Greenpoint, October, 2015

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Taxi Movies (2)

Larry Block as Taxi Driver
If you thought the Scorcese entry in the BTB Summer Taxi Film Series would feature Robert DeNiro and Jodie Foster--think again. After Hours is Marty's 1985 date-from-hell comedy. Mild-mannered word-processor (!) Paul (Griffin Dunne) meets Marcy (Rosanna Arquette) in an uptown coffee shop. They chat about Henry Miller, she gives him her number, and that night he heads downtown for a presumptive erotic encounter.
Griffin Dunne gets served
The cab ride downtown (captured in the trailer) sets the stage for a night that will include punks, rats, suicide, plaster-of-paris bagel-and-cream-cheese paperweights, and a homicidal Mister Softee truck driver. Great mid-1980s downtown vibe plus Terri Garr and Cheech & Chong.


The movie was the subject of a law-suit by radio artist Joe Frank who had earlier performed an 11-minute monologue that includes nearly all of the early plot elements of the film, including the taxi ride. You can read about it and here it all on Andrew Hearst's blog.

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