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When I first heard the news that Patrick Swayze had passed away at age 57, my first two thoughts were as follows: Point Break](Point Break (1991) - IMDb) (1991) and Donnie Darko](Donnie Darko (2001) - IMDb) (2001). Those were my two personal Patrick Swayze cult classics, the ones I own on DVD, the ones I can watch again, anytime. But the next thing I saw was a tribute on morning television, and the main clips came from Swayze’s biggest hits, Dirty Dancing](Dirty Dancing (1987) - IMDb) (1987) and Ghost](Ghost (1990) - IMDb) (1990), two films I do not own on DVD and do not particularly care to see again. Then I looked him up and saw a cornucopia of other titles, ranging all over the map, including a bunch of stuff I had never heard of. There were two I reviewed as a critic, the awful Green Dragon](Green Dragon (2001) - IMDb) (2001) and the very cool 11:14 (2003).
There was an early appearance, along with a handful of other rising stars in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders](The Outsiders (1983) - IMDb) (1983). There was a Golden Globe nomination for the campy To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar](To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) - IMDb) (1995). There was a failed bid for Oscar glory with Roland Joffe’s City of Joy](City of Joy (1992) - IMDb) (1992). There was a British comedy that seems pretty popular in England, Keeping Mum](Keeping Mum (2005) - IMDb) (2005). There were some cheesy 1980s action films, like Steel Dawn](Steel Dawn (1987) - IMDb) (1987) and Next of Kin](Next of Kin (1989) - IMDb) (1989). Then, further down the list, I noted two more films of a different nature, Red Dawn](Red Dawn (1984) - IMDb) (1984) and Road House](Road House (1989) - IMDb) (1989). I saw Red Dawn so long ago that I can’t remember any of it, and I have never seen Road House, but they are on my radar as much-loved cult films in other quarters. From the looks of them, however, they probably fall somewhere between the “cheesy” and “so-bad-it’s-good” categories of cult films.
Continue reading Discuss: What Kind of Patrick Swayze Fan Are You?