John asked about the film MADE IN U.S.A., which is allegedly based on Richard Stark's THE JUGGER. The film recently ran in Houston, and I dragged my wife to see it because I'm a big fan of Stark's Parker books... I would not have been shocked if she'd divorced me on the spot. That may be the single worst film I've ever seen... made worse by the fact that it bears nearly NO RESEMBLANCE to the alleged source material. Worth a watch with friends... while you're drinking... and enjoy making fun of bad movies.
The movie makes litle sense at all... one scene involves a bar patron jabbering incomprehensible remarks (which had nothing to do with the plot... wait, what plot??) for like five minutes while drinking an aperitif... every time someone tries to say the dead guy's name, some damn horn, phone, bell goes off or a freakin' airplane goes overhead (so many times it's like the movie was filmed on the Kennedy Airport tarmac), because I guess you're not SUPPOSED to know the guy's name and the noises drowned it out (it was like enacting a Victorian novel -- "She was fond of diddling Mr. T_________ of B______ Hall." -- only louder and annoying)... and just when you think it can't be more incomprehensible, two of the characters face the camera and start talking nonsense OVER EACH OTHER. I was ready to stab my eyes out with a straw.
We would have walked out but our bookstore had actually encouraged customers to attend, and we might have been lynched had we attempted to escape. As it was, when it was over, we could not have moved faster out of the theater if we'd had jet packs.
I've taken film classes on German New Wave cinema, and PLEASE let me watch a Fassbinder movie-marathon with a loaded gun before I have to sit through MADE IN U.S.A. again.
I'd love to hear what other people think of the movie, in particular how in the hell it's supposed to be based on Stark's THE JUGGER.
David
David Thompson
Busted Flush Press, LLC
P.O. Box 540594, Houston, TX 77254-0594 / (713) 942-9282
www.bustedflushpress.com / bustedflushpress.blogspot.com(BFP's blog)
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bustedflushpres
Booksellers/librarians: BFP books are distributed by Consortium(800-283-3572).
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