Written by: Darryl Ponicsan

Directed by: Harold Becker

BBD Comments:

So Nubs was a little pissed that the Pick Re-Cap above seems to dis his Pick. Certainly the proper protocol for a Re-Cap is to remain neutral and if anyone else felt it was pejorative I apologize. The proper place to beat up a SELECTOR and his Pick is in the review -

So here it comes...

MOFO, you are off the hook for ‘Bull Durham.’ ‘Vision Quest’ is undoubtably the chickiest chick flick ever brought to Movienight by one of it’s Founders. Now before you cry foul - “Tooda rolled ‘The American President,’” I’ll remind you I announced that regrettable Selection was a chick flick before it started.

There is alot of fun to be had watching ‘Vision Quest.’ But honestly, it is only of the so-bad-it’s-good variety. The performances are (mostly) wooden, the love story is ridiculously contrived, and (as is the problem with almost every sports yarn save ‘Rocky’) there is no doubt from the start that our hero is gonna win.

I must admit, I was a little thrown/saddened by Zack electing to “ignore” the past two Picks and follow up ‘Streets of Fire’ instead. I was very excited about ‘Pennies from Heaven’ and was eager to see what it would inspire in Nubs. So perhaps I was dead set against this film before it even started. That being said - I urge everyone to make certain they get the best available print of the Selection they wish to show. That means making sure you have the wide screen version of the Pick. Whether or not I liked ‘Vision Quest’ as a Pick, I absolutely hated watching the pan-and-scan version of it. If we’re just going to watch the same version as they run on the Lifetime channel what the fuck is the point of the 45 minute set-up/breakdown?

Now I will stand by one thing- after 135 films, I have no doubt that our most reliable SELECTOR is Nubs. Period. He seems to always know what itch to scratch. Sadly, after this Pick the only thing I was scratching was my head.

Onwards.

Brandon Comments:

It seems Nubs’ pick of ‘Vision Quest’ has sparked an outrage of opinions from the Crew. Some liked the Pick, some disliked the Pick (and voiced it loudly), and others were indifferent. Actually, no one was really indifferent…there were only six of us in attendance, including an early cameo appearance by Joby, but she couldn’t stay long as a baby coughed nearby, she split, and we never got her opinion of the film. But the rest of us, we were divided into two camps: half of us appreciated ‘Vision Quest’ (Netti, Nubs, myself), and the other half despised it (Johnnie G, Tooda).

 

The 1980s were a strange period of filmmaking, illustrated by five out of six of our ‘So Bad It’s Good’ Selections coming from this era. But since most of us reached our teenage years in those strange days of Reaganomics, the films from that period seem to really stand out from other decades. ‘Vision Quest’ was Nubs’ earliest teenage recollection of “favorite” and “film” being placed together. In his preamble, he thematically associated ‘VQ’ with the recent Olympics, prior Selection ‘Domino’ and prior Selection ‘Streets of Fire,’ which connected nicely—abstractly, but nicely. BUT what Nubs didn’t take into account was Tooda’s dissatisfaction—nay, Tooda’s vocal disgust—with Nubs connecting ‘VQ’ with ‘Domino’ and ‘Streets of Fire’ while excluding Tooda’s last and most recent Pick of ‘Pennies From Heaven.’ I believe I even heard Tooda shout, “I threw you an F’n bone, man!” Then there was some more verbicide tossed around, some more references to ‘Domino’ and ‘Bodies, Rest & Motion’ (both my Picks) as “forgettable” and “best to pretend they’re not part of the canon” and then the finale of, “Matthew Modine sucks!” And yes, dear readers, you know from whose mouth these venomous daggers spewed.

 

All in all, ‘Vision Quest’ is wrapped into a package of wrestling, overcoming the odds against you, and humble victory. But in its essence, ‘VQ’ is a tale of pursuing love at all costs, obsession, finding yourself and losing yourself…all veiled behind the pursuit of sports. Not to sound like a pervert, but I think this film might have been aided by the audience being witness to the young couple’s first bout of sex. We follow Modine as he meets Fiorentino, falls in love with her, obsesses over her, abuses her, seduces her, loses her, and finally regains her…and then all we see is a road trip, a kiss, and then dialogue about “how amazing the sex was.” As part of the audience, I feel a tad bit robbed that I didn’t get the chance to see some sweet, sweet love taking place, especially with 85 minutes of build-up, not to mention Fiorentino not being a big name at the time, which translates to a decent tit shot at little or no impact to the film’s budget.

 

But aside from that, I think ‘Vision Quest’ was a well-timed and well-placed Pick. Sure, there maybe should have been some reference, an echo or some kind of a tie-in to the previous week’s Selection, but, as far as I can tell from our very detailed Rules & Guidelines, there is no mandatory requirement for this to happen. 

SELECTOR Comments:

I thought I could sneak in a dunk on a merciful defense with ‘Vision Quest.’ I figured the lack of pretentious summer which began with the “So Bad it’s Good” rotation then molded into a Jack FM selector mentality (playing what WE want) with Selections like ‘Tootsie,’ ‘Bodies, Rest & Motion,’ and ‘Streets of Fire’ made way for this tagged 80’s soundtrack vehicle.  Alas, a misunderstood preamble combined with a terrible print unworthy of our screen brought this misunderstood homoerotic testosterone fest to it’s knees. When my one hope, Johnnie G., announced during the opening credits that he couldn’t stand Journey my gut told me tonight was not my night for Glory.

Well, I had a good run. Three years and this is the only dud: unless you count Coolbaugh calling ‘Audition’ “worst Pick Ever” though now he gets it, and Wiener trashing ‘The Meaning Of Life’ of the same “worst pick ever” though the rest of the Crew had a great time. Perhaps it’s been too good of a run that led me to think, like the over-confident New England Patriots in the Superbowl, I could bring this weak shit and still squeak out a win.

Like the Superbowl Champion New York Giants, I’m glad the Crew didn’t let me get away with a sub-par attempt. However, rather than take the opposition straight to me like the Giants did to Brady, Tooda went Mangini on us and tried to cry that I misinterpreted the rules. Unlike Bill Belicheat, I cannot admit to such slander. I can fully admit that my Pick was not a good one, but the rest of the Crew heard me explain my Pick was an “ode to the Olympics”.  I, according to the By-Laws, tried to bring a Pick that was timely. This was the one opportunity to pay homage to the Games and it doesn’t have to also respect Tooda’s ‘Pennies from Heaven.’ Timeliness is a fine justification for a pick, and most people have been playing what they want for years, see most of Netti’s Picks, and Wiener and Coolbaugh back when they were SELECTORS. Furthermore, Tooda himself - the week before -announced he was ignoring his predecessor Slim’s ‘Domino’ so that he could re-introduce Christopher Walken.  Again, say what you want about my Pick but not about my respect towards the standards that I created.

I suppose my Pick might have made more sense if I was more clear in stating that ‘Vision Quest’ is like the Olympics; its gay, cheesy and you have to watch way too much drama and storyline to get to paltry seconds of competition. I also didn’t make it clear enough that ‘Streets of Fire’ inspired me. In my review of it that has yet to be published I was glad that the Crew was at a place where we could put our pretentions down for the summer and groove to some cheesy tracks from our adolescence.  Maybe it was the print, or the “Lunatic Fringe” versus “I Can Dream About You”, but there is no mistaking these two movies from close to the same year produced different Movienight ripples. It was hard not having my favorite cheerleader, Tooda, on my side, as I thought he would appreciate the jogging and weigh-in scenes the most. Nevertheless, I felt the same thud of my Pick getting taken down on the mat. It is an uneasy feeling that I look forward to remedying with my next Selection. At least I inspired three reviews and Tooda back to task.

Here’s to Cooz.

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