{"id":16519,"date":"2017-08-19T11:29:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T15:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=16519"},"modified":"2017-08-19T16:29:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T20:29:59","slug":"cancon-101-the-filmplan-international-comedy-trilogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=16519","title":{"rendered":"CanCon 101: The Filmplan International Comedy Trilogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Way back in 2014, I cheekily used the headline CanCon 101: The Simcon Trilogy<\/a>, because I wanted to gather reviews of 3 films produced by a company of which two, Prom Night<\/a><\/strong> (1980) and Curtains<\/a><\/strong> (1983), were on Blu, and a third, Melanie<\/a><\/strong> (1982), was still an orphan film.<\/p>\n

The tactic was to bring attention to a forgotten film and hope maybe<\/em> it would materialize on disc or as a digital download, but given one company pretty much owns most of the films produced in Canada between the 1970s and 1980s, fat chance.<\/p>\n

Naturally, nothing\u2019s materialized in the intervening years \u2013 Melanie<\/strong> starred Burton Cummings in his only dramatic film role, and he was pretty good \u2013 and in 2017, we have another peculiar trio of which one is on DVD and Blu, and the rest are in CrapVision.<\/p>\n

This new trio of orphan films I\u2019m branding as the Filmplan International Comedy Trilogy, since they were reportedly shot in succession, some sharing the same actors, cinematographers, and composers, plus Montreal before winter had fully set it; the latter point is somewhat special, given most CanCon tax shelter productions of the era were filmed in winter, just as dentists, proctologists, and podiatrists were scrambling to dump money into a movie for a roughly 100% tax write-off.<\/p>\n

Neither of the 3 films are especially good, but Code Red rescued the best of the bunch for a fresh disc release, and although The Funny Farm<\/a><\/strong> (1983) isn\u2019t an hysterical comedy in any way, it leaves Dirty Tricks<\/a><\/strong> (1981) with Elliott Gould and Kate Jackson, and Gas<\/a><\/strong> (1981) with Howie Mandel, Donald Sutherland, and Sterling Hayden, in the dust.<\/p>\n

\"\"Funny Farm<\/strong> \u2013 not to be confused with the vastly superior 1988 George Roy Hill classic of sorts with Chevy Chase and Madolyn Smith \u2013 has a schnook travelling to L.A. to become a stand-up comedian, and among the cast is Howie Mandel, and Y&R\u2019s Tracey Bregman as a klutzy waitress.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gas<\/strong> \u2013 not to be confused with Roger Corman\u2019s post-apocalyptic spoof Gas-s-s-s<\/strong> (1970) \u2013 pokes fun at the gas shortage of the era (actually the second biggie, followed by the first Gulf War). It\u2019s not funny, it\u2019ll make you wince, and Sutherland cashed an easy paycheque after shooting a few scenes in a makeshift helicopter in what may have been an afternoon shoot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dirty Tricks<\/strong>\u00a0– not to be confused with a generic 1980s sexy-shocker – evokes the Big Chase scenario of It\u2019s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World<\/a><\/strong> (1963) in which everyone wants a document that may prove George Washington was a stooge to the British crown. It\u2019s also not funny, and might be worse than Gas<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a rule that fans of Bruce Campbell will recognize and perhaps validate: if Bruce\u2019s character dies, so does the film, hence Congo<\/strong> (1995) being a piece of shit after Bruce is killed in the opening scene. Same goes for a film where Nicholas Campbell\u2019s character dies; as soon as he\u2019s toast, we\u2019re stuck with a terrible, terrible<\/em> script directed by the maker of Death Ship<\/a><\/strong> (1980).<\/p>\n

Like Bruce Campbell, you don\u2019t kill Nicholas Campbell<\/em> (no relation, but the surname adds immense credence to this thesis) on film<\/em>; our Campbell’s been in (possibly) every movie ever made during the 1970s through 1980s, plus countless TV series.<\/p>\n

CBC carried Da Vinci\u2019s Inquest<\/strong> (1998-2006) for years, although the show\u2019s never been on DVD because the CBC doesn\u2019t care. Campbell is one of this country\u2019s bullet-proof actors: versatile, likeable, prolific, fun, and a survivor of the peaks & valleys of the country\u2019s film and TV industry. He\u2019s even in what was then the most expensive Japanese film ever produced, Virus<\/strong> \/ Fukkatsu no hi<\/strong> (1980), because some scenes were shot north of Toronto.<\/p>\n

If Campbell and stage director Andrew Burashko bring back their live version of Orson Welles\u2019 War of the Worlds<\/strong>, SEE IT, because the play version of the radio show\u2019s superb, and Campbell\u2019s wonderful. Here\u2019s an interview with Burashko<\/a>, done in tandem with the show\u2019s first run in 2011.<\/p>\n

As for the Filmplan International trilogy, you might ask whether the lesser of the three evils deserves its due on disc. Well, maybe not. Who\u2019d want to talk about them with affection? And yet Gas<\/strong> shouldn\u2019t be available as a bullshit letterboxed file cropped from a 1.33:1 VHS tape, and Dirty Tricks<\/strong> as a terrible YouTube file in 9 parts.<\/p>\n

These films ought to be available as digital, ownable, DRM-free HD downloads from a commercial site that Canadians can access, and get the chunks of cinematic film history great and atrocious we\u2019re still being denied. I don\u2019t expect to see such a creature in my lifetime because by then indie American labels will have beaten them to the finish line, but sadly none of our corporate squatters in possession of domestic rights and ownership will feel any shame or embarrassment.<\/p>\n

And since we\u2019re on the topic of shameful things, how about Global TV (CanWest) making available on disc a cheesy, oversexed nighttime soap that ran on nascent Canadian Pay TV station First Choice during its first year? You know: Loving Friends and Perfect Couples<\/strong> (1983), from Dallas<\/strong> (1978-1991) creator David Jacobs.<\/p>\n

Ahem:<\/p>\n

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