list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Graduate on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Graduate/13901/default.aspx Title: The Graduate
Year: 1967
Director: Mike Nichols
Plot: "Just one word: plastic." "Are you here for an affair?" These lines and others became cultural touchstones, as 1960s youth rebellion seeped into the California upper middle-class in Mike Nichols' landmark hit. Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) would rather float in his parents' pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the exhortation of family friend Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) to seize every possible opportunity inspires Ben to accept an offer of sex from icily feline Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The affair and the pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and he falls in love with her. Mrs. Robinson sabotages the relationship and an understandably disgusted Elaine runs back to college. Determined not to let Elaine get away, Ben follows her to school and then disrupts her family-sanctioned wedding. None too happy about her pre-determined destiny, Elaine flees with Ben -- but to what? Directing his second feature film after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nichols matched the story's satire of suffocating middle-class shallowness with an anti-Hollywood style influenced by the then-voguish French New Wave. Using odd angles, jittery editing, and evocative widescreen photography, Nichols welded a hip New Wave style and a generation-gap theme to a fairly traditional screwball comedy script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham from Charles Webb's novel. Adding to the European art film sensibility, the movie offers an unsettling and ambiguous ending with no firm closure. And rather than Robert Redford, Nichols opted for a less glamorous unknown for the pivotal role of Ben, turning Hoffman into a star and opening the door for unconventional leading men throughout the 1970s. With a pop-song score written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel bolstering its contemporary appeal, The Graduate opened to rave reviews in December 1967 and surpassed all commercial expectations. It became the top-grossing film of 1968 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. Together with Bonnie and Clyde, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 59
Number of Lists: 93
Number of blog posts: 8
Number of discussion threads: 9
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:07:02 GMTThe Graduate1967Mike Nichols"Just one word: plastic." "Are you here for an affair?" These lines and others became cultural touchstones, as 1960s youth rebellion seeped into the California upper middle-class in <a href="/players/P___104435/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Mike Nichols</a>' landmark hit. Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (<a href="/players/P____94585/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Dustin Hoffman</a>) would rather float in his parents' pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the exhortation of family friend Mr. Robinson (<a href="/players/P____29978/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Murray Hamilton</a>) to seize every possible opportunity inspires Ben to accept an offer of sex from icily feline Mrs. Robinson (<a href="/players/P____80576/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Anne Bancroft</a>). The affair and the pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (<a href="/players/P____61632/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Katharine Ross</a>) and he falls in love with her. Mrs. Robinson sabotages the relationship and an understandably disgusted Elaine runs back to college. Determined not to let Elaine get away, Ben follows her to school and then disrupts her family-sanctioned wedding. None too happy about her pre-determined destiny, Elaine flees with Ben -- but to what? Directing his second feature film after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nichols matched the story's satire of suffocating middle-class shallowness with an anti-Hollywood style influenced by the then-voguish French New Wave. Using odd angles, jittery editing, and evocative widescreen photography, Nichols welded a hip New Wave style and a generation-gap theme to a fairly traditional screwball comedy script by <a href="/players/P____94069/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Buck Henry</a> and <a href="/players/P___174976/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Calder Willingham</a> from Charles Webb's novel. Adding to the European art film sensibility, the movie offers an unsettling and ambiguous ending with no firm closure. And rather than <a href="/players/P___107758/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Robert Redford</a>, Nichols opted for a less glamorous unknown for the pivotal role of Ben, turning Hoffman into a star and opening the door for unconventional leading men throughout the 1970s. With a pop-song score written by <a href="/players/P___111574/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Paul Simon</a> and performed by Simon & Garfunkel bolstering its contemporary appeal, The Graduate opened to rave reviews in December 1967 and surpassed all commercial expectations. It became the top-grossing film of 1968 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. Together with <a href=/films/4050/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Bonnie and Clyde</a>, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide59Tag Target (>10)93894http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/u47063tqv2c.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Graduate/13901/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_February_9_Public_Transportat/625/40372/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 2/10/2009 3:47:32 AM
Body: The closing scene of The Graduate. The bus Will Farrell never misses in Stranger Than Fiction. The train packed full of hippies in Festival Express. The train systems of India in Slumdog Millionaire and The Darjeeling Limited. The zeppelin in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The commuter train where Spider-Man fights Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2. Anna Faris using the bus for the first time in Smiley Face.
]]>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:47:32 GMTmercurialWeekly Theme2/10/2009 3:47:32 AMThe closing scene of The Graduate. The bus Will Farrell never misses in Stranger Than Fiction. The train packed full of hippies in Festival Express. The train systems of India in Slumdog Millionaire and The Darjeeling Limited. The zeppelin in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The commuter train where Spider-Man fights Dr. Octopus in Spider-Man 2. Anna Faris using the bus for the first time in Smiley Face. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Soundtracks/Re_Classic_soundtracks_that_own/100/36121/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Soundtracks
Post Date: 10/9/2008 6:27:52 PM
Body: [quote user="seely"]Good work. 'High Fidelity' had a great soundtrack, in that it wasn't unlike a mix I would make for a friend, but not quite what I would call classic. I think the thing that sets apart a film like Requiem for a Dream or The Good the Bad the Ugly from a soundtrack like High Fidelity is the fact that both of the aforementioned films were original scores, written specifically for the film, vs. High Fidelity which was more or less a compilation of songs (albeit a lot of good ones) from the time period.[/quote] Yeah I know what you are saying. I honestly don't even remember what's on the soundtrack. I just am not a fan of the film as a whole. So I'm removing the graphic. :) [quote user="seely"]Which brings me to an interesting topic: why don't notable mainstream musicians compose original music for films anymore? Van Morrison's entire career was more or less based on compositions for film, and no one can forget Simon and Garfunkel's contribution to 1967's The Graduate (Mrs. Robinson). *Occasionally* we will see an artist write a song for a film that has moderate mainstream success, but more often than not, when an artist writes a song for a film its a bit pallid and mediocre at best, not an instant classic and Top 40 mainstay.[/quote] That's an interesting though. I'm not sure if I can figure it out. Maybe just a coincidental lack of talent at the moment for that kind of thing? I didn't even realize Van Morrison did film socres though, so maybe I shouldn't even be commenting!
]]>Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:27:52 GMTRisseladaMovie Soundtracks10/9/2008 6:27:52 PM[quote user="seely"]Good work. 'High Fidelity' had a great soundtrack, in that it wasn't unlike a mix I would make for a friend, but not quite what I would call classic. I think the thing that sets apart a film like Requiem for a Dream or The Good the Bad the Ugly from a soundtrack like High Fidelity is the fact that both of the aforementioned films were original scores, written specifically for the film, vs. High Fidelity which was more or less a compilation of songs (albeit a lot of good ones) from the time period.[/quote] Yeah I know what you are saying. I honestly don't even remember what's on the soundtrack. I just am not a fan of the film as a whole. So I'm removing the graphic. :) [quote user="seely"]Which brings me to an interesting topic: why don't notable mainstream musicians compose original music for films anymore? Van Morrison's entire career was more or less based on compositions for film, and no one can forget Simon and Garfunkel's contribution to 1967's The Graduate (Mrs. Robinson). *Occasionally* we will see an artist write a song for a film that has moderate mainstream success, but more often than not, when an artist writes a song for a film its a bit pallid and mediocre at best, not an instant classic and Top 40 mainstay.[/quote] That's an interesting though. I'm not sure if I can figure it out. Maybe just a coincidental lack of talent at the moment for that kind of thing? I didn't even realize Van Morrison did film socres though, so maybe I shouldn't even be commenting! http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Soundtracks/Re_Classic_soundtracks_that_own/100/36089/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: seely
Post To: Movie Soundtracks
Post Date: 10/9/2008 12:21:20 PM
Body: Good work. 'High Fidelity' had a great soundtrack, in that it wasn't unlike a mix I would make for a friend, but not quite what I would call classic. I think the thing that sets apart a film like Requiem for a Dream or The Good the Bad the Ugly from a soundtrack like High Fidelity is the fact that both of the aforementioned films were original scores, written specifically for the film, vs. High Fidelity which was more or less a compilation of songs (albeit a lot of good ones) from the time period. Which brings me to an interesting topic: why don't notable mainstream musicians compose original music for films anymore? Van Morrison's entire career was more or less based on compositions for film, and no one can forget Simon and Garfunkel's contribution to 1967's The Graduate (Mrs. Robinson). *Occasionally* we will see an artist write a song for a film that has moderate mainstream success, but more often than not, when an artist writes a song for a film its a bit pallid and mediocre at best, not an instant classic and Top 40 mainstay. [quote user="Risselada"] I completely agree with you about The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The thing always gives me goosebumps, and it's an essential component of what is my favorite movie of all time. So I realized for some reason this group was without an owner, and it let me opt to become the owner, which I was glad to do. And you will now see the graphic for the group has become the soundtrack cover for this fine film, instead of that much more mediocre affair known as High Fidelity which used to appear. [/quote]
]]>Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:21:20 GMTseelyMovie Soundtracks10/9/2008 12:21:20 PMGood work. 'High Fidelity' had a great soundtrack, in that it wasn't unlike a mix I would make for a friend, but not quite what I would call classic. I think the thing that sets apart a film like Requiem for a Dream or The Good the Bad the Ugly from a soundtrack like High Fidelity is the fact that both of the aforementioned films were original scores, written specifically for the film, vs. High Fidelity which was more or less a compilation of songs (albeit a lot of good ones) from the time period. Which brings me to an interesting topic: why don't notable mainstream musicians compose original music for films anymore? Van Morrison's entire career was more or less based on compositions for film, and no one can forget Simon and Garfunkel's contribution to 1967's The Graduate (Mrs. Robinson). *Occasionally* we will see an artist write a song for a film that has moderate mainstream success, but more often than not, when an artist writes a song for a film its a bit pallid and mediocre at best, not an instant classic and Top 40 mainstay. [quote user="Risselada"] I completely agree with you about The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The thing always gives me goosebumps, and it's an essential component of what is my favorite movie of all time. So I realized for some reason this group was without an owner, and it let me opt to become the owner, which I was glad to do. And you will now see the graphic for the group has become the soundtrack cover for this fine film, instead of that much more mediocre affair known as High Fidelity which used to appear. [/quote] http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/19/35306.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 9/19/2008 11:00:46 AM
Body: From left to right, Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, and Lorene Scafaria. Or, the “Femmepire” as they call it, a triumvirate of female screenwriters. Lorene Scafaria has been toiling as a screenwriter for awhile, although her first produced film, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is actually an adaptation of a novel by the same name. However, it manages to nail the “teen voice” without slapping a message all over it, and it should open up a few more doors for Lorene. Not that she needs them, since she’s already recorded an album of her own music, and has her next project already in the works. Read on to find out how she tried to capture the New York City feeling in this movie, what she’s been doing with best friend and fellow screenwriter Diablo Cody, and what’s in store for her. Good morning. Good morning! Adapting this from the novel, what was that like? Especially since you’re relatively new as a screenwriter. What was the process like for you? Yeah, I’m definitely relatively new as a screenwriter. Unfortunately, Nick and Norah was my ninth script that I had written. [laughter] But, certainly my first adaptation. And I really wanted to be as true to the spirit of the novel as possible. It was fairly daunting at first, just because I loved the characters so much. I loved who they were, I loved the course of the night, I loved the tone of it. But, movies like this haven’t been made in a while, and so it was just a real challenge to kind of bring it back to those movies that I grew up on in the ’80s, John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe. And then to try to make it a little more cinematic than the novel was itself, actually, which was beautifully written of course. But everything kind of started in this hyper-intense club and then it was sort of Nick and Norah hanging out for the rest of the night. Which is great…I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so I wouldn’t have minded watching Nick and Norah just hang out all night. But, yeah, we certainly had to come up with some devices to just maintain the thrust of that story. So things like Caroline going missing. Things like Where’s Fluffy, being this band that they’re looking for. You know, little things like that that certainly propelled it a little more. Was music a part of the novel? Yeah, it was. Like specific well known songs? Yeah. But it’s strange, because at the time I didn’t even know if it was a period piece, because of things like The Cure and Green Day. So, I didn’t know when I first started reading it what era it was even. Yeah, certainly The Cure was someone who I sort of grew up with, and Green Day too. So it definitely was a part of it, of course, but it wasn’t specific to modern day. Did you put some of the music in the screenplay or make suggestions? I didn’t write it in, but I made a mix CD, but that was four years ago, with the first draft. What was on it? The Black Keys. It was a lot of… it was music I was really into then: Bloc Party, Frou Frou. I don’t even know how to say that, Frou Frou? But, it was definitely more in my mind than trying to capture that kind of hipster, scenester thing that now the movie is really sort of about. Oh, yeah. Sure, I definitely threw in my two cents. But, ultimately I’d say Pete and Myron, the editor, I think they started to really compile lists together. And certainly I’m a fan of Vampire Weekend and Bishop Allen. The fact that they played in the movie was just so, so cool. Local boys, you know. It was great. But, yeah, I would say it sort of rounded out even in the editing process probably. And especially because it’s wall to wall sound. It’s kind of a throwback to what I loved about American Graffiti. It’s really capturing an era, and that’s what this was doing ultimately with all the real modern rock. Hopefully it won’t be played out by the time, you know… [laughs] Hopefully, it’s timeless in that way and isn’t just representative of right now. I wish one or two of my mix CD songs had ended up in there. [laughs] But that’s OK. Yeah. We don’t see any parents, which I think would probably break the spell of this. Are there parents represented in the book? I mean, is there a conscious decision not to have some parent hovering on the outside waiting for like a cell phone call? Yeah, there actually was. And in the book there was. Norah’s father is a great sort of figure, but I believe he calls at some point during the night. I believe there’s some kind of more of a ticking clock with him and Brown and more of decisions like that. And there was a brief scene in the very early draft that I was trying to rip off The Graduate as much as possible. [laughs] And have Norah kind of be hiding up in her room. I wrote an early scene of her father and mother. But, eventually since that was it and we didn’t really require that, it sort of became great that you don’t have that. You don’t have anybody hovering over. You just really get to absorb what it’s like to be young, and you’re not thinking about your parents when you’re out all night. [laughs] So, why should we as an audience be really focused on that? I don’t know. It’s like Peanuts. It’s like this hermetic kind of world that kids live in. Yeah. That would have been great, just so hear, “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.” I would have really liked to hear that. [laughter] Did you like how the film turned out? I really, really, really did. I’m very proud. And it’s so rare, I imagine, someone’s first film getting made the writer would be as pleased as punch. I really am, yeah. I think Pete Sollet’s amazing. I loved Raising Victor Vargas. I saw it when it came out. He came on board, I’d say maybe after the first or second draft of the script. And I just knew he was the guy to do it all along. He captured such reality in his first film, and a very specific group of young people in that. It just seemed so appropriate for this. He’s a New York guy, I’m a Jersey girl. We hung out in cafes in the lower East Side and worked on it together. He’s pretty amazing. How do you think it’ll translate for people who live out in the Midwest, let’s say, or someplace where they don’t have quite as much access to these all night, all these great haunts? Sure, yeah. I would hope that people would still relate to having one of those all night events. I certainly, growing up in the shadows of New York kind of had that experience a lot. Traveling from Jersey into the city and having those nights. I think it’s such a nostalgic piece. If you are young, and in the Midwest I imagine it would strike a chord. And I imagine if you’re older, hopefully it would just remind you of that time. Of course it’s a New York story and everything, but I think it’s really more about being young and falling in love, really. And sort of shedding all those insecurities you have when you’re a kid and trying to be as brave as possible at a very early age. I should hope it’s relatable, yeah. I would love that. And also I imagine people kind of just seeing what that’s like. I was certainly fascinated by L.A. movies before I showed up there. How much of yourself did you put into Norah? You know, it’s weird. Norah, it was me on the page. It was so scary when I read it the first time. Definitely some. What’s strange is if you see a photo of me at 18, I look an awful lot like Kat Dennings without the lips and the… boobs and stuff. I wasn’t quite as stunning of course, but I was trying to look that way. I think girls at that age are so complex, and I think… What do you mean “at that age”? Well, at any age, right? Especially when they’re still trying to figure out how complex they actually are, and unfortunately dealing with boys that age, who are not quite as complex yet. [laughs] Definitely what I love about Norah is she’s got this great sort of wall up that she’s built herself. And certainly over the course of the night and over the course of data with Michael Cera, it’s starts to drop a bit. And I think she’s a pretty guarded person, which I am. And yet pretty outspoken, which I am. So, yeah, I’ve definitely fallen in love with a few musicians in my day. So, I can relate. Also I have this father who’s larger than life, for me anyway. I can really relate to kind of what that experience is like, to sort of feel like you’re living in these halls with these people and your Friday and Saturday night are so very special when you get out of that and sort of shed your skin a little bit. So, yeah, there’s plenty of me in there. But, I felt it when I read the book so it wasn’t hard. I was immediately attached. When I read it, it was a manuscript, it wasn’t published or anything. And I was just lying in bed and I just like closed it and cried a little bit because I was like, wow, that sums it all up. That’s exactly like what I kind of experienced at a time in my life. So it was already on the page, I think. Michael Cera is coming off of Juno which was written by Diablo Cody, which kind of made her this poster girl for young rock and roll screenwriting women, and she has her column in Entertainment Weekly. Do you identify with her as a writer, or are you sort of…. [laughs] She’s my best friend. Well, there you go. I guess that was easy. There’s three of us. There’s myself and Diablo and Dana Fox, who wrote What Happens in Vegas. We call ourselves the “Femmepire.” [laughter] We’re trying very slowly to take over the world. Diablo certainly set the charge, which was kind of amazing. I love her so much. I loved her before I knew her work. So, the beauty of that was actually getting to see her film after I’d already fallen in love with her and getting to see how much of her was on the page actually and on screen. Yeah, I admire her work tremendously. Obviously there’s going to be so many comparisons to Juno. We’re here, it’s the same day, next year. She came out to support me this year, which is great. She and Dana are both here so it’s really supportive. I think what she brings to the table is kind of what I would hope, which is balancing that great line between comedy and drama. And allowing real people to be seen and not treating teenagers like they’re idiots. There are smart kids out there and they don’t all talk the same. She obviously has a very unique voice. I wish we had known each other when we were both writing these things. That would have been kind of great. Now it’s going to   you’ll hear line hopefully repeated over and over. We all write in the same room together and kind of ask each other, “Is this funny? Is this not funny? Is this too offensive.” Most of the time. I take it as a compliment anytime someone says that, for sure. What advice did she give you as you were embarking on this publicity process? Because she had been through that. Yeah. Well, I don’t have to get asked if this is better than stripping, so that’s kind of nice. [laughter] I never did any of that, so I don’t have any of that to fall back on . She was really just kind of… she said I’m going to be exhausted and to try to enjoy it. Dana, who’s also here, she calls it a “business wedding.” So, they’re my maids of honor and they’re reminding me to eat. That’s sort of the thing. Shoving banana bread into my face. I’ll leave it there for a while before I finally take a bite. They’re doing that kind of thing. She didn’t do the hair and makeup, and I was like, “How could you not have taken advantage of the situation?” [laughter] She was like, “I don’t want all that.” So, yeah, that was about it. Have you ever thought of collaborating? Yeah. We have. The three of us have talked about producing different projects together certainly. I think our styles are all so   I think they would gel really well together. I think we’d probably love to oversee a project together more than even collaborating on the writing itself. She’s working on her television show right now, which is taking up a lot of time with “Spielborg,” I like to call him, because he’s part machine, for short. It would be great, but really getting to produce all together would probably be more of a goal than even writing together. I don’t know how that would be. I had a writing partner for a very brief spell. And that’s not easy, it’s really not. It’s really not. I thought it would be half the work, but it’s really twice the work because you’re going over everything even more specifically. When you look at a character like Norah and Juno for example, and then you compare them to the female roles in the John Hughes movies, what do you think it says about how far teenage girls and young women have progressed in the 20 years since then? It’s sort of Molly Ringwald all over again. Unfortunately I think there was a real gap there in the middle where teenage girls weren’t portrayed in that way. A lot of the teen comedies that came out were sexist, in my opinion. [laughs] And really didn’t   I don’t know, I never found them very relatable, certainly. Hopefully it’s a reemergence of that. I should hope so. I think certainly in my era it was all about popularity. Remember? It was like popularity was the theme of everything. And a little bit of class struggle, and that was kind of it. Nowadays I think it’s so much more about insecurity. I think beauty is such a strange and illusive thing these days. Young girls have all these magazines to look at and feel horrible about themselves. Diet, health, all of that. I think Juno, I think Norah, I think they’re real girls. I think both of these actresses are absolutely gorgeous but they’re not walking out of “Gossip Girl.” Conventional. Yeah, it’s not conventional beauty, obviously. I, for one, really appreciate that. [laughs] I should hope it kind of continues. The unfortunate thing is that women in general don’t get those roles any more. And the fact that it could kind of reach teenage girls is even more special to me. Which is so funny, because now they’re the demographic, right? Now, that’s what everybody’s marketing towards. They’re the ones buying the t shirts. So, maybe out of some sick desire for box office they’ll actually maintain these young girl themes of hopefully confidence building rather than the opposite. What are you working on now? What’s next? I wrote a script called Man and Wife about an immigration officer who interviews married couples to figure out which marriages are shams where he’s sort of living his own sham marriage. Gabriele Muccino, who did The Pursuit of Happyness is attached, so hopefully that’ll get going pretty soon. And I’m going to direct hopefully pretty soon, with a mandate again. I’m doing a project that should hopefully hit the trades pretty soon. And I recorded an album during the writer’s strike. [laughs] What? Yeah. I’m a singer/songwriter. I don’t know why. It’s my little hyphenate I’m trying to build up for myself. Yeah, I recorded an album during the writer’s strike because I just was losing, losing, losing my mind, out of just boredom and panic. And so, yeah, I’m going to try to push that as much as possible. What’s it sound like? I play piano and sing. So it’s piano based. It’s all about the lyrics. [laughs] My voice is trying to catch up to my lyrics, I think. It’s Fiona Apple/Feist. Do you have a title or a label? It’s called “Garden Party.” But I don’t have any label. If anybody out there is listening… Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:00:46 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com9/19/2008 11:00:46 AM From left to right, Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, and Lorene Scafaria. Or, the “Femmepire” as they call it, a triumvirate of female screenwriters. Lorene Scafaria has been toiling as a screenwriter for awhile, although her first produced film, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, is actually an adaptation of a novel by the same name. However, it manages to nail the “teen voice” without slapping a message all over it, and it should open up a few more doors for Lorene. Not that she needs them, since she’s already recorded an album of her own music, and has her next project already in the works. Read on to find out how she tried to capture the New York City feeling in this movie, what she’s been doing with best friend and fellow screenwriter Diablo Cody, and what’s in store for her. Good morning. Good morning! Adapting this from the novel, what was that like? Especially since you’re relatively new as a screenwriter. What was the process like for you? Yeah, I’m definitely relatively new as a screenwriter. Unfortunately, Nick and Norah was my ninth script that I had written. [laughter] But, certainly my first adaptation. And I really wanted to be as true to the spirit of the novel as possible. It was fairly daunting at first, just because I loved the characters so much. I loved who they were, I loved the course of the night, I loved the tone of it. But, movies like this haven’t been made in a while, and so it was just a real challenge to kind of bring it back to those movies that I grew up on in the ’80s, John Hughes movies and Cameron Crowe. And then to try to make it a little more cinematic than the novel was itself, actually, which was beautifully written of course. But everything kind of started in this hyper-intense club and then it was sort of Nick and Norah hanging out for the rest of the night. Which is great…I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset so I wouldn’t have minded watching Nick and Norah just hang out all night. But, yeah, we certainly had to come up with some devices to just maintain the thrust of that story. So things like Caroline going missing. Things like Where’s Fluffy, being this band that they’re looking for. You know, little things like that that certainly propelled it a little more. Was music a part of the novel? Yeah, it was. Like specific well known songs? Yeah. But it’s strange, because at the time I didn’t even know if it was a period piece, because of things like The Cure and Green Day. So, I didn’t know when I first started reading it what era it was even. Yeah, certainly The Cure was someone who I sort of grew up with, and Green Day too. So it definitely was a part of it, of course, but it wasn’t specific to modern day. Did you put some of the music in the screenplay or make suggestions? I didn’t write it in, but I made a mix CD, but that was four years ago, with the first draft. What was on it? The Black Keys. It was a lot of… it was music I was really into then: Bloc Party, Frou Frou. I don’t even know how to say that, Frou Frou? But, it was definitely more in my mind than trying to capture that kind of hipster, scenester thing that now the movie is really sort of about. Oh, yeah. Sure, I definitely threw in my two cents. But, ultimately I’d say Pete and Myron, the editor, I think they started to really compile lists together. And certainly I’m a fan of Vampire Weekend and Bishop Allen. The fact that they played in the movie was just so, so cool. Local boys, you know. It was great. But, yeah, I would say it sort of rounded out even in the editing process probably. And especially because it’s wall to wall sound. It’s kind of a throwback to what I loved about American Graffiti. It’s really capturing an era, and that’s what this was doing ultimately with all the real modern rock. Hopefully it won’t be played out by the time, you know… [laughs] Hopefully, it’s timeless in that way and isn’t just representative of right now. I wish one or two of my mix CD songs had ended up in there. [laughs] But that’s OK. Yeah. We don’t see any parents, which I think would probably break the spell of this. Are there parents represented in the book? I mean, is there a conscious decision not to have some parent hovering on the outside waiting for like a cell phone call? Yeah, there actually was. And in the book there was. Norah’s father is a great sort of figure, but I believe he calls at some point during the night. I believe there’s some kind of more of a ticking clock with him and Brown and more of decisions like that. And there was a brief scene in the very early draft that I was trying to rip off The Graduate as much as possible. [laughs] And have Norah kind of be hiding up in her room. I wrote an early scene of her father and mother. But, eventually since that was it and we didn’t really require that, it sort of became great that you don’t have that. You don’t have anybody hovering over. You just really get to absorb what it’s like to be young, and you’re not thinking about your parents when you’re out all night. [laughs] So, why should we as an audience be really focused on that? I don’t know. It’s like Peanuts. It’s like this hermetic kind of world that kids live in. Yeah. That would have been great, just so hear, “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.” I would have really liked to hear that. [laughter] Did you like how the film turned out? I really, really, really did. I’m very proud. And it’s so rare, I imagine, someone’s first film getting made the writer would be as pleased as punch. I really am, yeah. I think Pete Sollet’s amazing. I loved Raising Victor Vargas. I saw it when it came out. He came on board, I’d say maybe after the first or second draft of the script. And I just knew he was the guy to do it all along. He captured such reality in his first film, and a very specific group of young people in that. It just seemed so appropriate for this. He’s a New York guy, I’m a Jersey girl. We hung out in cafes in the lower East Side and worked on it together. He’s pretty amazing. How do you think it’ll translate for people who live out in the Midwest, let’s say, or someplace where they don’t have quite as much access to these all night, all these great haunts? Sure, yeah. I would hope that people would still relate to having one of those all night events. I certainly, growing up in the shadows of New York kind of had that experience a lot. Traveling from Jersey into the city and having those nights. I think it’s such a nostalgic piece. If you are young, and in the Midwest I imagine it would strike a chord. And I imagine if you’re older, hopefully it would just remind you of that time. Of course it’s a New York story and everything, but I think it’s really more about being young and falling in love, really. And sort of shedding all those insecurities you have when you’re a kid and trying to be as brave as possible at a very early age. I should hope it’s relatable, yeah. I would love that. And also I imagine people kind of just seeing what that’s like. I was certainly fascinated by L.A. movies before I showed up there. How much of yourself did you put into Norah? You know, it’s weird. Norah, it was me on the page. It was so scary when I read it the first time. Definitely some. What’s strange is if you see a photo of me at 18, I look an awful lot like Kat Dennings without the lips and the… boobs and stuff. I wasn’t quite as stunning of course, but I was trying to look that way. I think girls at that age are so complex, and I think… What do you mean “at that age”? Well, at any age, right? Especially when they’re still trying to figure out how complex they actually are, and unfortunately dealing with boys that age, who are not quite as complex yet. [laughs] Definitely what I love about Norah is she’s got this great sort of wall up that she’s built herself. And certainly over the course of the night and over the course of data with Michael Cera, it’s starts to drop a bit. And I think she’s a pretty guarded person, which I am. And yet pretty outspoken, which I am. So, yeah, I’ve definitely fallen in love with a few musicians in my day. So, I can relate. Also I have this father who’s larger than life, for me anyway. I can really relate to kind of what that experience is like, to sort of feel like you’re living in these halls with these people and your Friday and Saturday night are so very special when you get out of that and sort of shed your skin a little bit. So, yeah, there’s plenty of me in there. But, I felt it when I read the book so it wasn’t hard. I was immediately attached. When I read it, it was a manuscript, it wasn’t published or anything. And I was just lying in bed and I just like closed it and cried a little bit because I was like, wow, that sums it all up. That’s exactly like what I kind of experienced at a time in my life. So it was already on the page, I think. Michael Cera is coming off of Juno which was written by Diablo Cody, which kind of made her this poster girl for young rock and roll screenwriting women, and she has her column in Entertainment Weekly. Do you identify with her as a writer, or are you sort of…. [laughs] She’s my best friend. Well, there you go. I guess that was easy. There’s three of us. There’s myself and Diablo and Dana Fox, who wrote What Happens in Vegas. We call ourselves the “Femmepire.” [laughter] We’re trying very slowly to take over the world. Diablo certainly set the charge, which was kind of amazing. I love her so much. I loved her before I knew her work. So, the beauty of that was actually getting to see her film after I’d already fallen in love with her and getting to see how much of her was on the page actually and on screen. Yeah, I admire her work tremendously. Obviously there’s going to be so many comparisons to Juno. We’re here, it’s the same day, next year. She came out to support me this year, which is great. She and Dana are both here so it’s really supportive. I think what she brings to the table is kind of what I would hope, which is balancing that great line between comedy and drama. And allowing real people to be seen and not treating teenagers like they’re idiots. There are smart kids out there and they don’t all talk the same. She obviously has a very unique voice. I wish we had known each other when we were both writing these things. That would have been kind of great. Now it’s going to   you’ll hear line hopefully repeated over and over. We all write in the same room together and kind of ask each other, “Is this funny? Is this not funny? Is this too offensive.” Most of the time. I take it as a compliment anytime someone says that, for sure. What advice did she give you as you were embarking on this publicity process? Because she had been through that. Yeah. Well, I don’t have to get asked if this is better than stripping, so that’s kind of nice. [laughter] I never did any of that, so I don’t have any of that to fall back on . She was really just kind of… she said I’m going to be exhausted and to try to enjoy it. Dana, who’s also here, she calls it a “business wedding.” So, they’re my maids of honor and they’re reminding me to eat. That’s sort of the thing. Shoving banana bread into my face. I’ll leave it there for a while before I finally take a bite. They’re doing that kind of thing. She didn’t do the hair and makeup, and I was like, “How could you not have taken advantage of the situation?” [laughter] She was like, “I don’t want all that.” So, yeah, that was about it. Have you ever thought of collaborating? Yeah. We have. The three of us have talked about producing different projects together certainly. I think our styles are all so   I think they would gel really well together. I think we’d probably love to oversee a project together more than even collaborating on the writing itself. She’s working on her television show right now, which is taking up a lot of time with “Spielborg,” I like to call him, because he’s part machine, for short. It would be great, but really getting to produce all together would probably be more of a goal than even writing together. I don’t know how that would be. I had a writing partner for a very brief spell. And that’s not easy, it’s really not. It’s really not. I thought it would be half the work, but it’s really twice the work because you’re going over everything even more specifically. When you look at a character like Norah and Juno for example, and then you compare them to the female roles in the John Hughes movies, what do you think it says about how far teenage girls and young women have progressed in the 20 years since then? It’s sort of Molly Ringwald all over again. Unfortunately I think there was a real gap there in the middle where teenage girls weren’t portrayed in that way. A lot of the teen comedies that came out were sexist, in my opinion. [laughs] And really didn’t   I don’t know, I never found them very relatable, certainly. Hopefully it’s a reemergence of that. I should hope so. I think certainly in my era it was all about popularity. Remember? It was like popularity was the theme of everything. And a little bit of class struggle, and that was kind of it. Nowadays I think it’s so much more about insecurity. I think beauty is such a strange and illusive thing these days. Young girls have all these magazines to look at and feel horrible about themselves. Diet, health, all of that. I think Juno, I think Norah, I think they’re real girls. I think both of these actresses are absolutely gorgeous but they’re not walking out of “Gossip Girl.” Conventional. Yeah, it’s not conventional beauty, obviously. I, for one, really appreciate that. [laughs] I should hope it kind of continues. The unfortunate thing is that women in general don’t get those roles any more. And the fact that it could kind of reach teenage girls is even more special to me. Which is so funny, because now they’re the demographic, right? Now, that’s what everybody’s marketing towards. They’re the ones buying the t shirts. So, maybe out of some sick desire for box office they’ll actually maintain these young girl themes of hopefully confidence building rather than the opposite. What are you working on now? What’s next? I wrote a script called Man and Wife about an immigration officer who interviews married couples to figure out which marriages are shams where he’s sort of living his own sham marriage. Gabriele Muccino, who did The Pursuit of Happyness is attached, so hopefully that’ll get going pretty soon. And I’m going to direct hopefully pretty soon, with a mandate again. I’m doing a project that should hopefully hit the trades pretty soon. And I recorded an album during the writer’s strike. [laughs] What? Yeah. I’m a singer/songwriter. I don’t know why. It’s my little hyphenate I’m trying to build up for myself. Yeah, I recorded an album during the writer’s strike because I just was losing, losing, losing my mind, out of just boredom and panic. And so, yeah, I’m going to try to push that as much as possible. What’s it sound like? I play piano and sing. So it’s piano based. It’s all about the lyrics. [laughs] My voice is trying to catch up to my lyrics, I think. It’s Fiona Apple/Feist. Do you have a title or a label? It’s called “Garden Party.” But I don’t have any label. If anybody out there is listening… Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/It_s_a_Wonderful_Night_for_Oscar/Re_AFI_s_100_Funniest_Comedy_and_the_Oscars_a/46/32709/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!
Post Date: 7/18/2008 8:19:50 AM
Body: Oh yes, you're certainly right. I forgot about the American part. Though, there's lots of examples of when they bent those rules to include some films with American filmmakers or simply produced by American studios (such as Lawrence of Arabia). But I guess Monty Python doesn't qualify, even with bendy rules - which is good. Though Terry Gilliam is an American, and he was a co-director....but that's probably too bendy. I actually like Annie Hall. It makes me laugh more than any other Woody Allen film that I've seen, anyway. But I would look at that film being more of a comedy drama. As I would the Graduate (I didn't laugh at that film either!). So it seems the AFI didn't restrict their list exclusively to straight comedies. I think I want to be come a member, just to see how these films get chosen. [/quote] I guess there's just quite a mix on the list of movies for people with different senses of humor. [/quote] And that's what begs the topical questions. How do you rank films that have so many styles of sense of humor and say one is better than the other one? And I'm not just talking about the AFI. I'm talking about any list. Where does a ranking institution even begin, knowing that humor is so opinion-based, so varied by individual? I mean, lots of people clearly like Some Like It Hot, but it obviously does not have universal appeal on the comedy front. So, I'll start a poll, a la the Top 5 concept (stolen from the Top 5 group - thanks). What are the five funniest films you've ever seen, and explain why you chose them. I think this'll be an interesting experiment. Don't look at any lists. Just pick the five that strike your funny bone the most and tell us about them. I'll tally anything that gets the most votes. This will only work with participation. I'm going to think about mine for a bit, though I'm positive a Monty Python movie will make the cut (it'll be tough to choose between Holy Grail and the Life of Brian, but I'm thinking I might favor the former, just because I quote it all the time).
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:19:50 GMTpippin06It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!7/18/2008 8:19:50 AMOh yes, you're certainly right. I forgot about the American part. Though, there's lots of examples of when they bent those rules to include some films with American filmmakers or simply produced by American studios (such as Lawrence of Arabia). But I guess Monty Python doesn't qualify, even with bendy rules - which is good. Though Terry Gilliam is an American, and he was a co-director....but that's probably too bendy. I actually like Annie Hall. It makes me laugh more than any other Woody Allen film that I've seen, anyway. But I would look at that film being more of a comedy drama. As I would the Graduate (I didn't laugh at that film either!). So it seems the AFI didn't restrict their list exclusively to straight comedies. I think I want to be come a member, just to see how these films get chosen. [/quote] I guess there's just quite a mix on the list of movies for people with different senses of humor. [/quote] And that's what begs the topical questions. How do you rank films that have so many styles of sense of humor and say one is better than the other one? And I'm not just talking about the AFI. I'm talking about any list. Where does a ranking institution even begin, knowing that humor is so opinion-based, so varied by individual? I mean, lots of people clearly like Some Like It Hot, but it obviously does not have universal appeal on the comedy front. So, I'll start a poll, a la the Top 5 concept (stolen from the Top 5 group - thanks). What are the five funniest films you've ever seen, and explain why you chose them. I think this'll be an interesting experiment. Don't look at any lists. Just pick the five that strike your funny bone the most and tell us about them. I'll tally anything that gets the most votes. This will only work with participation. I'm going to think about mine for a bit, though I'm positive a Monty Python movie will make the cut (it'll be tough to choose between Holy Grail and the Life of Brian, but I'm thinking I might favor the former, just because I quote it all the time). http://www.spout.com/groups/It_s_a_Wonderful_Night_for_Oscar/Re_AFI_s_100_Funniest_Comedy_and_the_Oscars_a/46/32696/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!
Post Date: 7/17/2008 6:08:25 PM
Body: [quote user="pippin06"] I thought I'd revive this discussion, even though I am the only one who seems to have been having it. I just watched Some Like It Hot again (for the second time), and I'm still baffled as to why this gets top honors on AFI's Funniest List when it fails to make me laugh. I sort of chuckle at Jack Lemmon, but it's not the roll-on-the-ground-clutching-your-sides-type-funny you would expect it to be for such a high ranking, at least not to me (but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way). Which makes me wonder if I've even got it right. Is my sense of humor out of wack? Or do I not appreciate the finest sensibilities of art versus comedy? Can't comedy be an art form? If comedy can be artsy, does the artsy quality detract from the funny? What's the perfect balance? And is there a film that strikes it - and if that film is Some Like It Hot, let's talk about why. [/quote] I saw Some Like It Hot not too long ago as well, and was quite disappointed knowing it's reputation. I did not laugh too much. It was also my first Marilyn Monroe movie too, and I find her quite irritating. This is also now my least favorite Billy Wilder film I've seen. So I have no idea why it's number one on this list. There are a couple others high up on the list that I don't laugh at all either like The Graduate. Annie Hall and MASH don't really make me laugh out loud either. But then you get Airplane!, the Marx Brothers, and Mel Brooks films all up high on the list too, and those all make me laugh outloud almost constantly. And then of course there is Dr. Strangelove at #3 which is no only one of the most laugh out loud hilarious movies, it is also one of the greatest movies of all time in every other category as well. I guess there's just quite a mix on the list of movies for people with different senses of humor. [quote user="pippin06"] Here, Some Like It Hot is rated #4, while Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a film I personally find gutbustingly hilarious is #1 (and that film never even made the AFI list!). [/quote] Well you seem to forget that this is the American Film Institute's list of America's Funniest Movies. Monty Python is 100% British so I don't think it counts. If we started letting those Brits and even those Canadians in we'd have a lot more to contend with.
]]>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:08:25 GMTRisseladaIt's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!7/17/2008 6:08:25 PM[quote user="pippin06"] I thought I'd revive this discussion, even though I am the only one who seems to have been having it. I just watched Some Like It Hot again (for the second time), and I'm still baffled as to why this gets top honors on AFI's Funniest List when it fails to make me laugh. I sort of chuckle at Jack Lemmon, but it's not the roll-on-the-ground-clutching-your-sides-type-funny you would expect it to be for such a high ranking, at least not to me (but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way). Which makes me wonder if I've even got it right. Is my sense of humor out of wack? Or do I not appreciate the finest sensibilities of art versus comedy? Can't comedy be an art form? If comedy can be artsy, does the artsy quality detract from the funny? What's the perfect balance? And is there a film that strikes it - and if that film is Some Like It Hot, let's talk about why. [/quote] I saw Some Like It Hot not too long ago as well, and was quite disappointed knowing it's reputation. I did not laugh too much. It was also my first Marilyn Monroe movie too, and I find her quite irritating. This is also now my least favorite Billy Wilder film I've seen. So I have no idea why it's number one on this list. There are a couple others high up on the list that I don't laugh at all either like The Graduate. Annie Hall and MASH don't really make me laugh out loud either. But then you get Airplane!, the Marx Brothers, and Mel Brooks films all up high on the list too, and those all make me laugh outloud almost constantly. And then of course there is Dr. Strangelove at #3 which is no only one of the most laugh out loud hilarious movies, it is also one of the greatest movies of all time in every other category as well. I guess there's just quite a mix on the list of movies for people with different senses of humor. [quote user="pippin06"] Here, Some Like It Hot is rated #4, while Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a film I personally find gutbustingly hilarious is #1 (and that film never even made the AFI list!). [/quote] Well you seem to forget that this is the American Film Institute's list of America's Funniest Movies. Monty Python is 100% British so I don't think it counts. If we started letting those Brits and even those Canadians in we'd have a lot more to contend with. http://www.spout.com/blogs/karina/archive/2008/7/2/32024.aspx Post By: Karina
Post To: Karina on SpoutBlog
Post Date: 7/2/2008 12:01:15 PM
Body: This is it, the day we’ve been waiting for two full decades (or, at least, since we first heard it was happening back in December): the Huey Lewis plot song written specifically for the David Gordon Green-driected, Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy Pineapple Express has hit the web! The Playlist first posted a clip of the song last night; today, Whitney at Pop Candy points to the full thing, available for streaming or download on MySpace. It’s very much in classic Huey Lewis plot song mode, complete with gratuitous hand claps and sax solo. It’s not as directly narrative as, say, “Back in Time” (above), but it’s slightly more literally connected to the film than, like, “The Power of Love.” A sample from the chorus: “How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express! Can’t deal with this stress! Totally gone, cause we’re on, Pineapple Express!” It is the best, and it is also totally the worst. As we’ve discussed before, plot songs take the science of the source cue to a new level. After the jump, a brief, video-guided journey through plot song history. Let us know what we’ve left out. 1955: “(Love is) The Tender Trap” from The Tender Trap Though this Frank Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds sex comedy was based on a play, the song sung twice by Sinatra in the film (once over the opening credits, once directly to Reynolds, as seen above) was written specifically for the movie, and was nominated for an Oscar. Like the best plot songs, it does more than just set a tone or reiterate the film’s plot––it actually becomes integral to it. 1967: “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate According to Mark Harris’ Pictures at a Revolution, Paul Simon was under contract to write three original songs for Mike Nichols’ movie. He turned in two, and Nichols liked neither. “Have you got anything else?” the director asked. Simon and Art Garfunkel apparently “muttered to each other” for a few minutes, and then played a song-in-progress, which was then called “Mrs. Roosevelt,” “about icons of a certain generation.” Nichols loved it, “Roosevelt” was changed to “Robinson,” but the song remained unfinished by the time a mostly instrumental version of it was cut into the movei (see above). When it was released as a single a year later, lines alluding to characters and themes from the film were mashed together with lyrics from the “Roosevelt” draft. 1981: “Arthur’s Theme” from Arthur I desperately wanted to honor this era with a song from another Dudley Moore film, “Ready to Take a Chance Again” as sung by Barry Manilow in Foul Play, but this Christopher Cross classic is really the finer specimen of plot song. I think most people my age know this song, but haven’t even seen Arthur; I watched it for the first time a few years ago and was blown away (okay, maybe not blown away, but definitely surprised) by how dark it is. It’s about this total fuck-up rich kid, this terrible, terrible alcoholic who leaves nothing but destruction in his path…until he falls in love with Liza Minnelli. But the song totally give him a pass, reframing Arthur as this loveable loon, “just a boy…laughing about the way they want him to be.” Um…he’s laughing because he’s been drunk since 1967. 1985: “Weird Science” from Weird Science The rare example of a plot song making the film that spawned it superfluous. Infused with an introspection that the the John Hughes movie simply had no interest in (”From my heart and from my head, why don’t people understand my intentions?”), there’s absolutely no reason to see the entire film if you can watch the Oingo Boingo music video above. Um, okay…the movie has a young Robert Downey Jr, I guess. But the song encapsulates the narrative such as it is and the video incorporates all the relevant clips from the film––plus it’s got original Dr. Frankenstein Colin Clive, AND Danny Elfman imitating Colin Clive. We’re done here. 1989: “On Our Own” from Ghostbusters 2 I understand that the selection of Bobby Brown over Ray Parker Jr might seem controversial to some. But look at the evidence: “Found out about Vigo/The Master of Evil/Try to battle my boys?/That’s not legal!” I’m absolutely positive that this is the finest plot song verse ever written. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth
]]>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:01:15 GMTKarinaKarina on SpoutBlog7/2/2008 12:01:15 PM This is it, the day we’ve been waiting for two full decades (or, at least, since we first heard it was happening back in December): the Huey Lewis plot song written specifically for the David Gordon Green-driected, Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy Pineapple Express has hit the web! The Playlist first posted a clip of the song last night; today, Whitney at Pop Candy points to the full thing, available for streaming or download on MySpace. It’s very much in classic Huey Lewis plot song mode, complete with gratuitous hand claps and sax solo. It’s not as directly narrative as, say, “Back in Time” (above), but it’s slightly more literally connected to the film than, like, “The Power of Love.” A sample from the chorus: “How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express! Can’t deal with this stress! Totally gone, cause we’re on, Pineapple Express!” It is the best, and it is also totally the worst. As we’ve discussed before, plot songs take the science of the source cue to a new level. After the jump, a brief, video-guided journey through plot song history. Let us know what we’ve left out. 1955: “(Love is) The Tender Trap” from The Tender Trap Though this Frank Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds sex comedy was based on a play, the song sung twice by Sinatra in the film (once over the opening credits, once directly to Reynolds, as seen above) was written specifically for the movie, and was nominated for an Oscar. Like the best plot songs, it does more than just set a tone or reiterate the film’s plot––it actually becomes integral to it. 1967: “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate According to Mark Harris’ Pictures at a Revolution, Paul Simon was under contract to write three original songs for Mike Nichols’ movie. He turned in two, and Nichols liked neither. “Have you got anything else?” the director asked. Simon and Art Garfunkel apparently “muttered to each other” for a few minutes, and then played a song-in-progress, which was then called “Mrs. Roosevelt,” “about icons of a certain generation.” Nichols loved it, “Roosevelt” was changed to “Robinson,” but the song remained unfinished by the time a mostly instrumental version of it was cut into the movei (see above). When it was released as a single a year later, lines alluding to characters and themes from the film were mashed together with lyrics from the “Roosevelt” draft. 1981: “Arthur’s Theme” from Arthur I desperately wanted to honor this era with a song from another Dudley Moore film, “Ready to Take a Chance Again” as sung by Barry Manilow in Foul Play, but this Christopher Cross classic is really the finer specimen of plot song. I think most people my age know this song, but haven’t even seen Arthur; I watched it for the first time a few years ago and was blown away (okay, maybe not blown away, but definitely surprised) by how dark it is. It’s about this total fuck-up rich kid, this terrible, terrible alcoholic who leaves nothing but destruction in his path…until he falls in love with Liza Minnelli. But the song totally give him a pass, reframing Arthur as this loveable loon, “just a boy…laughing about the way they want him to be.” Um…he’s laughing because he’s been drunk since 1967. 1985: “Weird Science” from Weird Science The rare example of a plot song making the film that spawned it superfluous. Infused with an introspection that the the John Hughes movie simply had no interest in (”From my heart and from my head, why don’t people understand my intentions?”), there’s absolutely no reason to see the entire film if you can watch the Oingo Boingo music video above. Um, okay…the movie has a young Robert Downey Jr, I guess. But the song encapsulates the narrative such as it is and the video incorporates all the relevant clips from the film––plus it’s got original Dr. Frankenstein Colin Clive, AND Danny Elfman imitating Colin Clive. We’re done here. 1989: “On Our Own” from Ghostbusters 2 I understand that the selection of Bobby Brown over Ray Parker Jr might seem controversial to some. But look at the evidence: “Found out about Vigo/The Master of Evil/Try to battle my boys?/That’s not legal!” I’m absolutely positive that this is the finest plot song verse ever written. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog » Karina Longworth http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/7/2/32023.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 7/2/2008 12:01:06 PM
Body: This is it, the day we’ve been waiting for two full decades (or, at least, since we first heard it was happening back in December): the Huey Lewis plot song written specifically for the David Gordon Green-driected, Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy Pineapple Express has hit the web! The Playlist first posted a clip of the song last night; today, Whitney at Pop Candy points to the full thing, available for streaming or download on MySpace. It’s very much in classic Huey Lewis plot song mode, complete with gratuitous hand claps and sax solo. It’s not as directly narrative as, say, “Back in Time” (above), but it’s slightly more literally connected to the film than, like, “The Power of Love.” A sample from the chorus: “How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express! Can’t deal with this stress! Totally gone, cause we’re on, Pineapple Express!” It is the best, and it is also totally the worst. As we’ve discussed before, plot songs take the science of the source cue to a new level. After the jump, a brief, video-guided journey through plot song history. Let us know what we’ve left out. 1955: “(Love is) The Tender Trap” from The Tender Trap Though this Frank Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds sex comedy was based on a play, the song sung twice by Sinatra in the film (once over the opening credits, once directly to Reynolds, as seen above) was written specifically for the movie, and was nominated for an Oscar. Like the best plot songs, it does more than just set a tone or reiterate the film’s plot––it actually becomes integral to it. 1967: “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate According to Mark Harris’ Pictures at a Revolution, Paul Simon was under contract to write three original songs for Mike Nichols’ movie. He turned in two, and Nichols liked neither. “Have you got anything else?” the director asked. Simon and Art Garfunkel apparently “muttered to each other” for a few minutes, and then played a song-in-progress, which was then called “Mrs. Roosevelt,” “about icons of a certain generation.” Nichols loved it, “Roosevelt” was changed to “Robinson,” but the song remained unfinished by the time a mostly instrumental version of it was cut into the movei (see above). When it was released as a single a year later, lines alluding to characters and themes from the film were mashed together with lyrics from the “Roosevelt” draft. 1981: “Arthur’s Theme” from Arthur I desperately wanted to honor this era with a song from another Dudley Moore film, “Ready to Take a Chance Again” as sung by Barry Manilow in Foul Play, but this Christopher Cross classic is really the finer specimen of plot song. I think most people my age know this song, but haven’t even seen Arthur; I watched it for the first time a few years ago and was blown away (okay, maybe not blown away, but definitely surprised) by how dark it is. It’s about this total fuck-up rich kid, this terrible, terrible alcoholic who leaves nothing but destruction in his path…until he falls in love with Liza Minnelli. But the song totally give him a pass, reframing Arthur as this loveable loon, “just a boy…laughing about the way they want him to be.” Um…he’s laughing because he’s been drunk since 1967. 1985: “Weird Science” from Weird Science The rare example of a plot song making the film that spawned it superfluous. Infused with an introspection that the the John Hughes movie simply had no interest in (”From my heart and from my head, why don’t people understand my intentions?”), there’s absolutely no reason to see the entire film if you can watch the Oingo Boingo music video above. Um, okay…the movie has a young Robert Downey Jr, I guess. But the song encapsulates the narrative such as it is and the video incorporates all the relevant clips from the film––plus it’s got original Dr. Frankenstein Colin Clive, AND Danny Elfman imitating Colin Clive. We’re done here. 1989: “On Our Own” from Ghostbusters 2 I understand that the selection of Bobby Brown over Ray Parker Jr might seem controversial to some. But look at the evidence: “Found out about Vigo/The Master of Evil/Try to battle my boys?/That’s not legal!” I’m absolutely positive that this is the finest plot song verse ever written. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:01:06 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com7/2/2008 12:01:06 PM This is it, the day we’ve been waiting for two full decades (or, at least, since we first heard it was happening back in December): the Huey Lewis plot song written specifically for the David Gordon Green-driected, Judd Apatow-produced stoner comedy Pineapple Express has hit the web! The Playlist first posted a clip of the song last night; today, Whitney at Pop Candy points to the full thing, available for streaming or download on MySpace. It’s very much in classic Huey Lewis plot song mode, complete with gratuitous hand claps and sax solo. It’s not as directly narrative as, say, “Back in Time” (above), but it’s slightly more literally connected to the film than, like, “The Power of Love.” A sample from the chorus: “How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express! Can’t deal with this stress! Totally gone, cause we’re on, Pineapple Express!” It is the best, and it is also totally the worst. As we’ve discussed before, plot songs take the science of the source cue to a new level. After the jump, a brief, video-guided journey through plot song history. Let us know what we’ve left out. 1955: “(Love is) The Tender Trap” from The Tender Trap Though this Frank Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds sex comedy was based on a play, the song sung twice by Sinatra in the film (once over the opening credits, once directly to Reynolds, as seen above) was written specifically for the movie, and was nominated for an Oscar. Like the best plot songs, it does more than just set a tone or reiterate the film’s plot––it actually becomes integral to it. 1967: “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate According to Mark Harris’ Pictures at a Revolution, Paul Simon was under contract to write three original songs for Mike Nichols’ movie. He turned in two, and Nichols liked neither. “Have you got anything else?” the director asked. Simon and Art Garfunkel apparently “muttered to each other” for a few minutes, and then played a song-in-progress, which was then called “Mrs. Roosevelt,” “about icons of a certain generation.” Nichols loved it, “Roosevelt” was changed to “Robinson,” but the song remained unfinished by the time a mostly instrumental version of it was cut into the movei (see above). When it was released as a single a year later, lines alluding to characters and themes from the film were mashed together with lyrics from the “Roosevelt” draft. 1981: “Arthur’s Theme” from Arthur I desperately wanted to honor this era with a song from another Dudley Moore film, “Ready to Take a Chance Again” as sung by Barry Manilow in Foul Play, but this Christopher Cross classic is really the finer specimen of plot song. I think most people my age know this song, but haven’t even seen Arthur; I watched it for the first time a few years ago and was blown away (okay, maybe not blown away, but definitely surprised) by how dark it is. It’s about this total fuck-up rich kid, this terrible, terrible alcoholic who leaves nothing but destruction in his path…until he falls in love with Liza Minnelli. But the song totally give him a pass, reframing Arthur as this loveable loon, “just a boy…laughing about the way they want him to be.” Um…he’s laughing because he’s been drunk since 1967. 1985: “Weird Science” from Weird Science The rare example of a plot song making the film that spawned it superfluous. Infused with an introspection that the the John Hughes movie simply had no interest in (”From my heart and from my head, why don’t people understand my intentions?”), there’s absolutely no reason to see the entire film if you can watch the Oingo Boingo music video above. Um, okay…the movie has a young Robert Downey Jr, I guess. But the song encapsulates the narrative such as it is and the video incorporates all the relevant clips from the film––plus it’s got original Dr. Frankenstein Colin Clive, AND Danny Elfman imitating Colin Clive. We’re done here. 1989: “On Our Own” from Ghostbusters 2 I understand that the selection of Bobby Brown over Ray Parker Jr might seem controversial to some. But look at the evidence: “Found out about Vigo/The Master of Evil/Try to battle my boys?/That’s not legal!” I’m absolutely positive that this is the finest plot song verse ever written. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/6/16/31301.aspx Post By: pippin06
Post To: Reel Thoughts
Post Date: 6/16/2008 10:33:31 PM
Body: What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx The Graduate is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#7)100 Funniest Films (#9)100 Years...100 Passions (#52)100 Greatest Film Songs (#6 - "Mrs. Robinson")100 Movie Quotes (#42 - A Braddock family friend: "Plastics;" #63 -Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?")The Revised Top 100 (#17) I was happy to revisit The Graduate because I think the first and only time I watched it was around the time I graduated from high school because a friend thought watching it would be a clever way to spend an afternoon in celebratory anticipation of our pending commencement. Personally, I don't think this film is truly relatable to any teenager in or around their high school years. I think underlying messages, what exists of them, are more universal for the twenty-something set who have embarked or about to embark into that thing people call the "real world." Now, whether the film is really all that relatable to any population who did not constitute a member of that age group in the late sixties is up for debate. Still, this film is one of those films that are worth a second look, and thanks to Netflix and this silly project o' mine, I had an excuse to revisit it. The Graduate refers to Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, in his first major film role), who has just graduated from college and is now at a loss as to what he will be doing with his future. He seems adamant to not turn out like his parents - who seem to fail to understand him like any oher generationally challenged family of that era - though he exhibits rapaciously cavalier qualities that they also possess. Their sophisticated naivete translates most poignantly when Benjamin is comically seduced by one of their family friends, the cuckoldy Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who seems to need Benjamin as much as she uses him to stave off the loneliness of an empty marriage. Troubles arise when the affable Benjamin falls in love with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), despite his initial protests to his parents about dating her. Benjamin is then caught in the middle between covetous mother and confused daughter. The Graduate is described here by the All Movie Guide and by many critics and film historians as the iconic film that struck a chord with the growing malaise and bubbling counter-culture of the late 60s. Benjamin is the anti-revolution revolutionary, so it says at the bottom of this page. His apparent apathy becomes the symbol of unrest and boredom for all of that generation that protested the actions of members of the preceding generation. He has a certain sexual promiscuity that defies social decorum yet a capacity to love fiercely and passionately. He rails against the conventions of his parents and society while simultaneously being bonded by those conventions. He is an enigma in an obvious way. Here is my trouble with this film: I am not sure that Benjamin's role in this story and the situations of his character transcend generation. I'm not sure that The Graduate is timeless enough to be relatable to all audiences. I see this film as a pop culture icon depicting an electric moment in history and sort of the societal and generational attitudes of that moment. Otherwise, the film is full of unsympathetic characters of many types: Benjamin is kind of a doofus. He is apparently eliglble for graduate school and has all of these wonderful degrees and honors, but he is largely idiotic in the context of the real world. Mrs. Robinson, deliciously played by Anne Bancroft, may be a woman in a loveless marriage, but she steamrolls over doofus Benjamin, preying on his weaknesses, which may be the point, but represents a separate lapse in morals and ethics (sort of anti- the generation at issue, actually). Mr. Robinson is an innocent bystander, even if he has neglected his wife. And why Elaine should succumb to the entreaties of the slightly creepy and desperate Benjamin surpasses my ability to understand. Are their character types a subtle commentary on the affectations of youth and family of the time? The film was released the same year as the Summer of Love after all. Still, though it captures the spirit of a decade in which I was not alive to enjoy, The Graduate posseses some groundbreaking and truly iconic elements that make it sort of a great film in the American film lexicon. Mike Nichols' direction (which earned him an Oscar, back when he was young and cutting edge) was, in fact, cutting edge, playing with angles and lighting in a way that connects the viewer with Benjamin, despite his doofus-like tendencies. The performances are all very very good, particularly from Mrs. Robinson herself, and the soundtrack is unparalleled, showcasing Simon and Garfunkel in a very complimentary fashion as it relates to the film. "Mrs. Robinson" is one of the AFI's greatest film songs, but the film also makes legendary use of "The Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair." The AFI rated The Graduate #52 on the love stories list, which sort of gives me great puzzlement. Considering how Benjamin and Elaine come together by the end of the movie, do you really believe that their bond is permanent? Especially when she looks sort of sad and bewildered. Plus, it's not a love story that causes my personal heart to pitapat; I would find it so creepy to be stalked by the man who had an affair with my mother. And, of course, the affair itself is not the love story in question, so I have a huge problem with this film making that list at all, much less at a fairly high position. I find The Graduate flawed on many levels. Is it overrated? Maybe a little. The AFI dropped it ten spots on the revised list. I still think it has its place despite its flaws, which are largely in the story. Since the film was based on a novel, I can't fault the filmmakers too much for that. The technical elements of the film and the spirit of it are what make it as good as it is. I will add, though, that the film slows up considerably about the time Benjamin decides to follow Elaine to Berkeley. I remember growing bored watching it the first time, at the tender age of 18, right around the same spot, and on second viewing, I grew quite dozy. It's through the Scarborough Fair sequence; maybe it's the song, but the film seems to take on this meandering, artsy atmosphere when it had been a quirky, dysfunctional drama up until the point. In that way, the film is sort of schizophrenic, and I think that's one of its largest flaws. On a ratings scale, I would give it an 8 for being very good despite these minor flaws. As to my test, it doesn't pass, mostly because though the film amuses me on some level, it's not a film I relate to. Though I want to watch it again because Richard Dreyfuss apparently makes a cameo in his first screen role, and I completely missed it this time out! I think The Graduate is a landmark film but more a landmark exemplar for the decade in which it was produced than for the caliber of the film itself.
]]>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:33:31 GMTpippin06Reel Thoughts6/16/2008 10:33:31 PMWhat's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx The Graduate is on the following AFI lists: The Original Top 100 (#7)100 Funniest Films (#9)100 Years...100 Passions (#52)100 Greatest Film Songs (#6 - "Mrs. Robinson")100 Movie Quotes (#42 - A Braddock family friend: "Plastics;" #63 -Benjamin Braddock: "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?")The Revised Top 100 (#17) I was happy to revisit The Graduate because I think the first and only time I watched it was around the time I graduated from high school because a friend thought watching it would be a clever way to spend an afternoon in celebratory anticipation of our pending commencement. Personally, I don't think this film is truly relatable to any teenager in or around their high school years. I think underlying messages, what exists of them, are more universal for the twenty-something set who have embarked or about to embark into that thing people call the "real world." Now, whether the film is really all that relatable to any population who did not constitute a member of that age group in the late sixties is up for debate. Still, this film is one of those films that are worth a second look, and thanks to Netflix and this silly project o' mine, I had an excuse to revisit it. The Graduate refers to Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, in his first major film role), who has just graduated from college and is now at a loss as to what he will be doing with his future. He seems adamant to not turn out like his parents - who seem to fail to understand him like any oher generationally challenged family of that era - though he exhibits rapaciously cavalier qualities that they also possess. Their sophisticated naivete translates most poignantly when Benjamin is comically seduced by one of their family friends, the cuckoldy Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who seems to need Benjamin as much as she uses him to stave off the loneliness of an empty marriage. Troubles arise when the affable Benjamin falls in love with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross), despite his initial protests to his parents about dating her. Benjamin is then caught in the middle between covetous mother and confused daughter. The Graduate is described here by the All Movie Guide and by many critics and film historians as the iconic film that struck a chord with the growing malaise and bubbling counter-culture of the late 60s. Benjamin is the anti-revolution revolutionary, so it says at the bottom of this page. His apparent apathy becomes the symbol of unrest and boredom for all of that generation that protested the actions of members of the preceding generation. He has a certain sexual promiscuity that defies social decorum yet a capacity to love fiercely and passionately. He rails against the conventions of his parents and society while simultaneously being bonded by those conventions. He is an enigma in an obvious way. Here is my trouble with this film: I am not sure that Benjamin's role in this story and the situations of his character transcend generation. I'm not sure that The Graduate is timeless enough to be relatable to all audiences. I see this film as a pop culture icon depicting an electric moment in history and sort of the societal and generational attitudes of that moment. Otherwise, the film is full of unsympathetic characters of many types: Benjamin is kind of a doofus. He is apparently eliglble for graduate school and has all of these wonderful degrees and honors, but he is largely idiotic in the context of the real world. Mrs. Robinson, deliciously played by Anne Bancroft, may be a woman in a loveless marriage, but she steamrolls over doofus Benjamin, preying on his weaknesses, which may be the point, but represents a separate lapse in morals and ethics (sort of anti- the generation at issue, actually). Mr. Robinson is an innocent bystander, even if he has neglected his wife. And why Elaine should succumb to the entreaties of the slightly creepy and desperate Benjamin surpasses my ability to understand. Are their character types a subtle commentary on the affectations of youth and family of the time? The film was released the same year as the Summer of Love after all. Still, though it captures the spirit of a decade in which I was not alive to enjoy, The Graduate posseses some groundbreaking and truly iconic elements that make it sort of a great film in the American film lexicon. Mike Nichols' direction (which earned him an Oscar, back when he was young and cutting edge) was, in fact, cutting edge, playing with angles and lighting in a way that connects the viewer with Benjamin, despite his doofus-like tendencies. The performances are all very very good, particularly from Mrs. Robinson herself, and the soundtrack is unparalleled, showcasing Simon and Garfunkel in a very complimentary fashion as it relates to the film. "Mrs. Robinson" is one of the AFI's greatest film songs, but the film also makes legendary use of "The Sound of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair." The AFI rated The Graduate #52 on the love stories list, which sort of gives me great puzzlement. Considering how Benjamin and Elaine come together by the end of the movie, do you really believe that their bond is permanent? Especially when she looks sort of sad and bewildered. Plus, it's not a love story that causes my personal heart to pitapat; I would find it so creepy to be stalked by the man who had an affair with my mother. And, of course, the affair itself is not the love story in question, so I have a huge problem with this film making that list at all, much less at a fairly high position. I find The Graduate flawed on many levels. Is it overrated? Maybe a little. The AFI dropped it ten spots on the revised list. I still think it has its place despite its flaws, which are largely in the story. Since the film was based on a novel, I can't fault the filmmakers too much for that. The technical elements of the film and the spirit of it are what make it as good as it is. I will add, though, that the film slows up considerably about the time Benjamin decides to follow Elaine to Berkeley. I remember growing bored watching it the first time, at the tender age of 18, right around the same spot, and on second viewing, I grew quite dozy. It's through the Scarborough Fair sequence; maybe it's the song, but the film seems to take on this meandering, artsy atmosphere when it had been a quirky, dysfunctional drama up until the point. In that way, the film is sort of schizophrenic, and I think that's one of its largest flaws. On a ratings scale, I would give it an 8 for being very good despite these minor flaws. As to my test, it doesn't pass, mostly because though the film amuses me on some level, it's not a film I relate to. Though I want to watch it again because Richard Dreyfuss apparently makes a cameo in his first screen role, and I completely missed it this time out! I think The Graduate is a landmark film but more a landmark exemplar for the decade in which it was produced than for the caliber of the film itself. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/9/31014.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/9/2008 5:01:53 PM
Body: It took me awhile, but last week I finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And to agree with many others, I think it features a few too many ludicrous moments. Yet the most outlandish, in my opinion, is the scene in which Indy and Marion seem to reenact His Girl Friday in about four seconds while riding in the back of a truck. I know it’d been awhile, both for them and for us, but I prefer a little more bickering, a little more holding back in comedy of remarriage plots. Anyway, we knew a long time ago, thanks to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that Indy and Marion didn’t last long together after the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. So, I didn’t really care if they ended up together at the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either. It’s probable they still wouldn’t last. And I think the same often with other unlikely movie couples at the end of their respective films. Fortunately, a number of sequels tell us outright that the romance of the first film failed (see The Karate Kid, Part II and Jurassic Park III). Unfortunately, most of the following films didn’t have follow-ups. But if they had, I bet we’d have discovered the romances didn’t last much longer than the closing credits. Bringing Up Baby: Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) and Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn) - As is the case with most screwball comedies, the leads here just don’t seem that compatible. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Susan was quickly shipped off to a mental hospital for being such a daffy loon. Then there’s the matter of her destroying Huxley’s work at the end. No man would really put up with that, even if there were some attraction. And I never actually bought that there is any attraction from his end. Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II: - Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) - This franchise utilizes the device of having the couple split up between the first and second films only to get back together at the finish of the sequel. I understand that audiences prefer a happy ending, but when you know they didn’t work out the first time, why would you believe they could work a second time? Because Dana’s baby seems to like Venkman? Apparently so. But those of us who watched the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters know that had they remained a couple, Dana would have been animated along with the rest of the characters. Amelie - Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) and Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz) - Despite what Hong Kong audiences who saw Happenstance might think, Amelie has not been given a sequel. So we are just to assume that Amelie and Nino live happily ever after, despite the fact that they’ve only just met right before the end of the film. And we never really get to see them have a conversation, either. We just know that Amelie is kind of a creepy, albeit adorable, stalker and that Nino works in a porn shop. Hopefully he kicked her off his motorcycle as soon as the Yann Tiersen score was over (because then she can come stalk me — see, I’m just bitter with this one). Chungking Express: Cop 663 (Tony Leung) and Faye (Faye Wong) - Faye is kind of like the precursor to Amelie, as she’s something of a stalker — but it’s OK, because she’s so darn cute. While the ending of Wong Kar-wai’s film is ambiguous, we’re kind of expected to believe these two end up together. But what happens when Cop 663 realizes how often Faye broke into his apartment? And how often she plays “California Dreaming” over and over and over again? And how capricious girls are tolerable for only so long? The Muppets Take Manhattan: Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy - When I was a kid, I thought it made sense for the frog and the pig to be married at the end of this film. Their relationship had been like a Sam & Diane sort of thing for so many years, it seemed inevitable. But when I got older, I realized that Kermit really has no feelings for Piggy, and it’s even evident by his expression during the wedding scene. And I became angry that Jim Henson and Co. would allow kids to applaud the beginnings of what would be a loveless marriage. While writing this, though, I found out from the Muppet Wiki that in “real life” Kermit denies they were really married and that it was just part of the movie. Apparently Piggy claims otherwise. Meanwhile, for people who are actually fans of the relationship, you can see what their offspring would look like in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Some Like It Hot: Joe (Tony Curis) and Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) - I’ve never been accepting of characters who woo women with deception such as costume and false identities, and there have been countless examples in both movies and TV throughout the years. Some Like It Hot probably isn’t the first film to feature such fraudulence, but because Joe fools Sugar Kane by being both a good girl friend and a rich suitor he’s double guilty. I trust that even the relationship between Jerry/Daphne (Jack Lemmon) and Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) lasted longer. Tootsie: Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) and Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange) - This one is pretty much the same as the relationship in Some Like It Hot, only it’s a bit more respectable because Michael is less aggressive in his falling for Julie. Sure, there’s one scene where he’s not in drag and he attempts a kinda sleazy maneuver, but at least he never takes on a yachting outfit and Cary Grant voice. Thankfully, there is no kiss at the end of Tootsie, just forgiveness, and we’re left to think Michael and Julie will only become acquaintances at best. I have doubts that even that relationship lasted very long. Juno: Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) and Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) - High school movie romances should never be believed to last (especially the couples formed at the end of The Breakfast Club). I know, there are a number of high school sweethearts that do get married and live happily ever after. But most of us are not with the boy or girl we dated in high school. Even if there is a baby involved. Personally, I think Paulie Bleeker is too good for Juno, and I think he probably goes on to college and moves on with his life, while doing his part to contribute to the baby, of course. Two Weeks Notice: Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) and George Wade (Hugh Grant) - I’ve witnessed first-hand that opposites can attract. And if I hadn’t, I could always use James Carville and Mary Matalin as a prime example of a couple who shouldn’t work but do. Nonetheless, I don’t buy the union of her environmental lawyer and his billionaire real estate tycoon. Nor do I buy the union of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in the similar pair-up of You’ve Got Mail. If relationships like that were believable, we wouldn’t have so much enjoyed the affair between Jack and C.C. on 30 Rock. The Graduate: Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, again) and Elaine Robinson (Katherine Ross) - I always assumed it would ultimately bother Elaine too much that Ben had an affair with her mother. I guess if we’re to believe Buck Henry’s cameo in The Player, though, they live quite happily ever after … with Mrs. Robinson. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:01:53 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/9/2008 5:01:53 PMIt took me awhile, but last week I finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And to agree with many others, I think it features a few too many ludicrous moments. Yet the most outlandish, in my opinion, is the scene in which Indy and Marion seem to reenact His Girl Friday in about four seconds while riding in the back of a truck. I know it’d been awhile, both for them and for us, but I prefer a little more bickering, a little more holding back in comedy of remarriage plots. Anyway, we knew a long time ago, thanks to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, that Indy and Marion didn’t last long together after the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. So, I didn’t really care if they ended up together at the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either. It’s probable they still wouldn’t last. And I think the same often with other unlikely movie couples at the end of their respective films. Fortunately, a number of sequels tell us outright that the romance of the first film failed (see The Karate Kid, Part II and Jurassic Park III). Unfortunately, most of the following films didn’t have follow-ups. But if they had, I bet we’d have discovered the romances didn’t last much longer than the closing credits. Bringing Up Baby: Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) and Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn) - As is the case with most screwball comedies, the leads here just don’t seem that compatible. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Susan was quickly shipped off to a mental hospital for being such a daffy loon. Then there’s the matter of her destroying Huxley’s work at the end. No man would really put up with that, even if there were some attraction. And I never actually bought that there is any attraction from his end. Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II: - Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) - This franchise utilizes the device of having the couple split up between the first and second films only to get back together at the finish of the sequel. I understand that audiences prefer a happy ending, but when you know they didn’t work out the first time, why would you believe they could work a second time? Because Dana’s baby seems to like Venkman? Apparently so. But those of us who watched the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters know that had they remained a couple, Dana would have been animated along with the rest of the characters. Amelie - Amelie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) and Nino Quincampoix (Matthieu Kassovitz) - Despite what Hong Kong audiences who saw Happenstance might think, Amelie has not been given a sequel. So we are just to assume that Amelie and Nino live happily ever after, despite the fact that they’ve only just met right before the end of the film. And we never really get to see them have a conversation, either. We just know that Amelie is kind of a creepy, albeit adorable, stalker and that Nino works in a porn shop. Hopefully he kicked her off his motorcycle as soon as the Yann Tiersen score was over (because then she can come stalk me — see, I’m just bitter with this one). Chungking Express: Cop 663 (Tony Leung) and Faye (Faye Wong) - Faye is kind of like the precursor to Amelie, as she’s something of a stalker — but it’s OK, because she’s so darn cute. While the ending of Wong Kar-wai’s film is ambiguous, we’re kind of expected to believe these two end up together. But what happens when Cop 663 realizes how often Faye broke into his apartment? And how often she plays “California Dreaming” over and over and over again? And how capricious girls are tolerable for only so long? The Muppets Take Manhattan: Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy - When I was a kid, I thought it made sense for the frog and the pig to be married at the end of this film. Their relationship had been like a Sam & Diane sort of thing for so many years, it seemed inevitable. But when I got older, I realized that Kermit really has no feelings for Piggy, and it’s even evident by his expression during the wedding scene. And I became angry that Jim Henson and Co. would allow kids to applaud the beginnings of what would be a loveless marriage. While writing this, though, I found out from the Muppet Wiki that in “real life” Kermit denies they were really married and that it was just part of the movie. Apparently Piggy claims otherwise. Meanwhile, for people who are actually fans of the relationship, you can see what their offspring would look like in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Some Like It Hot: Joe (Tony Curis) and Sugar Kane Kowalczyk (Marilyn Monroe) - I’ve never been accepting of characters who woo women with deception such as costume and false identities, and there have been countless examples in both movies and TV throughout the years. Some Like It Hot probably isn’t the first film to feature such fraudulence, but because Joe fools Sugar Kane by being both a good girl friend and a rich suitor he’s double guilty. I trust that even the relationship between Jerry/Daphne (Jack Lemmon) and Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown) lasted longer. Tootsie: Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) and Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange) - This one is pretty much the same as the relationship in Some Like It Hot, only it’s a bit more respectable because Michael is less aggressive in his falling for Julie. Sure, there’s one scene where he’s not in drag and he attempts a kinda sleazy maneuver, but at least he never takes on a yachting outfit and Cary Grant voice. Thankfully, there is no kiss at the end of Tootsie, just forgiveness, and we’re left to think Michael and Julie will only become acquaintances at best. I have doubts that even that relationship lasted very long. Juno: Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) and Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) - High school movie romances should never be believed to last (especially the couples formed at the end of The Breakfast Club). I know, there are a number of high school sweethearts that do get married and live happily ever after. But most of us are not with the boy or girl we dated in high school. Even if there is a baby involved. Personally, I think Paulie Bleeker is too good for Juno, and I think he probably goes on to college and moves on with his life, while doing his part to contribute to the baby, of course. Two Weeks Notice: Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) and George Wade (Hugh Grant) - I’ve witnessed first-hand that opposites can attract. And if I hadn’t, I could always use James Carville and Mary Matalin as a prime example of a couple who shouldn’t work but do. Nonetheless, I don’t buy the union of her environmental lawyer and his billionaire real estate tycoon. Nor do I buy the union of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in the similar pair-up of You’ve Got Mail. If relationships like that were believable, we wouldn’t have so much enjoyed the affair between Jack and C.C. on 30 Rock. The Graduate: Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman, again) and Elaine Robinson (Katherine Ross) - I always assumed it would ultimately bother Elaine too much that Ben had an affair with her mother. I guess if we’re to believe Buck Henry’s cameo in The Player, though, they live quite happily ever after … with Mrs. Robinson. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Classic/MemberTagFilms.aspxClassic
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