This was a movie directed by Dennis Hopper that I watched in my younger days, but didn’t really understand their search for the drug enriched American dream. I could however rock out to it’s awesome soundtrack and smooth vibes while Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper tear up the roads and meet various acquaintances. This movie featured some of the music that inspired the era and embraced the counterculture that was surfacing in America. This movie shot its way to fame due to it’s innovative use of a rock soundtrack and the charm of the main characters Wyatt and Billy.     (more…)

Appealing only to my own taste, I hated this movie. Directed by Dennis Hopper, it started off all “born to be wild”, two guys score big on a coke deal, throw away their watches, and set out into the horizon on motorcycles for an adventure with only their American flag and faux western fringe leather coats on their backs. They take what comes to them: hitchhikers, free gas, meals from a hippie commune, etc. They “live it up” on their way to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Although Dennis Hopper plays an absolute drug-addled loser, whose capacity for speech tends to halt after repeating back others’ words. The film thrived off of stereotypes: “hippies”, “hicks”, and “pigs”.

The duo end up in jail for “parading without a permit”, however they meet such hostility from many a small town along their adventure. In jail they pick up an alcoholic Jack Nicholson joins them on their journey in hopes of reaching a specific whorehouse in New Orleans. This small hope is never attained, however, as Jack Nicholson’s character is beaten to death when a mob attacks the three while they sleep. In New Orleans they visit the whorehouse in his honor, spend all night out frolicking, take acid, have a bad trip in a cemetery, then leave. Shortly after they are gunned down for no apparent reason by two Floridians in a truck. (more…)