RIP Bob Clark

Film director Bob Clark was killed in a car accident on April 4th. You may not know who Bob Clark is but he made two of my all-time favorite films. "Porky's" and "A Christmas Story." It's amazing to me that a guy can make films that are so different in genre and have them both find their place in movie lore.

Porky's could have been the first of what I'll call the "teen-romp" movies that featured high school kids getting into all sorts of trouble in various situations. It was pretty crude and raw humor. The success of Porky's and it's two sequals saw many other movies similar to it pop up in the 1980s. It's not an Oscar winner by any means, but it's a movie that you will probably sit back an enjoy if you take it for what it is.

On the other hand, A Christmas Story was a box office flop, but became a cult hit when it was released on video and may be the greatest Christmas movie released since the great ones of the 1950s and 1960s. It seems everyone knows the storie of Ralphie and his quest to get the Red Rider BB gun, even though he could "shoot his eye out." You gotta love the tongue on the light pole seen, among others. TNT now airs it for 24 hours straight every Christmas.

Besides those two films, Clark really didn't do much and was all over the board when it comes to projects he did. He made some pretty bad films such as Rhinestone starring Sylvestor Stallone and Dolly Parton, Black Christmas. The Karate Dog, and Baby Geniuses.

Another movie that got horrible reviews that he did, but I seem to like is Turk 182. It was a movie made in 1985 starrinng Timothy Hutton, Robert Urich, and Kim Cattrall. I think the reason I like that one so much is that it seemed like it was always on HBO when I stayed home sick from school as a kid.

Bob Clark may not be considered one of the Hollywood greats, but he did leave a mark.