Can't Sleep...Bed's On Fire

Man, I was trying to wind down, and just caught, on AMC, the end of the weirdest damn movie: They Live. It was made in '88. The premise is that WWF superstar Rowdy Roddy Piper (ah, 80's wrasslin' nostalgia) finds a pair of magic sunglasses which allow him to see the world for what it is. Billboards reveal their Orwellian subliminal messages of "OBEY," "CONSUME," and "PROCREATE." He also finds that certain yuppies, when looked at through sunglasses, have glowing eyes and a creepy, Skeltor-like visages. They're...ALIENS!!! Rowdy Roddy is soon spotted as one who can see after he gracefully pirouttes into a checkout line after insulting an old-lady alien with the bizarre nonsequiter "You look like your neck fell in a bowl of tapioca in 1956."

So, he kills some aliens-disguised-as-cops, and stumbles into a bank, delivering the most famous line of the movie, "I've come here to chew bubblegum, and kick some ass, and I've just run out of bubblegum."

After being thrown through a plate glass window and tumbling down a mountainside, he runs into his construction worker buddy played by reknowned character actor Keith "How'd you get the beans above the frank?" David. In his best Luke Skywalker fashion, Rowdy tries to get Keith to join his cause, although instead of inticing him with promises of great wealth beyond his imagination, he beats the shit out of him in a scene that goes on for twelve minutes! After some more ultra-violence, something else happens. Explosions, machine gun battles, witty dialogue, and Ah, I dunno. This was written and directed by John Carpenter. Wha??? Although it contains that special so-bad-it's-brilliant quality of movies like Eddie and the Cruisers II. It endeared itself to me. I shall watch again.

Wanna know something geeky? In preparation for my Crim Law final, to help pin down the law, I'm analyzing Alex and the Droogs's liablity in the movie A Clockwork Orange. Remember when Alex breaks into the Health Farm and the Cat Lady swings a bust at him and insults him? Think Alex has a colorable provocation defense to mitigate a homicide charge? Wanna go out on a limb and argue self-defense against the Cat Lady? Only the Model Penal Code and my Crim Law professor know for sure.

Ugh...I'm such a geek....