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They Live (1988)

 "They Live" (1988) is a movie I had never seen until last night when I went over to my sister's place. What a gem (my sister and this movie).

Roddy Piper does some of his best work - which even for a Canadian is pretty dull. If, while watching it, you imagine that he never heard the director call 'action', then his performance makes total sense.

Offsetting this is any scene where Keith David or Peter Jason are in. They are acting their butts of and are enthralling. (Just so you don't get confused - Peter Jason is neither Meatloaf nor Jason Sudekis' father ... You might think he is, but he isn't).

The movie itself is a 94 minute indictment on Reagonmics, and gets plenty preachy. It would be under an hour of you cut out the establishing shots of people walking.

But - THE REASON this movie needs to be seen - is a fight scene between Roddy and Keith. It goes on for 5+ minutes - you think it is over at least 3 times - it has all the beats of a professional wrestling match (considering Roddy this makes sense) - it is AWESOME. REALLY AWESOME. If nothing else - find this online and watch it. 

I like John Carpenter films. There was only a little of his Casio keyboard music, so that was kind of a bummer. This is in the middle of his career - and decidedly low budget compared to many of his others. Watch it with people who like this flavor of schlock.

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