Tapeheads
1988 Directed by Bill Fishman
Synopsis
The story of Ivan and Josh, two dim witted ex-security guards who love music videos. Out of work, with no job prospects, they form a music video production company. They soon learn the in's and out's of the business in LA and with some help from Mo Fuzz, they soon become hot property. But not all goes smoothly when they try to resurrect the career of their favorite R&B duo, the Swanky Modes.
Cast
Recent reviews
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So incredibly '80s (in a good way). Very evocative of the early days of MTV. Extremely silly and madcap and inconsequential but some good laughs.
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Hard to determine whether this film is taking the piss or just sucks ass. I tend to lean toward the latter.
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Cusack and Robbins play two best friends with a desire to make it as music video producers and produce a chemistry that makes this movie a secret gem of sorts. I had to get my copy from the used wing of Amazon.com and I don't regret it. The DVD came with a CD-single featuring the Swanky Modes, the fictional soul/groove band from the movie lead by Sam Moore and Junior Walker. It's a fine addition to a movie that should stand up next to any of the revered classics from the 80s. It does lack the mainstream appeal, but it can withstand the test of time and entertain in these troubling modern times. Give it a shot.
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It's an LA thing...
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This film is all over the place, and a lot of the time I had little idea what was actually going on. Ordinarily I don't mind a film that is chaotic as long it is visually impressive, but in this instance it was rather detrimental; the rise of the two central characters into music video moguls seems to happen too suddenly, and the central plot, that of a presidential candidate being filmed in a sex tape and his efforts to recover said tape, seem to go on entirely without Cusack and Robbins' involvement.
Overall, Tapeheads walks a very fine line between a rather cool and "wacky" film and dated trash, and a few times, particularly in the first half hour,…
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A couple of dweebs lose their jobs as security guards and move to LA to try their hand as music video directors, where they encounter crooked execs, idiot bands (the LA Guns-esque band Blender Children are a laugh though and sport some pointy-ass BC Riches) and perverted sextapes starring shonky politicians. Though crammed with more flash, neon and hairspray than my record collection, there’s little else to enjoy even by silly 80s comedy standards as it all feels like a bunch of sketches loosely strung together. Script takes the piss out of the burgeoning MTV scene perhaps a few years too late, though on release it would have felt a lot less hackneyed than it does now two decades later.…