almost okay

Last summer I found myself in Los Angeles for work for the second time in as many months. It was a late arrival that time and we dropped into LAX in the dark, the city lights twinkling below us. I was only half awake as I stumbled for the baggage claim area until I got to a long corridor with shiny ceramic-clad walls, the tiny square tiles assembled in broad vertical rectangles of color to form an irregular geometric design of lavender, moss green, turquoise, gold and pink. Overhead, a bank of fluorescent lights were sucking what was left of my soul right out of me.

Suddenly, about half-way down the corridor, I could hear Bobby Womack singing 'Across 110th Street' and realized that I'd seen these walls before. Pam Grier was gliding along in front of them during the opening sequence in Quentin Tarantino's underrated yet brilliant 1997 film 'Jackie Brown'.

Tarantino's third film and his first after the critically acclaimed 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), 'Jackie Brown' stars a still-stunningly beautiful Pam Grier in the title role of an aging flight attendant who gets caught up in a government operation to catch her shady, long-time business associate (played by Samuel L. Jackson), who, with her help, has been moving illegal weapons and money back and forth between LA and Mexico for a number of years.

Based on the novel 'Rum Punch' by Elmore Leonard, the script was re-written by Tarantino himself so the role could be played by Grier, a favorite of his since her Blaxploitation heyday way back in the '70s. The story I heard was that he wanted to use Pam for the part of Bobby's wife in 'Pulp Fiction' but didn't think the role was right for her. To paraphrase an interview I saw with Pam a while back, she went into Tarantino's new office to talk to him about the part of Jackie Brown and saw a bunch of movie posters from her older films... 'Foxy Brown', 'Women In Cages', 'The Arena', and asked him if he put them up to impress her just because he knew she was coming in.

Apparently, Quentin said something like: “No. In fact I almost took them down so you wouldn't think I was a geek.” I think he also managed to get her to autograph them, but I could be dreaming that part.

Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with a synopsis of the movie. Do yourself a favor and go rent it. Aside from Pam and Sam, there's a bunch of great actors in this one, Robert Forster and DeNiro being standouts. Oh, and don't forget Bridget Fonda and her toes. Even the normally smarmy Michael Keaton isn't bad as one of the feds.

So let's get down to the music. As usual, Tarantino has hand-picked and assembled songs that more closely resembles a friend playing his favorite mix tape for you than it does any traditional film score. His typical M.O. when selecting the music is to not only use often under-appreciated pop and soul tunes, but to recycle his favorite film music, too, which he's done here in a couple of clever ways. Not only has he appropriated a tune from the classic 1971 Jess Franco Eurotrash film 'Vampyros Lesbos' (Side Two's 'The Lions and the Cucumber' - music composed and arranged by Manfred Hubler & Siegrfried Schwab), he's let 'Across 110th Street' run over the title sequence and included Pam Grier herself singing 'Long Time Woman', a song which she originally recorded for the 1971 Jack Hill flick 'The Big Doll House'.

The rest of the tunes run the gamut from Johnny Cash to the Brothers Johnson, with some Grass Roots, Minnie Ripperton, Delphonics and rapper Foxy Brown (tossed in a little clumsily for obvious reasons, but hey, it works!) as well. Between songs are snippets of classic dialogue from the film, one of which involves DeNiro and Fonda smoking pot from a bong.

I just recently bought this disc on line and I have to tell you it was a beautiful experience. I already had the CD, which I listen to on a regular basis. Being a big Pam fan and collector, I was on Ebay one night and saw a promo flat for the LP with a starting bid of five bucks. It sounded like an okay deal, but a little steep for a piece of cardboard and no record, especially since the dude selling it also wanted nine dollars to ship it.

I ran a quick search on Google and found this LP at Elusive Disc, still sealed for only $7.99! Since it was my first ever order from them, the shipping was free and the disc arrived at my doorstep just two days later, in spite of the fact that I ordered it three days before Christmas. Now that's what I call service! And, here's the best part, the still-sealed LP in mint condition (obviously) cost me less than that greedy douche bag on Ebay wanted just to ship his piece of cardboard.

Of course it's not the same experience as flipping through dusty stacks of records and discovering an absolute gem amongst the Guy Lombardos, Lawrence Welks and Eydie Gormes. That's a much more physically satisfying process and sometimes it takes years to unearth that one special item you've been looking for.

But if you need to find it now and have it in your sweaty little hands tomorrow, the World Wide Web is the way to go.

Hmm... Eydie Gorme...Gourmet... Of course! That reminds me, it's almost time for dinner. I think I'll go to Domino's website and order me up a pepperoni, onion and anchovy for delivery. That way, I'll only have to get off my fat ass long enough to answer the door. I sure hope I can add the driver's tip with my Paypal account because I'm really short on folding cash, and I don't think he'd appreciate it if I laid a roll of nickels on him.