Hughes at his zaniest

WEIRD SCIENCE (1985)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 "Weird Science" is the zaniest film to come out of director John Hughes's oeuvre. It is the sole teen film of his containing sci-fi and fantasy elements that are ground up and delivered with tasteful and tasteless comedy situations. It is not as tasteless or (and I do say that with all due respect to Mr. Hughes) as mean-spirited as "Sixteen Candles" nor is it as revealing about high school teenage life as "The Breakfast Club" (his best picture). But there is a core of sensitivity and something genial about "Weird Science" despite having a premise that should be dirtier and tasteless than it is.

Anthony Michael Hall and Ian Mitchell-Smith play the two prototypical teen nerds, Gary and Wyatt, who have nothing better to do on a Friday night than watch a colorized version of 1931's "Frankenstein" (not a bad idea in actuality). While watching the film, Gary summons the spirit of Colin Clive's Dr. Frankenstein in his own mind and comes up with an idea: with Wyatt's supercomputer PC ("Did it come with a toaster, too?") they decide to create their ideal woman. They manage to do this by hacking into a government computer, applying electrodes to a Barbie doll and then, after a red sky appears with thunderbolts striking and causing much damage to the house, Kelly LeBrock appears. "So what do you boys want to do first?" Apparently, Gary and Wyatt want to shower with her while still wearing their pants.

The boys call her Lisa, and Lisa takes them out on the town to a Chicago bar where this triad is not the ideal clientele. Then we get a mall sequence where Robert Rusler and Robert Downey, Jr. play two different teens males who harass the boys yet ogle at the sight of Lisa. Naturally, the film ends with a house party that outdoes "Sixteen Candles" for gross negligence of furniture, closets, and any other fixtures including tossing a piano out of a chimney (or was it the other way around)! The mutants from "Road Warrior" and "The Hills Have Eyes" show up, and Wyatt's grandparents are kept in suspended animation! Oh, lets us not forget the girls, including Judie Aronson and Suzanne Snyder as the two teen girls whom Gary and Wyatt are romantically interested in. And I can't exclude a brief cameo by Jill Whitlow as a perfume salesgirl who puts down the two nerds with sublime restraint ("Are you two getting something for your MOM?")

"Weird Science" is fun, engaging, loose, and occasionally quite gross (Bill Paxton as a toad will have you puking, but not with laughter). Anthony Michael Hall, though, steals the show with his high-energy comic spirit and he made me laugh any time he gapes in close-up. Ian-Mitchell Smith plays the straight man to the chaos of Anthony Michael Hall's cartoonish character and the exaggeration of almost anything else that transpires around them. But I wonder why is it that Lisa is more interested in helping the teenagers than having sex with them, hence the premise of this movie (I know, the boys gave her a brain with the help of Einstein's photo). Hard to say if Gary or Wyatt ever actually participate in anything sexual - the reason they conjured her up in the first place - since Hughes leaves it to the imagination. The lesson seems to be that the boys need to learn to grow up and "mingle." It is almost as if a soft-core porn comedy was transpiring and somebody short-circuited it to change it into a riotous John Hughes teen comedy with great special-effects. I loved the movie in 1985 and I do now, but I am unclear of Hughes's intentions.

The Shock 'Em, Nuke 'Em, Animal-Lovin' Troma Girl (An Interview with Leesa Rowland)

The Shock 'Em, Nuke 'Em, Animal Lovin' Troma Girl (An Interview with Leesa Rowland)

By Jerry Saravia

 Leesa Rowland's uploads of her best work

Troma Pictures has been in production for so long that most film fans may not be aware of their output or their longevity. They are a strong NJ independent film company that financed and released films such as "Class of Nuke 'Em High 1-3," "The Toxic Avenger" pictures, "Pot Zombies," and many more. Leesa Rowland is an actress who played the pivotal role of Victoria in "Class of Nuke 'Em High Parts 2 and 3" but she actually got her start in a couple of non-Troma pictures. Although she may play the innocent, dim-witted blonde Victoria (a subhumanoid), she stands out in a cast that also includes Lisa Gaye with a Marge-Simpson hairdo. It is Rowland's and her male co-star's innocence, Brick Bronsky, that gives the early Troma pictures a certain upbeat quality.

Leesa Rowland grew up in Austin, Texas and is the daughter of an artist and a college professor. She studied broadcast journalism at Texas Tech and studied acting at the famed Stella Adler Studio in Los Angeles, CA. She currently produces and acts in a variety show called "Two City Girls" with her friend and fellow Troma costar, Lisa Gaye. With a career that almost spans thirty years, you'll be surprised to learn of Leesa's cinematic roots and where she is at today.

1.) It might be of interest to my readers that a Troma actress actually started out her career in a David Byrne film, the spectacular "True Stories" (1986) ['"60 Minutes" on Acid, according to Byrne']. You are listed in an uncredited role, so what was that role?

I was cast as one of three blondes sitting on bar stools at a nightclub, but they cut the scene out in post production!

2.) I couldn't help but notice a credit for "Book of Love" [A Bob Shaye-directed romantic comedy about a love reminiscence dating back to the 1950] - a film I saw in theaters back in good old 1990. You got to work with some actors of stature, especially Michael McKean. IMDB lists your role as "Honeymoon." You'll forgive me for not recalling your part specifically but what role was "Honeymoon" and how did that role come about? 

"Book of Love" was the first film that Bob Shaye (Founder of New Line) directed {and his sole directing credit to date]. I got the audition for Honeymoon through my agent and was cast after a couple of callbacks. Honeymoon was a traveling showgirl that Peanut (Aeryk Egan) meets at the carnival and has a crush on. He waits for her after the show to ask for her autograph [and he gets to be kissed by Leesa's character].

Leesa Rowland in Class of Nuke 'Em High 2 (1990)

3.) You are, of course, a member of the Troma universe. You were cast in "Sgt. Kabukiman: NYPD," "Class of Nuke 'Em High Part 2" and "3" in the same role of Victoria, working with luminary Troma actors such as Lisa Gaye and Brick Bronsky. Tell me about your introduction to the Troma pictures, the experience of making them and what you feel is their everlasting impact, especially in the independent scene. 

I auditioned for "Class of Nuke 'Em High 2: Subhumanoid Meltdown" in Los Angeles with Brick Bronksy who had already been cast. I played Brick's love interest, Victoria, a subhumanoid created by Professor Holt (Lisa Gaye), whom he meets in a laboratory sex experiment and falls in love with. He later saves my life by rescuing me from melting down into green goo. That was my beginning with Troma. I worked with the director (Eric Louzil) in a small role on an earlier film called "Shock 'Em Dead" with Troy Donahue and Tracy Lords. I always had fun working with Troma and love them because their films always have an underlining message.They've been making independent films for over 40 years and are as strong as ever!!

4.) I see a new film you are in is currently in post-production, entitled "Slaughter Daughter." Is this a bigger role than you've had before?

"Slaughter Daughter" will be finished next month. It is director Travis Campbell's second film. His first was Troma's "Mr. Brick's" (with Nicola Fiore and Tim Dax). I play Nicola Fiore's overbearing, vampy mother in "Slaughter Daughter" who aids in driving her increasingly mentally unstable daughter, a former beauty queen,over the edge!! She then plots my death with the help of a serial killer, (Tim Dax) on death row!! The film was written by Lauren Miller (assistant editor at "Teen Mom"). Ninety-five percent of the cast and crew were women! Post production for "Slaughter Daughter" will most likely be completed next month.

I am currently producing a film called "After Birth" with writer/director Tara Robinson (Chuckie's Revenge) which stars Nicole Fiore and Peter Stickles (Shortbus, Showgirls 2). I will play Bethany's (Nicola Fiore) mother again!! William Belli (Ru Paul's Drag Race) has been cast as the female office assistant at a clinic.We are currently in pre-production and will begin shooting in Los Angeles in September. "After Birth" is the story of a terrifying journey where a defenseless girl must fight for survival against her hungry, flesh-eating, demonic baby. "Will she survive the midnight feedings?"

5.) I have noticed your advocacy for animal rights and your strict vegan diet. Do you own a cat, dog, other animals or all the above?

I have a black and white tuxedo cat named Moo. He looks like a little holstein calf and is my best friend and confidant. I met him in Florida when I was working on a film called "The Bros."(Joey Fatone, Airielle Kebbel, Ludacris and Dennis Scott)

6.) Any charities or animal rights groups that you support by name that you would like mentioned?

I am an animal rights advocate and have been active with Last Chance for Animals, a national animal advocacy group for over 20 years. I have an informational website called Animal Ashram and am in the process of filing for a 501 non-profit so that I can make an Animal Ashram a no-kill animal shelter/yoga studio in New York City next year. http://www.animalashram.com/

I have recently appeared on television shows Million Dollar Listing (Bravo), Jersey Couture (Oxygen) and the upcoming Season 5 of Bravo's "Real Housewives of New York City."

I am also in post production on a documentary about the entertainment industry in Los Angeles called "LaLa Land" that I am producing with director Georgiana Nestor ("The Sublet.") We hope to have it completed in a month or two and will hit the film festival circuit with it.

Lisa Gaye and Leesa Rowland (right) in "Two City Girls"

A Bogie Face in the Crowd (Brief Interview with John H. Tobin)

A Bogie Face in the Crowd (Brief interview with John H. Tobin)

By Jerry Saravia

John H. Tobin as Humphrey Bogart, a classic pose

John H. Tobin is a workmanlike actor who has appeared in scores of films, from an uncredited part in 1974's "UFO: Target Earth" to most recently as President Nixon in Michael Bay's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." Television credits include "Chuck," "One Life to Live," "Will and Grace," "Mad Men," etc. Film credits are wide-ranging from big blockbusters like "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Mission: Impossible III," to smaller scale fare like "Far From Heaven" (Best film of 2002 in my opinion), 2011's Academy-Award Best Picture Winner "The Artist," Emilio Estevez's "Bobby," Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects," "Cider House Rules," and 2001's Academy-Award Best Picture Winner "A Beautiful Mind."

John Tobin has also been a stand-in for actors such as Arie Gross, Jeff Demunn and Billy Bob Thornton (as a substitute stand-in for 2 films.) He has also photo-doubled for Dermot Mulroney in 2007's "Georgia Rule" (which starred Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan) and hand-doubled in David Fincher's "Zodiac." John also stood in for Paul Giamatti for one day oin 2007's  "Shoot ‘em Up."

Besides being a Foxwoods resort and Casino Poker dealer from 1995-2002 and an able soccer and golf player,  Tobin has also been a professional worldwide Humphrey Bogart impersonator for a long time, working mostly in Las Vegas and California and sometimes filling in at the last minute, such as the interview for the 2005 MTV Movie Awards where he had to play a scene from "Casablanca." John Tobin can also perform in accents such as Scottish, British, Irish and German. Though he is listed as a stand-in or has an uncredited walk-on role (with the exception of "Transformers"), he has got all the characteristics of Humphrey Bogart, both gruff, classy and world-renown in his looks. If anyone wants to do a biography of Humphrey Bogart on the big or small screen, I would say look up John H. Tobin first and foremost.

1.) In "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," you played an extra dressed in the attire of the Bogart character from "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." What was it like working on an Indiana Jones flick with people like Harrison Ford, Spielberg and company?

John H. Tobin as Sierra Madre Cowboy (to the right) in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

'It was wonderful to work 3 times with Steven Spielberg ("Crystal Skull," "Amistad" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" which Spielberg executive-produced)....he said I look just like Bogart!!'

2.) Speaking of Bogart, you have done multiple appearances as Bogart in many different functions, in addition to films (he played a Bogart character for the late Michael Jackson on the music video, Smooth Criminal, for the 2009 London tour). When did you realize, or was it your agent, that you had a similar look to Bogart?

'An actress in the "Verdict" film told me "you look like Bogart." In 1997, I then submitted for a Bogart type for a curtain factory commercial in Boston. I got the job and felt so blessed.'

3.) You had a slightly bigger role than usual as President Nixon in Michael Bay's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." Is it easier playing a smaller role or a big role like a former U.S. President?

John H. Tobin as President Nixon in Transformers: Dark of the Moon

'I had pressure to play Nixon in Transformers 3 ..cause I had 8 lines to memorize in 15 minutes.'

4.) You also had an uncredited role as a violinist in "The Artist." Is violin one of your musical passions and when did you first start playing it? 

'I started playing violin in 1993. I'm not great though, but I can fake it in movies...'

5.) You were on "Mad Men" in an uncredited role as a waiter in the episode, "Six Month Leave." That has to be a cool show to work on, albeit with all the decor, the suits, the desks, the refined look of a different era. Any chance you'll have a different role in the future? 

'I'm not called for "Mad Men" this season yet but love to be called. Jon Hamm recognized me at a party...if you can put a good word in for me to casting director?'

6.) What kind of roles would you love to play in the future, and what roles would you absolutely not play? 

'As long as I get a check every 3 months for a small amount...plus my days check, and get 9 times the amount of a photo double, then I'm blessed...'

John Tobin speaks on working with Michael Jackson on the Smooth Criminal video

THRILL ME!

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 Fred Dekker's "Night of the Creeps" is my kind of goofy, upbeat, slightly gory, breezy type of B-movie horror I adore. It is practically a Tarantino twist on alien invasion horror crossed with a wink at George Romero's zombies, you know, like a grindhouse feature. Considering the film was released in 1986, you might say it was a little ahead of its time.

The movie starts with the classic song playing, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" as we enter the B-movie world of the 1950's, all shot in black-and-white (well, technically color film processed to look like black and white). A blonde teenager picks up his blonde girlfriend as they go on a little joyride to a barren road where a meteorite crashed. Something slasher comes this way as we see an escaped mental patient wielding an ax after the girl left behind in the car. Yeppers, B-movie aficionados, this is practically a 1950's Creature Feature.

Then we segue to the 1980's at a fraternity party that looks relatively tame next to anything in "Animal House." And you know it is the 1980's when you see Jason Lively (whom I remember best in "National Lampoon's European Vacation" and is Blake Lively's half-brother) as a nerd and girl-next-door Jill Whitlow ("Weird Science," "Twice Dead") as one of the fraternal brothers' girlfriends. Lively is Chris Romero who pines for Cynthia Cronenberg (Jill Whitlow), though Chris's handicapped and jocose friend, J.C. (Steve Marshall), recommends he look elsewhere for a girlfriend. These two nerds try to join the fraternity but joining means having to steal a body from the cryogenics lab. A body in the lab has disappeared and had been frozen since the 50's. No Creature Feature DVD's for anyone who can't guess that the body is the college kid from the opening B&W sequence. And if you wonder where you have heard the names Romero and Cronenberg before, you ain't no horror movie fan.

"Night of the Creeps" has got icky looking slugs, alien zombies, flashing meteors, mild nudity, a "goose-stepping" fraternal brother with peroxide hair, Jill Whitlow using a flamethrower in pure Ripley-mode, cryogenic chambers, character actor David Paymer not recalling the passcode to enter his own lab, Tom Atkins as a gritty cop with a complex and a catchphrase ("Thrill Me!"), an Asian janitor who loves saying, "Screaming like banshees," Suzanne Snyder in a brief cameo as a sorority girl, a zombie cat, and much more. And to top it all off, there is a sincere, sensitively written scene between the two nerds and their mutual friendship that transcends the mash-up of genres with its added John Hughes touch. And Jill Whitlow exudes a sweetness that was a bit uncommon in 1980's flicks.

The sensibility behind "Night of the Creeps" is purely innocent and postmodernist. It evokes a 1950's Creature Feature transposed to the 1980s with the same sensibilities of a 50's horror flick. A fun thrill ride of a movie with a dark ending that makes for a great double-feature with "Return of the Living Dead."

More rockabilly than Godardian

BREATHLESS (1983)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The original French New Wave 1960 classic, "Breathless," was a frantic, jazzed-up take on American crime movies in a French setting by the notable director, Jean Luc-Godard. The Jim McBride-directed 1983 remake is a rock n' roll version of Godard's film, eschewing France for Los Angeles with a rockabilly vibe that screams killer, killer, killer. That's right, killer as in Jerry Lee Lewis's Killer persona or Elvis redressed as a amoral punk.

"Breathless" begins with Richard Gere as Jesse, a car thief who steals classic cars. He doesn't care about anything or anyone except having cash. In one scene, Jesse plays Jerry Lee Lewis music in the car he stole with all the glee and rockabilly one actor can muster. If you think you are seeing a strange, modernized Elvis Presley movie, you might be right. The background is clearly unreal with its deep red skies (I've always loved rear-screen background shots in driving scenes). This loud character could be spotted miles away after inadvertently killing a police officer but no. In L.A., someone strutting around the streets with his shirt opened and stealing newspapers from vending machines would not seem so out of place.

Jesse breaks into one apartment, seemingly a random break-in. We slowly discover that he knows the occupant of the apartment - Monica (Valerie Kaprisky), a French college student. She is fetching and they have lots of sex but, as she declares in one tremendously moving scene, Jesse is not a part of her equation. But Jesse doesn't fit into equations - he has no plans for the future, he just wants to live it. Meanwhile, we have a couple of thrilling chase scenes where the couple run into some sordid alleyways, punk discos, Mexican restaurants, etc. The rock music selections are pumped up and loud and truly drive the movie into glorious, high-pitched comic-book delusions. At times, "Breathless" feels like a kinetic comic-book, pulp fiction movie - it is no accident that Jesse is always reading the Silver Surfer (no wonder Quentin Tarantino loves this movie).

I don't take either version of "Breathless" seriously but this remake is an homage with different moods and a different style (there are none of the jump cuts that gave the original a frantic energy). The two romantic leads do not try to one-up Jean Paul Belmondo or Jean Seberg from the original. Richard Gere, though, is the one who makes this cartoonish trip worthwhile - he is also in on the joke. The joke is stylistic but the character's concerns are relative human - strut your stuff, live for the day, save yourself and love without inhibition. He can and does, but he is also at the end of his rope. A fatalistic noir picture redone as a lost 50's rebel movie transposed to a 1980's setting. It is not every day you run into a film of that kind.

The First Avenger in full patriotic swing

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When remembering my favorite Marvel heroes as a kid, I always had a soft spot for Captain America. He is the one who came from a patriotic time where it was okay to fight a war you believed in. In the case of the Cap Man, it was World War II and he fought Nazis and the legendary villain, Red Skull. In terms of cinematic and television adaptations, Captain America has suffered. A 1990 flick with Matt Salinger was disappointingly mediocre with a bland hero. The Reb Brown TV series doesn't merit any worthwhile mentions. And though I have not seen the Republic 1940's serials, I am told that version has Captain America using a gun instead of a shield! Sacrilege! So it is a blast to see that they got it right this time. "Captain America: The First Avenger" is a solid knockout of a movie, a first-rate superhero movie that leisurely spends time with its central protagonist and lets us get to know him.

A 90-pound weakling, Brooklyn-born Steve Rogers (Chris Evans, a splendid choice) is trying to get to enlist in the Army and help fight the good fight. His chronic ailments, including asthma, and his small build gets him a "4F" (meaning, no admittance to the rest of you). He gets a chance to re-enlist thanks to a German scientist named Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who sees potential in a super-soldier experiment. The tough, hard-shelled Col. Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, looking more grizzled than ever) is skeptical of the kid despite Steve Rogers' demonstrations of guts and bravery. In one scene, Rogers has an exercise where he is willing to sacrifice himself to save his fellow men. All this from a Brooklyn kid who never gives up. He might have if he had to endure "Full Metal Jacket's" drill sergeant, but that is a different story.

Before the swooning women can say "nice abs," Steve Rogers is thrust into action as the super-soldier he was destined to be. First, he has to perform a service for the Army, which includes hitting an actor made up to look like Hitler in the face before a dance troupe in a patriotic attempt to sell war bonds (back when the U.S. did that sort of thing. Interestingly enough, the first comic-book issue cover of the Cap Man had him punching Adolf Hitler in the face). But when he is adorned with his true red, blue and white costume and packs some heat and throws his circular vibranium shield that can knock anyone off within a hundred yards, we are in full swing. It is the movie I've been waiting for any studio to do right for years. They have created a colorful, nostalgic kick in the pants for anyone who loves the Cap Man and 1940's iconography.

But there is more. The evil Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), aka Johann Schmidt (a Nazi commandant) is ready to destroy America with his super sonic plane and its loaded missiles headed to incinerate designated states. Surely Captain America and his newly elected team of commandos will have a few things to say about that. There is also time for love with the luscious British agent, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), whose crimson red lips would be enough to drive any man to a dinner date.

Director Joe Johnston capably serves this material, as he should considering twenty years ago he directed the wondrously entertaining "The Rocketeer," also a 1940's hero movie of another brand. "Captain America" is a rip-roaring, rousing comic-book movie come to life with actors who breathe life into their parts, coloring them with just enough eccentricity to make them palatable. Though Hugo Weaving drips with menace, he also hints at something more sublime - he appreciates Captain America for never quitting. I think, deep down, Red Skull knows he will have to quit before his madness consumes him, literally.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" is not as thunderously epic as "Thor" and it doesn't contain the ironic wisecracks of "Iron Man." It is more scaled-down, more down to earth, more intimate, more soulful. This is largely due to Chris Evans (who was the best thing in "Fantastic Four") who brings integrity and dignity to Captain America in spades. The movie wisely chooses not to poke fun at the period it is set in. It envelops it, contains it and brings us a world that no longer exists (and for the youth today, never knew it existed). Its also got its tongue firmly planted in its patriotic cheek, and has the level of "Indiana Jones" innocence and escapism that it needs. But don't be surprised if you get a little teary-eyed by the end, and don't be further surprised if you want to get up off the couch and join Captain America. 

Riding Out Morrison's Storm

WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE (2009)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When I think of the leather-clad, raging soul of Jim Morrison, I think of the range of powerful soothing chords of "Riders of the Storm" (the perfect song to hear on a slow New Mexico ride to Taos), the soulful strains of "Unknown Soldier," and the expressively upbeat "L.A. Woman." Interestingly, as in Oliver Stone's hyperkinetic film bio, the new documentary, "When You're Strange" operates with these songs in the same order. Though there is not much new to glean from "When You're Strange," there are some oddities and interesting trivia (The Who opened for The Doors once) that will keep Morrison fans riveted for an hour and a half.

"When You're Strange" charts the rise of a poet who hated his father (a Navy admiral in charge of his fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin debacle) and claimed his parents were dead, to his start and eventual drop-out from NYU film school to the Venice Beach days of living on a rooftop and cavorting with Ray Manzarek, a keyboard player, whom he sang his lyrics to, to forming a band with Robby Krieger (who never used picks) on guitar and the drummer John Densmore. Jim ingests copious drugs, drinks heavily, becomes bloated and a media superstar and we get the gradual picture that it isn't about the band - it is about Jim taking the spotlight. One gets the impression that director Tom DiCillo is more critical of the Lizard King than Oliver Stone ever was.

New, spectacular footage shows a bearded Jim Morrison on the desert road - singing, laughing and screaming, observing a nearly dead dog on the road (some of these moments play like outtakes from Oliver Stone's own Doors film or "U-Turn"). But most of the film, except for some candid shots of a smiling Lizard King, is focused on the downward spiral of a man who allegedly exposed himself on stage and was more soused than the average drunk. It is deduced that such drunken rages and falling asleep on the concert stage were an act of garnering media attention since the band stopped getting any (heck, they could barely play their music during the outrage). Then Jim, deeply in love with his girlfriend, Pam, and somehow renewed in his sense of purpose, finds himself dead at the age of 27 in Paris. And it seems, perhaps, that his disapproving father finally admits his son had talent.

"When You're Strange" is sort of a distant echo of Oliver Stone's controversial film (a montage of Robert Kennedy's assassination and images of Charles Manson also figure in Stone's film) yet this film (with added narration by Johnny Depp) adds immeasurably more mystery and a measure of depth to Morrison than ever before. It is one of those "regretful" rock documentaries, the kind that makes you wonder, what if Jim had lived on past his 27th birthday. It also shows the tortured poet who chose music as his vessel of opening the doors of his perception. He wrote books of poetry but they required solace to write them. Jim needed the stage to exhibit his demons, his passions, his life - he desperately needed an audience. "When You're Strange" exemplifies that and gives us a Jim Morrison that perhaps we didn't know.