"Big Trouble In Little China" at 40

Just listen to the ol' "Porkchop Express" and take his advice on a dark and stormy night, alright? When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye, and asks you if you paid your dues; you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have you paid your dues, Jack?" "Yes, sir, the check is in the mail."

Apparently this week marks 40 years since the release of one of the greatest films ever made, Big Trouble In Little China.

From the previews, I'd been mildly interested in what I saw, and then saw the flick featured in a movie-FX magazine I leafed through in B. Dalton at the mall (did I buy the magazine?  I did not).  Probably they were discussing the big red ape monster and the eyeball guy, and maybe some lightning FX, and that was enough of a sale for me.

1984 Watch: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

Watched:  07/21/2024

Format:  Alamo 

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  W.D. Richter

We've already seen and discussed The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) a few times before.  

I saw it was showing at the Alamo as part of their 1984 ReWind series, and since I hadn't seen it in a theater since 1984, I figured it was probably fair to see it again on the big screen.  

Maybe the highlight of the film on this go-round was that, upon exiting, Jamie - who I thought was lukewarm on the movie - said "it just gets better every time you see it!" which is my firm-held belief.  It really is one of those movies that drops a million little things along the way, and every time one shows up - whether it's a watermelon in a press or Yakov Smirnoff as a Presidential Advisor or bubble-wrap eye protection - it's a reminder that someone pretty f'ing clever put this movie together.  

Anyway, here's to another viewing of a favorite from my youth.  40 years!  Where does the time go?  

The crowd, by the way, was a mix of aging nerds and somewhat younger nerds with kids in tow.  I can only imagine the car-rides home.

Watch Party Watch: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)

Watched:  02/25/2022

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Director:  W.D. Richter

A first viewing of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) is not an easy task, I would assume.  

I saw Buckaroo Banzai on its release in the theater thanks to a dad who was not particularly nerdy and didn't care for nerd culture, but had certainly enjoyed serials and whatnot in his youth, and absolutely got what the movie was selling.  And I loved it.  Absolutely was into the movie.  I still love the idea of a team of folks with specialties standing between civilization and chaos.  And I got that the movie was funny and winky.  

But I also watched it over and over on cable and recorded on VHS for a bit through middle school.  What I didn't know was that the movie had flopped.  Horribly.  I mean, it made sense that my dad had to drive us across town to the one theater showing the movie, which was mostly empty.  But I also had seen Adventures in Babysitting in a theater so empty of anyone but me and my pals, the manager had come in before the movie to tell us "no monkeyshines", and that's an American classic.

Friday Watch Party: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

Well, we're gonna do a watch party.  And we're going to do a movie that holds a very special place in my heart.  If there's one fictional character I wish I could be, and not fly around in a red cape, it may be the titular character of this 1980's sci-fi adventure comedy whatzit.  The coolest character to ever take the screen.

Scientist/ Stunt driver/ rock and roll musician/ philosopher and so much more: Buckaroo Banzai

Day:  Friday 02/25/2022

Time:  8:30 PM Central/ 6:30 PM Pacific

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Cost:  $0 for Prime Members/ $4 for non-Prime Members

CLICK HERE TO JOIN US ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION, MONKEY BOY

PODCAST: Simon and I talk "Big Trouble in Little China", "Buckaroo Banzai" and "War Games"

Buckaroo Banzai
Already covered

War Games
Watched:  03/17/2018
Viewing:  Fifth or Sixth
Format:  Alamo Drafthouse/ Village
Decade:  1980's

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Watched:  03/18/2018
Viewing:  Seventh or Eighth
Format:  Shout Factory BluRay
Decade:  1980's

Join SimonUK and I as we ponder some cult favorites of the 1980's!  And, boy howdy, do we go all over the map on this one.  But, mostly, we stay on task.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Watched:  02/27/2018
Format:  Alamo Ritz
Viewing:  Oh, probably the 12th or 13th, at least
Decade:  1980's

Oh, what to say about Big Trouble in Little China (1986)?

2015 - A Year in Movies (Let's Talk Numbers!)

When I came back to the site at the end of 2014, I picked up in 2015 with enough hubris and energy to decide to write about each movie I watched this year.  Unless something weird happens in the next few hours, I am able to accurately state that I posted on every movie I watched which I watched in its entirety in calendar year 2015.

I did not mention every movie I did not watch all the way through, usually because I tuned in for a bit to a movie I'd seen before and wouldn't bother to finish or came in very late.  I also didn't do full write-ups of a few movies, but no one seemed to mind that I had nothing to say about Spies Like Us.

So, in this post - let's talk numbers.  I'll give out awards later.

For the breakdown on a spreadsheet, feel free to click here.  It's also at the bottom of the post, if you hate clicking things.

As of 2:18 PM on December 31, 2015 I watched and said something about 181 movies.  

The last time I kept count was 2012, when I watched just 136 movies.  As I recall, we were watching a lot more TV that year and I was working like crazy.

That said - that's a whole 45 more movies, at about 1.75 hours a piece, that's about 79 more hours of movies - or two working weeks.  Plus, I dunno, maybe 45 minutes per post.  That's about 34 hours of post-time.  So, a total of about 113 hours more than 2012.

(edit:  I actually checked and back in 2012, we were double-posting movies a lot.  It was 136 posts and 147 movies.  Corrected numbers - 34 more movies in 2015, an average of 59.5 hours of movies, 25.5 hours of posts, so - let's call it 85 hours more than 2012).

Yikes.

If we figure 181 movies at 2.5 hours of watching and posting, that's 452.5 hours I've give you people this year, or more than 11 weeks of work.  And it's likely more than that as a lot of the movies were more than 1.75 hours, so let's not think too hard about this before I start really worrying about what I'm doing with my life.

Anyway, here we go...

SW Watches: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimenstion

We have a fairly recently instated rule at League HQ that Friday movies must be "fun".  It's the end of the work week for me, and Jamie's usually worn out by this point - so it's the kind of night when we'll put on something with more than two Amigos, but fewer than four.

But we've also run through the pile of lightweight comedies of late, and I dusted off a DVD I'd purchased probably ten years ago and put it in, and when the DVD menu came up, I learned:  Jamie had never seen The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension.  Or, as most folks call it, Buckaroo Banzai.  

yes, all of these people are in this movie, and more...

I first saw the movie during its theatrical run.  The Admiral, being no dummy, drove us all the way across town to the one cinema showing the film.  As I recall, Steanso and I loved the thing, totally and with no hint of irony.  I had no idea it was a throwback to the Doc Savage concept of the super-human leader with his trusty band of do-gooders.  I just knew it had everything I wanted in a movie at the time.  A brilliant neurosurgeon/ particle physicist/ martial artist/ rock star hero (and what right thinking kid didn't want to be that in the mid-80's?).  Aliens.  Other Dimensions.  Space Ships.  Ellen Barkin.

Join Us for the Seminal Films of My Youth: Buckaroo Banzai and Commando!

You are either with us or against us tomorrow evening at the double-bill screening of Them! and Godzilla (I recommend "with". We have mutant ants and a 30 story-high radiation-breathing lizard on our team.).

But if you can't make that:


The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
July 17th at 7pm at The Alamo Ritz

If you've never seen Buckaroo Banzai, I pity you. Peter Weller plays the titular physicist/adventurer/rockstar, and the cast includes a very young (and attractive as always)Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, and even Clancy "Lex Luthor" Brown.

To explain the movie is like trying to explain the 8th Dimension its very self.  But, its sort of a 1980's tongue-in-cheek take on old school Sci-Fi ideas like Doc Savage and his team of adventurers.  Also: trans-dimensional aliens, rockbands, and jet-propelled mini-vans.  Its...  an amazing bit of movie-making that utterly flopped at the box office (although I saw it in the theater, natch), and has become a cult favorite of nerds everywhere.

Commando
July 21st at 7pm at The Alamo Ritz

To me, this is the quintessential modern action film.  I don't love this movie because it is good, or even for nostalgic reasons.  I love this movie because it is absolutely pure and sincere in what it is (sincerely ridiculous), and you can pretty much demonstrably prove that every action movie that came before or after this movie somehow touches this movie as either leading to Commando or as a descendant of Commando (or, the era that produced Commando.  And, of course, this is the ultimate movie of that era). 

I literally talk about Commando at least once per week.  Partially because EVERYBODY HAS SEEN COMMANDO.  This is a rule.  Everyone has seriously seen this movie.  Want to talk about the dull characterization popular in action films?  Commando.  Want to talk heroes who do more damage than good by anybody's measure?  Commando.  Want to talk about stripping down to your skivvies for no reason other than that you've hired Mr. Universe for your action picture?  COMMANDO.

COMMANDO!

Plus, they're gonna set off fireworks in the theater.

A Father's Day Tribute to: The Admiral

The Admiral's icy gaze of disapproval.  Man, if I had a nickel...

Just look at the fella in the picture. Pity him, for he has endured no small amount of nonsense from yours truly.  Good guy, The Admiral.  Puts up with a lot.