Reid About It

More bad news on the "Road House" front. Jeff Healey died this weekend, now news comes out that Patrick Swayze has pancreatic cancer.

I think everybody from the 80s is kind of feeling this one. I'm a big fan of Zen, so Swayze's movies hold a special place in my heart, regardless of their quality.

As I've written here quite often, "Road House" is my favorite bad movie ever. It's so blessedly bad, with its lines like "be nice" and "I used to @#^# guys like you in prison," I can't help but watch it. It makes me wonder if the people who were making "Road House" were trying to make the worst good movie ever, or the best bad movie ever. I always watch it as the latter.

Face it, Swayze is the world's greatest fighter, lover, doctor, philosopher, mechanic, tai chi practitioner, knife thrower, psychiatrist, judge of character, and has perfect hair at all times. How can you not root for him against the forces of evil?

Thanks to Spike TV, Versus, and the entire Encore cadre of channels, "Road House" is always on and I'm a sucker for it every time.

After that, Swayze did the other side of Zen, as surfmaster Bodhi in "Point Break." Swayze was the Bodhisattva, the enlightened being. Ponder if you will, the irony of Swayze extolling the virtues of "the gift of blankness" to Keanu Reeves. I think Keanu said "Whoa," and just ran with that concept.

It's almost enough to make up for his turn as a toe-hopping child molester in "Dirty Dancing."