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hollandscomet
Reviews
Nashville (1975)
Zzzzzzzz!
What a colossal overrated bore this movie was! I just watched it for the first time with fairly high expectations (and a completely open mind) because I'd always heard good things about 'Nashville', and what a letdown it was! Totally aimless plot, poor acting, overly-long, lame music, and mostly unlikeable characters. What a total waste of an all-star cast! And that candidate's voice droning on throughout the movie got really old after a while. It's only saving grace for me was the mid-'70s clothing, hairstyles, cars, etc., but you can already see all that in 'Smokey And The Bandit', which to me is far more the "classic" that everyone claims 'Nashville' is!
Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)
It seemed like a good idea at the time...
Being a major Kiss fan, even I can't justify this abomination! 'Kiss Meets The Phantom' is definitely a candidate for the "so-bad-it-was-good" category. The acting in this movie was about as abysmal as humanly possible, and I'm not even referring to the band! I'm talking about the "professional" actors they hired for this thing! Apart from Anthony Zerbe's somewhat credible performance as the evil Deveraux (sp?), the rest of these stiffs--especially the guys playing the cops/authority figures--couldn't act their way out of a paper bag! I can't say I blame Ace Frehley and Peter Criss for not showing up for filming and/or looping--they were smart enough to see what a travesty this thing was. This film is best viewed after a few stiff drinks--even I'd love to see the "MST3K" crew skewer this turkey!
The Hollywood Knights (1980)
Don't drink the punch--pass it on!
'Hollywood Knights' was one of my earliest memories of my cable TV viewing days back in the mid-'80s, and is still a favorite of mine, in spite of its flaws. As noted in other posts here, it's sort of the "poor man's" 'American Graffiti/Animal House'--a "guilty pleasure" that you shouldn't have to apologize for enjoying!
'Knights' is far from the greatest flick ever made, but it definitely has its moments--despite having Tony Danza in it! To this day, I cannot hear the song "Volaré" without thinking of Newbomb Turk flaunting his flatulence in the gym--not to mention the cheerleader who forgot her underwear!
There is one major factual error in the film that has always driven me nuts, though: the scene in the garage where Danza unveils the 8-track player in the hot rod and pops in the tape of the Mamas & Papas doing "California Dreamin'" Great moment, but just one problem: the movie is set on Halloween night, 1965, and "California Dreamin'" wasn't released until early, '66!
Nonetheless, cool cars, cute chicks and great music abound throughout the film, and it's one of those movies that you just can't seem to turn off, regardless of how many times you've seen it. I'm looking forward to seeing it on DVD.