal with their abilities while developing a high-powered laser for a university project. When their professor intends to turn their work into a military weapon, they decide to ruin his plans."
In a decade that saw Hollywood inject a little Cold War hysteria in nearly any of its products, from ROCKY IV to RED DAWN to D.A.R.Y.L. to... well, pretty much anything America's dream factory churned out, this one manages to balance the ultimately temporary fear of the Russkies with seemingly timeless issues of wondering how and where one fits into the grand scheme of things.
It also manages to be pretty funny, which the trailer below barely communicates, frankly... but, it's embedded below all the same.
Much as I enjoy the sort of "coming of age" teen dramadies like THE BREAKFAST CLUB, this one just hits all the right beats for me. Beneath it all, there's a really solid story that might function as well as a Cold War thriller a la FIREFOX but for the solid performance by Val Kilmer, itself paired well against a sort of "odd couple" motif thanks to the role played by costar Gabe Jarret. As per usual, William Atherton plays the scheming antagonist to the hilt. Thanks to his doing so well at that in this film as well as in DIE HARD, it makes me wonder if he's playing to type or just a turd in real life. That doesn't really matter, tho', because his comeuppance [spoiler alert?] in this one is all the more satisfying thanks to his playing the foil to Kilmer and Garret so well.
I don't think I'm spoiling too much by sharing this clip, and I almost feel obliged to do so since the trailer for the movie did so little to play up its comedic elements... so, here's an aperitif for you to sample. If you don't like it, I guess you wasted about two minutes instead of a little over one hundred... but if the last three words don't whet your appetite for more, I don't know what to tell you.
Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is a pretty solid comedy [*cue rimshot*].
Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - GROUNDHOG DAY, Day 2 - KINGPIN, Day 3 - TRADING PLACES, Day 4 - FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF; Day 5 - MODERN TIMES; Day 6 - AIRPLANE!; Day 7 - CHEECH AND CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE; Day 8 - STRIPES; Day 9 - I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON!; Day 10 - STRANGE BREW; Day 11 - CLERKS; Day 12 - GHOSTBUSTERS; Day 13 - MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE; Day 14 - DUMB AND DUMBER; Day 15 - THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN; Day 16 - THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD!; Day 17 - VALLEY GIRL; Day 18 - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING; Day 19 - A FISH CALLED WANDA; Day 20 - THIS IS SPINAL TAP]
When I put TOP SECRET! in a sort of honorable mention spot the day I recommended AIRPLANE!, I was almost kicking myself for having not put it in the "series" as an official recommendation. It's just so good... not as good as AIRPLANE! in the spoofs category, however, so it had to get the boot.
But there's another Val Kilmer comedy from the 80s that really shines in its own right, and I don't know why I connect with the movie as much as I do - it could be that that "I feel out of place; I don't know how I fit in, or even if I do" shtick that drives the narrative [not to mention the awesome Rush tune "Subdivisions," but I digress] - but it hooked me from the very first frame.
And no, I'm not trying to be self-aggrandizing by recommending [nor saying I connect with] the movie:
REAL GENIUS
From IMDb, the plot is about how "Teenage geniuses deal with their abilities while developing a high-powered laser for a university project. When their professor intends to turn their work into a military weapon, they decide to ruin his plans."
In a decade that saw Hollywood inject a little Cold War hysteria in nearly any of its products, from ROCKY IV to RED DAWN to D.A.R.Y.L. to... well, pretty much anything America's dream factory churned out, this one manages to balance the ultimately temporary fear of the Russkies with seemingly timeless issues of wondering how and where one fits into the grand scheme of things.
It also manages to be pretty funny, which the trailer below barely communicates, frankly... but, it's embedded below all the same.
Much as I enjoy the sort of "coming of age" teen dramadies like THE BREAKFAST CLUB, this one just hits all the right beats for me. Beneath it all, there's a really solid story that might function as well as a Cold War thriller a la FIREFOX but for the solid performance by Val Kilmer, itself paired well against a sort of "odd couple" motif thanks to the role played by costar Gabe Jarret. As per usual, William Atherton plays the scheming antagonist to the hilt. Thanks to his doing so well at that in this film as well as in DIE HARD, it makes me wonder if he's playing to type or just a turd in real life. That doesn't really matter, tho', because his comeuppance [spoiler alert?] in this one is all the more satisfying thanks to his playing the foil to Kilmer and Garret so well.
I don't think I'm spoiling too much by sharing this clip, and I almost feel obliged to do so since the trailer for the movie did so little to play up its comedic elements... so, here's an aperitif for you to sample. If you don't like it, I guess you wasted about two minutes instead of a little over one hundred... but if the last three words don't whet your appetite for more, I don't know what to tell you.
Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is a pretty solid comedy [*cue rimshot*].
Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - GROUNDHOG DAY, Day 2 - KINGPIN, Day 3 - TRADING PLACES, Day 4 - FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF; Day 5 - MODERN TIMES; Day 6 - AIRPLANE!; Day 7 - CHEECH AND CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE; Day 8 - STRIPES; Day 9 - I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON!; Day 10 - STRANGE BREW; Day 11 - CLERKS; Day 12 - GHOSTBUSTERS; Day 13 - MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE; Day 14 - DUMB AND DUMBER; Day 15 - THE PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN; Day 16 - THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD!; Day 17 - VALLEY GIRL; Day 18 - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING; Day 19 - A FISH CALLED WANDA; Day 20 - THIS IS SPINAL TAP]
