Friday, April 8, 2011

The April 2011 A - Z Blogging Challenge - G is for Gary Busey!

The April 2011 A - Z Blogging Challenge rolls forward, and today we have to acknoweldge the blog's Good Luck Charm - the man who promotes motorcycle helmet safety better than anyone in the world...yes,




G is for Gary Busey!










Sadly, Gary couldn't be here with us today - so let's review one of his movies instead...take it away, Buddha Man!





Diary of a Serial Killer (Image Entertainment, 1998) Gary Busey (TV's I'm With Busey), Arnold Vosloo (Darkmans II and III), and Michael Madsen (Die Another Day) star in this low budget thriller. Busey plays Nelson, the kind of journalist so committed (or needing to be committed) he'll go on a several week alcohol binge or throw on a wig and dress to write articles "through the eyes" of alcoholics and crossdressers. When he accidentally stumbles across one of serial killer Stefan's murders, it looks bad for Nelson, until Stefan (Vosloo) decides he'd like the journalist to start a new project: "Through the Eyes of a Killer." As he puts the nutjob off as best he can, Busey tries to contact cop Madsen several times, but the creepy Vosloo has a way of turning up each time and stopping him. Eventually, Stefan forces Nelson along for one of his killings and then starts eyeing Busey's girlfriend (Julia Campbell - my old buddy from The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics) as a potential victim. Will Nelson be able to stop Stefan, or having seen through the eyes of the killer, will he be corrupted into a life of murder?

Not a single woman was harmed, or indeed, photographed, for this picture.
This one turned out okay, carried along more by the cast than anything else. In terms of their performances, all three actors add to this movie, but Vosloo is 100% into his role, Busey is 90-95%, and Madsen is his usual 70% or so. Busey seems a tiny bit uncomfortable as the hero, and it might have been interesting if he and Vosloo had switched parts. Madsen simply always seems a little bored, and weirdly, he just disappears from the movie in a way that more suggests behind the scenes strife than coherent screenwriting. There's not a whole lot of objectionable material happening here in terms of gore or nudity, so this one might also come off a bit TV movie-ish, so I can only really recommend it to fans of the stars or serial killer kompletists.




Yeah, he's a little out there - and you have to watch your endocrine system around him...but we like having him around. Here's a quick clip from the amazing series I'm With Busey that shows why.







And that will sprinkle us with victory powder for the night! Til next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!
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3 comments:

  1. Jennifer ShirkApril 8, 2011 at 5:58 AM

    The movie doesn't sound too bad--aside from the cross-dressing, which is a bit bizarre. But then again, Gary Busey is a bit bizarre too.
    Hard to imagine him in the "hero" role. He always makes such a great villain. :-)

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  2. Joe RichardsonApril 8, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    At 30 seconds into the clip, when Busey flashed his teeth and canted his head and his eyes zeroed in on the defenseless kid, I had a Discovery Channel Shark Week moment and had to turn away.

    I think most folks have eccentricities that would look outlandish to the world at large. It's just that, most of us don't invite people in to film them.

    Of course, there's eccentric, and there's through-the-looking-glass-inside-out-upside-down nutters, an off-the-map area owned by Busey and subletted to Sheen.

    Looking forward to your H!

    Best,
    Joe
    g: Gideon in the Graveyard

    ReplyDelete
  3. FilmMatticApril 9, 2011 at 2:04 AM

    I've never seen this movie, but it doesn't matter. You're a better man than I for highlighting the Busey Man. And as someone who's ridden a motorcycle for the past two summer's, Gary's accident is a constant reminder for me to wear my damn helmet!

    ReplyDelete