Movie Details
| Title: | Hollywood Man | |
| Director: | Jack Starrett | |
| Year: | 1976 | |
| Genre: | Biker | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 04.25.06 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (4)
- Cleopatra Jones
- The Gravy Train
- The Losers
- Race with the Devil
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 04.25.06 | Rolling Roadshow | This Screening is part of event: Best of QT Fest Hollywood Man was described by Quentin as being a Biker movie meets 8 1/2. It's about a movie stuntman trying to make a movie about a biker who becomes the object of harassment by a real biker gang. He's got his own problems with having to deal with shady Florida-scale mobsters to get financing, so when these bikers show up he kicks their ass and throws them off the set. Little does he realize that the leader of this biker gang is a full-on rapist psycho killer... even with a combover this guy is crazy. So the movie plays half straight and half as a movie about movies (complete with the self-aware scene where William Smith, the main dude, talks to a rural honky cop about how their conversation is like a scene right out of some cheap exploitation movie where the main dude talks to some honky cop). It's pretty interesting... I think I was more engaged by this than the first movie of the night... People were dropping like flies around us but Thomas in the back would clap at these random moments that he felt needed it, which made me laugh. The big thing about this screening was that this huge lightning storm flared up in the sky behind the screen pretty much right after the movie started. By the midpoint the entire sky was flashing bright with strobes and flashes of lightning. At first I was sure that it would start raining any second and ruin the second movie, but pretty soon it became apparent that no thunder was accompanying the lightning so we just got an awesome silent fireworks show as a backdrop to the movie. There were even several scenes in the movie where lightning was supposed to be flashing (of course when you're on a budget a single white frame with a thunder sound effect after it is all you need), so a few moments mirrored very nicely between what was on screen and what was all around is. It kind of made the whole driving way out of town and freezing on a rock for three hours worth it for me... that's one thing you don't get in a theater. I really only had a few notes about this movie though. One was that William Smith's biker character in the movie within the movie wore a fake mustache that made him look just enough like Jack Palance to be cool, and also there is this really horrible theme song that plays 3 or 4 times throughout the movie, complete with a few verses of lyrics. Quentin actually sang a bit of it last night then had to stop himself until he could unleash it tonight, and unleash it he did. I think he knew most of the words and belted them out for us all to hear tonight... It's the kind of song that really sticks in your head... like 4 notes over and over again. According to quentin, when we're 80 and have alzheimer's and can't remember our mother's name, we'll still be able to sing this song. Hearing it in my head right now, I fear he's right. An interesting side note: talking to Lars after the movie ended, he said that the movie itself was rumored to have some sort of mob involvement with the financing, making the line between reality, movie, and movie-within-a-movie blur even further. I guess I should mention that the movie has a surprise ending regarding these shady florida mob investors... it was a good ending. So that was it for tonight... day 2... a double feature outside under the stars (hidden by clouds the entire time... except for one random light in the sky that popped up for a while and didn't move, then disappeared again. ufo! ufo!)... tomorrow night is back home at the alamo, and kicks off with a movie i've been dying to see ever since i saw Rulers of the City a few nights ago. Can't wait!!! |
