Movie Mash-Up

[Raf]

No politics!

[GeorgeStGeorge]

No, it's a movie.

George

[Raf]

Teasing.

Reagan

[GeorgeStGeorge]

1 hour ago, Raf said:

Teasing.

Reagan

Indeed.  I think Dennis Quaid gave an Oscar-quality performance, though I doubt the SAG will give it a second thought.  Voight was great, also.

George

[Raf]

I'll decline to comment.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

7 hours ago, Raf said:

I'll decline to comment.

Nonetheless, you're up!

George

[Raf]

So, this movie is scheduled for a remake. I imagine they will change the setting, as the original was set in the distant future of 2019. In this future, it is said in the movie's promotional material, America's finest people don't run for president. They run for their lives.

It's not a documentary, although some of its "reality tv" predictions did come true (if you paint with a broad enough brush).

The rights to the story on which this movie was based were purchased by someone who didn't know who the author was. 

Appropriately, the name of the movie was the nickname of a political campaign tour bus in the early aughts (a little over 20 years ago).

The villain was played by a man remembered less as an actor than by the profession he parodies in this movie.

With a non-literal wink and a nod, the main character utters a line made famous by the actor who plays him in another movie/franchise entirely.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

The Running Man

Richard Dawson parodied his Family Feud gameshow hosting.

Schwarzenegger says, "I'll be back."  (To which Dawson replies, "Only in the reruns.")

George

[WordWolf]

Makes sense.  The author was "Richard Bachman."  Richard Bachman was a pen name for STEPHEN KING.  He wrote under a pen name to see if his books only sold because they had his name attached to them.  (Bachman's books became successful enough a reporter started looking into Bachman, and found SK's signature on something....  When re-released as SK books, those books sold a lot better.  So, with a nobody's name on them, they sold well.  With SK's name, they sold even better.)

 

Fun movie. Props for Dweezil Zappa's line- "Don't touch that dial." 

 

"WHAT'S THE GREATEST TELEVISION SHOW IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD?" "THE RUNNING MAN!!!" "WHO LOVES YOU AND WHO DO YOU LOVE?" "KILLIAN!!!" "IT'S SHOWTIME!!!"

(No, not a round, I just like those lines.)

[Raf]

Yes

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Vincent Price's role was intended to be larger, but the veteran actor was very ill with emphysema and Parkinson's disease, so his scenes were cut to a minimum. This was his last cinema film role.

The title character says only 169 words in the 105-minute film.

George

[WordWolf]

20 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

Vincent Price's role was intended to be larger, but the veteran actor was very ill with emphysema and Parkinson's disease, so his scenes were cut to a minimum. This was his last cinema film role.

The title character says only 169 words in the 105-minute film.

George

A little accidental humor??

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Unintentional, to be sure.

George

[WordWolf]

In hindsight, I wish he'd skipped the movie. He looked as ill as he was, I think.

[WordWolf]

"EDWARD SCISSORHANDS."

 

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Correct.

George

[WordWolf]

OK, let's see....

 

Among the actors in this movie....Steven Williams (Captain Fuller from 21 Jump Street), Steve Lawrence, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), Henry Gibson.  Charles Napier (space hippie from ST TOS),  Twiggy.

 

 

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Batman Returns?

George

[WordWolf]

No, and I was worried I'd made this too easy.

[WordWolf]

Among the actors in this movie....Steven Williams (Captain Fuller from 21 Jump Street), Steve Lawrence, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), Henry Gibson.  Charles Napier (space hippie from ST TOS),  Twiggy.

 

This film needed to get certification from the FAA to confirm that one of their props was NOT airworthy.  They had to confirm it wouldn't get picked up by the wind, and instead would drop like a stone.

 

In one scene, the actors did their own stunt, and fell down a flight of stairs. It looks real because it is real. However, one actor, I'm sure, regretted it afterwards.  He was injured and had to use a back brace for the rest of the filming.

 

The director had a part for his mother in the film.  Her moment onscreen was cut, so she never appeared in the film that was released.  If you read the closing credits, she's actually listed as "woman on the cutting-room floor."

 

There's a running gag about broken watches in the film. 3 different watches are said to have been broken in the dialogue. "They broke my watch."  (Repeated line.)

 

This movie became a box office hit because it was a hit overseas when it was released. It wasn't one in the US when it was released because many theaters in the South refused to air the movie.

 

Among the extras for the next-to-last scene were 15 horses, and 3 Sherman tanks. Most people wouldn't remember them despite being on camera.

 

If you still can't figure this one out, I'll 'See You Next Wednesday.'

 

[WordWolf]

Among the actors in this movie....Steven Williams (Captain Fuller from 21 Jump Street), Steve Lawrence, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), Henry Gibson.  Charles Napier (space hippie from ST TOS),  Twiggy.

 

This film needed to get certification from the FAA to confirm that one of their props was NOT airworthy.  They had to confirm it wouldn't get picked up by the wind, and instead would drop like a stone.

 

In one scene, the actors did their own stunt, and fell down a flight of stairs. It looks real because it is real. However, one actor, I'm sure, regretted it afterwards.  He was injured and had to use a back brace for the rest of the filming.

 

The director had a part for his mother in the film.  Her moment onscreen was cut, so she never appeared in the film that was released.  If you read the closing credits, she's actually listed as "woman on the cutting-room floor."

 

There's a running gag about broken watches in the film. 3 different watches are said to have been broken in the dialogue. "They broke my watch."  (Repeated line.)

 

This movie became a box office hit because it was a hit overseas when it was released. It wasn't one in the US when it was released because many theaters in the South refused to air the movie.

 

Among the extras for the next-to-last scene were 15 horses, and 3 Sherman tanks. Most people wouldn't remember them despite being on camera.

 

If you still can't figure this one out, I'll 'See You Next Wednesday.'

 

 

Roger Ebert's review of this movie contains the following sentences: "One crash in particular, a pileup involving maybe a dozen police cars, has to be seen to be believed: I've never seen stunt coordination like this before. What's a little startling about this movie is that all of this works."    "There's even room, in the midst of the carnage and mayhem, for a surprising amount of grace, humor, and whimsy."

 

Gene Siskel's review of this movie contains the following: "...displays more of the diversity of our metropolitan area than any other film shot here."   "...Landis must be included in the ranks of important American directors. This movie was a gargantuan undertaking, and it would have been some achievement simply getting it finished."

 

One of the most important characters in this film was never named.  If you watch the film and read the credits, you might notice that they neglected to name more than one of the actors in the cast. You might not notice because you know who the actors were without waiting for the credits.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

The Blues Brothers?

George

[WordWolf]

21 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

The Blues Brothers?

George

That's it.

[WordWolf]

On 11/13/2024 at 4:06 AM, WordWolf said:

Among the actors in this movie....Steven Williams (Captain Fuller from 21 Jump Street), Steve Lawrence, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman), Henry Gibson.  Charles Napier (space hippie from ST TOS),  Twiggy.

For the curious, SW was a state trooper (John Candy sat next to him, "We're in a truck!"). Steve Lawrence was Murray Sline, the agent who got them the Palace Ballroom (the steam room scene.)  Paul Reubens was a waiter at Chez Paul- the one who offered the Dom Perignon.  Henry Gibson was the leader of the Illinois Nazis. Charles Napier was Tucker MacElroy, leader of the Good Ole Boys.  Twiggy was the chick who thought Elwood was a gas station attendant, and he tried to get a date with her (never knowing he succeeded.)

This film needed to get certification from the FAA to confirm that one of their props was NOT airworthy.  They had to confirm it wouldn't get picked up by the wind, and instead would drop like a stone.

    The famous car drop scene.  It had to fall straight down and not fly into a building.

 

In one scene, the actors did their own stunt, and fell down a flight of stairs. It looks real because it is real. However, one actor, I'm sure, regretted it afterwards.  He was injured and had to use a back brace for the rest of the filming.

When the Blues Brothers swore in front of "The Penguin" (Sister Mary Stigmata) and got "the ruler" for it, they fled from her office, breaking a desk. Jake fell down the stairs. It looked completely real because it was.

 

The director had a part for his mother in the film.  Her moment onscreen was cut, so she never appeared in the film that was released.  If you read the closing credits, she's actually listed as "woman on the cutting-room floor."

I'd wondered about that for a long time. I learned why that was in the credits a few days ago.

 

There's a running gag about broken watches in the film. 3 different watches are said to have been broken in the dialogue. "They broke my watch."  (Repeated line.)

Jake when leaving prison, and 2 different highway patrolman- one who they lost in the mall, and another in the big chase at the end.

This movie became a box office hit because it was a hit overseas when it was released. It wasn't one in the US when it was released because many theaters in the South refused to air the movie.

Some Southern theaters refused to show a movie that featured Blacks so heavily. (And it wasn't that heavy to me, but to them, that was a lot.)

 

Among the extras for the next-to-last scene were 15 horses, and 3 Sherman tanks. Most people wouldn't remember them despite being on camera.

  The scene in Mayor Daley Plaza, with everybody looking for Jake and Elwood.

 

If you still can't figure this one out, I'll 'See You Next Wednesday.'

 That's a running gag. John Landis' imaginary movie, "See You Next Wednesday" was advertised on the billboard the state troopers hid behind.  (When the Blues Brothers raced past them, chased by the Good Ole Boys, the cops put on their lights and shot forward- practically T-Boned by the Good Ole Boys a second later.)  Landis kept dropping references to it in movies he's done.

 

 

Roger Ebert's review of this movie contains the following sentences: "One crash in particular, a pileup involving maybe a dozen police cars, has to be seen to be believed: I've never seen stunt coordination like this before. What's a little startling about this movie is that all of this works."    "There's even room, in the midst of the carnage and mayhem, for a surprising amount of grace, humor, and whimsy."

 

Gene Siskel's review of this movie contains the following: "...displays more of the diversity of our metropolitan area than any other film shot here."   "...Landis must be included in the ranks of important American directors. This movie was a gargantuan undertaking, and it would have been some achievement simply getting it finished."

Siskel apparently's from Chicago, for those of us who forget.

One of the most important characters in this film was never named.  If you watch the film and read the credits, you might notice that they neglected to name more than one of the actors in the cast. You might not notice because you know who the actors were without waiting for the credits.

Carrie Fisher's character was never named, although we know who she was and why she tried to blow up the Blues Brothers, used a flamethrower, etc.    The closing credits name the 2 main actors as "Jake" and Ëlwood" and not John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.

 

For the curious, I inserted the explanations in this reply.

[modcat5]

Siskel and Ebert were rival critics for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.