lost-in-limbo I really enjoyed this cheaply madcap, low-brow Canadian teen sex comedy… as I found it hard not be smitten by its passionate shenanigans. Not much goes on… well actually, yes there's a lot going (schools out and summer awaits with teens running wild and getting in all sorts of trouble), but its something like a senseless parade lynch together than anything that really resembles a story. It's basically plot-less (although the film does feature two guys trying to impress two sisters and there's a pinball competition which could be seen as the backbone to all of this fooling about), instead it's made up of spontaneously breezy episodes where it just wants to break out a song interlude every five minutes. In which case it does, as someone was definitely popping coins in the jukebox hooking up those bouncy, if unbelievably cheesy tracks. So why think about it though, it promises fun with its constant raunchiness, carefree slapstick and crass jokes. Dialogues are crude, but comically cheeky ("Come on Steve, at least he got the measurements right"). The girls are voluptuous in their skimpy outfits, the guys are rowdily juvenile and the grown-ups are just clueless. It's all stereotypical, but that's the charm. Michael Zelniker and Carl Marotte are amusing as the goofball lads, while the beautiful Karen Stephen and Helen Ude (sister of Claudia) give typically sweet performances as their girlfriends. Thomas Kovacs is picture-perfect in his role as the snake-like Bert, a biker who gets around with three buddies. Also having memorable parts are the curvy Joy Boushel (just wait for strip pinball), Joey McNamara, J Robert Maze and Matthew Steven as a spoiled rich kid. Director George Mihalka ("My Bloody Valentine") plays it in a farcical manner, by teasing with the camera and frenetically letting it unfold. "Well isn't it Tarzan and his three apes."

Wizard-8 The one positive thing I can say about the Canadian film "Pinball Summer" (a.k.a. "Pick-Up Summer) is that it's more watchable than the typical crappy "high art" movies the Canadian government funds nowadays. Apart from that, and maybe the movie's okay production values, I am at a loss to think of anything else positive to say about this movie. First, the cast is too old. Although these guys are supposed to be teenagers, the actors all appear to be in their late 20s/early 30s. Also, there's barely a story here, just a loose subplot about a stolen trophy (a plot that gets forgotten about before the end the movie), and the pinball tournament at the end of the movie. Until then, we are bombarded by unfunny slapstick and pranks, which gets REAL tired REALLY quickly. Not recommended, unless you want to see a typical example of the tax-shelter product Canada was making in the late '70s to early '80s.

lazarillo This movie alternately called "Pinball Summer" or "Pick-up Summer" (since the pinball craze had long since ended by the time it hit American drive-ins) is basically a Canadian version of the 1970's American teen exploitation (or "sexploitation") drive-in flicks, which means that despite the thick Canadian accents it is virtually indistinguishable from contemporary American teen comedies like "The Pom-Pom Girls", "The Van", "Malibu Beach" and so forth. There is no real plot, for instance, just a lot pranks and zany hijinks revolving around a pinball tournament and a trophy that keeps getting lost or stolen. The male protagonists are two over-aged high school students who are much more obnoxious and somewhat less funny than actual teenagers. Their enemies are a sorry motorcycle gang who look like north-of-the border rejects from "Grease" or the Frankie and Annette beach movies, and a snooty rich couple who the protagonists seem to torment for no other reason than because they're rich and snooty.Of course, the main reason to see any of these movies is the girls. The two protagonists are chasing around two sisters played by a couple of very attractive actresses (Karin Stephens and Helene Udy). The two wear various outfits that are never more than ridiculously skimpy, but have only very brief nude scenes. Most of the nudity is provided by the voluptuous Joy Boushel, who later became a minor Canadian scream queen appearing in "Humongous" and "The Fly". She leaves an indelible impression of boobs and freckles here, especially in the big "strip pinball" scene. Unfortunately, her character "Sally" also has her own theme song ("Sally Joy/you ain't no boy. . ."). Which brings me to the music: imagine the worst kind of sappy music from the late 1970's--now imagine something much, much worse and you're starting to get an idea of the godawful soundtrack to this movie.So all things considered would I recommend this? Well, it could have used a little more nudity and a LOT less music, but it's really no worse than the American teen movies of the time, so if you like those. . . And the director, George Mihalka, would go on to make one of the better Canadian "slash-for-cash" horror movies "My Bloody Valentine" (if only some psycho in a miner's helmet would have put all the male hosers in THIS movie out of my misery, but oh well. . .).

Joe Stemme Quite clearly filmed under the title, PINBALL SUMMER, PICKUP is a truly bizarre Canadian version of USA teen flicks. The film tries to pass off Canada as the USA, but that is hardly the largest of its credibility problems. This is one of those films where you are led to believe that a group of teens is going to spend all summer chasing down a trophy for a pinball tournament as the be all and end all of existence! Even supposedly rough and tumble biker gangs go gaga for the hunk of metal and faux wood. But, between the hackneyed boyfriend-girlfriend storyline, the loser virgin clichés and the chase for the elusive trophy, PICKUP SUMMER gains momentum to become a truly indescribable bit of 80's nostalgia. Leering shots at the pretty leads are expected and break up the monotony, but when the film has over-the-top homo-erotic biker dudes chasing after not only the girls, but this trophy and, seemingly, each other, it truly goes off the rails - in it's own "good-bad" way. The theme song "Pinball Summer" (they even did a custom Pinball Summer video game) is genuinely catchy in a pop 80's kind of way, and there is a quirky energy to the second half of the film. Grindhouse fest