The Pitch: The Wild Bunch meets The Breakfast Club
Price of Admission: $2.50
When: Matinee sometime in mid-August of 1990
My Age: 9
Quote: "You took my farm, Mr. Chisum. You took a lot of people's farms, Mr. Chisum." - Cameron Frye.
So, the whole point of this exercise was to show my old ticket stubs and then reminisce. Well, my first entry is ticket stubless. That's because the stub in question has at some point disappeared from my baggie of tix. Which is a shame, since it was one of my most prized. The stub in question was for Geoff Murphy's Young Guns II (1990).
A movie I remember seeing in the Johnson City, TN AMC Theaters. This is important because it was the only AMC ticket I had before it turned into the now arena-seating Carmike Cinemas. Through IMDb release dates, I can estimate I saw this movie at a matinee show some time in August of 1990. More than likely mid-August, as I was no longer taking Parks & Rec summer tennis lessons and in late August I would be starting the 4th grade. The matinee ticket price was $2.50 (cough).
I can't say for sure who I went to this movie with, but more than likely it was with my oldest sister, Mary. She was the self-proclaimed Queen of All Movie Lines back then. And was a huge culprit in the movies, music, and overall nonsense of humor that influenced me in my formative years.
Anywho, the brief synopsis of Young Guns II. Emilio in old man makeup. Emilio vs. the Petersen guy from CSI. Emilio w/vs. the Jack Nicholson emulating, eyebrow-furrowing rival/pal Arkansas Dave Rutabaugh (Christian Slater). Us vs. Jon Bon soundtrack.
Looking back this is a classic August release pic. August is that hairy month when meant to be blockbusters that couldn't compete with the June/July releases (this is before the pre-Memorial Day weekend trend that imported May into the summer blockbuster season of today) are sent out to the public in hopes of feeding on those Dog Days of Summer dollars.
From the future director of the Emilio/Sir Hopkins/Sir Jagger saga Freejack, this Western sequel starts out with Emilio's Billy the Kid (BtK) coming to terms with his fame/infamy. Once a member of a gang, now he is struggling to maintain power among his band of Keifers, Lou Diamonds, and Christians. Ex-compadre Sheriff Pat Garrett is making a "movement" on BtK's capture. En route to Old Mexico, BtK gets Christened the Prince of Piss (wait for it), the Prince of Pistoliers by fanboy Balthazar Getty. Getty's pursuit of joining up with BtK mirrors Casey Affleck's, the coward Robert Ford, enlisting in Brad Pitt's Jesse James' gang. Both read the dime novel fan-fic and both had a homoerotic attraction that would lure them to their fates. In Getty's case, he was shot by Pat Garrett's boys in a heartbreaking scene against the wavy horizon of the setting sun. Garrett finally catches up with BtK in some bordertown village. In a scene borrowing from Papa of Emilio, Apocalypse Now, BtK is snuck up upon by Garrett. In place of the slaying of the water buffalo, the townsfolk slay a PETA-endorsed pinata. But as where Col. Kurtz is most certainly sliced, the outcome of BtK's did he or didn't he get shot in the back is left open-ended. So, we are told from old man make-up Emilio narrating us this story from the Roaring Twenties, that yes Garrett did let BtK survive.
One of the most memorable lines from this movie was after the prison guard, Bob, loaded up a shotgun with 18 dimes. BtK escapes his chains and commandeers the shotgun.
"Hello Bob. Goodbye Bob. best dollar-eighty I ever spent." - William H. Bonney.
At the time, I'd say it was the best two-dollar fifty I ever spent on a Brat Pack Western.
Up Next: Linda Hamilton Flirts With Biceptuality.
