Ask 411 Movies for 6.22.09: Column 300!

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 06.22.2009

Encino Man, the Hammer, Alyssa Milano, Ghostbusters, Halloween, incestuous Hollywood, how story credits work, actors playing younger versions of others, the movie with the most DVD releases and the time I met Bill Belichick.


They said it couldn't be done, but I'm not sure who they were. Here we are at column 300 and I have only you the loyal readers to thank for it. As I've said many a time, if it wasn't for your questions there would be no column. So get off your asses and send some questions in why don't you? Our sixth year anniversary will be Sept. 14.

From YouTube this week we have the absolute most random video I could find. A full shoulder exam demonstration from the University of Wisconsin.



From Blockbuster on their two for $20 table I got Frost/Nixon and The Wrestler. From the four for $10 table I snagged The Incredible Hulk, Redbelt, Kentucky Fried Movie and Burn After Reading. Then for three bucks apiece from Big Lots I obtained On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Flying Down to Rio, The Comancheros the original Casino Royale and Lou Ferrigino's Sinbad of the Seven Seas.

If someone was ever going to pull an intervention on me it would be on my buying of discount DVDs. I've bought movies I've never seen and movies I don't even like just because I got a deal. I'm going to discuss that on the movies zone podcast this week.

My top ten favorite things that come in 300's in no particular order:
Batting averages
Bowling Scores
Spartans
Engines
Cash in my hand
The year in BC and AD
My weight if I can keep it under that
Third floor hotel rooms
Fairly successful comic books
The Chrysler sedan

Once again, don't forget that I'll be at the Monster Bash classic horror film convention in Butler, Pa., the weekend of June 26. I'll be hosting Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster about 1 a.m. Friday.

Q: I'm guessing you're not a Pats fan if you don't have Brady listed. Those 3 Super Bowl wins don't have you convinced or is it a personal reason he's not on the list? Hart Lee Dykes?? The guy almost had as much on-field time logged as the plow driver in that Pats-Dolphins snow plow game.

Also, it's not Sam "The Bam" Cunningham, just "Bam". Kinda like when Slick kept calling it "The Summerslam" :)
-AdamL

A: Thank you for the Cunningham correction.

As I pointed out in the comments last week, there is a difference between best and favorite. I recognize that Tom Brady is a fantastic player and with the Super Bowl wins you've got to put him at the top of the list of the best players the franchise have ever had. Since Brady's career isn't over yet, you can still make strong cases for John Hannah and Stanley Morgan, but probably not when it's all said and done. However, I really don't like the guy. Yes, I was being a bit of a smart ass last week. I tend to do that.

I don't like Bill Belichick either, even thought I recognize he's an amazing coach. I don't even mind he cheats to win. I met him once. It was the last year the Browns were in Cleveland before moving to Baltimore and a few weeks before that moving announcement was made. It was a Sunday and the Browns off week. I went up to the football hall of fame with my step-dad Dan and his cousin Randall. We come downstairs and Belichick is eating a hot dog in the commissary with his wife and two kids. Randall, wearing a Browns coat, goes up to him and says he's a big fan and asks for an autograph. I get one two and ask for one for Dan, who was taking pictures of us with Belichik and he looked at me like I was going to turn around and sell the extra one on E-Bay or something. He barely said a word to us. We thank him, we leave him alone. He promptly throws half his wiener away and leaves. Now, if we had done this in a restaurant or at the mall or in a park, I could see him being a bit miffed of us interrupting a day out with his family. However, the guy is the head coach of the closest NFL franchise to the football hall of fame sitting in the middle of the football hall of fame. That would be like William Shatner getting pissed at people recognizing him at a Star Trek convention. If you didn't people to recognize you, don't go there.

And just for knowing who Hart Lee Dykes is, that should prove I'm a hardcore Pats fan. You know why I love the guy? I used to throw to him all the time on Tecmo Superbowl. I think he had the potential (note the word potential) to have a career on the same level of an Irving Fryar if he hadn't fractured his kneecap.

Q: Call me crazy, but I think Encino Man was underrated.
-The Great Capt. Smooth

A: You're crazy, but probably right.



The 1992 film stars Pauley Shore and Sean Astin as geeky teens who find a frozen caveman, Brendan Fraser, frozen in their backyard. He gets thawed out and the guys turn him into a gnarly dude. What helps the movie is that for this type of light, stupid comedy they actually have some pretty good actors in key roles. Say what you want about Shore, but he understands that type of character inside and out and this was before he ran it into the ground. The movie doesn't take itself seriously and that helps it to be funny because there is a self-awareness of how dumb and silly it is.

Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage were considered for Link. The movie also marks the feature film debut of Rose McGowan as Nora. A TV sequel Encino Woman followed in 1996. Didn't see it, didn't want to.

Q: Encino Man WAS underrated. One of the few movies in which Pauly Shore was tolerable. I'd ask what he's up to these days, but I don't care. What I want to know is where is Alyssa Milano?!?

LOL I just have a thing for her because I met her once, and didn't know who she was at the time, even after she told me. There's more to that story, but I'll get jealous hate, be called a fool, or other flaming.
-Paul in Canada

A: Even though you didn't ask, Pauley Shore is currently doing stand up comedy and has made a "Natural Born Komics" DVD featuring sketches, stand ups and other bits.



As for Milano, she can be heard as the voice of Dr. Selwyn in the new Ghostbusters video game. Her book about being a hardcore baseball fan "Safe At Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic" was released in March. She can be seen in a current ESPN fantasy baseball commercial wearing a T-shirt that says "Who's Your Boss." Best shirt ever, but only with her wearing it. Best shirt ever no matter who is wearing it, "I've Been to Duluth" worn by the old guy at the beginning of The Great Outdoors.



She is also producing and starring in the film My Girlfriend's Boyfriend as a woman who meets and falls in love with two different guys at the same time.



Q: Hey, Leonard! I know you're probably tired of discussing underrated comedies, but I think The Hammer, a movie that starred Adam Corrolla and came out last year was criminally underrated.
-Spaghett

A: Yes, I am, but that shouldn't stop you.



Adam Corolla stars as Jerry. He just turned 40 and works in construction while teaching boxing on the side. He was once a golden gloves boxer, but that was long ago. After losing his job and his girlfriend, Jerry starts an underdog push to make the Olympic boxing team while romancing public defender Lindsay (Heather Jurgensen). Corolla, who has a story credit according to imdb, actually once worked as a carpenter and boxing trainer and in fact he helped build the gym featured in the movie and worked there.

Q: Snooping around YouTube the other day and watched the Ghostbusters music video for the first time in years. Various celebrities are seen in cutaways saying ghostbusters throughout the video. I recognized some, like Chevy Chase and John Candy, but the rest seem lost to the eighties. Who all is in the video?
-Mikey L.

A: The list would be Chevy Chase, Irene Cara, John Candy, Melissa Gilbert, Nick Ashford (half of Ashford and Simpson), Jeffrey Tambor, George Wendt, Al Franken, Danny DeVito, Carly Simon, Peter Falk and Teri Garr. The better question is why?



Q: Hey Leonard,

A few weeks ago you explained the difference in screenplay credits between "and" and "&", is there any chance you could explain the difference between the TV terms "teleplay by" and "story by"? I'm assuming the teleplay one is the person who physically wrote the script and the story one is somebody saying "Hey guys, let's have Kirk meet a supremely powerful being, but make him a teenager. Go at it!", but is there anything more than that?
-Vince

A: Television and movies work similar as both are under the Writers Guild of America. For both movies and television a ‘story by' credit is usually given to a writer who delivered a first draft of a script that was completely or mostly rewritten from the original. A ‘teleplay by' credit would be for any writer or group of writers that worked on the finished produced product. The difference would be for variety shows, like "The Daily Show," "Saturday Night Live" or "The Tonight Show," who employ a staff of writers and work with non-traditional scripts. These writers are usually credited as part of the production staff during the end credits. Television, as opposed to movies, will also have creators, script editors or other production members who are part of the writing process that will get credit as production staff and not necessarily on a script by script basis. A writer must contribute to at least one third of the final script in order to receive direct credit.

Q: hi leonard posting again from mexico city

what is the deal with the whole "Brad Pitt, george clooney, Tilda Swinton,Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon Connection??? do they just invite each other for parts on their movies?? do they recommend each other to their directors???
-Armin

A: Back during the golden age of Hollywood you would often find actors starring in the same films with each other because they were contracted to the same studio and were often put into the same types of films. Today this more commonly happens when bigger names stars, directors and producers enjoy working with each other and have the power to put projects together. You find that many of these directors and actors are also producers on these projects. Just glancing at the names above, I see Stephen Soderburgh and the Coen Brothers being in common. So it's either people suggesting certain people as you mention above or people putting projects together with the intent of working with certain people.

Let's look at how the names you put out cross.

Burn After Reading: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton
Michael Clayton: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton
Syriana: George Clooney, Matt Damon
The Good German: George Cloney, Cate Blanchett
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt
The Ocean Movies: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt

Q: What's with the final actor's credit listing their character's name on some TV shows? All Seinfeld opening credits ended with "and Jason Alexander as George Costanza." Why do (did?) so many shows do this?
-neverAcquiesce

A: We've hit this a little before. It's all part of contract negotiations. Sometimes a special little credit like that, which gives extra notice to the actor, is in exchange for a little less dough or to soothe the actor for not getting top billing. Sometimes a breakout secondary character on a series will get such a credit as a nod to how important their character and work on the series has become, so a reward there. Bigger name guest stars will get such a credit a lot of the time too because of the star power they bring to the table, again it's to draw attention to the name and offset them some from the rest of the cast as a highlight. Basically, it's an attention getter for various reasons.

Q: I've noticed on a lot of TV shows that the main actors are being credited as either producers or executive producers. Is this done so they have more creative influence over their characters, or is it a way for them to collect more money without actually doing any "producing"?

One other question...

One of my favorite movies is Night of the Living Dead. There must be 20 some different DVD's available for it. Why do some movies keep getting new DVD releases when there are already a ton out there? What movie has been given the most releases on video/DVD, etc?
-Mario

A: Executive producer credits for television usually fall in four categories. A traditional executive producer is one who isn't necessarily involved in the day to day production, but is involved with the business end, financial backing or some aspect of getting the show on the air and running. Related to that discussed above, head writers or story editors aren't often credited as such and get a producer credit. Show runners can also get producer credits. Now to your question, producer credits are often given to creators, big name stars or directors as a bit of a perk and to also raise the status of the series with extra name value. Again, this is a credit that can be negotiated on and usually happens after a show or star breaks big and wants more money or credit for the series success. Sometimes they might have some power behind the scene, sometimes they don't. It depends on the situation, which might come down to if the star in question has his own money or production company tied up in the making of the show.

The movies that get the most DVD releases are those that are usually public domain. Nobody owns it, so you don't have to pay rights to release it on DVD. If you ever see those big 25 or 50 packs of movies, most of those are public domain. For Night of the Living Dead, when the name was changed from Night of the Flesh Eaters the distribution company, Walter Reade Organization, neglected in putting a new copyright notice below the new title. According to imdb, there are 27 DVD versions and Wikipedia has 19 video releases noted. That's probably the record, not to mention the many comp sets it shows up on too.



A few other movies I thought to check, House on Haunted Hill has 21 DVD versions, Dementia 13 has 15, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has 11, Carnival of Souls has nine, The Bat has eight.

Q: The original Halloween has got to have the most video releases. It's just not a fiscal year if Anchor Bay doesn't dip into that well yet again.
-neverAcquiesce

A: Halloween has 13 different DVD versions listed on imdb, many of those are for region 2. There appears to be a regular edition, 25th anniversary edition, extended edition, limited TV cut edition and restored limited edition. When the television rights were sold to NBC in 1980, John Carpenter shot a few new scenes during production of Halloween II in order to replace scenes cut by standard and practices and fill out a two hour running time.



Q: Here's a horror movie question for you:

Is there ANY horror movie that uses the TELEPHONE-FAKE OUT SCARE **MORE** than the original halloween?
-Mr X

A: I'd have to re-watch Halloween to count how many time the phone scare gag is used, but I'm thinking three. Also what film uses it more isn't something I can easily look up, but it's certainly is a tried and true false scare tactic. Maybe somebody else out there with less of a life can do the math for us. And while you're at it, what movie uses the cat jumping out of the dark false scare the most?

Q: Hey Leonard, Congrats on 300 superb columns. Not to celebrate would be madness. Bonus points for leaving Tom Brady off your Pats list.

My question is about finding actors to play younger versions of a character. Given the flashbacky nature of Arrested Development you often saw the same child actors playing the main characters as kids. I recall seeing a special feature on the DVD for Goldmember of all things about the guys they found to play college-aged Austin Powers and Dr. Evil. I have also heard that the child version of Voldemort in the new Harry Potter film is played by Ralph Fiennes' nephew. My question is - how do movies and television shows go about finding younger versions of their stars? Is there a typical procedure or is it generally left up to the discretion of the casting director? Do certain actors have other actors who consistently play younger versions of them across different films? Are there actors who portrayed young versions of a character whom you thought did a particularly excellent job?

Again, congratulations on 300 columns.

Happy Trails,
- Andrew B

A: Casting decisions are made by casting directors with final approval by directors and producers. Casting directors often go through the same agents or have a rolodex of actors they like and often call in for auditions. If they were looking for someone to play a younger version of Clint Eastwood they would simply put feelers out for an actor who looks like Eastwood circa age 30 or whatever they need. Of course, a lot can be done with hair, make up, costume and voiceovers to fool the eye even more. In Space Cowboys a sequence featuring younger versions of the older characters played by Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland was shot in black and white with the older actors dubbed over their younger selves. When it comes to kids it's even easier because people change so much from their younger days. Basically any kid with the right hair color and eye color will work for anything under puberty. Sometimes the child or relative of an actor can be used, but that's mere stunt casting more often than not.

Not so much younger versions of themselves, but many actors use the same stunt doubles and stand-ins from movie to movie. Eddie Yansick has been the body double and stunt double for Nicholas Cage for years and many people say he's Cage's spitting image.

In mentioning Austin Powers, I thought Rob Lowe was brilliant as a younger Robert Wagner in The Spy Who Shagged Me. Not only did he nail the voice, but also the mannerisms and body language. Sort of in the same ballpark, Karl Urban gave a pitch perfect performance in Star Trek as McCoy. His delivery, voice and attitude really captured the character. He really captured the essence of the character while taking the right bits from Deforest Kelly's portrayal and throwing in his own touches. And I'm sure many would mention Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the younger James Garner and Gena Rowlands in The Notebook.



Don't die.

"People are bastard coated bastards with bastard filling."