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Episode 103: Stunt Rock featuring Justin Remer
91 Plays1 month ago
Justin Remer, author of the upcoming 33 1/3rd of “Weird” All Yankovic In 3D, is back and they’ve brought a recent discovery: Stunt Rock (1978). We’ll call it an Ozploitation film for reasons. Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, it stars Grant Page as Grant Page, a stuntman (as he is in real life), and Monique van de Ven as Monique van de Ven, an Undercover Girl (which she is not in real life), as he does stunts for film and on stage with a band called Sorcery, played by real band Sorcery, which includes their actual magicians. Yes, it’s stunts + rock music with stage magicians. This fake documentary (mockumentary?) is a lot of things and has a lot going for it on paper, what it doesn’t have is a traditional plot. This makes for a very strange, but interesting watch, and we’re breaking it down while having a pretty swell time. You too can get in on this musical adventure, just press play!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Theme
00:00:40
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite bad movie podcast. It's the only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, if this movie's so bad, why do you like it so much?
00:00:52
Speaker
We're your hosts. I'm obviously the grant of this show. Oh yeah, obviously. Obviously I'm the grant page as grant page of the show.
00:01:08
Speaker
And of course my lovely wife, Anna Anderson, you have clearly ensorcelled me. So you must be sorcery. a level five charm spell. Exactly. My dove.
00:01:23
Speaker
Unfortunately, we do not have the Lois of the show,
Guest Introduction: Justin Reimer
00:01:27
Speaker
Mr. Greg Bossy. But we do have with us a very special guest.
00:01:34
Speaker
You might know him as the author of the upcoming 33 and a third on Weird Al Yankovic in three d But today he's our own personal king of the wizards. It's Mr. Justin Reimer. How
Exploring 'Stunt Rock': Overview and Excitement
00:01:51
Speaker
are you?
00:01:51
Speaker
Hi. Hello. Thank you for having me back. I had such a great time with the Apple and I, I've just been waiting for the perfect rock followup. So I think we got here with stunt rock.
00:02:03
Speaker
Yes. A wonderful one, two punch. Hold up. Sorry. It was blown out in the thing, but there we go. Stunt rock. Yes. Nice. The Blu-ray right there.
00:02:15
Speaker
Beautiful. i I'll confess, I've been in the habit of trying to collect soundtracks on vinyl of of movies that we cover when I can. And I did order the Stunt Rock LP today. I'm very excited
Film Summary and Complex Plot Lines
00:02:30
Speaker
be getting that Even though I will definitely only be listening to side B. I'm going to say that right now.
00:02:36
Speaker
ah So my day job is I work at the Skylight Books bookstore in Los Angeles. And I forget, maybe it was because in anticipation of of me rewatching it for the podcast, but we were discussing Stunt Rock. It was like, I wonder if that soundtrack is on Spotify. And we just blasted all the whole soundtrack in the bookstore.
00:02:55
Speaker
It was delightful. It was great. Yeah. Well, listeners, if you haven't seen Stunt Rock, here's just a brief summary of the film to hold in your mind.
00:03:15
Speaker
An Australian stuntman travels to Los Angeles to work on a new TV show. But he also falls in love with a reporter and hangs out with cousin, who is one of two stage magicians that work for a rock band.
00:03:34
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot going on. Yeah. Well, there's, there's basically like two plot lines. If you want to be that generous, but they get resolved satisfactorily. They are satisfactorily resolved.
00:03:48
Speaker
Oh, they do come together. And that was really
Justin's Discovery of 'Stunt Rock'
00:03:51
Speaker
exciting. Yes. It really felt like either I've been woven ah from the very fibers of storytelling itself.
00:04:02
Speaker
Justin, tell me about your background with stunt rock. When did you come across stunt rock? So the first time I ever got a whiff of stunt rock is from the, I think it's 2008 documentary, not quite Hollywood, which is a a documentary about Oz exploitation, Australian exploitation movies. And there was kind of a runner in that movie on this director, Brian Trenchard Smith. And, And he's kind of like the gonzo exploitation guy. So i've I've had this movie in
Analyzing the Film's Appeal and Flaws
00:04:36
Speaker
my mind for years, but I only first watched it probably a few months ago when I wrote to you and was like, oh, my God, I've seen a thing that must be discussed.
00:04:48
Speaker
This does feel like something that you do want to immediately share with someone. It is very exciting. Yeah. You know, it's, it's charms are all very apparent and writ very large and bountiful. ah Though it also has its fair share of problems. I will say, well, it mostly has, it has one problem. I never seen this one before.
00:05:13
Speaker
And you had not seen this one before. no. no What was your your initial takeaway? What were you feeling?
00:05:22
Speaker
Oh, I had a great time. i've been i mean i'm interested I'm interested more broadly in Ozploitation and Aussie movies of the 70s. And this was not very much like any of the other ones that I've seen.
00:05:43
Speaker
But it yeah but it was it was trying to do something very different. And I think it accomplished it. yeah it's It's structurally just a very odd object. It's very hard to classify. I saw people describing it as mockumentary, which, like, if one wasn't supposed to be funny, if it was, there was, but I never felt very much It's more like a slice of life story and where a guy was playing himself. more of a
Production Challenges and Marketing
00:06:17
Speaker
fictionalized documentary than a mockumentary. Yeah.
00:06:21
Speaker
I mean, of course, all documentaries are to some extent fictionalized, et cetera, et cetera. But you know what I mean? Yeah, i I didn't get into all the bonus features on the Blu-ray just because I've had a busy week and there are literally over three hours of bonuses on the Blu-ray.
00:06:38
Speaker
But there were a couple of things that I did glean, like in an interview, Brian Trenchard-Smith is like, ah so there's not a beginning, middle and end. So what? You know, like kids care. The kids don't care.
00:06:53
Speaker
they They just want to see cool stunts and hear rock music. Yeah. And and i I guess also TikTok in that sense. Yeah. I guess he was also Grant Page's like manager, like like business manager at the time, which certainly explains why he just has all this footage of Grant Page doing stunts and is like, let me do a thing with it.
00:07:16
Speaker
So, yeah. And I think he really believed in this guy. I think they were also friends. I get the vibe. And it almost feels like he wanted to make like help or a hard day's night, but for his friend, the stunt man. Right. Right.
00:07:32
Speaker
But then he realized, a harsh days night had music in it. I need to get a band in here. Yeah. ah Let me find the most famous band in America. Clearly the chart topping is band I can find.
00:07:46
Speaker
Well, well, I'll tell you this. Well, let's get into the context. I don't want to get a ahead of myself. You guys want to dive into my research? I found a lot of really good stuff because I found a really good interview with Brian Trenchard Smith.
00:08:01
Speaker
ah that he did in like 1980. So like it was his entire career right up to when this was made. So get ready, Brian Trenchard Smith fans. You're eating tonight.
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah. Woo.
00:08:27
Speaker
I wish I had some context about the background of the film. Script director, actors on set. What was going on on screen? I want to hear some details.
00:08:39
Speaker
Gossips tend to all that shit. Can't imagine all the time.
00:08:55
Speaker
So Stunt Rock came out on June 30th, 1978.
00:09:01
Speaker
Director Brian Trenchard Smith, as we said, and I found six taglines. All right. Tagline number one.
00:09:12
Speaker
Over the edge of sight and sound, you'll swear it's a fantasy. You'll know it's true.
00:09:22
Speaker
I like it. i' Yeah. ah Doesn't really apply,
Comparisons to Other 1978 Musicals
00:09:27
Speaker
but yeah. Yeah. it It speaks to the dreamlike nature of the Australian national cinema.
00:09:34
Speaker
a Tagline number two. Music as you've never heard it. Magic as you've never seen it. Danger as you've never imagined it.
00:09:49
Speaker
That's accurate. but I don't know if I've imagined danger in quite this way before. Yeah. Not, not exactly this nature of danger being on fire while skidding down a rope.
00:10:03
Speaker
Tagline number three. Ain't nobody alive that drives like him.
00:10:12
Speaker
yeah I wonder if that was to like, they're like people still like vanishing point. Right. Or like bullet. They're like, yeah, it's a car chase movie. It's not, but okay.
00:10:23
Speaker
No, it would have been cool if it was, but this, it feels like it was trying to be too many things. If you can believe it. ah Tagline number four, taking music and life to the edge.
00:10:37
Speaker
Oh
Director's Style and Grant Page's Role
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah. yeah right. these last two These last two, these are the winners. Death Wish at 120 decibels.
00:10:50
Speaker
I was waiting for that one. Oh, yeah. That one is sick. That one is sick. Yeah. yeah and the last one, a little generic, but it still hits. The Ultimate Rush.
00:11:03
Speaker
Nice. Stunt Rock. It is. I will say that the trailer for Stunt Rock, which actually might have been in some other like trailer disc or something I had too, is genuinely like, this has got to be like adrenaline from start to finish.
00:11:21
Speaker
And it almost kind of is. but it's It's weird experientially in that it doesn't transition emotionally from things at all. It's very jarring.
00:11:34
Speaker
No. yeah Does not follow a traditional three act structure or a five act structure or really an act structure of any kind.
00:11:48
Speaker
No, it's just things happen. it's very and It's very discursive because it'll just be like, someone will be like, that reminds me of, and then just cut to a clip package. Basically. Yeah. It's like an episode of family guy.
00:12:04
Speaker
So ah Brian Trenchard Smith was one of the directors of the so-called Australian new wave, although definitely more on the Ozploitation style. That was sort of the goofus and gallant of, you know, Australian cinema at the time, I want to say, but both of them sort of raising the profile of Australian cinema in their own ways.
00:12:27
Speaker
And other directors in this movement were Jillian Armstrong George Miller and Peter Weir. And they helped build an Australian cinema throughout the seventies and eighties, mostly.
00:12:40
Speaker
And they make it it a player on the international film scene. So it makes sense because Trenchard Smith himself was such an international man.
00:12:54
Speaker
b Brian Trenchard Smith was born in England and spent part of his childhood in Libya. ah His father was in the Royal Air Force. But by 15, he was back in England.
00:13:05
Speaker
He made his first film at the age of 15, a two-minute short called The Duel, with the help of his trusty 8mm camera and... Neighborhood Kids! Oh,
Film Structure and Analysis
00:13:21
Speaker
yeah.
00:13:23
Speaker
Getting real fablemans up in here, basically, sounds like... This is so many directors of horror stories. No, I know. I love Neighborhood Kids. Of course, yeah. So at the age of 20, he moves to Australia um where he gets a job editing for Channel 10.
00:13:40
Speaker
ah Part of ah his father was Australian by birth and that helped him in terms of getting work visas and things like that, I think. ah By day, he edits news and documentaries. And at night, he would cut trailers for the TV station.
00:13:54
Speaker
This let him build up a little editor's reel that he would take with him when he started traveling the world. And about two years later, he was going to Japan, Canada, and the States, looking for work at pretty much any TV station he could find. He was just like, I'm i'm too big for Australia. I'm moving up in the world.
00:14:12
Speaker
He eventually, he landed a gig at National Screen Service. The exact same trailer editing house where Andrew J. Kuhn, the director of Terror in the Isles, would get his start.
00:14:26
Speaker
And the exact same. ah Interesting. Trenton Smith would work in the London office, whereas ah Andrew J. Kuhn was out in California.
00:14:38
Speaker
It's interesting. I did genuinely have, um I forget at what point, but while watching this, was like, this does give me a bit of a terror in the aisles vibe. So it's, it's, it is genuinely like there must be a house style kind of almost. yeah Definitely. It's, it feels like a movie that was made by someone who knows how to cut trailers. Someone who's like, what if I made something that was all the trailer is a little bit of this movie.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, so Trenchard Smith was eventually lured back to Australia when he was offered the position of network promotions manager on channel nine. Uh, this led him to his first ever, his first ever professional directing gig, a French and Australian television co-production called Noel on Australia.
00:15:31
Speaker
What could that mean? I wonder. Hmm. Well, see if you can figure out from the context clues. ah It was a ah one hour live television special to air on Christmas day and to show French people what Australian Christmas was like.
00:15:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that sounds very quick. I thought it was all the people named Noel, but all right, fine. No, no. Unfortunately, and it was not about a buxom French woman who had found herself down under.
Sorcery's Contribution and Cultural Impact
00:16:01
Speaker
so A lot of day drinking as I understand it. Yeah. Seems like a perfect occasion for it. That's certainly what it involves up here. And surfing Santa Clauses. I believe there's a lot of those.
00:16:14
Speaker
Yes. Beautiful stuff. yeah ah From there, he started working on ah more original projects.
00:16:25
Speaker
In 1973, he made one-hour TV special called The Stuntman, which featured his friend and possible ah client Grant Page.
00:16:36
Speaker
He followed that up with a few more TV specials and an educational film about VD called Love Epidemic. Nice. From there, he went to Hong Kong to make a documentary about Bruce Lee.
00:16:52
Speaker
But he landed there the day that Bruce Lee died.
00:17:03
Speaker
So he pivoted to making it a memorial piece. And in the process, he met Raymond Chow, the head of Golden Harvest Studios. with Raymond's help, Brian Trenchard Smith was finally able to make his first proper narrative theatrically released film, which was an Aussie Hong Kong co-production called the man from Hong Kong, which I watched it over the weekend. Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah. Pretty good. Pretty good. ah I think between these two films, i get the impression that Trenchard Smith is a better director than he is a writer.
00:17:40
Speaker
a I think narratively, both films were sort of similarly lacking, but they also both had lots of really fun action. So you can't complain too much.
00:17:52
Speaker
And also it starred Jimmy Wang, you, who is, I should know some films that Jimmy Wang, you was in, but I know he was a big Kung Fu guy and he was great. in this Yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
And it has Lazenby, right? Mr. Georgie Lazenby is in this picture. Yeah, he's the villain. Yeah. He's the Sydney drug kingpin that also knows martial arts.
00:18:19
Speaker
I
Final Thoughts and Upcoming Episodes
00:18:20
Speaker
saw another movie that has the two of them. I assume that Brian Trenchard Smith directed it, but I don't know for sure, called a Queen's Ransom. And in it...
00:18:30
Speaker
um ah George Lazenby has an Irish accent, which I think he has to be dubbed because it's not that bad, but it still sounds like an Australian person doing an Irish accent. All right, now I have to keep an eye on that They're close, actually. Or, i don't know, some Australian accents have like aspects of some Irish accents to them. To my ear, at least. I'm not an accent. Well, we'll have to check out his performance and we'll get back to you listeners.
00:19:03
Speaker
Nice. ah So the man from Hong Kong got him to the next level. He followed that up with Death Cheaters, a movie about stuntmen hired by the Australian government for a secret mission in the Philippines that starred good old Grant Page again.
00:19:21
Speaker
This movie sounds sick as hell. Yeah. That's probably something I'm going to watch this week. No, we're having family this weekend. I'll watch it at some point.
00:19:32
Speaker
Anyway, after that, he banged out an educational short film called Hospitals Don't Burn Down, which I did watch and is sick as hell. I cannot recommend enough spending 22 minutes watching Hospitals Don't Burn Down.
00:19:51
Speaker
You'll never guess what happens. i I don't want to guess. You'll never in a million years. Guess what happens to this hospital for the entire 22 minutes of the film.
00:20:06
Speaker
I'm going to bet some people got a little too certain that hospitals weren't burned down, but then they're fine. It's fine. Nothing bad happens, right? No, they were certain and they were correct.
00:20:19
Speaker
Okay. but we're So one might think based on the title. I don't know. Thank goodness. I don't want to know spoilers. Um, ah So after he does Hospitals Don't Burn Down, that's when he does Stunt Rock. Yeah. The idea for Stunt Rock came to him in the shower.
00:20:39
Speaker
What if I could make a movie that has stunts and rock and roll in it? The kids would go crazy. He loves the kids. He wants the kids to see the movies.
00:20:51
Speaker
I mean, it's it's sound thinking. I should see where he's starting. He needed to get take one more step. That was as far as he ever got with this concept. I mean, isn't stunts and not, you know, rock and roll, but like,
00:21:12
Speaker
That's that's the been a winning formula ah to this day. That's the kind of the kind of the Matrix, kind of. It's true. I mean, they they definitely go together classically, but I don't think yeah ah there was as much diegetic rock and roll as there is in stunt rock. Yeah, that's fair.
00:21:35
Speaker
Sure. Like you're used to like maybe in the seventies, a little waka waka chika waka waka over a, over an action scene or, or yeah, in the matrix, just suddenly like some, uh, electro prodigy coming in. Yeah.
00:21:51
Speaker
Or even the classic mortal combat. wa want want want Yes. A classic. Uh, so yeah, He was able to secure ah just shy of a half a million dollars in funding from a Dutch production company in exchange for casting a woman named Monique van de Ven to play the role Monique van de Ven.
00:22:16
Speaker
Yeah. And she does great. Yeah, I 100% believe her. Have you ever seen her... heard her like She made movies with Paul Verhoeven in the Netherlands before he left and made Basic Instinct and stuff.
00:22:32
Speaker
and Oh, okay. Have you ever seen those Dutch Verhoeven? She is great in the two... um What is it? It's Turkish Delight where she stars with Rutger Hauer. I think Rutger Hauer is in the other one, Katie Tipple as well. These are like...
00:22:46
Speaker
in in the Netherlands, these are like the great films, which is why it was kind of funny to realize it was like, oh, shit, she's in Stunt Rock because she's in like the great films in in the Netherlands. But in the US, you're like, well, you know, it's funny what people have to try to do to make it big in the States, isn't it? yeah You got to come play our game if you want to be in the pictures. Yeah.
00:23:12
Speaker
ah It's a shame. ah So they also wanted to release it that summer, meaning Treachern Smith only had six months to go from an idea he had in the shower to a feature length action musical extravaganza released to theaters.
00:23:31
Speaker
yeah and And no notes. No notes. Yeah, I think that does help explain the extensive use of stock footage. yeah i mean like This is money. We can put this all on the screen. Nobody's ever seen this stuff that I shot at you last year, Grant.
00:23:48
Speaker
Let's do it. Well, there's even, there's even the like, like really classic footage of old timey stunt men that, um, my girlfriend was like in the other room and then like looked over and was like, wait, is this still the same movie? And it's like, Oh yeah, you know, you got to pat it out to 90 minutes, my friend, you know, it's gotta go.
00:24:07
Speaker
Yeah. Gotta get some archival footage in there. Yeah. He initially wanted to hire foreigner to play the band. Oh, can you imagine this movie if it didn't have magic in it?
00:24:23
Speaker
I know.
00:24:27
Speaker
It feels so integral. It does. But would, I guess, would foreigner songs have been better? And would that have propped up the movie ah in a way? I don't know.
00:24:42
Speaker
Foreigner songs definitely would have been better. That much I can tell you 100%. ah But yeah, they were, unfortunately, they were not going to be back from their 1978 double vision tour in time for filming.
00:25:02
Speaker
So instead he just went with somebody local in LA, which was LA heavy metal rockers sorcery. Now, Trenchard Smith had to deal with a lot of meddling from his money in a lot of other sort of minor ways that he complained about in addition to having to hire a Van De Van.
00:25:25
Speaker
He felt like all this sort of meddling hurt the movies in a way that... He didn't quite articulate, but he's like, ah, they, they screwed everything up. I don't know what way it is. Not his vision or.
00:25:36
Speaker
Yeah. But he was not happy with it. Is that why there's that like character that's like Monique's agent. That's always hanging around with ideas. And like, she's not going to do that. Is, is that his like getting back at the man?
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think a little bit. Yeah. The sort of person that gives notes, but it doesn't know what they're doing. I think that's yeah who he was yelling at there. Yeah. It's a creed occur. Yeah.
00:26:02
Speaker
So he, he softened his opinion on stunt rock over the years, but in his 1980 interview in cinema papers, he said it was probably the worst film he ever made.
00:26:14
Speaker
ah yeah Of course, at that point, he had not made movies like the paradise virus, atomic dog, or my personal favorite leprechaun for in space. Yeah.
00:26:26
Speaker
Huge Leprechaun 4 in Space. He did a Leprechaun movie. oh He did two Leprechaun movies. He did three and four. all right. I think the two that are arguably the closest to normal good movie. Yeah, no, In Space is the best one.
00:26:43
Speaker
And yeah, In Space flat out best, I'm going to say. Yeah. Which is crazy. in space should not be your best entry in a franchise. Yeah.
00:26:54
Speaker
Wait, have you covered any of his other movies in in this podcast yet? or No. I covered Leprechaun 4 for my ah last podcast for a bonus episode.
00:27:06
Speaker
Oh, nice. I would love to talk about Leprechaun 4. If anybody wants to talk about Leprechaun 4, feel free to reach out. Nice. Other movie musicals of 1978. You got obviously the one that i absolutely hate. Grease.
00:27:28
Speaker
Boo. Grease. hate that movie. I hate the movie. I hate the musical. I hate the songs. Do you hate the word? Cause Grease is the word. I hate the word. i hate the concept.
00:27:43
Speaker
You also got The Wiz. The Wiz I like. Oh, Cindy Lumet's The Wiz. Yeah.
00:27:50
Speaker
You got Thank God It's Friday. Oh, yeah. Diana Ross in it? Donna Summer. Donna Summer. I've seen part of it on cable. I don't know what it's about. Never seen it.
00:28:01
Speaker
It sounds like it, but I can get behind the sentiment. Thank God It's Friday. We've all been there. Yeah. And of course, you got the Bee Gees in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
00:28:12
Speaker
A very strange film.
00:28:16
Speaker
Steve Martin giving a very strange cover of Maxwell's Silver Hammer is all that I remember from that film. Yeah. George Burns does like fixing a hole or something like that. i remember yeah that being kind of bizarre as well. Yeah. I did not know this existed. That's that's very unsettling.
00:28:34
Speaker
It's very odd. We should, I'll put it on. It's on the plex, I think. Well, what's, what's the Julie Taymor Beatles? Oh, across the universe. Yeah. It's like, it's like the cocaine version of across the universe. Basically.
00:28:47
Speaker
I just remember they do like the, I want you. She's so heavy song. And like, whenever they have to sing, she's so heavy. It's the most, lu they like try to make it make sense visually. And they can't, they're just like, they cut to like a random woman. And then they're like she is so heavy.
00:29:05
Speaker
whatever they're doing like yeah rough well you guys want to talk about the plot of stunt rock oh heck yeah yeah such as it is oh yeah i let's rock out with this bumper yeah
00:29:37
Speaker
Plot bumper, listen to me. I'm gonna give you the plot summary. Come on, baby. Here's the synopsis.
00:29:49
Speaker
Plot bumper, plot bumper.
00:29:58
Speaker
In an alternate universe, that's a sorcery drop right there. Oh, God. If only I had the gumption to track down karaoke versions of all my favorite sorcery hits and do special bumpers for this episode.
00:30:14
Speaker
So we open on a warning. This film contains very dangerous stunts. Do not imitate what you see. Very sound advice. Yes.
00:30:26
Speaker
This was the jackass of its day. hey Then we do get to see some stunts in the gap in Sydney Harbor.
00:30:37
Speaker
A TV reporter tells us that these stunts are being performed by famed Aussie stuntman, Grant page, maybe sort of an evil Knievel figure without a bike kind of vibe, but also in the pictures,
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. I, I not knowing Grant Page as a like person, like recognizing some of his clips actually, eventually I'm like, oh okay. But like, as a, like a world figure, i don't know if he like, was he Australia's evil Knievel or is he just a guy who's like, uh, you know, a PT Barnum, like, come on, give me attention. I need attention. Come on.
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah. Or was he even doing these sort of public stunts? I don't, who knows what I should have read into his biography. I bet he's an interesting guy. Hindsight's 2020. Get it together, Anderson. There's so much to unpack from Stunt Rock.
00:31:31
Speaker
I commend you for what you've done. Well, thank you. So he's flying down ropes and he's catapulting out over the water and he's about to leave for America.
00:31:44
Speaker
where he's going to become the lead stunt man on a TV show called undercover girl or undercover girl. I don't know how you would pronounce it to hit that. It's a pun.
00:31:57
Speaker
It did generally take me a scene to be like, oh, it's a play on the phrase cover girl, but it did not hit initially. It really took me a scene before I was like, oh, that's why it's called that. okay i I just just ah figured that out.
00:32:12
Speaker
did yeah I just thought it was this like a spy thriller. Fine. But maybe maybe it's in like a camel case. Yeah, I think that's how you'd have to do it. Yeah. in the time Yeah.
00:32:25
Speaker
m So this is ostensibly going to be the driving plot of the movie, that this amazing stuntman is finally going to Hollywood.
00:32:37
Speaker
Then we get our opening credits with music by the band Sorcery before a flaming title card appears on screen. Stunt rock! It's sick as hell!
00:32:49
Speaker
Stunt rocker! rocker! Yeah, unfortunately, sorcery is playing ah and singing. ah ah So soon Grant lands in L.A.
00:33:05
Speaker
and is picked up by his cousin, Curtis. As Curtis takes Grant to his hotel, we learn that Curtis is also in showbiz. Curtis is a magician in a band.
00:33:18
Speaker
No, not a musician in a band, a magician in a band. He's in a band called Sorcery, where he's actually one of two stage magicians who perform in the roles of Merlin and Satan,
00:33:32
Speaker
In a sort of long form narrative magic show that they perform as accompaniment to sorcery's live show or possibly sorcery provides accompaniment for their magic show. Arguably, there's supposed to be a synthesis here between the two of them. Yeah. One entity.
00:33:50
Speaker
Also, how they're like credited in the opening credits is is he like king of wizards and prince of darkness? Yes. yeah Sick. Sick. Those title cards are definitely the best part of the movie. I'm going to say that right now.
00:34:05
Speaker
I will say it's kind of funny ah that the hat that the guy playing Merlin wears does make him look like Mickey's boss in the Sorcerer's Apprentice. like Yeah, he's the cookie crisp wizard.
00:34:19
Speaker
ah so Yes. yeah Absolutely. It's great. Yeah. He reads from the back row. Exactly. Yeah.
00:34:31
Speaker
And he loves to do like a closeup magic with cigarettes. That's his other thing. He loves. Yes. He can do it. He can eat. He doesn't need all these fancy props. He's also good with the hand closeup stuff, you know? Yeah.
00:34:44
Speaker
So soon Curtis drives grant to the studio where we get to hear sorcery banging out some of their classic tunes. This is, Also, when we encounter what I think is the central flaw of this film, which is that, and I hate to say this because it feels really mean, but the lead singer of Sorcery, Greg Meiji, is very bad.
00:35:14
Speaker
the All the songs where he is not singing, where they're just sort of jamming, are so much better. And it's not even he... he is a bad singer, but like the rest of the band gets worse around him. Like they, yeah like there's some songs where like the guitar player were like noodle in a call in response to his lines. And the noodling always sounds bad.
00:35:38
Speaker
because it's responding to these bad vocals. And I, I hate to say it, but that's my honest opinion. That is fair. Like the band is probably most compelling in the long section where the lead singer is supposedly hypnotized and stuck into a contraption.
00:35:56
Speaker
Yes. Cause he stopped singing. right Yeah. it's Less than ideal for a a vocal performance led. Just nothing but pure guitar rock.
00:36:08
Speaker
Yes, the rest of the band is great, or at least okay. ah But then we cut to a reporter named Lois.
00:36:19
Speaker
What a coincidence. She's going be meeting up with her own personal Superman. but She's on the phone with her editor. She's on the phone with her editor, who and she's yelling at him for changing a story that she wrote before it went to print.
00:36:36
Speaker
But then she reads something about Grant and how he got a minor concussion when he was hit by a car in the set of Undercover Girl. Undercover Girl. And she's fascinated.
00:36:50
Speaker
So she races over to the hospital where she sees him climbing out of the fourth story window of his hospital with his ass hanging out of his hospital gown. Perfect timing. Like, yeah, really just the perfect time to show up.
00:37:05
Speaker
Cause he just makes a beeline straight to her convertible, tells her to scoot over and hops in and the two of them drive off. It's the street.
00:37:17
Speaker
e Tires squealing, just ah rubber burning. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you want to see how cool of a driver he is. And if anybody's going to facilitate his escape from this hospital, and i mean, to be fair, this is probably his first encounter with American medical bills.
00:37:37
Speaker
It's probably a lot better to be stuntman in Australia. Oh, fair. ah so it turns out ah he's running late for work.
00:37:48
Speaker
He has to get to the set of undercover girl. Undercover girl. And today, Grant has to take a dive off of a water tower. ah He gets blows up some squibs and he falls off the tower. What I love about all of his stunts for Undercover Girl is it seems like they never try to block his face. So in theory, this guy is just dying over and over and over again. I like the idea that Undercover Girl is haunted by this specter that she cannot escape. Everywhere I turn, he's there, this Australian man. Yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
This gentle smile and his big nose.
00:38:33
Speaker
He's very Australian looking. Yes. Very. in In a very complimentary sort of way. Oh, yes. Yeah, I don't mean that as thought He looks like a good bloke.
00:38:47
Speaker
Yeah, he's been hewn from some fine wood. He looks like a person made out of wood. Yes. Yeah, he looks like he spent his time in that harsh Australian sun, but he's still hanging in there, you know.
00:39:00
Speaker
ah But now, ah let's see. Yeah, they're off to the set of Undercover Girl. Undercover girl. And we meet the star, the titular undercover girl, a Dutch actress named Monique Vandeven, played by Monique Vandeven.
00:39:20
Speaker
And Monique's agent, Dick, played by a guy named Dick, tells her that stuntmen are a special breed, willing to risk their life and limb for cinematic thrills and a meager paycheck.
00:39:37
Speaker
And he tells the story of Grant working on the film Mad Dog Morgan, where a stunt went wrong and Grant got severely burned. And three days later, he was back on set, ready to go again, because he didn't want that stunt to beat him.
00:39:55
Speaker
The thing that's fascinating about Mad Dog Morgan. So for a while i worked at Troma Entertainment and that it might still be something that in the US is in the Troma library.
00:40:08
Speaker
um But ah yeah, it's an Australian movie starring Dennis Hopper as the titular Mad Dog Morgan. And I'm on board already. If you look at that footage, you can see burning grants basically walking toward ah Dennis Hopper and he just jumps and runs the fuck. And you can tell on his face, he's just like, get this flaming guy away from me. What is happening? ah You don't need to tell me twice. so You got it. But it's, But it's funny because I've never actually watched that movie. I was just aware that it was in the trauma library because people will be like, we've got a Dennis Hopper movie that no one really knows or cares about, but we've got it.
00:40:46
Speaker
Well, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be like at least B minus. I would not be surprised. I hope so. So Monique thinks that Grant is just the coolest now, now that she heard that he came back after three days.
00:41:04
Speaker
And she wants Grant to teach her how to do stunts. Also, she doesn't like her stunt double being used so much in this action show. She's like, it's ruining my performance.
00:41:14
Speaker
And also, one of this is one of the major plot lines. This is what the thing like will Monique do a stunt? This is yes a major plot line. Can Monique stunt?
00:41:25
Speaker
Will she be stunting on them? Yeah. So Grant is now accompanied by two hot blondes pretty much everywhere he goes. And he drives across L.A. telling them about some of the car stunts that he's done.
00:41:42
Speaker
And it should be mentioned that anytime anybody is talking about Grant's previous stunt work, we'll get a montage of him doing those types of stunts. And the montage will be scored by instrumental sorcery music, which is much better than the vocal sorcery music. I must say.
00:42:01
Speaker
And it will often be in slow motion and in split screen. It will definitely be the most kick-ass part of the movie. This is what it's like. Yes.
00:42:12
Speaker
The recurring split screen was really, was really cool. Yeah, and Trenchard Smith said he wanted to do that so you could both like experience the stunt writ large and experience what was going up close to the character. you know That was his goal with using so many split screens. And I'm surprised we haven't seen a larger return of split screen to the cinema.
00:42:33
Speaker
It feels like America's ready for more split screens. Yeah. We're all doing two screens at the office these days. It's true. Hit me with two screens at the cinema.
00:42:44
Speaker
Our brains can handle it. They're primed. yes we'd be like yes yes more screens give me nine screens at once show the movie at double speed ah so grant takes lois and monique to the recording studio where they listen to another not great song by sorcery and then sorcery invites them all to their concert tonight guess what we in the movie audience are invited to We get a little hint of the sorcery experience. We see a little bit of them backstage goofing around. Hey, they're just guys, except for the one that's always wearing a mask and appears to be a gender.
00:43:25
Speaker
and And then during both songs, we get to see the two songs of their stage show. During both songs, magicians dressed like Merlin and Satan, respectively, shoot pyrotechnics at each other,
00:43:41
Speaker
Before the songs get to the breakdown. And that's where Merlin uses some form of magic prop to make Satan disappear, either a box or, you know, a curtain that he throws over him. And just as a music crescendos, it explodes or lights a fire and it reveals that Satan's gone and the crowd loses their mind.
00:44:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I'm assuming a recruited crowd and they're doing great. They're really selling that. They like this music. I mean, I feel like this stage show is enough where you could buy it. Like once it'd be like going to medieval times where you'd be like, I know when I'm supposed to be excited. i can play along. If I'm into it, then it'll be fun. You know? Yeah. I feel like once Once the smoke starts drifting around, though, a lot of the show becomes illegible.
00:44:38
Speaker
That's he especially illegible without the close-up cameras. there's i i got I was worried about the pyrotechnics every time they happened. I was worried for the crowd and for the performers and for everyone.
00:44:53
Speaker
no yeah Like it said in the opening credits, do not imitate this. listeners listeners at home Do not put this many pyrotechnics pyrotechnics in your heavy metal show. I agree. There was definitely a moment where like Merlin, I think was supposed to be throwing fireballs and it looked so slipshod that I'm like, Oh, did that go right? That explosion happened as it should have. ah Anyhow. Hey, if we walked away from it, then it happened as it should have.
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah. Let's see. Yeah. Then there's the show. the crowd goes crazy after the show. Grant and Lois go and grab some Chinese food.
00:45:34
Speaker
She says she's writing a feature article about people who love their jobs, even though their jobs are killing them. She thinks Grant would be the perfect centerpiece for it. hey He lets her borrow the scrapbook he made of great stuntmen.
00:45:51
Speaker
And we get a little montage of historical film stunts. And then he shows us how far things have come by talking us through a montage of his more modern work.
00:46:03
Speaker
Back at the set the next day, Lois and Monique talk about how brave Grant is while he leaps from one moving car to another. Even undercover girl, undercover girls director is for once impressed.
00:46:19
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say, I love how much of an asshole that guy is. where The asshole director was a great character. Where, like like, as they're prepping for the him going from one car to the other, like, Grant is, like, checking the, the ah what do you call it? The rack on top. Yeah. And the director's like, eh, it looks good enough to me. And he's like, well, you don't have to do it. Yeah. And I was just like, yeah, take that, you asshole director. Yeah.
00:46:44
Speaker
That's not how a Brian Trenchard Smith runs his pictures. Yeah.
00:46:50
Speaker
Lois is beginning to respect him, but she scoffs when he describes stunt work as art. Not art, he replies. Not art, he replies. Have you seen Gone in 60 Seconds?
00:47:07
Speaker
And then we get an edited-down version of the climactic car chase from Gone in 60 Seconds, and it does indeed kick ass. I would call yeah it. Yeah, looks really rad. Then we're back on set where Monique is finally going to get a taste of the action.
00:47:23
Speaker
She gets to shoot a flare gun into a van that Grant is driving, which causes him to crash and come flying out the front window while all his clothes are on fire.
00:47:35
Speaker
It goes great. He does indeed crash on fire and stumble around while sorcery plays and it kicks ass. Yeah. Yeah. And then they reprise it in like the fan cam montage at the end of the movie as well. Rightly so. Yeah.
00:47:54
Speaker
This proved a little bit too much for Lois to watch though. She had to leave to avoid seeing her new friend, you know, come flying out of a windshield while he was on fire.
00:48:06
Speaker
Then it's back to another dog shit sorcery show. This one involving a blade box gag. Yeah. Uh, and, uh, fortunately and they put the singer in the blade box for a little while and that shuts him up.
00:48:20
Speaker
Right. It's like, okay, okay. I'm on board for now. Yeah. Do cut his head off. Fantastic. And he lets out sort of a David Lee Roth whale when they've put the first blade through the box.
00:48:35
Speaker
Uh, and then we get a ah flashback of grant doing his most dangerous stunt ever. We're back in the gap in Sydney. And Grant has run some rope through a carabiner attached to his waist and then set himself on fire and jumped off a cliff.
00:48:53
Speaker
He uses the carabiner to stop himself from splattering on the ground below. And some buddies extinguish him. It's a great stunt. Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:04
Speaker
I don't, I don't know when you would put that in a movie, but right. Well, I guess your mountain climbing movie where a guy has flaming arrows. Yeah. Well, I think they said that that was some sort of world record attempt or something because it was like two things at once. and They're like, no one's attempted to do ah this kind of fall while on fire. so Yeah.
00:49:24
Speaker
All right. I bet he was the first guy to do that. I don't doubt.
00:49:34
Speaker
But how do you guys feel these sons have sort of aged? I feel like in some ways, some of them hold up better than others. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like the rope thing feels less impressive, especially after you see Monique Van de Ven do it.
00:49:49
Speaker
don't know why. oh i think it's I think it's interesting. I like i mean, I like watching behind-the-scenes stunt stuff anyway.
00:50:00
Speaker
It's true. um and i lot of I'll bet a lot of the basic stunts are still being done the same way. Yeah, this is just sort of solid stunt craftsmanship display here, and that I like.
00:50:14
Speaker
I think that maybe speaks to the problem with the movie being just like montage on montage on montage is that it doesn't like, like putting that stunt there doesn't necessarily feel like an escalation. You're kind of like, Oh, it's like a thing I've seen plus another thing I've seen.
00:50:31
Speaker
and it worked out like, you know, i was like, all right, yeah, cool. Yeah. Like I've seen this guy on fire so many times. He really doesn't care. Right. Yeah. He got sent on fire really bad one time. He was back at work three days later to saying, set me on fire again. i don't think the fire is a big deal.
00:50:51
Speaker
Yeah. That's the, there is, there is that nice, you might, you might be getting to describing it soon, but like there's that nice scene between him and the reporter where he is just so nonchalant about heights and is somewhat, I am deathly afraid of heights. Like that, that is quietly like more impressive and more memorable to me. Yeah.
00:51:12
Speaker
then the sort of like setup and like what cause also like his react when they're like are you scared he's like nah like we practice it it'll be good like it's like okay he's not scared so what's at stake like yeah yeah it's weird that it both sort of builds him up and deflates him at the same time the movie and It works at cross purposes. If it was supposed to be sort of a myth making thing to bring Grant Page over to America, i think the right play would to be. i think Grant Page should be in a movie like a Burt Reynolds movie.
00:51:44
Speaker
Do you know what I mean? oh yeah. Where he's driving a car across Australia and he's kind of charming and, you know, he picks up a girl.
00:51:55
Speaker
That would be great. That would play to his strengths, I think. and Or, you know, you have Smokey and the Bandit 3 down under and he's the sidekick now. My God, who wouldn't watch that?
00:52:07
Speaker
Oh, no, that would be great. But instead, it's a very structurally strange thing. I'm sorry. yeah I was just realizing that part of what makes him, what makes the movie structurally strange is that he's strange as a protagonist because he always has his team.
00:52:26
Speaker
and and And his his team that's actually that's setting up a lot of stuff and helping with, you know, Breakdown 2 is much more present than that usually is in a narrative.
00:52:42
Speaker
And so he doesn't... um I mean, you know, he's got agency, obviously, but because you can see everybody that's helping him and because he's always like, ah he he brings attention to the people who are helping him, too. You know what I mean? Yeah. like He's like, we've all worked this out.
00:53:05
Speaker
yeah exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:11
Speaker
So then we're back at the sorcery show. The devil hypnotizes Merlin and impales him on a sword. and Then Merlin revives himself and it's fine.
00:53:21
Speaker
And somehow this is less cool than it sounds. I don't know the way that he was spinning his body around and it fell on the blade. Like it was a fun effect. I I'm sure I had gone to more music shows, I would have seen someone else do that same effect, but I hadn't really seen that. And I was like, that's a fun effect. Yeah.
00:53:38
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm surprised no one in the old anti-folk scene that we were in back in the aughts that no one tried a magician gimmick with their band.
00:53:50
Speaker
I feel like that somebody must have come up with that at some point. I know Herb did magic. He did magic, but yeah, he, he should have, he should have been like, I will be your stage musician. I will be your stage magician for your music set. Let's go.
00:54:08
Speaker
Yes. I think that would have taken somebody to the next level, but I guess we never got to that level. It sorcery was on yeah for better or worse.
00:54:20
Speaker
Uh, and The next day, Grant crawls along a rope strung between the roofs of two high rises. No, thank you. No, it was very intense.
00:54:34
Speaker
And then halfway across, he pulls out some sort of newfangled portable rotary phone and he calls Lois. ah When she answers, she looks out the window and sees him on this rope like 20 feet away from her window, which definitely gets her attention.
00:54:51
Speaker
he invites her a party that night and she agrees. And then we get this scene where they're up on the roof and they're talking about heights. Yeah. And for me, I want to, do I want to double back real quick though. But the thing that's fun about the him like stretched across there is there's definitely one real cutaway to like people looking out a window being like, what the fuck is that guy doing?
00:55:11
Speaker
And then like this fake series of cutaways to a baby looking up and then getting like sad. Cause like he drops the phone and it's like, Oh no. The baby's concerned. The baby's scared. And maybe that was supposed to be like, what if he falls on the baby? It's doubly dangerous now.
00:55:32
Speaker
But then we get this scene of them up on the roof and we get part of it is ah at one point, Grant Page is like, yeah, I got no problem with the roofs. And then he hangs himself off the side by his fingertips.
00:55:44
Speaker
Yep. Yep.
00:55:48
Speaker
But then he, when he goes to pull himself up, he's like, see, it's no big deal. Like it's just, and he like this struggles to get back on the roof. and you're like, what the fuck, man? Maybe you aren't as good at this as you think. This is this Yeah. i is His, his smile is perfect. But like, yeah, when he starts to talk, there's like, oh, you can hear the effort. Yeah. You know, you just gotta to get yourself back on the roof.
00:56:10
Speaker
ah ah that's a true But yeah, they go to a party that night. And we get to spend a little bit more time with sorcery and casual mode. Get a couple of sorcery gags.
00:56:24
Speaker
And then we see an escapologist break free of some chains at the bottom of a pool for some reason. I'm assuming that this is just a guy that sorcery knows. Yeah. And Brian Trent Smith was like, yeah, yeah.
00:56:36
Speaker
It seems like in a bigger movie, like this is like a cameo by like, oh, it's someone cool from the scene. But like, this is not a bigger movie and we have no idea who that guy is. So he's a an L.A. magician from the late 70s.
00:56:52
Speaker
So the next day, Grant agrees to show his cousin how to do the famous slide down a rope with a carabiner trick. But when he sets himself down at the bottom of the rope to catch him, he sees that Monique has taken cousin Curtis's place and done the stunt herself.
00:57:08
Speaker
It looks like she's learned a thing or two about stunting from old Grant. Yeah. Great job, Monique. Yes. This bird is ready to leave the nest. Uh, then we get, Oh, I did want to say, so that kind of wraps up the like, yes, Monique can stunt a plot line, but forget. Did you set up the other plot line, which is that like when, uh, the cousins meet up at the beginning, he's like, you know, we've been thinking of trying to incorporate a stunt like you do into our show.
00:57:39
Speaker
Did, yeah did you, ah you did mention that set up? Yeah. Cause, cause that's the other major plot line is like, will somehow these two things come together? Major plot line. Really?
00:57:53
Speaker
ah Look, I mean, I was surprised that the plot section of this podcast has gone this long because really, we're on the last page. Here's the good news. Then we get another sorcery scene. And this time the trick involves an audience plant and that plant is Mr. Grant Page.
00:58:11
Speaker
Grant gets dragged on stage and shackled to a chair that gets blasted by pyrotechnics. But then Merlin appears and Grant zip lines down from the balcony. The whole crowd goes nuts.
00:58:26
Speaker
He rejoins the gals in the audience, but he kisses Lois. So we know which one is his favorite. but yeah Also, like Lois reacts as though like she hasn't been let in on the fact that there will be a stunt. Yeah.
00:58:41
Speaker
She thought her boyfriend just got set on fire. Yeah. Yeah. She has. I mean, she hasn't really understood the concept of stunts the whole time. No, not particularly.
00:58:53
Speaker
So Sorcery dedicates their next song to him and Lois realizes how awesome this all was. She's going to write an article about how cool Grant Page and Sorcery are, both individually and collectively. She's going to call that article Stunt Rock.
00:59:12
Speaker
The end.
00:59:15
Speaker
and And we get to see the the ah you know the cover story. it does indeed so It does indeed say stunt rock. It does. She was as good as her word.
00:59:26
Speaker
Just like old mr Scrooge. Final thoughts. Five star ratings in terms of watchability and weirdness. Anna, why don't you kick us off?
00:59:38
Speaker
Well, I once characterized the Brothers Karamazov fistfight, fistfight, argument about God, fistfight.
00:59:50
Speaker
And in the same way, i think that stunt rock is musical number, musical number, stunt sequence, musical number. um And that's great.
01:00:02
Speaker
That's great. Uh, as Chris has said, and I do agree, unfortunately, the rock is not as good as the stunts and you would want those to be roughly equal parody.
01:00:17
Speaker
But as far as something, you know, for something as, uh, kind of shambolic as it is and, uh, you know, not having a narrative structure, it is it is quite watchable, I would say. Give it about yeah a three and a half for a watchability. um And that's because of the stunts and the rock.
01:00:39
Speaker
um As for weirdness, ah I'm going to give it about a three for weirdness. um Again, because it it is...
01:00:53
Speaker
not very Not shaped very much like a movie. And also there's Merlin and Satan doing stage duels while a band plays.
01:01:08
Speaker
And I haven't seen that in a movie before. Well, I landed pretty close to you, my heart. I gave it a four stars for watchability. I think there's lots of kick-ass stunts.
01:01:20
Speaker
Lots of really weird music. As much as I disrespect Greg Meiji or perhaps Maggie, I'm not quite sure. he did it was fun to listen to.
01:01:32
Speaker
lay on He kept on surprising me. I'll give him that. He did make a lot of different noises. Yes. and And when he wasn't singing, the music was 10 times better.
01:01:46
Speaker
We'll just ah put it that way. Also, ah real quick, I noticed on the subtitles on the Blu-ray, they could not figure out what he was singing at any time because none of the transcriptions are right. I'm like, I think I know what he's singing and it's not what you just wrote. so yeah Yeah, they probably needed to give it another pass. um yeah And the only thing that I think holds ah stunt rock back a little bit is that it doesn't really have any kind of forward momentum. These storylines do just sort of not come together.
01:02:23
Speaker
Even despite Justin's claims to to the contrary, uh, for weirdness, I'm going to give it four stars. You've got a stunt man, highlight reel, a fish out of water opposites attract romantic comedy, a behind the scenes, Hollywood story, a rockumentary and a magic show all jammed together poorly And I think that's just a really weird viewing experience. Yeah.
01:02:53
Speaker
Justin, what about you in terms of watchability and weirdness? What do you think? So I think watchability is an interesting one because on first watch for me, I was so blown away.
01:03:06
Speaker
was, it was the first watch was definitely a five star watch. Now the second watch for this podcast is, was a little more tedious. um So I'm not sure what to do with that, but I think I still want to recommend that first watch to people. So I'm going to, I'm going to give it a four for watchability. I think that's reasonable.
01:03:29
Speaker
Cause I do think like sequence by sequence, it's kind of cool, but as a 90 minute chunk, it, it can be a little, Yeah. Watching it a second time. wo wo Anyhow. oh Yeah. Second time. It's more of a vibes watch. It's a second screener. Yeah.
01:03:45
Speaker
with Without someone to show it to, I think that's the thing too. Like a rewatch, it's really good to to like show it to another person and then your energy can feed off of each other. Yeah. actually i I mostly did this rewatch on my own. so Yeah. Watching this alone, I feel like would be strange.
01:04:01
Speaker
Yeah. And then for weirdness, I think i think you really, i was going to go a little lower, but I think you really sold me on a four, Chris. So I'm going to agree. I think it's also a four for weirdness because of all the reasons you stated. So.
01:04:15
Speaker
Well, I won't argue with you not arguing with me. Instead, I'll move on to the next segment of the show. We got to keep her chugging. We're going to talk about this score.
01:04:42
Speaker
Let's talk about the score, score, score. This movie's got a great score, score, score.
01:04:54
Speaker
Time to talk about the score, score, score. This movie's got a great score, score, score.
01:05:04
Speaker
Score, score, score.
01:05:11
Speaker
So all the music in stunt rock is performed by the band Sorcery. Sorcery was and still is a Hollywood-based hard rock band. Like their contemporaries Kiss and Alice Cooper, Sorcery would try to add some pizzazz to their live show by incorporating it in stage magic.
01:05:32
Speaker
Sorcery did this by having two full-time stage magicians as part of the band. One who would perform the role of Merlin and the other one would perform the role of Satan who would do battle throughout the show.
01:05:45
Speaker
This is a kick-ass concept for like the side of a van, you know? e On stage, it does come off a little bit like Arthurian Bible Man a little bit. Yes.
01:05:59
Speaker
Nailed it. But ah Brian Treachery Smith needed a rock band that was the in the l L.A. area and had stage presence and worked would work within his budget.
01:06:11
Speaker
Sorcery definitely fit the bill. He didn't much care for their music, saying it sounded like four-year-old Led Zeppelin, but I guess it was good enough.
01:06:23
Speaker
For their part, I think Sorcery must have been pretty excited because this meant they could finally cut their first record. The first record that Sorcery ever recorded was the soundtrack to Stunt Rock.
01:06:35
Speaker
Wow. If Stunt Rock fans are looking for more Sorcery on film, it's out there. They appeared on the Dick Clark Rockin' Halloween special 1982 and oh But also in 1983, they appeared in a movie called Rocktober Blood, where they played a band called Headmistress.
01:07:00
Speaker
Huh. Okay. Their film work gained them a bit of a cult following, and they're still out there rocking. In 2024, they released three albums. Sorcery Instrumentals, definitely the one to get.
01:07:14
Speaker
m Metallum Fortis. and sinister love songs, as well as they released the single, the bats are flying, which was used in the soundtrack for Eli Roth's Thanksgiving.
01:07:31
Speaker
Eli Roth must be a stunt rock fan. it Must be. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Well, all right, we're making up time and we can keep on rocking in trends in film.
01:07:47
Speaker
Woo.
01:08:05
Speaker
Trends in film, they do happen, trends in film. Trends in film, that's the segment, trends in film.
01:08:30
Speaker
All right. So we're doing a game about bands in films. These are mostly eighties and nineties films. So this is the rare chance when we have a game where people might actually know the answers.
01:08:42
Speaker
It's a real mix here on your favorite bad movie podcast. ah So what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a title of a film, a brief description and three bands that might have appeared in the film. I want you to buzz in and tell me which one is in the film.
01:08:58
Speaker
You'll buzz in by saying your own name. If you get it wrong, your opponent will have the chance to steal. Is everybody ready? Yes. All right. Question number one.
01:09:10
Speaker
Hands on buzzers. Father's Day. Billy Crystal and Robin Williams both believe themselves to be the father of a runaway child. Go on a road trip together to find him.
01:09:23
Speaker
Was the band in Father's Day Smash Mouth? Sugar Ray were the New Radicals? Justin. Justin? I saw this picture in theaters.
01:09:35
Speaker
The band in question is Sugar Ray. That's correct. Justin, you're on the board. yeah um Yeah, I don't remember. I think that was before they had like a hit single, though. I don't know why the name Sugar Ray stuck with me, but I was. But when they had a hit, it's stuck with all of America.
01:09:56
Speaker
It's that band that was in the the Billy Crystal Robin Williams movie. Yeah. Question number two. Idle hands. A teenager's right hand has a mind of its own, and that mind is evil.
01:10:12
Speaker
Did this movie feature the offspring, rancid, or green day? Justin. Justin. I also saw this movie, but remember nothing but the nudity. um I think it's the offspring.
01:10:34
Speaker
That's correct. a Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Off to a strong start. Question number three, eat the rich, a terrorist and a rude waiter, attack a politician and take over an exclusive London club.
01:10:54
Speaker
Was that public image limited thin Lizzie or motorhead?
01:11:03
Speaker
Anna. Anna. In Lizzie.
01:11:10
Speaker
I'm sorry. It wasn't thin Lizzie. Justin, can you steal? Yeah, I have not seen this picture, so either band that's left would make sense. I'm going to Motorhead.
01:11:22
Speaker
Correct. Justin, you might sweep at this rate. We've only seen it happen once before on our famous Lost Ghoulies 3 episode. Oh, but it's lost.
01:11:34
Speaker
It's lost. No one's heard it, but Greg played a perfect game that time. Dang. Question number four. Back to school. To encourage his uninspired son to get through college, a wealthy and and fun-loving businessman enrolls in school with him.
01:11:57
Speaker
Oh, I've seen this one. Yes, we've watched it together. Was the band in that Devo, Adam Ant, or Oingo Boingo? Justin?
01:12:09
Speaker
Justin. Oingo Boingo? The streak continues. Wow. That one is one that I also ah have only seen in parts on cable. So I don't even know if I saw the musical number.
01:12:25
Speaker
this is That was one that we taped off of the cable on VHS when I was a kid. And so it was one of like the 10 movies I had regular access to. Nice.
01:12:36
Speaker
Question number five. The Flintstones. Freddy, Barney, Wilma, and Betty are all here doing whatever it is they do in this live-action adaptation of the classic cartoon sitcom.
01:12:51
Speaker
Did this feature the B-52s, Coolio, or Right Said Fred? Justin. Justin. It featured the B-52s as the
01:13:06
Speaker
Oh, my God. The streak continues. Wow. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I'm in awe. Okay. Okay. Let's if I can stump you with this one. Question number six.
01:13:20
Speaker
Monster dog. ah A rock and roll musician returns to his hometown only to encounter the one thing he never expected. A pack of vicious wild dogs.
01:13:33
Speaker
Did this feature Klaus Nomi? John Cougar Mellencamp or Alice Cooper.
01:13:43
Speaker
Anna has walked away. he was going to say Anna. Anna. ah Alice Cooper. Oh, my God. Snatched it out from under Totally fair. i But I left it wide open. It was my bad. so Yeah. Yeah. You can't. You can't sleep on an Anderson.
01:14:04
Speaker
We never quit. Question number seven. baseball A couple of schlubs invent a sport that anybody can play as long as they can talk trash.
01:14:16
Speaker
Did this feature gold finger, real big fish, or save Ferris? Justin. Justin.
01:14:29
Speaker
Oh boy. it's been years. ah which of the scars which of the scars um there's the rub ah save Ferris oh now you've got the yips Anna can you steal ah real big fish you got it my heart kicking dirt on his shoes save Ferris was in drive me crazy
01:15:02
Speaker
I think you're right. No, the Donna's were in drive me crazy. Oh, right, right, right. God, they were great. I love drive me crazy. Anyway, question number seven, the dungeon master, a demonic wizard challenges a modern computer programmer to a battle of sorcery versus technology.
01:15:23
Speaker
Did this feature wasp quiet, riot or Yeah.
01:15:31
Speaker
Justin. Justin. This is a guess. I'm going to go with wasp. You've got it. Yeah. All right. Last question. This one, Justin, I feel like is going to be a slow lob right across home plate for you.
01:15:50
Speaker
Okay. It's Pat. A person with no distinct gender confuses every single person they meet. Did this feature the butthole surfers, Mr. Bungle, or ween?
01:16:06
Speaker
Justin. Justin? So I've only seen It's Pat once, but famously for years, I said that it was the longest 75 minutes I had spent on anything in my life. I hated it. I haven't rewatched it. And honestly, considering all the garbage I've watched,
01:16:24
Speaker
I bet it probably isn't that bad. ah But anyhow, it's a ween concert at which Pat is exposed, but we don't see their gender. so No. Correct.
01:16:37
Speaker
Pat momentarily joins ween as a tuba player. that' great
01:16:44
Speaker
Congratulations to Justin. You're the big weener. I like that.
01:16:57
Speaker
It's time for the Batty Awards.
01:17:06
Speaker
Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Congratulations to all the nominees.
01:17:28
Speaker
That's right. Congratulations to all the nominees. It's the Batty Awards. The awards that we give out to those little moments that make a movie so deliciously batty.
01:17:41
Speaker
I feel like I need to explain this concept punchily. I'm to work something out, listeners. We're going to get there. Not a bad start. I'm going to be honest. Anna, do you have a Batty Award? yeah I'm going to give my baddie award to ah the TV director's assistant director ah played by an actress named Yana Nirvana. She just so cute and she was doing such a good job with her little AD duties and her little clapper thing. It was great.
01:18:14
Speaker
Yeah, she was a cutie. Salute. Similarly, I'm going to give my baddie award to Doug Locke, the non-binary keyboard player ah who wore a mask for the entire film and had their voice dubbed over, I believe truly trying to present as agender and mysteriously as possible. You could see long hair coming up at the back and in one close up, you could see a blonde mustache poking out from the mask that they were wearing. But ah other than that, no real clues. And it was interesting.
01:18:49
Speaker
Yeah, they were a really fun character. And I feel like their keyboard solos were the best part of every single sorcery song that featured them. And also the various hoods or masks or whatever they they were called. um Always a different style, you know, bedazzled or just like Matt. Very, very, you know, fashion forward.
01:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Really having fun with the concept of hoods and masks. So salute to you, Doug Locke. ah Justin, do you have a baddie award? I do indeed. I'm not sure how to phrase it. I don't know if it'd be best montage or best trailer within the film, but both times that I watched stunt rock after watching the montage of stuff from gone in 60 seconds, I was like, shoot, I need to see gone in 60 seconds. so guess So I guess best montage trailer goes to that.
01:19:45
Speaker
Making me want to watch a different movie while I was watching this movie. Yeah. Salute to shouting out gone in 60 seconds. And to be, obvious it should be obvious, but the seventies one, not the Nicholas cage one, but yeah, they did not get movies from the future.
01:20:01
Speaker
Right. but Now, ah Justin, thank you so much for coming on the show. Of course. Tell us about your book. So I think I hyped it a little bit last time, but I'm super psyched that I got the chance to write about Weird Al's second album in 3D, the one that has EATED on it for the 33 and a third book series, which is this great pocket series of books, each about single albums.
01:20:31
Speaker
um They've announced, I mean, there's always a chance it'll get pushed, but they've announced that it's basically coming out around Thanksgiving this year. So hoping people pre-order it. if I even set up my own website. So if you go justinremer.com,
01:20:48
Speaker
there's a link on the front of my page to pre-order it from the bookstore where I work. That way you can get it signed by me. I'm going to have some cool bookmarks and some stickers made up. So you get a little bit of exclusive swag if you order it from my bookstore. And that link is on justinremer.com. So please do that.
01:21:07
Speaker
okay And if it's coming out around Thanksgiving, that's perfect for Christmas. I know the listeners of our show know someone would love to get this for Christmas. Yeah. And it's the perfect stock and stuffer size. Yeah. Yes.
01:21:22
Speaker
So go to Justin Reamer.com. Correct. Justin Reamer.com. We'll have the link to that in the show notes. And if people want to follow you, where should they track you down?
01:21:35
Speaker
So the best place is probably Instagram. um If you go to ah duck the piano wire, which is the name of my current musical act, all one word, or specifically about the book, weirdal.in3d.thebook.com. which is very belabored, I know, but it says what it needs to say. Yeah, it's accurate.
01:21:57
Speaker
Yeah, those are the two things I check the most. I guess I'm on Substack too, but like I syndicate that on the website and the Instagram, so just follow. you know follow All right.
01:22:08
Speaker
You've got your marching orders, listeners. Next week, I'm very excited. We're going to be covering the winner of our first ever Discord poll. We put it to the Discord dogs.
01:22:19
Speaker
What did they want us to cover? We put up three classics in terms of just all-time bad movies that we wanted to cross off our bucket list. yeah And the big winner, I'm happy to announce...
01:22:34
Speaker
I don't have a drum roll....is Birdemic Shock and Terror. oh Yeah. Very excited to revisit this one. Yes. It's been ages. I remember it being so huge at the time and then people never talk about Birdemic anymore. I want to see Birdemic again.
01:22:53
Speaker
ah So I'm very excited listeners. We hope that you'll be there with us when we talk birdemic next week. And we hope that you find us on Instagram and blue sky.
01:23:04
Speaker
And I hope that you leave us five stars. And we hope that you switch to another podcast app and leave us five stars on that one too. It would really help us out. And of course, tell a friend, share us on your timeline, call your cousin say, cousin, i love you.
01:23:22
Speaker
And I want you to listen to this podcast. And ah until next week, be good and goodbye. Goodbye. bye Here's little sorcery so you know what I'm talking
01:24:22
Speaker
The lyrics are so bad, too. It's so bad. Just a kind of sexy lady. Watch this.