Hello! We’re friends of ES’s!!!
I offered a challenge, you might even say the first “contest” I’ve ever had on my blog, offering a personal shoutout in my next comic to anyone who could figure out what 80’s movie inspired the Buster and Rainbow Donkey scene that appeared in last Thursday’s comic. Only one person was able to correctly identify the movie, and it was the one person who I knew would know it… my Dad. Funny thing is, I don’t even think he looked at the comic. My Mom was reading it off to him from her phone while we were having lunch, and when he heard the scene was a sex shop, he immediately blurted out “Armed and Dangerous”!
Quality 80’s programming…
I have no idea how often this movie was played and replayed for our enjoyment on the very first VCR we ever had in 1987, but it was really only memorable for one thing anyway…. the sex shop scene I referenced in the comic. If you want to read more about the movie’s plot, check out its Wikipedia page here, but basically here’s what leads up to the best moment….
Via bizarre means that could only happen in a cheesy movie, John Candy’s and Eugene Levy’s characters each lose their prestigious jobs and a cop and a lawyer respectively and end up working for the same rent-a cop security company. The union the guards are a part of is led by a couple of corrupt men who are funneling money from the union’s treasury to a Colombian drug cartel. About a third of the way through the movie, Candy and Levy end up witnessing the two men behind the scheme murder the union’s treasurer, who is none other than this guy…
Yeah, Principal Strickland! He did more than just Back To The Future and Top Gun…. he was no slacker!
The bad guys ensure that Candy and Levy are framed for the murder, and now the two hapless guards are on the run from the police. During one close call with the law, the two end up ducking into a smutty sex shop. While trying to blend in with the shop’s patrons, Levy’s character gets an unwelcome “invitation” from a dude who is your stereotypical leather-clad gay man in the form of a hilarious tongue wag (Why in the hell is this scene not on the internet anywhere I can find!?!?). While initially grossed out, Levy concocts a plan to help them escape from the police lingering around outside, and lures the leatherman and his drag queen partner into the back room. Levy and Candy emerge wearing the two’s clothes, and hilarity ensues as they encounter the detectives who are looking for them…
If I made up a Top 10 of my favorite 80’s movies lines, this one would definitely be there…
The movie ends with the two managing to foil an armored car robbery orchestrated by the two bad guys… and while it contains your typical overblown action scenes Hollywood is known for, nothing tops the sex shop scene for me. It’s really the only thing worth remembering about this movie, which apparently only I ever cared for…
I’m probably also the only one who thought “Midnight Madness” was one of the coolest movies ever…
On a totally unrelated note… has anyone else been having issues with WordPress lately? Very slow upload times, blogs not loading correctly, Like and Comment buttons sometimes never appearing, that kind of stuff? WP’s server has gotten like that before for a few days at a time, but never for this long, and it’s getting annoying….
I blame the you-know-whats…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Shit, how did I miss that? And it is my ultimate dream to be featured in your comic! 🙂
Yes, WP has been funky on my end as well.
Well, who doesn’t dream one day of ending up in one of my comics? 😉
Here’s the stupid part – I could see Eugene Levy as the possum in leather, but couldn’t remember the big guy being John Candy. Oh well…
It must have been the impression made by the assless chaps.,..
My uncle went to school with John Candy, and I actually had the experience of having Thanksgiving dinner one year with him before he died. He truly was a really funny, down to earth person. I miss him alot.
That’s pretty neat! I grew up on 80’s comedies, so I’m quite fond of Mr. Candy. Sad that he had to pass so soon…
Aw, I loved John Candy. I don’t remember that movie, though. Might have to check it out.
It’s definitely not John Candy’s best known movie, but it’s worth checking out once. Art Linkletter heartily endorses it….
Well crap. I should have known that one, we watched it a thousand times!
I’ve been having WP issues too, same you mentioned. For over a week. I figured it was just my server because my whole internet experience is not quite what it usually is.
OMG! Goaticus!!! 🙂
I’m even attempting to create a new bloggy banner thingy that includes him – I’m pretty sure the mystery of who ate the daisies is solved: ’twas the goat, in the side garden, with the er … candlestick? 😉
Sorry I missed it – I sometimes get behind on my reading…but I remember that movie. Both actors are/were comedic geniuses! 🙂
They were indeed. I remember watching reruns of SCTV on Nick at Nite back in the day, and loved the oddball humor on that show…
Welcome to the Great White North 😉
WP is suffering from overloaded server syndrome, aka “trying to be everything to everyone at the same time without sufficient infrastructure.” They were down in the UK for three weeks (all the way down) and in parts of Europe, too. I’ve had the same problems, intermittently. Unless they get their infrastructure expanded fast, there’s going to be some crashing and burning and some very very unhappy bloggers, including me.
Well, that’s just wonderful. And here I thought maybe WordPress had its act together….
OMP (oh my pig!). That is one hilarious movie and the scene you speak of is deliriously funny! Daddy is a huge Candy fan and watches this every so often. Levy made the sex shop scene. Momma cracks up every time it comes on. I’m just a little piggy and I don’t really understand the scene but the humans laugh every time! XOXO – Bacon
I missed that movie but thank God I know what it is now.!I love John Candy. I have heard others talk about like buttons behaving in a bizarre manner and I have had a few loading problems. 🙂
Never saw this movie I must admit but your post on it makes me laugh 🙂
As for wordpress problems, I have had troubles too. I saw in a comment from someone a few spots above me that wordpress might be heading for a crash.
I certainly hope that doesn’t happen