Gardening and a quickie review
May. 7th, 2007 08:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalSo yesterday I got off my duff and shaved the lawn (it's too small to call it mowing), hit the garden center and reseeded the dirt, doused it in weed killer/fertilizer, poured new dirt and mulch to refill the plant beds, and filled the works with impatiens, along with a new azealea for the big planter. End results look much nicer than before, though it'll take a little while for the impatiens to grow to a good size.
After that I sat down and re-watched my favorite film from Roger Corman's long career, Death Race 2000.
It's the far flung future of the Year 2000. America is now a global empire, ruling from New York to Peking under the benevolent eye of Mr. President, our permanent Commander-in-Chief and head of the Bi-partisan Party. To keep the masses from growing too antsy, they're kept entertained by the Trans-Continental Road Race, a New York to New Los Angeles journey where racers score points by mowing down pedestrians.
Naturally of course this is opposed by the "The Rebels" a pro-democracy underground led by Thomasina Paine, who are out to kidnap the odds-on favorite, Frankenstein (David Carradine), a driver that has been in so many wrecks he hides his features under a black mask and gimp suit.
Oh, and they're also busy killing the other drivers in the race, from Calamity Jane to Matilda the Hun, who tend to dress and act like pro-wrestlers. With Machine Gun Joe Virterbo (a pre-Rocky Sly Stallone) being Frankie's chief rival and only other surviving winner of previous races.
The sad thing, as bloody and cheerily cynical as this black comedy is, it would probably get a PG-13 rating these days if it weren't for all the boobie shots Corman puts in to keep the audience's attention. The kills the drivers make tend to go by very quickly, mostly to hide the cheapness of the splatter effects, that you barely see anything. As Corman notes somewhat acidly in the commentary, in the scene where a young Frankenstien fan sacrifices herself so her hero can up his point total, a modern version of the film you'd probably get to see her get run over in loving slow motion while Frank cleans her blood off with his car's windshield wipers. Fortunately the film doesn't go this, er, route, and everything is kept on a cartoony level.
Besides, you have to love a movie with lines like, "There you have it! Frankenstien has just been attacked by the French Air Force, and he kicked their derrieres!"
After that I sat down and re-watched my favorite film from Roger Corman's long career, Death Race 2000.
It's the far flung future of the Year 2000. America is now a global empire, ruling from New York to Peking under the benevolent eye of Mr. President, our permanent Commander-in-Chief and head of the Bi-partisan Party. To keep the masses from growing too antsy, they're kept entertained by the Trans-Continental Road Race, a New York to New Los Angeles journey where racers score points by mowing down pedestrians.
Naturally of course this is opposed by the "The Rebels" a pro-democracy underground led by Thomasina Paine, who are out to kidnap the odds-on favorite, Frankenstein (David Carradine), a driver that has been in so many wrecks he hides his features under a black mask and gimp suit.
Oh, and they're also busy killing the other drivers in the race, from Calamity Jane to Matilda the Hun, who tend to dress and act like pro-wrestlers. With Machine Gun Joe Virterbo (a pre-Rocky Sly Stallone) being Frankie's chief rival and only other surviving winner of previous races.
The sad thing, as bloody and cheerily cynical as this black comedy is, it would probably get a PG-13 rating these days if it weren't for all the boobie shots Corman puts in to keep the audience's attention. The kills the drivers make tend to go by very quickly, mostly to hide the cheapness of the splatter effects, that you barely see anything. As Corman notes somewhat acidly in the commentary, in the scene where a young Frankenstien fan sacrifices herself so her hero can up his point total, a modern version of the film you'd probably get to see her get run over in loving slow motion while Frank cleans her blood off with his car's windshield wipers. Fortunately the film doesn't go this, er, route, and everything is kept on a cartoony level.
Besides, you have to love a movie with lines like, "There you have it! Frankenstien has just been attacked by the French Air Force, and he kicked their derrieres!"
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-07 05:12 pm (UTC)I've always meant to see that movie. A coworker last summer spoke very highly of it...
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 07:13 am (UTC)Oh, yes, you must see this film. It is well nigh the perfect drive-in B-movie, with plenty of action, comedy, and practically no flab in the plot.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 02:51 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, it looks like I have to rent said movie. Le sad.