Last night B was flipping through the channels when I spotted a scene that looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. I made him go back, and when I realized what the movie was, I started laughing. It was Honky Tonk Freeway, quite possibly one of the worst movies ever made. But it also has the distinction of being partially filmed in Sarasota, FL, where I grew up. My mom also worked on the movie, for one night. She was a stand-in for some blonde actress; she thinks it was Beverly D'Angelo. The movie folks painted part of a small town on the outskirts of Sarasota pink and blew up an overpass on the freeway. Fun stuff!
The movie revolves around Ticlaw, a small town that's been bypassed by the freeway. The mayor comes up with plans to lure tourists - painting the town pink, giving away gas, building a sarari park, teaching an elephant to water ski. Finally, he decides to blow up the overpass and route everyone into town. Throughout this we meet various travelers who end up in Ticlaw together. The thing that amazed me, aside from the sheer awfullness, was the cast. It had an amazing cast - Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (what they did to them at the end was just plain WRONG), Howard Hessman, Terri Garr, William Devane, Beverly D'Angelo, and Daniel Stern, to name a few. It was a virtual who's who of early '80s stars! And it was still terrible.
I called dad and offered to pay him $100 if he could guess the movie we were watching. Of course, he couldn't.
After Honky Tony Freeway, we watched part of Drop Dead Gorgeous, one of my absolute all-time favorite movies - ever. I laugh so hard it hurts through sections of it. Ellen Barkin and Allison Janney have to be the best on-screen pairing ever. They look like they had an absolute blast filming it - and like they were drunk the whole time. The list of ridiculous things goes on and on - the mushroom clouds every time someone blows up, the COPs film crew showing up, the vomiting at the state competition, Allison Janney at the state competition, the deaf baby. It all makes me giggle.
B had never seen Drop Dead Gorgeous before, and I'm not sure he thinks it's as funny as I do, but he was willing to sit through it. I may buy the DVD, just in the hopes of its having a bonus section with out takes. Those would be worth the price of admission alone.
2 comments:
drop dead gorgeous is my favorite movie of all time. it beats out raising arizona and the princess bride. no one who i've gotten to watch it (except krista) has thought it was as funny as i did. (mom and dad think its funny.) and when denise richards wheels christ on the cross around the stage, i just about lose it.
i had it on VHS, but krista found a copy of it for $5 at target once, and upgraded for me. alas, no outtakes.
I love it when Ellen Barkin's beer gets grafted to her hand, so she just uses it as an ashtray. Great movie. Funny, funny, funny.
The only downside was that I have an ex boyfriend who thought it was the ONLY movie ever made. We watched it, literally, every time we were together. I had to break up with him before it ruined the movie for me.
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