Well, birth of a craze for car chases going the wrong way on the freeway, anyway.

That’s a clip from To Live and Die in L.A., a pretty good movie in most respects, and lots of fun. It’s the perfect movie to explain the zeitgeist in 1980s Los Angeles. It was where most people got their first look at both Willem Dafoe and John Turturro, two guys destined for the future Mount Rushmore of Actors With Really Weird Faces. Oh yeah, and Daphne from Frasier, but she’s not that weird-looking, even in her underwear.

William Friedkin was the director. I misremembered that Friedkin was on the back nine of his career with this movie. With a little more research on the topic, I discovered that he started out on the back nine, and got less successful from there. He’s famous for directing The French Connection, which made all sorts of money, but it really isn’t a very good movie. But people really like car chases, I gather. Movies like The French Connection and Bullitt are known for no other reason I can divine. Friedkin was making movies right up until last year, none even remotely memorable. I swear you only have to make money once in Hollywood to keep working forevermore. Friedkin made nine movies after To Live and Die, and they all basically lost 10 million bucks apiece.

But credit where credit is due, I say. As far as I can tell, he was the first director to tell the main character to drive the wrong way on the freeway. It’s become a staple of the car chase ever since, and I’m surprised Jason Bourne doesn’t accidentally pass Jack Reacher once in while in the middle of one.

And just to, ahem, drive home the mid-eighties vibe, Wang Chung did the soundtrack. So everybody Wang Chung tonight, whatever that is. Or maybe Chun King tonight, if you prefer. Huge, huge props for playing the Steinberger plastic bass just to make my mid-80s point for me. I had one of those. Great in a bar fight. And since it’s plastic, you only have to tune it once a year or so.