Whenever I need a "hoot", I am inclined to slip into the New Beverly Cinema because - after all - they have the most hilarious trailers hitting the silver screen 'round town.
A tad melodramatic - and sprinkled with a lot of stilted dialogue and tired old clichés - they impact the funny bone, nonetheless.
Last night, filmgoers were in stitches over vintage oddball previews from "The Gun Girls", "Gorilla Gang", "Bowery Boys", and "The Love Root".
For the most part, a keen audience was there to rub shoulders and pay homage to Director Joe Dante, who was hosting the event.
Joe Dante was one of the most distinctive mainstream filmmakers of the 1980's. His noticeable visual style, in-joke movie references, and satirical swipes at American institutions (principally suburban Middle America and the US military) make for a great movie experience.
The auteur - diminutive in physical size, but not in stature - is known chiefly for Gremlins (1984) and Innerspace (1987); two films he directed for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.
Like Quentin Tarantino, Dante's penchant for quirky movies - in particular those in the B-movie vein — is obvious when one flashes up on the silver screen. Instinctively, you get a sense from the warm-hearted man in person, that there is a love for the diversity of the rich medium.
Such is the case with two films he chose to screen last night - "Wrong is Right" and "The Second Civil War" (which was billed outside as a Mystery Movie on the Marquee).
With little ado, he referred to the features on the double-bill as "futurist genres".
When the film - "Wrong is Right" - was first released in 1982, it was not well-received by critics or filmgoers alike, according to Dante.
"It was an impossible scenario. No one took it seriously. The Columbia release was thought to be too outlandish." But, with a bit of wicked glee, he noted that after catching "Wrong" on DVD recently, he was startled by the "timeliness" of the subject matter now.
Eerily, some of the wild imaginings depicted in the studio project, have come to pass on the world scene; for example, touchy topical bones of contention over the Nation's dependency on oil, a growing mistrust of the government, and a subsequent staunch stance against the military in recent days.
And, when "Wrong is Right" took a quirky foray into the world of terrorism (and the issue of suicide bombers holding Nations under siege) it appeared the fictionalized piece was traversing over very real territory, torn from the pages of the daily headlines.
Despite a great cast - Sean Connery and John Saxon in top form, for instance - the little stinker faded into oblivion. Saxon - with fiancé in tow last night - was inclined to put forth his own theories about its demise.
"It was too far out, so Columbia buried it," he conjectured to an attentive audience who received the respected actor with open arms in the Art Film house that specializes in classic revival festivals.
"Maybe it was hidden," he corrected himself later.
Too on-the-money, perhaps? Doubtful, in my opinion.
Although the performances were solid, the script was "loose" and "hairy"; flawed. There were a number of hilarious bits of dialogue to chew on, though. In one curious scene, out-of-the-blue, a secret agent blurts out that the head of a terrorist organization "masturbated" a lot. Huh?
I suppose the inference was that Hoover was at the helm in those heady days?
In other instances, the plot was surprisingly timely. By coincidence?
When characters worried about whether the President would survive an ordeal, the off-beat lady Vice President - who happened to be an African-American woman - suddenly comes to a startling realization,
"If anything happens to you Mr. President, I'll be the first black female President," she says, with a tinge of astonishment in her voice.
The audience felt like it was in on a private joke right about then.
For the most part - "Wrong is Right" - had all the appearance of a bad TV Movie of the week, with a B-movie feel to it.
Annoyingly, the producers treated the audience like they were stupid, on occasion. For instance, throughout the low-budget thriller, characters often mouthed into a walkie- talkie - like they were speaking into it - when they obviously weren't. Did they think they were foolin' us? Lame, alright!
And, the gizmos and gadgetry were noticeably fake; right out of the prop room of a low-budget fifties-style Sci-fi movie.
In contrast, a scene depicting a "nuclear blast" was pretty darn believable, though. Probably due to the fact Nuclear Scientists were on board as consultants, according to the end crawl credits.
"Wrong" was a novelty, but no cigar.
In contrast, the second feature - "The Second Civil War" - was well-crafted with solid production values. Of course, this was probably due to the fact Joe Dante was at the helm, directing.
As an aside, Dante noted that when they were actually shooting scenes - at La Cienega and Santa Monica Boulevard in the old roller derby house once part-owned by pop icon, Cher - material being pressed to celluloid each day for the HBO project, was coinciding with daily news events.
I believe it; after all, life's uncanny like that.
In a nutshell, the film is about a nuclear blast which renders a number of children in a foreign nation, homeless. When an altruistic children's organization makes a bid to transfer the orphans to shelters in Idaho, the Governor issues a directive to "close the borders".
Ultimately, there's a concerted effort by the State Officials to protect the "American Dream" - and in the process - terminate an "open door" policy which the Idaho residents and the National Guard claim is ruining the country.
On the heels of the decision, the Federal Government gets into a tussle with the Governor (a lovesick puppy, pining for a Latino woman, curiously) over the bold-faced action which is deemed "Unconstitutional" from the get-go.
A large part of the plot deals with the inadequacy of the government, which the film takes a poke at. And, there are clever reveals about the hypocrisy of people, in general.
The HBO project is satirical, very broad, and hilarious.
At one point, for instance, the President issues a demand that the "Idaho" Governor remove the barriers in 72 hours, but his advisors note that the deadline imposed may prove disastrous.
After all, if the Governor does not comply with the request, a conflict may erupt right smack dab in the middle of a storyline to unfold on "All My Children". If the soap is pre-empted - in the midst of Erica Kane's decision to run away with Antonio - there will be hell to pay.
Clearly, they'll lose the female vote!
So, taking a cue from Roosevelt - for image sake - the President moves up the deadline to sixty-and-some odd half-hours to avoid the crisis.
Yeah, black, very black.
In fact, some may find the material offensive.
There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek pap, poking at sacred cows, and the turning of respected institutions upside down on their ear.
But "Civil War" is slick, well-acted, and professionally executed.
In the final analysis - like artists themselves - a handful of film gems are often way ahead of their time.
Fortunately, due to reruns, cable, and DVD, fans of the medium have the rare opportunity to take a glance backward to take a second gander at what once passed 'em by.
Did the filmmakers hit the mark, or not?
Last night's screenings touched, opened up a dialogue, and provoked thought. And, in the process, the rapt audience bonded as a result.
In my books, that's a compelling film experience, wouldn't you agree?