Guilty Pleasures

• Title: Stroker Ace
• IMDB: link

Burt Reynolds stars as hot-shot race car driver Stroker Ace whose talent for winning is only surpassed by his inability to get along with his sponsors.

After burning bridges with every other race team Stroker finds himself forced to sign with fried chicken franchise mogul Clyde Torkle (Ned Beatty) who gets the most out of his new star attraction by parading him around like a prized bird (sometimes literally).

Unable to get out of the binding contract Stroker is forced to put up with his new situation.  However, things aren’t all bad.  He’s still got his mechanic buddy (Jim Nabors) and his new position did introduce him to Torkle’s secretary Pembrook Feeney (Loni Anderson), a woman with an unlikely secret.

Aside from many Nascar drivers who show up in cameos during the film there are a couple of small performances worth mentioning including Bubba Smith as Torkle’s chauffeur Arnold and Parker Stevenson as the new hot-shot driver gunning for Stroker’s spot as Nascar’s #1 driver whose name Stroker can never quite remember.

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• Title: D.C. Cab
• IMDB: link

2008 marks the 25th Anniversary of that cinematic gem D.C. Cab.  To celebrate this milestone we take a look back at the film which gave us the following philosophy:

After the death of his father, young Albert Hockenberry (Adam Baldwin) moves to Washington D.C. to stay with his dad’s Vietnam buddy (Max Gail) who owns his own cab company.

Albert decides he likes the life, despite the odd characters (Mr. T, Gary Busey, Bill Maher, Marsha Warfield, the Barbarian Brothers, Charlie Barnett, Paul Rodriguez) who work there, and decides he wants to be a cab driver.  Things get complicated when Albert falls in love with a girl he can’t have (Jill Schoelen) and a kidnapping he gets mixed-up in, but everything works out fine in the end.

Let’s get this straight.  D.C. Cab is not a good movie by any rational standard.  It is however an immensely enjoyable trainwreck.  Where else are you going to find a movie where Gary Busey fits in so naturally?  Or where Mr. T pimps out a taxi-cab?  The inmates have control of the asylum from the get-go here, and turns out they know how to have a pretty good time.

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