Use Your Cannonball Run II
by Liam Eagle
A "synch," I've come to learn, often refers to the remarkable number of connections, whether intentional or not, that can be drawn when viewing and listening to certain movies and music albums at the same time. The most well-known example of this phenomenon is often referred to as "the Dark Side of Oz," the result of watching the film The Wizard of Oz while listening to Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon. Countless fans have attempted this synch, in varying states of altered conciousness, with varying degrees of success.
Whether the connections are intentional, coincidental or are even there at all is a question that has yet to be fully answered. But the whole matter has raised certain interesting questions and brought to light possibilities concerning an invisible connectedness that may exist through various entertainment media.
My contribution to the study of this connectedness, I thought, ought to be the exploration of "synchs" between other products. And most important among these, I felt, was the synch known as "Use Your Cannonball Run II," resulting from the simultaneous enjoyment of the hilarious film Cannonball Run II and the cock-rock masterpieces Use Your Illusion I and II by Guns N' Roses. While the jury may still be out on "the Dark Side of Oz," I was really left with no doubt that there is something more than coincidence going on with "Use Your Cannonball Run II."
Check this out:
PREPARATION:
Because the film runs longer than either of the albums, both Use Your Illusions are necessary to achieve the synch. Playing II immediately after I ends will place the end of the film about halfway through the second album, during the song "Get In the Ring." Cue up the albums, and start the film. When the Warner Brothers logo appears on the screen, start playing Use Your Illusion I, and watch the impossible unfold.
2:12
During the guitar solo from "Right Next Door to Hell," Axl Rose yells "Bitch," just as Ricardo Monalban and Jamie Farr both slap the blond-haired, caucasian manservant.
5:08
As Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke) and Susan Anton overtake a cop car in their red Lamborghini, Axl sings "sometimes these women are so cold" during the song "Dust and Bones,"
9:34
Axl sings "when you've got a job to do you got to do it well. You got to give the other fella hell" in the song "Live and Let Die," just as Burt Reynolds suggests to Dom DeLuise that he get his 'other fella' (alter ego Captain Chaos) to 'do the job' of the human bomb stunt in his stead.
11:45
As Burt Reynolds is released from the small plane inside the bomb-shaped metal case, Axl sings "I know how you feel inside," from the song "Don't Cry (original)," I'm sure we can all imagine how Burt 'feels inside' the human bomb.
16:50
Axl sings "if you had better sense, you'd just step aside from the bad side of me" in the song "Perfect Crime" as the guy in the souped up mercedes offers a ride to Catherine Bach and Susan Anton, who will undoubtedly steal his car (using their bad sides).
19:80
As Sammy Davis Jr. arrives, unwelcome, at Dean Martin's hotel room, Axl sings "I think you've worn out your welcome, honey" in the song "You Ain't the First."
23:48
Axl sings "a bad obsession, it's always messin' with my mind" in the song "Bad Obsession," as Dean Martin hits on his own daughter in a bar scene.
28:27
As Telly Savalas, playing gangster Hymie Kaplan, shows up to threaten Charles Nelson Reilly, playing gutless gangster Don Don Canneloni, Axl sings "nasty ball breaker, stay out of my bed," in the song "Back Off Bitch." Charles certainly wishes that nasty ballbreaker Telly would stay out of his 'bed' (office).
32:20
Axl sings "fucked up and out of place," in the song "Double Talkin' Jive," just as we se a monkey in a chauffer's uniform talking on a telephone, certainly a 'fucked up and out of place' visual.
42:00
This is the point during "November Rain" where Slash totally fucking rocks out on the guitar solo, right at the end of the song. You know the part I'm talking about. Just before they start chanting "don't you think that you need somebody." I forget what was happening in the movie at this point. Somebody was probably driving, or something.
46:10
Slash totally rocks out the on the guitar again here in the song "The Garden." This time, it's just as Jackie Chan and that Jaws guy fire the afterburners and smoke the motorbike cop that's chasing them.
49:20
As the cops chasing Burt and Dom spin out, going 'out of control,' and causing their car to blow up, with 'fire,' Axl screams "the fire is burning and its out of control," in the song "Garden of Eden."
52:55
Axl sings "I never wanted this to happen" in the song "Don't Damn Me," as the thugs in the helecopter, attached to the top of a car with a giant magnet, look up and realize they're about to smash into a bridge.
59:11
Axl sings "when the shit hits the fan..." in the song "Bad Apples," just as Dean and Sammy spin out in the road, causing the two cop cars chasing them to wipe out all over the place.
1:02:10
As Jackie Chan lays a 'beating down on some 'dead horse' biker ass at a truck stop, Axl sings "sometimes I feel like I'm beating a dead horse" in the song "Dead Horse."
1:10:20
The quiet part of "Coma" kicks in and Axl croons "no one's gonna bother me anymore," as Jackie and the Jaws guy escape from the cops by sinking their car under the water.
1:17:15
"Look at the hate we're breeding," sings Axl in "Civil War" as the thugs put a gun to Jamie Farr's head.
1:25:00
Burt, Sammy and Dom sing "Uptown Girl," wearing dresses, as Axl sings "they're all used up has-beens" in the song "14 years."
1:28:50
Axl sings "I'm on the streets and I'm all alone" in the song "Yesterdays," as Sammy, still wearing his dress, stands 'all alone' on the cobblestone 'street.'
1:32:00
In the climactic scene of the movie, everybody steps slowly out into the dusty square, with guns drawn, as the Gunners' version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," swells passionately.
1:37:50
The song "Get in the Ring" starts to really rock out just as the Jaws guy throws Telly Savalas into the sky.
1:41:00
Dom Deluise and Marilu Henner laugh at the same time as Axl does during "Get in the Ring."
1:44:25
Axl screams, during the song "Shotgun Blues," just as the movie ends on a freeze-frame of the monkey giving Ricardo Montalban a big kiss
