Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Day 19: The Van

Date: July 19
Film: The Van [usa, 1977]
Where: Tulsa/at home/streamer
Who with: Loner style
Rating: *1/2

Not sure why I watched this really bad one from 1977. It was less than 90 minutes for one thing. I also thought it would tap into the nostalgia of my youth when I watched a bunch of films with wall-to-wall T & A as immature guys would try to find girls to bed [or, in the case of The Van, it means a waterbed covered in shag carpet!]. It didn't really do that and it was surprisingly free of both "T" and "A," so to speak. Only thing that makes The Van remotely interesting is a very young Danny DeVito is among the cast, but the film is mostly this nitwit named Bobby driving around in his van, dubbed "Straight Arrow" looking for easy girls. Stuart Goetz plays Bobby and he's truly an awful actor who spends about 15 minutes of the movie just grinning like an idiot while he's driving around town. I should have timed it as even more screen time might have been devoted to that. There is a definite '70s vibe going on here with the vehicles, car wash, clothes, slang, hair, etc, too bad it's all happening is such a hollow exercise of crappiness. I'm always saying the 1970s did little wrong in the world of film--The Van proves that statement false.

4 comments:

hidden staircase said...

"hollow exercise of crappiness" = awesome phrase...hilarious. of course there was a 70s movie called 'the van'...terrible!

also, like your new description of who you saw it with: loner style!

hidden staircase said...

also...watch 'downtown 81'! slice of nyc 1980/81!

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

Staircase--I've added a scene from this just for you, ha. Do you remember these kinds of vans cruising around NoCal? I used to remember thinking they were soooo cool!

hidden staircase said...

i never thought they were cool! i thought they were creepy/scary...as in they were filled with creepy/scary old dudes...but yes, i do remember seeing them. i also just showed a guy who works here and lives in his van behind the bakery. it's temporary, but he gets teased a lot...his name is dan and he lives in his van (with his dog.) he said he wishes he could get 3 girls to dress up like the ones on the poster and pose for a photo with him and his van. can't wait to watch the trailer with sound (and grinning.)