Not that you’d notice, but here’s what’s been eating up my free time of late: As founder of The Movie Clubbed, I’ll be part of Saturday’s live skewering of Skatetown, U.S.A., an abomination of pop celluloid that was 1979’s both best and worst “rock and roller disco movie of the year!”
The details, from today’s Gazette:
"Turns out there’s a reason 1979’s Skatetown, U.S.A. has never hit VHS or DVD: It really sucks. The alleged comedy starring Scott Baio and Patrick Swayze will get a live, Mystery Science Theater 3000-style beating from The Movie Clubbed, whose members include a few Oklahoma Gazetteers, at 8 p.m. Saturday at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch. Also to be skewered: a 1972 short by the OKC Urban Renewal Authority. Tickets are $5-$8. Call 236-3100 or visit okcmoa.com."
This marks The Movie Clubbed’s second time at bat. The first was back in March, when we (me, Richard York, Brian Winkeler, Greg Elwell and Spencer Hicks) zapped Zardoz, the 1974 science-fiction slice of nonsense starring Sean Connery. We didn’t think we find a more painful follow-up, but we were wrong.
What’s “special” about this Skatetown screening is that the Oklahoma City Museum of Art has procured a 35mm print. That’s right: They weren’t all burned in anger. With any luck, this one will spontaneously combust as soon as we’re done with it, so buy your tickets now before they skate away. There's even an unofficial after-party at The Paramount on Film Row, for which Brian bought the Skatetown soundtrack LP off eBay. You've been warned, but see you there anyway? —Rod Lott
