I was recently reading an article about how It’s a Wonderful Life would never have been a much beloved classic had it not been for a clerical error. It seems someone forgot to renew its copyright which allowed television stations to broadcast it for free (which is what they did being the cheap bastards that they are) and it was the countless repeat viewings every Christmas that made it a classic. That got me thinking about other films that are now considered to be classics, or that are at least brimmed with nostalgia simply because they got a lot of play on one television station or another, and what exactly make a movie a classic.
The Shawshank Redemption went pretty much unnoticed from the movie theatres but is now the #1 ranked movie on IMDB mainly because it was showed over and over again on cable for several years straight. There are all kinds of very low budget, straight-to-video releases that now have a cult following thanks to the old USA Up All Night series (Troma practically owes Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Godfried their existence for showing so many of their films late nights on the weekends.)
And then there is The Pirate Movie. A completely forgettable, goofy adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance that was a quick cash-in on another parody of Penzance that was having success on Broadway. It likely would have slipped into obscurity had HBO not ran it constantly for a time. Now it has a major cult status from kids who grew up watching it on the movie channel. Consider me one of those kids and that’s why The Pirate Movie is the Pick of the Week.
I honestly don’t remember much about the film now, but I do remember falling in love with Kristy McNichol and watching it over and over again much to the chagrin of my parents. I suspect if I watch it again I’ll find the whole thing ridiculously silly and wonder what my little boyhood self was thinking, so maybe it’s all much better left to nostalgia, but some part of me desperately wants to rekindle those memories.
There’s really nothing else out this week that looks interesting to me. It must be the summer lulls as the next few weeks of releases look pretty dull. I guess the studios figure everybody is out doing something for summer vacation (or hopefully in the movie theatres watching all those big,flashy blockbusters) and don’t have the time or the cash to bother with home video releases. Worry not, I’ll still keep you informed of anything interested that passes this way.
