30/07/2026
There’s a kind of movie that asks almost nothing of the viewer except that they surrender themselves to its particular whatever. In some cases, its stupidity. And that has become sorely undervalued, in my humble, although expert, opinion.
One Crazy Summer (1986) is especially good at this because it isn’t merely generic 1980s trash. Director Savage Steve Holland had a real comic sensibility: cartoon logic, abrupt absurdity and throwaway visual gags. Bobcat Goldthwait’s Godzilla sequence alone understands something many fancy, self-serious comedies just don’t get: once a joke becomes ridiculous enough, the only appropriate choice is to push it as far as it will go.
I also think folks now feel pressure to justify liking a movie.
What’s up with that?
“It made me laugh after two beers and I enjoyed getting out and going to the theater” is apparently not considered sufficient critical analysis.
But it should be.
And honestly, comedy may suffer from this more than any other genre. One Crazy Summer doesn’t need to be anything other than the deranged little object that it is. And allowing yourself to enjoy it shouldn’t be so hard.
And that's what I have to say about that.
- Craig (Bar person)
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