Knight at HOME at the Movies
WHAT A FEELING!

Get ready for a trip into the 80s, 70s, and 60s with this quartet of DVD recommendations.  Tons o'cool, camp, and classic stuff awaits!
Cruising, director William Friedkin’s controversial 1980 story of a serial killer stalking
gay men immersed in the S&M gay culture of New York City is out on DVD from Warner
Home Video.  Al Pacino stars in the lurid thriller as a straight cop who goes undercover –
deeply – to find the brutal murderer.  At the film’s conclusion, as his girlfriend Karen Allen
tries on his leather jacket, he has become so immersed in the culture it is strongly
suggested that his sexual proclivities have expanded to include homosexuality.  Protests
occurred even as the movie was being filmed and focused on what was perceived by
activists as an attempt by the filmmakers to link gay sex and violence and a fear that the
movie would be responsible for an increase in homophobia and hate crimes (a term that
didn’t exist at the time).

When
Cruising opened in February of 1980 it was greeted in major cities (including
Chicago) with more protests from gay activists which hurt the movie at the box office to
some extent but seen today it’s more of a curio than anything else – a Hollywood style
glimpse into the sexual excesses of pre-AIDS Manhattan.  Its interpretation and attitudes
about gay life are as out of date as
The Boys in the Band’s are – ironically, another gay
themed movie directed by Friedkin ten years before
Cruising.  The DVD includes a
commentary track and two featurettes detailing the movie’s troubled history.


1980 was also the Year of the Leggings and the off the shoulder over-sized sweatshirt
thanks to the "What a Feeling" movie
Flashdance.  The story of a welder by dance,
exotic dancer by night and full time dreamer,
Flashdance grabbed hold of the public
imagination and was a massive hit.  Thanks in part to the movie's gazillion subplots,
modern day Cinderella like trappings, and especially those hot songs - starting with the
theme song (sung by Irene Cara) and continuing through a raft of other new wave tunes
destined for some kind of infamy ("She's a maniac on the dance floor!" never fails to
generate a simultaneous laugh and urge to sing along) -
Flashdance is still a really fun
guilty pleasure.  Boy, didn't we adore this one and wasn't it fun watching all the young
girls (and gay men) trying to emulate Jennifer Beals' hairdo, fashions, and her dance
moves (even if most of them were done by a stunt double)?  Paramount Home Video now
brings us a welcome Special Collector's Edition that has plenty of making of featurettes
and includes a bonus CD highlighting those hot songs.  Fabu-lush!



Also stupendously fabu-lush is another Paramount Home Video release,
Saturday
Night Fever (30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition).  Flashdance
ushered in the arrival of the 80s new wave scene into the mainstream just as
SNF brought
disco to the forefront three years earlier in 1977.  The movie that brought John Travolta
to superstardom, along with a second act that easily trumped a first for the Bee Gees, is
still terrifically entertaining from first to last.  Like
Flashdance, it's heavy, heavy, heavy on
plots but the acting is first rate, the "tribal rites" of the Brooklyn disco scene are so
expertly realized, it's just about impossible to resist.  Then of course, there's the amazing
cache of songs by Barry, Robin & Maurice Gibb, not to mention the inclusion of assorted
other disco classics, to keep you tapping.  And
David Shire, one of my favorite film
composers, also contributed one of my favorite kitschy instrumentals - "Manhattan
Skyline."  This new edition from Paramount has the expected assortment of behind the
scenes, making of featurettes on the filming, music, popularity of the film, etc.  The
packaging is also fun (the disc is inlaid to look like a giant mirror ball).  Needless to say,
Flashdance and Saturday Night Fever make for a wonderful double feature.



King of the low budget producers, Roger Corman has overseen what seems like
thousands of movies and directed a slew as well.  Given his enormous output, it's not
surprising that MGM's 4-disc
Roger Corman Collection features a wide variety of
movie genres.  There are horror movies, biker movies, acid trip movies, a groaner of a
comedy, and more.  These pictures (eight are included) run the gamut and were perfect
drive in fare.  They begin as early as 1959 and progress well into the 70s.  Highlights
include
Premature Burial and X: The Man with The X Ray Eyes from 1962 and 1963
respectively which both star Ray Milland.  The first is based on a Poe story, a lesser known
entry in Corman's frequent Poe adaptations.  The second finds Milland as a scientist
obsessed with seeing as far into the spectrum as he can - with disastrous results.  These
two, like the rest of the movies, double up on one of the discs.  Other highlights: the DVD
debut of the Shelley Winters guilty pleasure
Bloody Mama as the murderous 30s bank
robber Ma Barker with a memorable Robert DeNiro as her creepy son.  I'm also a big fan
of Peter Fonda and Susan Strasberg's 1967 "acid movie"
The Trip which doubles up nicely
with
The Wild Angels from 1966 that features Nancy Sinatra (oh yeah baby) in a supporting
role as a biker chick.  
Gas! and The Young Racers round out the octet.  A great little set that
offers hours of pleasure without having to head to the drive in!!!