One of the wildest entries in the lineage of movies based on pop songs, this sci-fi comedy and parody of Valley culture sprang from a 1984 tune of the same name by Julie Brown (of “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun” fame) that she adapted into a script with her husband at the time, actor Terrence E. McNally, and regular collaborator Charlie Coffey. Another married couple also signed on to star, Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum (who were married after appearing in David Cronenberg’s The Fly in 1986), with Brown co-starring as Davis’ beauty salon co-worker and getting her own music video within the film for one of her catchiest songs, “Cause I’m a Blonde.” The tale of a Valley girl smitten with one of three aliens (Goldblum, Damon Wayans and a very young Jim Carrey) who land in her swimming pool was later adapted by Brown herself into a stage production in Los Angeles, following an unsuccessful 2001 attempt to stage it with Kristin Chenoweth. The film was intended as a redemption of sorts for director Julien Temple, who cut his teeth on innovative music videos like ABC’s “Poison Arrow” but delivered one of the U.K.’s most notorious box-office failures with Absolute Beginners in 1986. Bouncing back in style here, Temple remains active in features and music videos to this day.
by Nathaniel Thompson
