MetaChat - I just saw a life-changing film.

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13 February 2009

I just saw a life-changing film. →[More:]

It's called The Van, and it ain't about Ireland; no, my friends, it's about California.

I mean, this movie has it all. A guy graduates from high school and gets a tricked-out conversion van instead of going to college. Love, hijinks, daredeviltry, and sunshine ensue. Man, If I'd seen this back when it was gathering dust on the shelf at Erol's Video, I would have gotten my driver's license, for one thing.

Damn if that wasn't one of the best movies I've ever seen. Fuck E.T.; The Van is magic!

post by: Hugh Janus at: 22:06 | 7 comments

I have vague memories of watching that movie when it came out but I don't remember anything about it.

posted by octothorpe 13 February | 22:23

Maybe the trailer will jog your memory.

Here the van is introduced. Here they go to a van show.

posted by Hugh Janus 13 February | 22:35

Hey, I just recently came across that film too, and used it in my FPP about conversion vans!

...which had to be the most fun and silly FPP I've ever made. It was much fun to delve into 70s van culture for a while.

My grandparents had a conversion van [not a sexy type thank god], and I was fascinated with vans as a kid. I had this little art toy that was called "Van Goes" which used stencils to help you create your own custom vans.

posted by Miko 14 February | 00:05

When I was young a guy on my street, by the name of Neil, had a Vandura that was mostly waterbed inside and featured a chandelier. The exterior was covered in pictures of sci-fi babes in skimpy clothing and featured such bons mots as "Humpin and Pumpin!" and "If the van is a rockin don't bother knockin!".

The 70's were weird and wild and altogether fun and apparently did not use the letter g.

posted by arse_hat 14 February | 00:41

Last time I was in a van there was a migrant worker named Celso in the back who kept ducking every time we passed the police, even though there weren't any windows on the sides so he was effectively invisible.

I'm glad he wasn't in the back when we got pulled over for blowing through a checkpoint on the Queens side of the Midtown Tunnel. We woulda had some 'splainin' to do. As it was, we had no registration since it was a borrowed van and I think we had so many moving violations going on (no seatbelts installed in front; a bench seat in the back unbolted and just floating around on the floor; taillight missing; illegal metal cage-work behind the seats; iffy brakes) that the cops just threw up their hands and let us go to avoid paperwork. Plus we were clean-shaven, friendly white people, you know how that works with the police.

You can be damn sure we came back to Queens by bridge, though.

posted by Hugh Janus 14 February | 00:54

Ha! I saw the Van on Up All Night (or similar) in the late 80s and it actually became a running joke between me and my high school chums. High camp value for sure and it made for a great metaphor to slip things under the various radars.

posted by kodama 14 February | 02:38

Read the whole Barrytown trilogy, HJ---Roddy Doyle wrote the Committments and inspired one of this years Oscar Short subjects.

posted by brujita 15 February | 01:54

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