PCU (1994)
• This is one of the first features in which I remember seeing Jeremy Piven, though the first time I really noticed him was ABC's "Cupid" (I watched a lot of weird crap in high school. Deal.). Still, by the time PCU hit theaters, he was 28 years old, playing a college senior, albeit a Van Wilder kind of dilettante. But his receding hairline and naturally older appearance make him look like anything but an undergrad, however lazy. The film co-stars David Spade as another college senior, and he's actually a year older than Piven in real life. Very old men playing very young men. Always a sign of thorough casting.
• Jon Favreau plays a stoner, complete with mini-dreads. I'm a fan of Favreau, and while I used to think he was physically cut but has since gone a little downhill as a normal part of aging, upon charting the Rudy-PCU-Swingers-Made-Elf arc, I realized he's actually a pretty stout guy who just got really in shape for Swingers so he could wear those wife-beaters. Don't be ashamed, Favs. It's okay to be big. Chin up, bud.
• Seriously, the cast is astounding: Lucille Bluth as the cruel university president. The always-frightening Jake Busey as another stoner. The one and only Pixley as the love interest. If you're looking for early-'90s B-level where-are-they-now kind of talent, look no further.
• George Clinton is the musical guest/party band. Who thought that would be remotely cool? P-Funk? How are college students supposed to relate to that? This is like an episode of "Saved by the Bell" where the kids form a band and play crappy music but try and act like it's cutting-edge stuff, but you as a viewer aren't buying it.
• It was directed by Hart Bochner, aka Ellis, Who Gets A Hole Blown Right Through His Head By Hans Gruber. This makes the movie intensely awesome on like seven more levels. Since when is Ellis a director? Too nuts.
Verdict: Oddly enjoyable afternoon cable viewing, from the guys who wrote (uh oh) Bio-Dome. And even back then, Piven talked just like Ari Gold.
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Los Angeles, California I'm a twentysomething white male with ambitions to be a professional film critic and generally spend my days getting paid to watch movies and write about it. I try not to think too hard about how I want to build my life around talking about other people's creations and not mine. A compulsive reader and stubborn cineaste, I take an often contrary stance to my more fundamentalist peers and upbringing by celebrating the pursuit of the good, and the Good, in life, love, art and film. If you watched enough episodes of a few TV shows ("The Hungry and the Hunted," "The Cut Man Cometh," "The Body," "Waiting in the Wings," "Out of Gas," "April is the Cruelest Month," "20 Hours in America," "Colonial Day" for starters), you would understand me completely, and you'd also realize that much of my worldview and philosophical insights are heavily influenced by fictional works/programs, and many of the good things I've said in my life are just a regurgitation of someone else's imaginings. I guess I was made to be a film critic. This Month
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Really Weird Movies, Part 3
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Re: Really Weird Movies, Part 3
I saw PCU my Freshman year in high school while on a trip to San Antonio with the band. Who knows why my friends and I had enough time to go watch a movie, but we did. So yes, I saw PCU in theaters. It was wierd back then to. Later when I saw Spin City I recognized the "pins and needles" guy. It wasn't until I saw it on TV years later that I recognized Favreau. It was an awesome day.
Re: Really Weird Movies, Part 3
Scratch that last comment about the guy from Spin City. I thought it was but it wasn't.
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