My Saturday night movie double feature

The new 4K remastered version of one of my favorite SF films, The Fifth Element. 

Then, the relatively new American Blu-Ray anniversary release of another fave of mine, Streets of Fire. 

I can tell you the many flaws of each, but I love them both.

Four movies I want on Blu-Ray

that are almost certainly never going to appear in this format:

1. Streets of Fire


2. LA Story


3. The Serial


4. Whiffs

I'll defend the first three, though you can make strong cases against any or all of them.  I'm not sure it says anything good about me that I love the fourth, but there you go; it's a sick movie that somehow works for me.  It worked for my mom, too, for whatever that tells you.

A sure-to-be-bad movie I have to see

Long-time readers may recall that I'm a big fan of the 1984 Walter Hill cult film, Streets of Fire.  If you've never heard of it, check out this incredibly dated trailer, forgive it its weaknesses, and then go watch the movie. 



Sadly, you can't buy this one in Blu-Ray, but deal with the sorrow and watch it anyway.

Now, a completely different director, Albert Pyun, has made a sort of spiritual sequel to this 28-year-old movie, Road To Hell.  The IMBD entry for the film lists it as a 2008 piece, but this article says it won nine awards, including Best Picture, at the recent PollyGrind film festival.  As this trailer demonstrates, the movie is almost sure to be bad.



I don't care.  I have to see it.  Jim Steinman's back on board for music, the plot again makes no sense, and the visuals look weirder (and worse) than the original. 

Yup, I have to see it.

Getting to be time to watch it again

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite films is also one I have to admit is not exactly a good movie: Streets of Fire. Recently, The Colony Theater showed it, but I wasn't able to attend. Ever since then, I've had a hankering to watch it.

In the meantime, I'll have to settle for enjoying these two music videos, both of Jim Steinman songs from the film.

I hope you do, too.

On the road again: San Francisco, day 5

Today was work, work, and more work, so there's not a lot I can discuss. Lunch was with an old friend and colleague, which was very nice. Dinner was with colleagues at Restaurant Lulu, where the food was tasty but the architecture was better; the redesigned warehouse is a lovely space. I also liked watching the wood-burning rotisserie, the flames from the burning wood cooking the meat but never touching it. Fire can be quite mesmerizing.

Do you have any movies that you intellectually understand are bad but that you deeply love nonetheless? I certainly do. I caught the last ten minutes of one of mine, Streets of Fire, on TV the other night in the hotel. Everything about this skiffy-feeling, retro, rock fable is wrong, but the resulting mash-up charms me every time. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing--though much of it in the overwrought-but-still-works-for-me way of much of Jim Steinman's work. Simply catching the ending made me smile.

My mother was right: I really am easily amused.