By: Mordicai

 

With energy costs on the rise, we here at RadRev are doing our part to make our reviews more efficient. Our team of crack researchers has determined that, by cutting the reviews in half, we may save up to tens of dollars and several pounds of pollution a year. However, in our quest to provide our readers with value, we are throwing in an extra review free! Guaranteed to be half as witty and half as interesting in half the time.

 

Gizmo

 

Ah, the 1930’s: twenty years after the airplane was invented, unsatisfied people in barns and backyards everywhere were going back to the drawing board, once again trying to conquer the skies. Gizmo! is a hilarious collage of humorous human feats and people with no engineering experience trying to kill themselves in front of cameras with various, homemade flying constructs.

 

A waitress is busted by the cops for crossing Times Square on a zip-line, human flies take out insurance policies on themselves and scale newly-built skyscrapers, and men who can vomit at will demonstrate the potential of the human race. In this melee of inspiration, Rube Goldberg inventions were all the rage, destined to make everyone rich and change the world. Impractical labor-saving devices promised to make Americans fat and lazy years before cable TV and Funyuns. Gizmo! stands as both a testament to human ingenuity and sublime human foolishness. It comes off like an early 20th century 'Americas Funniest Home Videos,' happily, without the goofy voices and the canned laughter or members of the 'Full House' cast.

 

Benjamin Lee, you so crazy!

 

Comedian Milt Moss dutifully reads the glib narration, but the clips are often funny enough without the monologue. The soundtrack is odd, a misfit conglomeration of the director’s brother’s proto-electronica band, latin jazz and strange, but topical 70’s easy listening songs. It’s disarming to see silly vintage film juxtaposed with such an equally dated custom soundtrack. Helmsman Howard Smith was also co-director on Marjoe, the Academy Award-winning documentary about former evangelist, Marjoe Gortner (see When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder.)

 

It’s easy to laugh at these would-be pioneers, but if I were living then, I have a feeling that I would be much the same - with Frank in a Model T dragging me though a corn field, a beanie with a giant propeller on it strapped to my head. Gizmo! is great fun and original without striving too hard, letting the films themselves be ridiculous on their own. Now, I’m not advocating this, but if you are indeed a resident of California and have a legal prescription for certain herbal medications, then this movie may be up right your alley. Please try all of this at home and send your videos to contact@radioactivereviews.com.

 

 

Rating: 4/5 Canonballs to the Funnybone

 

 

 

 

 

Go For It

 

Seems like a lot of people had some serious time on their hands in the 70’s. Between buying short-shorts and knee socks, there wasn’t much else to do but extreme sports. Go For It details what young people like yourself are you are out there doing right now while you’re just sittin’ around doin’ no good for nobody. Seriously, go outside and learn to hang glide or something.

 

Go For It is an inspirational poster come to life, following the exploits of thrill-seekers in search of the glory that only comes from uttering “Dude, did you see that?” A disco-era Endless Summer, the film focuses mostly on surfing, but lacks that film’s tongue-in-cheek approach, flatly showcasing the talents of its subjects. A lot of scenes go on too long – especially the homosexuality-inducing hang gliding scenes (well, it was the 70’s.)

 

The old-school, dogtown-era skateboarding is cool, with a bunch of no-goodnik kids sneaking into backyards and empty reservoirs. No crazy tricks here, but a lot of finesse and bell-bottomed bowl carving. Maybe it’s a case of celluloid shadenfreude, but I thoroughly enjoyed the wipeouts – especially the skiers, because those hotdoggin’ bastards seemed like they’d be real assholes back at the ski lodge.

 

Always wear your helmet.

 

The photography is good, the follow cams, fish-eye lenses and loads of slow-mo that no self-respecting documentary of this type would be without. Out of nowhere, our peeping tom cameraman snatches a load of great shots from topless sunbathers at beaches in Europe and Australia—and here I thought this was a kid’s movie.

 

The soundtrack alternates between funky disco and melodic rock, creating a high school motivational film ambience. Fairly standard stuff, reminiscent of outtakes from 'That’s Incredible!', but the way the film orders its segments is dementia-inducing: surfing, then skateboarding, then skiing then hot air ballooning then surfing again—it almost appears as if the producers had intended a movie simply about wave riding, but had to pad the length a little and go for a larger demographic.

 

Watching so many people living life to its fullest almost makes you want to get off your ass… almost. Go For It is a little dull at times; the action is heavy, but the pacing is tedious. For me, it’s a little taste of what skipping school might be like, if you lived in Southern California, by a beach, in the 70’s. Pop this one in if you want to watch a film, but not have to pay much attention to it.

 

 

Rating: 3/5 Rainbow Hang Gliders