What a Great Movie!

The two basic choices for movies to watch this weekend were "See Spot Run" and "The Mexican". The first one is the touching story of David Arquette getting savagely mauled by a superintelligent police dog, which I approve of. That is, I approve of it in general, but I see no reason to watch a movie where it happens. I didn't care for the original (which would be "Home Alone"), and I don't care for any of its many descendants.

"The Mexican" is the touching story of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. In, I would assume, Mexico. It's another of those movies where two annoyingly beautiful people are in love, and I'm supposed to care. Oh, poor Brad Pitt! He might not save Julia Roberts! Bah. It's just a theory, but I think Brad Pitt can probably round up an emergency backup girlfriend in case he misses out on Julia Roberts. And I don't think Julia is going to be doomed to a lifetime of spinsterhood if the Brad Pitt thing doesn't work out.

So what I'm trying to say in my quaint way is that I'm not crazy about watching either of these movies, but I still wanted to see a movie. Luckily (very luckily) for me, a local theater was showing a pristine print of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. It has been so long since I've seen Buckaroo Banzai on the big screen, and what with it being one my favorite movie ever, I was off.

After a prolonged internal struggle, I decided not to dress up as a Hong Kong Cavalier for the show. I realize this may lessen people's opinions of me, but I do have a set of clothes that I will wear if I ever -- no, when I become a Hong Kong Cavalier. And I'll be called the Platinum Cowboy. Quit laughing at me.

The movie was great, of course. I was surrounded by people who've seen it as many times as I have, so if I listened carefully, I could hear people quietly saying the best lines along with the characters. Dr. Lizardo would as soon kill you as go fishing, you know.

We were mostly a well-behaved audience, with very little noise. Well, except for cheering almost every name in the opening credits (Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Clancy Brown, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, Dan Hedaya . . . it's a character actor bonanza!), and participating in the "Where are we going? Planet 10! When? Real soon!" chant. But that's to be expected, really.

After the movie, we geeked out, of course, with everyone vowing to rush home and read the novel (written by Earl Mac Rauch). If you've never read it, you really ought to. Only about half of what's in the book is in the movie, even though it's a novelization. My favorite aspect is the way it pretends there's a huge backstory and many more books. Like this footnote:

A cat's paw striking is quicker than sight, and yet I have seen Perfect Tommy step barefoot on the head of a poised Jungle-master. Read more of his quick reactions in the chapter "Perfect Tommy and the Argentine Miss" in the adventure Bastardy Proved A Spur.

That's great! Boy, do I want to read Bastardy Proved A Spur! That's also the story in which Pecos and Reno declare their love for one another and agreed to marry at a future date, provided they escape a stitched yak skin. As you can see, I'm even a fan of Buckaroo Banzai books that don't, technically, exist.

I have friends with even more Buckaroo merchandise than me (All I've got is the book, a few patches, and a T-shirt. I don't even have a headband!). They've got the comic books and even the Viewmaster slides. That's so cool.

So, as I say, we geeked out. Have you heard the theory that Big Trouble in Little China is the secret sequel to Buckaroo Banzai? It's pretty sketchy, since it requires comparing the villains that didn't make it into the movie (Hanoi Xan and Lo Pep) to Big Trouble's Lo Pan. Also, a fan-written Buckaroo sequel script brings in aspects of Big Trouble in Little China for a cameo. (Oh, um, the sequel script was supposed to have been taken down years ago for legal reasons. Just so you know)

Seeing the movie on a big screen for the first time in a while was neat, since the screen is full of things to watch, and the tape I have isn't letterboxed. For instance, when the president asks his Security Advisor (Yakov Smirnoff, of all people) to call Norad, Smirnoff starts looking through the Yellow Pages. I never noticed that!

Hey! It turns out that Buckaroo Banzai was rereleased on videotape last month! You need this. Even if you already have one, let's face it, it's getting pretty old and worn.

Oh, and a DVD is probably showing up someday. And there's a TV series being worked on, although there hasn't been new word on that for over a year.