A 50 minute video about Super Mario Bros 3 might be too much for some but I really enjoyed it. It's an excellent work and it's fascinating how a game could be so hyped and so built-up and yet deliver exactly what it promised.
Sometimes I can still see that bright yellow and re-live the excitement of that time.
With the HD quality of the new Rad trailer, we can finally read the magazine article Cru reads about Bart Taylor:
HELL TRACK
COCHRAN, ORE.
BART,
The Man.
CAN HE BE STOPPED AT HELL TRACK?
He hasn't lost a race yet. Bart "The Man" Taylor has ripped up the pro class for the last three years. At the U.S. Open in Long Beach, California last month, Bart carted home a hefty $25,000 for the win, giving him an easy lead going into Hell Track in Cochran, Oregon, where the title of No. 1 Pro will be decided.
Of course, Bart will be the favorite to grab the glory at Hell Track, starting with the brand spankin' new '86 Corvette that goes with the pro win. His heavy pursuit of the No. 1 [place?] has given him very little free time for surfing or kicking back at his new condo right on Zuma Beach.
The blond-haired swoop master claims that his constant workout on his bike while on the road keeps him in shape for the national BMX circuit.
On and off the track, Bart's the dude to watch. No one comes close. You might remember last year's grandnational, when Taylor lapped half the pack -- that was KILLER. Also, rumor has it that he's been attempting countless swoops on this year's number one national girl and Mongoose teammate, Christian. No luck with her yet, but he's got groupies to spare. Ah, the spoils of being the best.
BMX ACTION
A few thoughts.
This one throwaway prop alters forever my perspective of the entire movie. Bart has been competing for 3 straight years and hasn't lost even a single race? Not even 2nd place? Every great athlete loses at least sometime. If he had merely been the best rider, I'd believe Cru could prove himself to be the superior rider but now I think that's very unlikely. Bart must have won too much, became too satisfied and lost his edge.
The other thing is: I love that they mention, in a magazine article, that Bart is hitting on Christian. If they're going out, that'd be one thing but if he's hitting on her and getting rejected, why does that make it into a magazine? And then they go the opposite direction and talk about how he's got "groupies to spare," geez. Would that really happen? Sure, it was a completely different era and I have no knowledge of BMX magazines but it seems wacky.
It might sound dumb but I've always wondered what malt was. From "going to the Malt Shop" in old movies to the candy malted milk balls, I always had it in the back of my mind.
On October 14th In The Year of Our Lord 2021, "Rad" will be shown in theaters in celebration of it's 35th Anniversary!
"In celebration of its 35th anniversary, the 1986 BMX racing film, Rad returns to theaters for one-night-only. Featuring a new 35th anniversary restoration, the film stars Bill Allen (Cru Jones), Lori Loughlin (Christian Hollings), Talia Shire (Mrs. Jones), Jack Weston (Duke Best), and Ray Walston (Burton Timmer), along with 1984 Olympic gymnastics champion Bart Conner (Bart Taylor).
As part of the Rad 35th Anniversary event, fans will see for the first time “A Rad Documentary – Inside the BMX Movie That Changed Everything.” Featuring never-before-seen interviews with the cast and crew and behind-the-scenes footage, the documentary gives audiences an inside look into the making of the film that helped catapult the extreme popularity of the 1980s BMX fad."
The Trailer:
Over the past week and a half I've released my own "Dr. Phil Trilogy" to youtube. I don't expect it to perform well - I think people see "Dr. Phil" and think "who cares?"
But this was a fun era in David Letterman history. For months they isolated clips of Dr. Phil out of context and played them for comedy on the show (Video #1). And then Dr. Phil agreed to come on the show and implied that it may come to violence (Video #2). Then the actual interview (Video #3) was actually combative (in a playful, jokey way).
I have no particular opinion of Dr. Phil but the whole saga was fun and funny. I wish I had more "Dr. Phil's Words of Wisdom" clips but it was a daily segment and I felt overwhelmed. Also, someone started a website where you could read through them all and I figured that was good enough, not thinking that anything like youtube would ever exist.
All of this was a stepping stone, I think, toward getting on Oprah - and, for all I know, it worked.
Sidenote: The youtube algorithm is an interesting thing. The Norm Macdonald clip that I posted 2 weeks ago has over 60,000 views. The Conan clip that I posted a week later is at 127 views.
Not Safe for Kids
