Hollywood Refugees

You must have heard by now that Randy Quaid and his wife Evi are in legal shit up to their elbows and buried neck deep in crazy.  They are "Hollywood Refugees", seeking asylum in Canada for protection against a mysterious group known as Star Whackers.  They believe that their very lives are in danger and that they are the target of both Star Whackers and the Hollywood Mafia, whom they claim are responsible for the deaths of Heath Ledger and David Carradine among others.  They claim that Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Mel Gibson are also targets.  Last year, Evi was given probation and community service when the couple failed to settle up on a $10,000 hotel tab.  They are currently awaiting a hearing on their refugee status in Canada while wanted in the U.S. for missing court dates related to allegations that they are responsible for $5,000 in damage to a guest home they previously owned and were recently caught squatting in.

I know that Hollywood can be a bitch and that many successful industry people, at some point face the fact that they are penniless while their agents, lawyers and other vermin really have control of their money.  But Star Whackers?  Come on man.  I really think that Evi is more than slightly imbalanced in the cranial capacity that commands common sense and sanity.  Perhaps she has been the bug in Randy's ear for too long.  I do believe that lawyers, even friends and family members could be accused of manipulating Randy for his money, but nobody is involved in a major conspiracy to end their lives in order to gain access to their fortune.  However, when I entered "Star Whackers" into the Google search bar, nothing substantial came up!  What does this mean?!  Maybe it really is a super secret organization that is underground, malicious and capable of offing Hollywood's finest.

STAR WHACKERS HIT LIST

Apparently, there is a large contingent of people out there that believe 110% in this conspiracy as well as others.  Here is a link to a recent statement made by Randy to the Canadian press. The best part is reading the comments.  And here is a good article from the Ottawa Citizen.

Sleeping Horse Pills does not have the energy to report fully on all the Hollywood goings on so we will leave that to the experts.  However, regardless of the current Randy Quaid debacle, he is a 30 year veteran of the silver screen and has blessed us with characters as unforgettable as Cousin Eddie in National Lampoon's Vacation franchise.  He had a small part in 2005's Brokeback Mountain but his last worthwhile performances were in 1995's Kingpin and Independence Day.  Since then, he has been in about 45 other projects.  I recognize none of them.  Most of them are television credits or what appear to be films that went straight to DVD and straight from the dusty corner of your now defunct Blockbuster into the 3 for $5 bin at your local car wash.

Although he is better known for his appearances in Vacation and Independence Day, my favorite film with Randy Quaid is 1973's The Last Detail.  The young Quaid earns an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in his role as Meadows.  Hal Ashby directs this awesome rite of passage, road trip buddy flick also starring a young Jack Nicholson.

5 Reasons you need to watch The Last Detail 

1.  Randy Quaid shows incredible talent in his portrayal of Meadows.  It is his best, most honest work before he goes on to being stuck in the character actor roles of the "Big Dumb Guy" in his later career.  He is 23 when The Last Detail is filmed.

2.  The script contained so much profanity that filming was put on hold for two years, at which time the foul language standards were relaxed.  If you think I use coarse language in my writing, then fuck you!  The characters in this film cuss like, well, sailors.  The tag line for the film is "No *#@!!* Navy's going to give some poor **!!@* kid eight years in the #@!* brig without me taking him out for the time of his *#@!!* life".

"Always wanting to call me Bad Ass"

3.  It's directed by Hal Ashby.  Yeah, the same dude that gave us Being There and Harold and Maude.  While re-watching The Last Detail recently I thought that it could have been something done really well in the hands of Wes Anderson.  Anderson references the film in The Royal Tenenbaums when Royal turns to his grandsons, Ari and Uzi, after a failed visit to the graveyard and says "C'mon, let's shag ass".

4.  I cannot stress enough how amazing Jack Nicholson is in his 70's flicks.   He did Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).  And to bookend the 70's he gave us Easy Rider (1969) and The Shining (1980).

5.  This scene has "Bad Ass" Buddusky fucking with a redneck bartender while Meadows and Mule look on.  It is the catalyst to every crazy, heartfelt, unrealized, disappointing, hilarious, uncomfortable, necessary and fruitless moment that follows in the film.

Meadows enjoys a hotdog despite having no bun. It makes me think of the line he says 10 years later in Vacation:  "I don't know why they call it Hamburger Helper.  Does just fine by itself".