It has been a long hard road for Jen and I this whole year. It’s Sunday though, and that means a Sunday Chuckle, not a Sunday Mope! A few days ago, Jen finished cleaning out her mom’s house. We found some incredible stuff there. One of the books (from her dad’s collection) is over 200 years old. A few others were dated from the 1800s. Lots of cool stuff, but….
Also some not-so-cool stuffs.
Some context:
In the penultimate episode of Record Store Tales (Part 319: The Musical Crimes of LeBrain), my wife made fun of me for owning one song by Nickelback. The controversial Canadian quartet appeared on the ZZ Top tribute album A Tribute From Friends, performing (of all songs) “Legs”. Quite badly! She mocked me by writing, “Three words: MIKE OWNS NICKELBACK!” [Bold and underlining are hers.]
This is what I found in her old bedroom. You can tell it’s hers by the rainbow wallpaper.
There you have it. I had a song, but you had the poster, baby. You had the poster.
Cleaning out Jen’s mom’s house after she passed away was very emotional work. Nobody’s been living there since July. One day she got up and broke her hip. We didn’t know it yet but the cancer was in her bones. She never came home again. When we started working on the house in September, everything was more or less how she left it.
Her music collection was small with a few gems. One disc that I kept was Cat Stevens’ Icon. I had to take it for “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out.” As told in Getting More Tale #702, that song seemed to make a connection with me when she was sick. One day we went to see her in the hospital, and she was unconscious. No longer able to communicate. That song was stuck in my head for reasons I can’t explain. I like to think she was sending me a message. Not to be sad. It would have been like her to say that to me. I get tears in my eyes thinking about her lying there dying, and that song playing on repeat in my head. I had the song played at her funeral. It just seemed like such a “mum” song, even though I have no memories of us ever listening to it together. When I found out that she actually owned that song, I got the chills again. Finding Cat Stevens made my heart swell.
We also found a number of CD-Rs that I made, but had no labels or covers. For today’s chapter I’m focusing on one specifically. I can’t figure out why I made it, or who I made it for, or what it was doing at Jen’s mom’s house!
It is a lightscribe CD, and burned into the top is the old background from my website. It’s a photo of some model guitars and guitar picks. The 15 song track listing is most bizarre and I can’t figure out what I was doing!
Track 1: Craig Fee saying “LeBraaaain”. This dates the CD to 2012 at the earliest. I liked to introduce my CDs with something amusing, so this works.
Tracks 2-4: “Whiskey in the Jar”. The first is Metallica’s studio cover from Garage Inc. The second is Thin Lizzy’s take from 1972. Last is a live Metallica version, possibly from the CD single. That’s a lot of whiskey – 15 solid minutes worth. Listening back, the Metallica live version absolutely kills their studio cut. Yeah-hah!
Track 5: Steve Earle – “Home to Houston”. This track is from Steve’s political 2004 album The Revolution Starts Now. I haven’t played that album in years and I don’t remember this song. Why it stuck out enough to put it on this mystery disc, I haven’t a clue. Good tune, but I don’t know it anymore!
Track 6: Jeff Bridges & Colin Ferrel – “Fallin’ & Flyin'” from the 2010 soundtrack Crazy Heart. Now, memories are starting to form. I can remember driving around with Jen and her mom, listening to this song in my car. Did I make this CD for her mom? If so, why the Metallica?
Track 7: Johnny Cash – “The Man Comes Around”. One of the greatest Cash songs, from the best American album in my opinion. Goosebumps, still to this day. Jen and I love Cash and had him played at our wedding.
Track 8: Me doing a song intro! The backing track sounds like Motorhead’s acoustic version of “Ace of Spades” with the main lick looped and no vocals. I made this for a past Sausagefest countdown! The track I’m introducing: “Renegade” by Styx! I mention that it was covered by Daughtry and then add sound effects of Nicko McBrain burping and farting. I have to admit it’s a pretty great (and funny) intro! It was #30 on the 2013 countdown. From that I can now assume I made this CD the same year. Which is strange because I wasn’t really making mix CDs anymore in 2013.
Track 9 is a personal favourite, “Rock An’ Roll Angels” from Whitesnake’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners. I’ve always been into rock and roll songs with boogie woogie piano. I have loved this song for three decades. Then Track 10, another Whitesnake classic: “Slow An’ Easy” from the landmark classic Slide It In. That’s another personal fave, because of the slide riff. It’s incredible and I spent many hours as a teenager playing air slide to it. Not to mention air drums! Cozy Powell was so fucking cool.
Then more slide! Track 11: The Black Crowes – “Twice as Hard”. I was clearly trying to make the CD flow. Indeed I used to spend hours shuffling track order until I had it “just right”. With all this slide business going on, I wonder if the next song is going to be some “Travelling Riverside Blues”?
Nope! A total surprise to me, Track 12 is The Tragically Hip! “50 Mission Cap” is Jen’s favourite, for reasons you’ll understand.
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer, He was on a fishing trip. The last goal he ever scored, Won the Leafs the cup. They didn’t win another till nineteen sixty two, The year he was discovered. I stole this from a hockey card, I keep tucked up under.
I think the lyrics are brilliant because they tell two stories at once. First, they tell the true tale of Toronto Maple Leaf Bill Barilko, who tragically died in a plane crash in a remote part of Quebec. Nobody knew what happened to him until his body was found 11 years later. The second tale is that of a young Gord Downie who read about it on the back of a hockey card.
Track 13 is another surprise: “The Boys are Back in Town” by Bon Jovi! Don’t scoff, this is actually a really good Thin Lizzy cover from their New Jersey period. Lyrically, Jon and Phil Lynott were on similar wavelengths. This is exactly the kind of tune that Jon was writing. “Wild in the Streets” is Bon Jovi trying to re-write “The Boys are Back in Town”.
Track 14: “Big Foot” from Chickenfoot III. Gotta be one of my favourite car tunes. “Got Houses Of The Holy on the box, got it all cranked up cause, yeah! That shit rocks!” What a groove — you can’t help but stomp along. Joe Satriani has a way with a riff.
I had a guess that Track 15 was going to be all of side one of 2112. The track time was over 20 minutes, so I had an inkling it was either that or side two of Abbey Road. I’ve ended mix CDs with 20 minute epics before, and I think it works. The Beatles did it! Granted, the 2112 epic was a side one, but it still functions perfectly in the closing position. Try it yourself!
Listening to this mystery disc has been enjoyable, but my reasoning still escapes me. It’s such a bizarre mix, with the front loaded threesome of “Whiskey in the Jar”. From there it starts to make a little more sense. But how it did it end up at “mum’s” house?
My best theory is that I made it as a gift for Jen’s Uncle Rick, and it never got mailed. He lived in Texas at the time — maybe that’s why I included “Home to Houston”. Rick is also a Whitesnake fan, and a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. I’m just not sure.
How would you rate this mix CD if you were the recipient? I think I’d give it a solid:
Local punk rock threesome Hello Hopeless will be releasing their new EP Dark Pasts, Brighter Futures tonight November 30 at the Boathouse in Kitchener! This smoking hot release is well worth your attention and the measly $10 they are asking for it. Support local music and go see Hello Hopeless. Here are the details:
Do you go through phases? Perhaps you had a Hawaiian shirt phase (I did). Maybe you had a period when you were really into crème brûlée. It’s alright. Don’t be ashamed. Lets talk about different phases.
There’s always a spark. Look back at your own phases. Can you pinpoint something that started it?
The first time I heard Marillion was by pure chance. A customer who liked me came in and sold three minty Marillion remasters. (The bosses hated this customer, but he liked me because I gave him good money for his music. The bosses thought I paid him too much and “spoiled” him so to speak.) The three Marillion remasters he sold were Script For A Jester’s Tear, Fugazi, and Misplaced Childhood. Iron Tom Sharpe recommended I buy Misplaced as my first. I spent a weekend with it and wanted more. “Kayleigh” was absolutely immediate. I knew it was the hit after a few verses.
A painful breakup later that year intensified my Marillion lust. I went to their website and was astounded by what I saw: a dozen or so exclusive albums only available online. Some were sold out, such as Live at the Borderline. Those that were not sold out went into my shopping cart, and showed up at my house a couple weeks later! I even signed up for the fan club to get the free Christmas CD, and I pre-ordered their next studio album (unheard of back then).
I wasn’t done. I wanted to track down the unavailable things. Ebay had some and that’s how I ended up paying $300 for marillionrochester. Only 2000 copies of it were ever made, which were sent directly to fans who donated to their 1997 American tour fund. It’s signed and it is a holy grail item if there ever was one. And I have it and it’s a much-loved part of my collection.
This Marillion phase also inspired a small Scottish phase. I’m half Scottish and Marillion’s early lyrics got me interested in exploring that side of my history. That culminated in my Rampant Lion tattoo. I’m sure the actual Scottish guy at work, who was born and raised there, must have thought I was a wannabe. (I probably was.) I’m also half Italian but all I could think of for that tattoo was a bowl of spaghetti.
The shirt phase was a real thing too. I bought a lot of shirts and not just Hawaiian. This phase merited its own chapter: Record Store Tales Part 249: The Shirts.
Ugggh.
There was a Lego phase. This was sparked inadvertently by T-Rev. He had a giant sack of Lego from his childhood. A lot of it was space Lego. We spent an afternoon organising it to sell on Ebay. He eventually got a few hundred bucks for the sack, but that afternoon of going through it all was naturally nostalgic. So, I bought a Star Wars Lego set. It was the Ultimate Collector Series X-Wing fighter. Go big or go home.
It starts with one, and it just escalated from there.
The problems with collecting Lego are multiple. Not only is it a real rabbit’s hole, but it’s just not easy to display. When Lego gets dusty it’s a pain in the ass to clean. Bits and pieces pop off when you dust. And spouses tend to knock them over and try to put them back together without you noticing. Some of those sets are just too huge to display.
My Lego collecting ended with the Star Wars prequel trilogy in 2005. The new releases became boring after that, and the shelf space issue had peaked. I sold almost all of it in favour of my next phase: robots.
Transformers were a huge part of my childhood, probably more so than Lego originally was, because Transformers had an ongoing Marvel comic series keeping me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next issue. Transformers came back into my life in 2006, just by fiddling with a Beast Wars toy that was sitting around the office. This phase has not really abated. These transforming figures are more than just toys. The high-end ones are functional pieces of art.
There were a few years of a Black Sabbath phase, where I obsessed to collect “everything” just like I did with Marillion. I had a couple really good years of collecting Deep Purple in bursts. The internet opened up a lot of avenues. It was easy to get rare things like Stormbringer on CD. You just had to be prepared to pay for it.
What about tattoos and piercings? Were they a phase? No — I still have one earring (left tragus) and it’s more a professional thing today. And priorities. My “thing” for tattooed and pierced girls must have been a phase, though. Mrs. LeBrain has neither! Not even her ears.
All my interests over the years have ebbed and flowed, except one: my love of Rock and Roll. 35-odd years and we are still together. And more in love than ever. It’s been there for me every time. Virtually every story on this site is associated with music. That’s a beautiful thing.
WTF SEARCH TERMS XL: Lars Ulrich Trout (Thunder Bay) edition
It’s that time again…the 40th time in fact! It’s those “WTF” search terms that somehow brought people to this site. Let’s skip the chatter and get to the weird.
lars ulrich trout warrant thunder bay ontario
Explain that. Warrant did open for Metallica in 1990, and our own Uncle Meat has written about it. There were no dates in Thunder Bay, and I don’t want to know what Lars was doing with a trout.
gene simmons vault is stupid
Well, I don’t know about that! He’s having no problem selling it. The only thing “stupid” about Vault is that there is no pricing affordable to regular people.
how the fuck does anyone think ‘gucci gang‘ is good
This is a great question!
ten game0f galishow
Nooo idea.
styx equinox bakelit lemez
You lost me.
give me any diolock
I’m not giving you squat! I think this guy was looking for Lock up the Wolves by Dio? He could also have been searching for “dicklock“.
coverdale page 4cd tour edition box set
Definitely in the “wishful thinking” category. There wasn’t really such thing as “tour editions” back in 1993, and sadly all you can get to this day is the standard single CD of Coverdale-Page.
the swedish penis enlargement pump and me (this definitely is my thing, baby)” by austin d. powers
I admire the amount of effort this person went to, to be as specific as possible.
HELLO HOPELESS – Dark Pasts, Brighter Futures (2018)
You have to admire a band that puts in 110%. Hello Hopeless, a trio of punk rock upstarts from Kitchener Ontario, have spared no expense making their new EP sound perfect. It’s verges close to punk metal if you asked me, but let’s not split hairs. Whatever you want to call it, the production is surprisingly deep with loads of variety and small details.
It’s easy to compare Hello Hopeless to modern punk greats like Blink, but there’s more to it. Opening instrumental “Dark Pasts, Brighter Futures” works things up with a Priest-like beginning (think “Electric Eye” going into “Screaming For Vengeance”). The tension seeths into the next and best track, “Victim, Victim”. Busy drums and a chunky riff back up a great, punchy song. Garrett Thomson (vocals, bass) seemingly plumbs the depths of his soul when singing, but the simple, hammering riffs are what keep you coming back. The drums (by Will Bender) are fast n’ busy, just like you want it. Blasting on, “Save Myself” (guitar solo!) and “Inertia” continue in this direction. “Inertia” is particular is a varied trip, and well worth it. The dark lyrics are quite good, but the production just smokes.
An unexpected acoustic ballad called “Broke” boasts a raw, emotional vocal and excellent melodies. It’s a good break in the action, because it’s pedal down from here out. Thomson and guitarist Nathan Heald share lead vocals on “The Match”, and again I’m hearing a hint of Judas Priest (the opening to “Hellrider” specifically). Catchy vocals paired with a groovy bassline, plus a guitar solo, riffs n’ drums…what more do you need? The closing track “Hurricane” also features shared vocals, and goes out on a suitably powerful note. There’s even piano for a touch of the dramatic. Once again, I hear a lil’ bit of metal. Savatage this time. What a way to end it.
I may be a little biased since these guys are from my home town, so let’s get that out there. I truly think Dark Pasts, Brighter Futures is one of the better releases of 2018. You’d do well to check it out. So go ahead and do it, it’s on Spotify! For those who demand a physical product, the CD is out November 30.
4.5/5 stars
Check out Hello Hopeless at the Boathouse in Kitchener on November 30 to get your CD.
The photo below is an old one, from one of the Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto excursions. Honest Ed’s (R.I.P.) was a huge place with lots of weird stuff. Here’s one below. Ever needed a “butt head” for your home?
THX-1138(Originally 1970, 1998 George Lucas Director’s Cut, Warner DVD)
Directed by George Lucas
Anyone claiming to be a Star Wars fan that hasn’t seen THX-1138 isn’t really a Star Wars fan…yet. You really can’t grok one without assimilating the other. They are reflections of each other. Themes and techniques intertwine. Sometimes they are opposites, at others, cousins.
This is hard sci-fi. There are no cute furry Ewoks, there is no “villain”, there are only glimmers of heroics. This is a dystopian future brought to you by the once-brilliant director George Lucas, unhampered by his own commercial drives. This is as pure a vision as it gets. One viewing is not enough to digest THX-1138. There is little dialogue or exposition. There is no traditional music, and the story plods along in a very Kubrickian fashion.
The setting is not a long time ago, nor far far away. It is the future right here on Earth, and humanity now lives in a vast underground city. It is so vast that nobody ever ventures out to its superstructure where malformed, monkey-like “Shell Dwellers” remain. Perhaps they are mutants, victims of a long-forgotten nuclear holocaust. It is a surveillance society. Like today, there are few places you can escape the view of a camera lens. Humanity lives in the bubble of a sterile, pristinely white city that resembles the dullest of shopping malls. They are told to consume. At strange Catholic-looking confessionals, one prays to the State and the Masses and a weird Christ-like face. Children are taught entire school courses via a chemical IV. Sexual activity is forbidden unless you are scheduled to produce a child. Sedation by drugs is compulsory. Failure to take your medications will result in drug offences and rehabilition. Some humans are deemed defective and left to themselves in a strange white prison, an asylum that seems to go on forever.
Our protagonist is THX-1138 (Robert Duvall), called “Tex” for short. He does not feel well. He is sick, shaky, because he is secretly off his medication. Feelings of love and lust are stirring for his roomate, LUH. The lack of sedation has allowed those feelings to surface for the first time. It has also, however, affected his work, and one error is all it takes to clue in the powers-that-be that THX is a drug offender.
Themes turn up again in Lucas’ later films. See the totalitarian faceless government, complete with masked law enforcement (not Stormtroopers but robot officers). Constant, overlapping staticky background dialogue makes up the most of the soundtrack to this film. Lucas has taken sound effects and used them as music, yet they still convey information crucial to the plot. For further comparison, some shots are even duplicated in Star Wars; see if you can spot them.
THX-1138 isn’t Lucas’ fairytale vision of sci-fi. Scenes are chilling. THX is channel surfing and comes upon a program of an officer beating a human repeatedly for no apparent reason. This is the entertainment of the future. The brutality is so iconic that Trent Reznor used the sounds in Nine Inch Nails’ song “Mr. Self Destruct”. In another scene, two techs are tormenting THX’s body, but their dialogue betrays absolutely no connection whatsoever to the human being they are hurting. “Don’t let it get above 48,” says one, as THX is writhing in agony. “Oh, you let is get above 48, see, that’s why you’re getting those readings.”
The theme of escape, which was common with Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars, is what drives THX. He eventually finds an ally in a “hologram” (Don Pedro Colley) that he meets in the white asylum. SEN (Donald Pleasance) is suitably creepy as a man obsessed with THX and LUH. Can they escape the city and see what is beyond?
Lucas loves tampering with his films and THX is one of them. CG race cars and cityscapes enhance the film, while CG Shell Dwellers look phony and out of place. I would have preferred the original Shell Dwellers, but in the cityscapes, the new effects certainly add depth and believability. Just like the Star Wars special editions, some things work and others do not. Cloud City worked well in the Star Wars digital tweaks, just as the underground one does here.
DVD bonus features are awesome, including ample documentaries. For a treat, check for the original black and white student film that Lucas made: THX-1138-4eB – Electronic Labyrinth. See how his vision survived intact to the big screen, and see how ideas such as dialogue acting as the soundtrack was present in the original short.
A fantastic visionary sci-fi film, and a warning to us today. We must not allow our society to become as controlled as THX’s.
Not for everybody. Only for those who like thinking man’s sci-fi.
The mighty Barbra is one of the biggest names in entertainment. From music to movies, Barbra has conquered all stages. Her profile is one of the most famous. Her world famous nose has not held her back!
4. Geddy Lee
What do Geddy Lee and Barbra Streisand have in common? They both come from Jewish families, and both have a prominent schnoz! In fact the “Jewish nose” is an old racial stereotype, one which has actually been studied in science and literature. Geddy’s recognizable nose is loved by millions.
3. Rachel Bolan
Rachel is probably responsible for launching the nose ring trend that picked up in the late 80s. You didn’t see nose rings on rock stars back then, and certainly none with a chain connecting to their ears. Rachel Bolan was the rock and roll nose ring pioneer in 1989!
2. Michael Jackson
Few remember what his original nose looked like. We can’t get the image of that plastic surgery nightmare out of our heads. Yet that weird, artificial construct is now iconic. Who knew?
1. Nicko McBrain
“Old flatnose himself” has an old schoolmate named Peter Beecham to blame or thank for his profile. Beecham broke his nose in a school brawl. Nicko was “clobbered”, but it’s all good. As Nicko has said, “Look where I am now. Fuck you!”
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of my top ten favorite films ever made. It’s in pretty good company with 12 Angry Men (the one from the ‘50s), Blue Velvet, Die Hard, The Godfather, Lethal Weapon, The Unforgiven, etc. On the surface it may seem absurd to place what seems like a goofy road comedy from the ‘80s on a list containing films of that stature, but I don’t think that it’s unreasonable at all. This film is the best road film ever made, and I have no reservations about calling it one of the greatest movies ever made. There’s no glowing pretension or aspirations to reach Citizen Kane levels of movie making, or bids for narrative complexity. It is a heartfelt holiday classic about a stubborn irate man just trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving. That man is ad executive Neal Page portrayed by Steve Martin, who is helped out in his travels by the loquacious shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith played by John Candy. The two men are polar opposites that learn to care for each other under the extreme circumstances that impede their journey home. By the end of the film, both men have learned to let down their emotional guards and trust each other, a necessary step for the two of them to arrive at their destination.
It’s not a complicated plot, but it doesn’t need to be. There’s something about these characters and situations that seems to demonstrate real life in such a direct way. It’s not a puzzle, everything is clear cut. Not to say that the movie is all surface level, there’s plenty of stuff to dive into here between the two men, particularly through multiple viewings after you know Del’s secret. The level of character depth in these two men is particularly compelling to watch on screen, as seeing the psyche of two opposites gravitate towards each other giving each other strength is both stimulating and moving. Part of that depth comes from the fact that this film was perfectly cast. John Candy and Steve Martin don’t even seem to be playing characters, but amplified versions of themselves. The dialogue, the movements, the actions are all totally natural, and the responses appear to have weight behind them that suggest the character’s past experiences. Guest appearances from Kevin Bacon, Michael McKean, and Edie McClurg all appear in hilarious supporting roles as well, but I wouldn’t dare spoil them here. Well, maybe one.
Steve Martin plays Neal as an impatient cynical grouch who is dying to get out of the sales meeting he’s stuck in so that he can find a cab and get to the airport on time. Del plays the happy go lucky salesman that accidentally steals Neal’s cab during rush hour in New York City. Fate keeps these two characters together as they meet by chance at the airport again. Neal confronts Del about stealing the cab, and Del feels genuine remorse. He tries to be as affable as possible, offering up Neal a beer and a hot dog. Neal being a bit prudish rejects the peace offering with a snarky type of politeness. Of course, Del doesn’t immediately pick up on or at least chooses to ignore Neal’s hostility. All he wants is to get home in a timely manner to see his family for the holiday. A snowstorm prevents their plane from landing in Illinois, causing the flight to divert all the way to Kansas.
The two men book a hotel room together as the hotels fill up. It is at this point that the exposition ends and Neal lets out all the resentment he has towards Del. The set up is complete and now the emotional core of the movie really begins to develop. Neal states in no uncertain terms every problem that he has with Del, not holding back any vitriol. Martin’s performance is so wonderful that it actually gets the audience to laugh along with all his complaints, even as John Candy’s face starts to sink. Martin plays it as a man who has seriously contemplated every perceivable flaw in Del’s character, and is eager to list out every mundane detail. When he says he could listen to the most boring insurance seminar for days on end “because I’ve been with Del Griffith!” his vocal inflections are so comically annoyed that the audience can’t help but laugh. The scene isn’t a joke, it’s clear that the man has been pushed to his limit, but the audience laughs because they understand his frustration. However, the way Neal starts and stops seems to suggest that it’s against his better judgement to be so mean. It all just seems to be slipping out, as one complaint leads into the next until he’s too far to back down. When Neal finally finishes venting, John Hughes hits us with the first emotional blast in the movie.
Del’s reply is an often quoted moment from cinema history. It’s so perfect in its raw emotional simplicity. Whereas the cynical Neal has been stewing over his anger and letting it out almost uncontrollably, Del’s reply is a brief calm statement of emotional truth. It’s a tender “take me or leave me” moment, but Del is clearly hurt deeply by Neal’s words. Del’s trying just as hard to convince himself that he’s strong enough to take it because of the love he has from his wife and customers. Candy’s performance completely sells the speech, and makes the audience feel remorse for laughing at Martin mocking him just a few seconds ago. You can see in his face that this isn’t the first time that someone has gone off on him for his sometimes overzealous extroverted personality, and the hurt in his eyes betrays years of pain in the past. Despite all this pain, he can’t help the way he his. He will never fight back. When he says that he doesn’t like to hurt people’s feelings, it makes the cynical viewers and Neal shameful for feeling any malice towards Del. The two men have been forced to share a bed, and they cozy up together for the night as Neal learns to be a little more accepting of other people.
This John Hughes road comedy distinguishes itself from a lot of his work in that it focuses on adult relationships instead of teenagers. The two main characters are middle aged men set in their own ways. These men learn to evolve the more that they learn about each other. This is similar to the plot of Hughes’ more popular The Breakfast Club, only in this film instead of the characters being locked together in one room, Page and Griffith can’t seem to shake each other as they both make their way from the streets of New York to Neal’s home in Illinois.
Every time that the two men try to separate they just end up in each other’s company again. Also every time that Del seems to be gaining Neal’s favor something ludicrous happens that screws it up. Del driving on the wrong side of the highway after falling asleep is one of these moments, particularly after the car is destroyed and lit on fire and it is revealed that Del used Neal’s credit card to rent it. Amazingly the machine is still able to run, and the two pull up to a motel for the night. All their money was stolen by robbers on the first night at the hotel in Kansas, and their cards were burnt up in the fire. Neal has to sell his watch to get a room, but Del cannot afford one at all. This is the climax of the film, as even after rendering Neal liable to the damage of an entire automobile, Neal finally decides to completely accept Del. He is forgiven. This acceptance materializes because Neal cannot stand the site of Del freezing outside in the burnt up car. Neal decides to throw out all his jaded cynicism and invite Del into his room. It is at this point that Neal is willing to forgive Del for anything, and accept him for who he is unconditionally. The journey the two men have been on together and the bond that has formed over just two days is so strong that Neal will never give up on Del again. The two men fall asleep drinking liquor and talking about how much they love their wives. Never again in the movie is Neal the grouch, he’s even a good sport about riding in the back of a refrigerated truck after their rental car is impounded for being too dangerous for the road.
They finally make it to LaSalle/Van Buren CTA station that will take Neal the rest of the way home. It is empty except the two of them now that it’s Thanksgiving day. This is where Del and Neal part ways for the holidays. That is until Neal begins to put the pieces together. Little scraps of what Del has said throughout the film finally begin to add up in Neal’s brain, and the ending scene that follows is one of the most heartwarming in any film ever. There’s no shame for any grown ass man to ball his eyes out watching it the first time. John Candy deserved an Oscar for the film closing smile he gives. For the sake of those that have never seen the movie, I won’t spoil the ending here.
Most comedies are not good movies. They simply exist to generate a few shallow laughs and leave no long term impression. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is one of the few comedies to transcend the limitations of its genre with genuine heart and characters that the audience can actually feel invested in. We want Neal and Del to succeed, as they seem like genuinely plausible people trapped in improbably unfortunate circumstances. They’re not one-note characters who simply exist for an endless barrage of sight gags to happen upon them, their choices are based on well established character traits, not just moving along because the plot needs them to. Anyone who has had to travel for the holidays feels the plight that these men are going through, even if they have never experienced it to the insanity that Neal and Del have. If you’ve never seen this movie because you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving or some other reason, I implore you to seek it out and watch it today. This movie is a classic that stands up even if you don’t celebrate the holiday in the movie. As Neal puts it in the film, after the journey you’re, “a little wiser.”
mikeladano.com 