Music Video of the Day: Soldierhead by Newsted (2013, directed by Leon Melas)


Jason Newsted and his then-band rock out in this video and remind us all of what metal is supposed to be.  Newsted has said that this song is about fighting for what you want and for what you believe and that’s something that Newsted has done over the course of his entire career.

Director Leon Melas has also done music videos for Rick Monroe, David Also, Chantel, and others.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I Wanna Be With You by Pretty Boy Floyd (1989, directed by ????)


The lead singer of Pretty Boy Floyd wants to be with you, even if it means calling in the middle of a performance.  This video is shot in black-and-white so you know it’s artistic.

Pretty Boy Floyd may not have been the most aggressive of the hair metal bands but they could still probably beat up Winger.

Enjoy!

Crossing the Line (1990, directed by Gary Graver)


Rick Kagan (Rick Hearst) is a rich kid who has a rebellious attitude and lives to race dirt bikes.  The other dirt bikers don’t like him and, when he tries to join the team sponsored by Steve Sinclair (Vernon Wells), the the other members of the team refuses to race with him.  Rick competes without a team, while falling in love with the pretty Megan (Colleen Poland) and trying to avoid his disapproving father (John Saxon).

It’s hard to know what to make of this sports film.  Rick Kagan is our hero but he’s petulant and spoiled and it’s hard to root for him.  You can understand why other people wouldn’t want to race with him.  I wouldn’t want him on my team.  He takes too many stupid risks and he has absolutely no clue how to be a teammate.  We’re supposed to like him because the members of the opposing team are also jerks but Rick doesn’t come across as being any better.

The only interesting thing about this film is that there are a few familiar faces in the cast.  Saxon is Rick’s father and gives a better performance than the material deserves.  Vernon Wells’s is the sponsor of Rick’s rivals.  Cameron Mitchell is the chief of police who tells Saxon that he needs to be a better father.  This must have been one of Mitchell’s final movies.  He only appears in one scene and he doesn’t look well.  Rick Hearst had the screen presence to be a star but, in this film, he’s stuck with a character who is impossible to root for.

Crossing the Line is set in America but it was filmed in South Africa at a time when many productions were boycotting the country to protest Apartheid.  Director Gary Graver was a protégé of Orson Welles and was one of the many crew members involved in the lengthy shooting of The Other Side of the Wind.  Graver shows a good eye for directing dirt bike races.  It’s just too bad the film is far less interesting once it gets off the track.

Music Video of the Day: Shake Me by Cinderella (1986, directed by Mark Rezyka)


In 1986, a real-life Cinderella wants to see the band that uses her name.  Her wicked sisters have other plans.   It’s a good thing that she’s got a magic guitar.  She not only goes to the concert but she also leaves with the band and hopefully, she’ll eventually hook up with Bon Jovi.

Mark Rezyka also directed videos for KISS, Testament, Joan Jett and Survivor, amongst others.

Enjoy!

 

Thunder Mountain (1947, directed by Lew Landers)


Having been away at agriculture school, Marvin Hayden (Tim Holt) returns home to discover that the ranch that he inherited from his father is about to be auctioned off due to unpaid back taxes.  It’s all a part of a scheme concocted by Sherriff Bagley (Harry Harvey), Trimble Carson (Harry Woods), and Johnny Blue (Tom Keene) to get control of the land so that they can make a financial killing when the railroad comes through.

(As in so many B-westerns, Thunder Mountain presents the railroad as something that will help build a lasting society while also bringing out the worst in greedy people.)

Even though Marvin refuses to carry his father’s guns, he’s still viewed as being a threat.  Because the Haydens have long feuded with the Jorth family, Carson murders Chick Jorth (Steve Brodie).  Marvin is arrested for the crime.  It falls to Marvin’s friends Chito (Richard Martin), Ginger (Virginia Owen), and Jim Gardner (Jason Robards, Sr., not to be mistaken for his son) to help Marvin break out of jail so that he can prove his innocence, save his ranch, and win the heart of feisty Ellie Jorth (Martha Hyer).

This was Tim Holt’s first starring role after he returned from serving in World War II and he makes the most of it.  Holt plays Marvin Hayden as being a haunted man, someone who has seen firsthand the results of violence and frontier feuds.  Unlike the heroes that Holt played before World War II, Marvin Hayden doesn’t want to carry a gun but, ultimately, circumstances don’t leave him with much choice.  This movie is a perfect example of why Holt’s films are held in such high regard by B-western fans.  The plot may not be anything special but Holt’s intelligent performance brings some unexpected shadings to the proceedings.  Holt gets good support from Martin, Owen, and Robards and there’s a lot of spark to his scenes with Martha Hyer.

Based on a Zane Grey novel and featuring a brisk, 60-minute running time, Thunder Mountain is one of the better B-westerns out there and a good showcase for Tim Holt.

Music Video of the Day: Pay No Mind (Snoozer) by Beck (1994, directed by Steve Hanft)


This song finds Beck in a folk mood.  It took a lot of people by surprise in 1994, when Beck was still best-known for Loser.  This is one of the songs that showed Beck wasn’t going to be the one-hit wonder that many people expected.

Director Steve Hanft has also done videos for Pride & Glory, Milk Dee, Hootie & The Blowfish, Eels, and … Carrot Top?  Everyone has to make a living.

Enjoy!

Perfect Profile (1989, directed by Jim C. Harris)


Brad Johnson (Tom Campitelli) is the millionaire owner of a manufacturing company and also the owner of Dallas’s basketball team.  (Even though this film was shot in Dallas, the team is never specifically referred to as being the Mavericks).  Brad’s company is a success and has just signed a contract with the Pentagon.  However, Brad is more concerned with why his team keeps losing games.  He goes to the “Fourth Floor,” the section of his corporate headquarters where nerdy Doc Alvins (Mike O’Dell) can use his computer, Delphi, to predict the future.  Brad has Mike program Delphi to compute what is wrong with his basketball team.  Delphi reports that the team needs a new point guard and that Brad should sign Terry Williams (Nancy Lieberman).  Terry becomes the first woman to play in the NBA!  She also sleeps with the team owner but she’s probably not the first player to do that.

Perfect Profile is a strange film.  Depending on the source, it was released in either 1989 or 1991 but it has the aesthetics of a film that was shot a few ears earlier, maybe around 1984 or 1985.  The boxy computers and the cheap graphics come straight from the late 70s and early 80s and, with his taped glasses and pocket protector, Dr. Alvins is a dead ringer for Robert Carradine in Revenge of the Nerds.  The film is technically a comedy but a scene in which the computer suggests that the ideal point guard would be a black version of Larry Bird is about as edgy as things get.  With one key exception, the actors often seem to be lost.  I’m going to guess this was a regional production and that the majority of the cast and crew were locals.

Nancy Lieberman, who played Terry, is considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball.  She played for the Dallas Diamonds in 1984, which is how she probably ended up in this movie.  Lieberman is likable as Terry and she brings some authenticity to the basketball scenes.  The film may not have been good but Nancy Lieberman did her best.

 

 

Music Video of the Day: Twilight Hotel by Quiet Riot (1986, directed by Dominic Orlando)


Twilight Hotel was the second single to be released off of QRIII, the fifth studio album from Quiet Riot.  Unfortunately, neither the single nor the video was as popular as the other single released off of QRIII, The Wild and the Young.

Director Dominic Orlando also directed videos for Kansas, The Beach Boys, Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, The Fat Boys, and several other artist that you would not necessarily expect to see at a Quiet Riot concert.

Enjoy!