I first sawTHE BIG BUS in 1976 when it played at a local theater. As a 12-year-old I thought it was the funniest thing I ever saw. I watched it again this past weekend and um, not so much.
Four years before the brilliant AIRPLANE, the same studio, Paramount released this similar disaster movie send-up. With a cast that included Joseph Bologna as a cannibalistic bus driver with a heart of gold, pre-GREASE Stockard Channing as a smarty-pants nuclear scientist slash stewardess, pre-FLAMINGO ROAD John Beck as a narcoleptic co-driver, post-DELIVERENCE Ned Beatty in the George Kennedy role, Jose Ferrer as a madman in an iron long, Ruth Gordon as Helen Hayes, Harold Gould as an old man, pre-DALLAS Larry Hagman as a doctor, post-M*A*S*H Sally Kellerman as the same character she always plays, pre-SOAP Richard Mulligan as her soon-to-be ex-husband and pre-HOUSE CALLS Lynn Redgrave as a Gloria Swanson clone with a plan of revenge.
The ambitious and convoluted plot involves the maiden voyage of a nuclear-powered bus, the Cyclops from a company called Coyote and the various folks involved in it's journey. The bus itself is a modern miracle - double-deckered, double-long and it includes everything from a cocktail lounge to a bowling alley to a swimming pool. Too bad it takes about 30 minutes before the bus even appears on camera!
Silly subplots deal with Bologna and Channing's romantic reunion, Ferrer's attempts to sabotage the bus, Gordon's dirty old lady trying to help a fallen priest rediscover his faith and Redgrave camping it up like a drag queen. There are also appearances by other TV favorites like Vic Tayback and Stuart Margolin. 
Along the way, there are a few laughs (mostly from Ruth) and some early attempts at the kind of absurd humor that made AIRPLANE so successful. There are also some clever homages to the disaster film genre (notice the paintings in Ferrer's "sitting room") and an absolutely crazy scene involving Bolgona, Channing and a airtight room filled with Coke, Root Beer, Fanta and Fresca. The whole thing never quite gels correctly and it just kinda ends - as if the producers ran out of money. On my old scale of 1 outta 10, this one gets about a 5, mostly worth checking out to see the bus.
FOXES is a movie I was forbidden to see in high school because some parent in the neighborhood told all the parents that it was about teen prostitutes. Well, FOXES (1980, directed by Adrian Lyne) has been sitting on my dvr for about six months - and I think I'm finally old enough to see this so-called "teen hooker" movie. As Donna Summer's "On the Air" plays, we see the foxes in their natural habit - bed. 
They are so NOT teen prostitutes. Whores maybe, but not hookers. Jodie Foster is Jeanie - the sensible one; Cherie Currie is Annie - the wild one with a dad who's a cop; Kandice Stroh is Deidre, who looks like she's 40; Marilyn Kagan is chubby virginal Madge, who we later learn is dating a older guy named Jay (future trouble-magnet Randy Quaid). 
These four Valley girls are the focus of the film, but we soon meet some of their posse including their younger skate-boarding friend Brad (Scott Baio) who thinks of himself as quite the ladies man and is always coming on to Annie. 
The foxes all think that school sucks and the boys in their lives are all punks (like Robert Romanus, who was Snake on FACTS OF LIFE, and Speed on DAYS OF OUR LIVES).
Their parents are all self-centered and living in their our worlds. Jeanie's parents are divorced - her mother (Sally Kellerman) is having an affair with a married man and her dad manages a glam rock band named 
Let me point out that the film's Giorgio Moroder produced soundtrack features an array of artists on the Casablanca record label, including Cher, who's "Bad Love" is used as recurring background music. Various imagery of the band KISS is also seen.
After Madge loses her virginity, the girls celebrate with a dinner party at her boyfriend's that eventually turns into a brawl - and the foxes wind up behind bars. After she's bailed out Sally and Jodie go at it - touching upon all their dysfunctions as a mother and daughter. 
Randy Quaid then yells at his 16 year old girlfriend Madge for trashing his place - "What are you gonna do, be a waitress at Denny's?!" He wants her to come back so he can beat her.
Jodie hangs out with Scott Baio for day and they bond over all sorts of teen stuff. When they get back to her house, Annie calls - she's loaded!!! Jodie and Scott rescue her from the crowd of tough druggies that she's fallen in with. They attempt to sober her up - but she's on pills! Annie decides she's going to Oregon. Jodie shows her some "tough love" - but freaks out when she sees a patrol car she thinks it's her over-protective dad looking for her again.
Then Madge marries creepy Randy Quaid outside the ugliest church ever filmed and Jodie tells mom Sally Kellerman that she loves her as "On the Radio" plays once more and Jodie visits Annie's grave with the flowers from Madge's wedding. The End.
While Brenda's supporting cast has changed over the years, several key players have remained: 
and finally a 1963 effort from Dell. 
You may still be able to find these at your local comics shop.
