For this year, I’m going with the reminder of the fractured phrase: Hooray for Hollyweird! Most of us love movies and I enjoy recommending what you should watch on any given day. So, Hooray for Hollyweird … and for today’s recommendation, let’s go back to the 1970s for “Rollercoaster” with George Segal, Timothy Bottoms and an “I’m cashing a check” effort by the legendary Henry Fonda.
A bunch of 1970s films look just like that: the 1970s. It appears today that yesterday’s production values could have used a lift. However, what many of these films have, such as “Rollercoaster” has, is a decent plot, solid acting and gives you a reason to watch it. Most of today’s films? Little plot, not much in the way of acting and really no reason to watch them.
“Rollercoaster” is the story of a man who is extorting money from amusement park operators. He causes a fatal crash of a roller coaster and then let’s several key players know they’re in for more unless they pay him. I guess he didn’t include the Disney company because those executives would have hunted him down and left just a discolored spot on a highway somewhere.
George Segal is the coaster inspector who becomes personally involved with the terrorist in “Rollercoaster.” He takes it personally because a coaster he inspected was the first to have an accident. He’s then dragged in by the terrorist who runs him around a theme park and then another to the climax of the film.
The one really hilarious scene is at one park where Segal is forced to interact with a staff member at a booth. He wins a prize and is offered … a carton of cigarettes! Hollywood would have a seizure if a screenplay had that now … although it is in context as Segal’s character was trying to stop smoking.
I like this one because “Rollercoaster” runs smoothly along after a slow start (like a roller coaster? 😊) and is actually mostly intelligent with several twists and showing the intelligence of the terrorist.
It’s a streaming world, so go find “Rollercoaster” … and then you’ll definitely say … “Hooray for Hollyweird!”
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