Wayne's World (1992)

Wayne's World, party on. Not so much.

I remember being behind the wheel driving some friends during Christmas or reading week break from university. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody started to play on the radio. Head banging ensued when the opera part ended and the rock section began. This would make a good scene for a movie, I thought.

Then I saw Wayne's World on the big screen when I was going to teacher's college in Barrie in 1992.

Mike Myers captured my idea and, let's be honest, reached a heck of a lot more movie-goers than your humble scribe.

I revisited Myers' film 24 years later.

My thoughts - there are some very funny scenes here, others are definitely ho-hum.

Wayne and best buddy Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) broadcast their community cable TV show, Wayne's World, from Wayne's basement.

The show's success makes up for Wayne's lack of accomplishments with a career. "I have an extensive collection of name tags and hair nets," he notes early on.

Producer Benjamin Oliver (Rob Lowe) catches the late-night hijinks and senses a prime business opportunity. Pair Wayne's World with arcade tycoon Noah Vanderhoft (Brian Doyle-Murray). Yes, kids, for a lot of years, went to arcades to play video games.

Getting handed $5,000 each is too much for Wayne and Garth to start asking too many questions, ie. what's in the contract. Strange that Garth breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience about his uneasiness about doing business with Benjamin, but he signs anyways.

The production moves from the suburbs to the television studio. Wayne finds, surprise, surprise, doing business with the big boys means he no longer has total control over his show. He feuds with Benjamin, makes friend of Vanderhoft and risks losing his promising rock with babe-a-licious rocker Cassandra (Tia Carrere).

Along the way, there's pop culture references that may be a little dated to audiences now - television's Laverne and Shirley, Terminator II and Scooby Doo.

As a Canadian, it's fun to see Myers' nods to his roots by having some of the film's action take place at Mikita Doughuts, no coubt a reference to the Tim Hortons' chain north of the 49th parallel and Wayne and Garth playing street hockey. Naturally, they yell out "Car" and "game on" in-between plays. I'll also give marks for Wayne learning Cantonese to impress Cassandra. Too bad this scene drags on a bit too long.

Alice Cooper has a cameo. Too bad it's not very funny.

Wayne's World is not excellent, but not bad.

RATING: 6/10

FUN FACTS: That's the late Chris Farley as the security guard Wayne and Garth meet at the Alice Cooper concert.

Ione Skye, woman of my university dreams, how could I not recognize you in this film. Need to go back and see when Elyse appears in this film.

Oh, Ed O'Neill from television's Married with Children is the manager of Mikita's. His scenes are not that funny.

Myers and Carvey won best on-screen duo from MTV Movie Awards in 2003. Excellent!

I feel sorry for Lara Flynn Boyle. She's wasted here as Wayne's ex-girlfriend who just can't get over the break-up.

Wayne's World II followed a year later.

The Little Rascals (1994)

The Little Rascals is a strange film.


This modern-day take on Our Gang, featured in a total of 220 shorts and one movie between 1922 and 1944, blends old and new -- not necessarily with much success.


Spanky and the gang still still dress like they did during their heyday more than 60 years ago. They speak the same way too. This script includes everything from "dollface" and "you betcha" to "Don't that beat all?" and "nincampoop." Would present-day kids get that kind of talk?

WHY THE GROSS-OUT REFERENCES?


The throwback references are pleasant to a 40-plus film fan like me who remembers watching the Our Gang shorts when I was a young guy in the 1970s. The clubhouse, soap box cars, theme music and Petey the dog were all welcome reminders of some good times parked in front of the living room television.


At the same time, there's plenty of gross-out references touching on everything from snot and poop to, strangely, sexual references. Seeing a young girl strut her stuff with a boy asking, "Got a burger to go with that shake?" is disturbing. An outtake at the film's end with two large soap bubbles popping in front of Darryl Hannah's breasts just feels kind of slimy for what's supposed to be a film for kids. There's a reference to cross-dressing when Spanky and Alfalfa end up in tutus to escape bad guy Butch. Heck, there's even a whoopee cushion.


CAMEOS IN THE LITTLE RASCALS


Wikipedia has some interesting background about the film's background. It's based around three Our Gang shorts (Hearts are Thumps, Rushin' Ballet and Hi Neighbor). The plot can be summed up quite quickly. Alfalfa loves Darla. That puts him at odds with Spanky and the rest of the members of the He Man Woman Haters Club. Their clubhouse is destroyed. The gang needs cash to build a new meeting place. They enter a soap box derby to try and win the top prize of $500. Some of the other racers cheat.


There's plenty of celebrity cameos with everyone from Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Reba McEntire, Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Raven-Symone, Lea Thompson, Donald Trump and George Wendt making brief appearances. Some work. Some don't.


Director Penelope Spheeris helmed Wayne's World before guiding The Little Rascals. The earlier film is better.


ENJOY THE ORIGINAL SHORTS, PASS ON THE REMAKE


Give these kids credit for delivering good performances at such young ages. But why stoop to references to sex and body functions for a film geared to the under-10 set? Stick with the originals.

Rating: 5/10


FUN FACTS: Most of the kids with the most screen time had short stints in Hollywood. The Little Rascals is the only credit for Zachary Mabry (Porky). Juliette Brewer (Mary Ann) appeared in three films with her last role in Vegas Vacation (Widescreen Edition) in 1997. Brittany Ashton Holmes (Darla) last appeared on screen in 1996. Bug Hall (Alfalfa) has the longest acting career with credits including CSI: Miami and The O.C.