07/07/06 They Live

They Live (1988), directed by John Carpenter

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home

You can't make up something better than this. Well, I guess somebody could, that's why we continue to have great cult classic movies produced all the time...but alas...this one is hilarious. I have heard so much about this one from Leslie, especially in reference to the homage paid to a certain never-ending fight scene within it by the "South Park" creators in one of their fine episodes where Jimmy & Timmy fight in the very un-P.C. "Cripple Fight". Well, besides the years of B-movie classic followers as proof, let's look at a couple of things to promote this as an intelligent, if not a bit cheesy, consumer culture parody. John Carpenter (who primarily only directs cult classics I would venture to say...what with the list including "Escape From NY," "Halloween," "The Thing," and "Big Trouble In Little China.") directs this blatantly satirical horror flick with the subtlety of say, I don't know...his main actor Rowdy Roddy Piper (yes, I mean the wrestler). How can you not fall in love with a script that will include an Orwellian commentary on society that over-consumes and under-recognizes the forces behind their state, Rowdy Roddy Piper as an action hero, and big honkin' 80's sunglasses?! This was destined to go down in the annals of cult notoriety. Piper plays Nada, a down-on-his-luck wanderer who picks up a job at a construction site in the city and befriends a grizzled worker Frank (Keith David) who brings him to a sort of homeless community shelter near a church. Nada's curiosity gets the best of him outside the church as he witnesses some odd goings-on and weird television broadcasts speaking of aliens on Earth, and he decides to investigate. What he stumbles across may shock you, but it is magic sunglasses that allow him to not only see the aliens who have taken human form, but also expose the world around him to be filled with subliminal messages from them to keep most humans sedate. Billboards and magazine covers secretly read phrases like "Stay Asleep," and "Submit To Authority" and yuppies have been revealed to be grotesque faceless aliens! Awesome! Nada tries to convince his buddy Frank, who decides to fight him rather than listen to his rant (see fight scene homage above)...yet, finally succumbs to joining Nada and the underground movement that is trying to eradicate these creatures. Nada doesn't waste any time wasting the bad guys, delivering such utterly classic lines as "Life's a bitch, and she's back in heat"; and my favorite "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." With that kind of dialogue, and the clever way the action goes down...oh, it's priceless. Who knows, maybe this movie really isn't that good and there is some subliminal message keeping me fixated on the screen, laughing, and going on with my daily business like a good little robot. Either way, the movie is a lot of fun. And I'm all out of bubblegum.

4 out of 5 stars