92. (399.) Night of the Comet (1984)
Shame on me for not having seen this film earlier. Catherine Mary Stewart (better known, I suspect, as the love interest in The Last Starfighter) and Robert Beltran (beter known, I'm sure, as Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager) fight zombies and the government in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles!

I should point out that the zombies in this film are decaying humans with an expiration date, not the supernatural, brain-eating Romero zombies that I typically find so intolerable. This movie is more sci-fi than fantasy, but it really is better classified as a horror/comedy. If you can't laugh at the end of the world, what can you laugh at?

I should also point out that the final scene of this movie takes place outside 333 Hope Street, Los Angeles. If that address sounds even vaguely familiar, it's because I have commented on it before. Here's a hint: it's big and orange and convenient for Hollywood to use as a backdrop.

Yep, once again, it's "Four Arches" by Alexander Calder in the background of a movie. I've now spotted "Four Arches" in movies filmed in the 80s, 90s, and 10s. The piece was installed in 1974, so I'm only missing two decades to complete my viewing collection. Fortunately, Wikipedia has a list for me to start working on.

While that's all very noteworthy, what motivated me to post about this movie here today is a prominent and amusing Superman reference in the movie's first 10 minutes. See for yourself:

Hot chicks who know all about Superman? Yes, please! Of course, if Superman were in this movie, the comet would never have endangered the lives of everyone on Earth. Superman may not be able to save everyone from every tornado or random shooting, but he's got these world-ending kinds of emergencies covered.

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As tends to happen in my world, twice in the past month I noticed a large, orange abstract sculpture in the background of my popular entertainment.

84. Boiling Point (1993)
They should have called this film Room Temperature, but even that might have been stretching things. In this Dennis Hopper vehicle hijacked by Wesley Snipes, the sculpture can be seen in front of a crooked lawyer's office. The art is far more memorable than the movie.

95. The Muppets (2011)
The sculpture looks far more suitable as a background for those colorful Muppets in this movie that is as entertaining as Boiling Point is boring. Specifically, the sculpture is implied to be beside the "Richman Oil" building where the villain hangs out. Is it any coincidence that this work keeps appearing in buildings that house scumbags?

Thanks to publicartinla.com, I now know that the sculpture is an Alexander Calder original titled "Four Arches." Installed in 1974, the 4-story work still stands outside 333 Hope Street, Los Angeles, in what is now known as the Bank of American Plaza. Bank of America? That might explain the scumbag connection.

If you'd like a better view of the sculpture or the plaza, give Google Street View a try. (Isn't living in the 21st century awesome?)

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