UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

bortels In the 80's, back when MTV actually played videos, I spent plenty of time with it on in the background, the way radio was in earlier decades. Tapeheads captures that in spades - the glitzy, superficial, just plain stupid, yet weirdly captivating 80's music video scene, from behind. With spoof videos like King Cotton in the "Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle Commercial", and Devo backing Cube-Squared's video ("The hottest thing from Sweden since Abba") in mock-Swedish, and some stunningly good performances by "The Swanky Modes" (Sam Moore and Junior Walker), it sticks in your head. This is no "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Grosse Point Blank" - If you're seeing it for Tim Robbins and John Cusack - this is late-80s throwaway kitsch, and it shows - and there's nothing wrong with that. If you think more "Better off Dead" or "Cadillac Man", you're in the right ballpark. Frankly, it's refreshing to see them in something early in their careers, having some fun. If you enjoyed your videos in the 80's, it's worth checking out.

chuckc1 My bestest memory of this film, that I love dearly, is (to me) a great story (bear with me). I live in a suburb of Chicago. This film was playing at the late, lamented Oakbrook Theatre. I saw it on the night that the Chicago Bears were playing the season opening game on Monday Night Football, the first game after the won the Super Bowl a couple months back. The Chicago area was very (to say the very least...) of their home team... ...and I don't like sportsConsequently, I was the only person in the theatre. And as I mentioned, I loved the film. I felt very elitist as I left the show, feeling that I had done a better job of spending 90 minutes than everyone else That I knew. Of course, when I tried recommending the film to anyone else, it was meant with indifference.This film, besides being really good, will always be in my book of cool for this reason (my "private screening" if you will...) if nothing else. Should I ever be lucky enough to meet Mr. Cusack, or Mr. Robbins, I would be proud to personally thank them for this experience.

cinemadaz I can't explain why but I've watched this a hundred times and I keep laughing, alongside Cusack's Better Off Dead. John Cusack and Tim Robbins were still playing losers and became good friends off camera when they made Tapeheads, as they play bumbling would-be music video makers. In order to get their boyhood heroes The Swanky Modes (played by real-life singers Sam Moore and Junior Walker) the gig of all gigs, they scam and plug their way through unpaid work, Roscoe's chicken and waffles, relentless hitmen and a vengeful politician. Great character acting by Jessica Walter, Don Cornelius and Clu Gulager. Cameos by a ton of folks, including executive producer Michael Nesmith (from the Monkees), Jello Biafra, Fishbone and the Nuge. Along the way are all kinds of catchy little jokes that you either like and remember forever or. just don't like. "We love Menudo." "On spec." The mounting parking tickets. At least watch it for Cusack and Robbins passing the Brothers Against Drunk Driving (BADD) alcohol test: going through the alphabet backwards with your eyes closed, skipping all the vowels and giving the hand sign for each letter.The DVD is letterboxed and has a strong analog track with Nesmith, director Bill Fishman and production designer Catherine Hardwicke. Much of the time it is as light-hearted as the movie and interesting. Unfortunately, Fishman brings up tons of scenes that were deleted from the film but aren't included on the DVD. I'm sure there's some reason for this, maybe they just weren't available, but it's kind of frustrating - they actually sound funny instead of the usual deleted scene that deserved to be cut out and forgotten. I was surprised that so much stuff was actually cut out, and that Cusack and Robbins wanted to play the opposite roles when they auditioned. But, this ain't the high theater either. At times the analog track has some of those "Remember when that happened" stories, that only work if you really really like the film. But then, why else would you watch the whole thing with the analog track on?

batzi8m1 An apparent throw away about two aspiring music video makers takes on the political system, censorship and soul music exploitation. Think Blues Brothers on a smaller more intimate scale with social relevance and cultural irreverence.Best line is given by the FBI man played by Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, when the protagonist complains of censorship and first amendment rights."Oh yeah, did you see what we did to the Dead Kennedys."