Ask 411 Movies for 11.02.09: The Column that Reveals the Life of the Mind!

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 11.02.2009

Barton Fink, Big Fish, Band of Brothers, Nipsey Russell, the seven basic plotlines, Secret Girlfriend, best use of songs in movies and an incredible lobby

From YouTube this week we have "Star Trek: The Next Generation" credits done in "Dallas" style. What is awesome? The tri-split screen. What is not awesome? The cast not being listed in alphabetical order in true "Dallas" style.



As you may remember, last week I attended the Midwest debut of House of the Wolfman in Ligonier, Pa. The tone, mood, lightening, sets, costumes, props and special effects were all pretty good and fit the style of a forties Universal film without looking too cheesy. The monsters looked good and the finale featured a great fight between the Wolfman and Frankenstein. The bad was that the acting was very wooden aside from a few minor performances, the script was pretty bad and nonsensical in spots while the editing didn't help to cover these elements the way it should. It's a low budget film that was shot in under two weeks, so the fact that it's as good as it is, is an accomplishment. And the experience of seeing it in a theater with a bunch of like minded classic monster fans helped to make it a very enjoyable experience overall and I certainly wish the filmmakers the best of luck in future endeavors.



Lot of people mentioned Big Fish as a movie men can cry at in the comments last week. I love the movie and find it emotional, but it didn't necessarily make me cry personally.



Originally, Stephen Spielberg was going to direct with Jack Nicholson to star as the older Ed Bloom. Albert Finney was cast when Tim Burton came on and Ewan McGregor became the young bloom because he looked like Finney when compared to old pictures of him. From 2003, a son tries to figure out who his father really is by going back over tall tales he told him about his life and the son finds there is more truth to what the old man said than he originally thought.



Also getting a lot of mentions was "Band of Brothers," the cable miniseries in 10 parts from 2001. The series follows Easy Company from their initial training to the end of World War II. Attention was paid to realism, as actors were cast based on their resemblance to the real life people they were playing and about 700 authentic weapons of the era were used in filming with rubber ones being used to fill some of the gaps. Almost all props and costumes were authentic of the era or were made to specific specifications to resemble that of the era. Many innovations occurred in the special effects department, such as ways to fire off many squibs at one time in close quarters to others and the manipulation of dummies on electromagnetic bases so they would look and act realistic.

I was also surprised by how many other people admitted to watching and liking "Secret Girlfriend" without really understanding why it has roped them in. As a few suggested and I said last week, I think it may be a mix of hot chicks, stupid humor and the clever gimmick.



BFF also mentioned he loved the name Nipsey Russell. It seems like you're unfamiliar with the man, so I think you'll like him even more when you actually see his rhyming style of comedy.



Q: Don't think that it was originally filmed in 3-D, but "Hot Skin" with John Holmes is a 3-D porno feature. The 3-D is terrible (which is why I think it was added somehow post-production), but the movie is a hardcore 70's porno and is also hilarious. Plus, you watch it thru the old-fashioned red/blue cardboard glasses.
A couple of years ago this film (and one other Holmes film, "Hard Candy") were making the rounds of film festivals - that's where I saw it - the audience laughed their asses off. John Holmes is only in one scene (which apparently was not all that uncommon for producers who wanted to advertise using his name but didn't want to pay him all that much), but Bill Margold as disco club manager 'Harry Balls' steals almost every scene.
-Jeff S

A: Thank you for the additional information from the question last week on if any porno films have been shot in 3-D. There is nothing quite so hilarious and mind numbing at the same time as seventies porn.

Q: So,what are the eight to ten plotlines?
-Toshi

A: According to the book "The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories" by Christopher Booker there are only seven basic plotlines that any story is draped upon. The list below is from this link :

Overcoming the Monster - A terrifying, all-powerful, life-threatening monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death. An example of this plot is seen in "Beowulf," "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Dracula."

Rags to Riches - Someone who has seemed to the world quite commonplace is shown to have been hiding a second, more exceptional self within. Think the ugly duckling, Jane Eyre and Clark Kent

The Quest - From the moment the hero learns of the priceless goal, he sets out on a hazardous journey to reach it. Examples are seen in "The Odyssey," "The Aeneid," "The Count of Monte Cristo" and Raiders of the Lost Ark

Voyage and Return - The hero or heroine and a few companions travel out of the familiar surroundings into another world completely cut off from the first. While it is at first marvelous, there is a sense of increasing peril. After a dramatic escape, they return to the familiar world where they began. "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Time Machine" are obvious examples; but Brideshead Revisited and Gone with the Wind also embody this basic plotline.

Comedy - Following a general chaos of misunderstanding, the characters tie themselves and each other into a knot that seems almost unbearable; however, to universal relief, everyone and everything gets sorted out, bringing about the happy ending. Shakespeare's comedies come to mind, as do Jane Austen's perfect novels.

Tragedy - A character through some flaw or lack of self-understanding is increasingly drawn into a fatal course of action, which leads inexorably to disaster. "King Lear," "Madame Bovary," "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Bonnie and Clyde — all flagrantly tragic.

Rebirth - There is a mounting sense of threat as a dark force approaches the hero until it emerges completely, holding the hero in its deadly grip. Only after a time, when it seems that the dark force has triumphed, does the reversal take place. The hero is redeemed, usually through the life-giving power of love. Many fairy tales take this shape; also, works like "Silas Marner" and It's a Wonderful Life.

From the Internet Public Library I found this list of seven basic plotlines:
Man vs. nature
Man vs. man
Man vs. environment
Man vs. technology
Man vs. the supernatural
Man vs. self
Man vs. religion

Q: What it seems to me with H.D. and Blu-ray aspects is that where movies on Blu-ray have either the 2:40.1 theatrical aspect (the longer picture that will still have the black bars above and below even on a widescreen t.v.) compared to 1:85.1 aspect (which is a full picture on a widescreen t.v.)

Whereas on a high def channel the films that were actually filmed w/ the 2:40.1 aspect are formatted to fit the screen in 1:85.1 aspect like what was used with videotapes to give it the fullscreen look on your television back in the day. The only high def channel I noticed that keeps movies filmed with the original theatrical 2:40.1 aspect ratio the same is AMC.
-Peter

A: Thanks for that more detailed explanation on why movies on HD channels and Blu-Ray DVD don't have the same dimensions as asked about last week.

Q: What movie do you think has the best use of a song? Some of my favorites are "In Your Eyes" (Say Anything), "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Wayne's World), and "Stuck in the Middle with You" (Reservoir Dogs).
-Dr. Mickhead

A: I take it you mean the use of popular, previously released songs in a movie. Some of my favorites:

"Werewolves of London" while Tom Cruise dominates in pool in Color of Money



"Singing in the Rain" while Alex and the Droogs terrorize the couple in A Clockwork Orange.



Dick Dale and Stevie Ray Vaughn dueting on "Pipeline" in Back to the Beach.



"Sister Christian" when they visit the drug dealer in Boogie Nights



When the guys harmonize to "Afternoon Delight" in Anchorman.



The zombie being beaten with pool cues to "Don't Stop Me Now" in Shaun of the Dead



Q: One of the worst TV edits I have ever seen was for Raw Deal. There's a scence where Arnold is in a womens dressing room. In the original scence the women are topless. In the TV edit they are still topless, but they have men's chests. I always thought that was so bizarre, and creepy as well.

I do need to pick your brain if I may. There is a movie, may be from the 80's. Either one character, or a group of characters go through a revolving door to a building. One of the characters goes all the way around and ends up back outside. He then says, "What a lobby!!" My wife asked me about this the other day and I have been racking my brain to come up with it. Internet searches have turned up nothing. I would appreciate any help, as this is driving me mad...

Thanks.
-Mario

A: That Raw Deal sounds like a bad dream after eating a large anchovy pizza and going straight to sleep.

A poster on the imdb I've Got To Know boards said it was a later Police Academy movie, but couldn't remember which one. After that it jogged my memory and I think Lassard says it in Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach from 1988, but I couldn't verify that. I could watch the movie, but who wants to watch a later Police Academy movie unless being forced at gunpoint.

Q: Anyone seen Prefontaine? Always dug that movie though it got slated, sad-ass ending.
-Elliot



A: Prefontaine from 1997 stars Jared Leto in the title role of the Olympic hopeful long distance runner. A second film on Steve Prefontaine's life Without Limits was released in 1998 starring Billy Crudup. Prefontaine was a college track star at the University of Oregon who set many U.S. records and was preparing for the 1976 Montreal Olympics when he died in a car wreck.

Q: Hey, Leonard. Thanks for the response this week. I recently watched Barton Fink and I have to ask what in the hell is up with the ending? That's not to say I didn't enjoy the movie It just took a bizarre turn. How did you interpret the movie? What do you think was in the briefcase near the end of the film?
-Spaghett



A: Spoilers below. C'mon, if you haven't seen it by now you won't.

From 1991, John Turturro plays the title character, a New York playwright who lands a hit and is given a contract to write screenplays for Capitol Pictures. Fink moves to Hollywood and lives in a run down apartment building. He befriends Charlie (John Goodman) who lives next door and also meets famous writer W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney) and his secretary/girlfriend Audrey (Judy Davis). The movie really takes a turn when Fink has sex with Audrey and wakes up to find her disemboweled by him. Charlie helps to clean everything up. He then leaves on business, but leaves Fink a box that he says has his most loved possessions in it. Two cops tell Fink that Charlie is a crazed killer. This somehow inspires Fink and he whips out the script he was working on. Mayhew then winds up dead and the cops track things back to Fink. Charlie returns to kill the cops and set the hotel on fire. He then tells Fink the box isn't even his. Fink's script is panned by the studio and he wanders off to the beach. There he meets a girl who sits in front of him looking off into the waves. This scene looks exactly like a picture Fink had on his wall. The girl asks what is in the box and Fink says he doesn't know. She asks isn't it his and he says he doesn't know.

For me, the major theme of the movie is the pretentiousness of writers and Hollywood types, of which the Coens were just getting a big snoot full of at the time. Fink goes on about how he is trying to connect, understand and give voice to the common man, yet he never shuts up to listen to him. Notice he always talks over Charlie and he first meets Charlie because he was complaining about him making too much noise. Also note the scene where he gets into the fight at the USO because completing his script is more important to him than young men going off to war. So the woman recreating the scene in Fink's room is the ‘art imitates life' motto, which seems to be lost on Fink. He can't see the real ‘art' right in front of him.

As for what is in the box, the literal guess would be Audrey's head. The more mystical interpretation would be Fink's mind. Notice that he isn't able to write until Charlie gives him the box and Charlie says it never was his. He also screams, "Look upon me! I'll show you the life of the mind!" as he runs down the hallway at the cop, which is the purpose he serves for Fink. The head of Capital Pictures tells Fink that they own his mind and everything he writes. So when the woman asks if what in the box is his, he says he isn't sure.

Going into larger symbolism, the Earle Hotel is hell and Fink basically sold his soul when he left Broadway for Hollywood. As usual, the Coen Brothers deny any heavy symbolism or concrete answers to the mysteries of the film. Ethan said in an interview "Barton Fink does end up telling you what's going on to the extent that it's important to know ... What isn't crystal clear isn't intended to become crystal clear, and it's fine to leave it at that." Meaning, that there are no concrete answers and the film is up to your interpretation and how you interpret it is correct for you.

Q: Question (I feel like Dwight): was the reimagined Battlestar Galactica to the first, and only, show to feature a montage of clips for the upcoming episode right before the episode started (in this case right after the opening video)? I can't recall any others and I'm curious if this was a unique idea or inspired by something else.
-neverAcquiesce

A: Several series before the opening credits have done a ‘last time on' or ‘coming up on' montage of clips. It's almost like a little trailer to encourage you to watch. Off the top of my head, I specifically remember "Dukes of Hazzard," "The Incredible Hulk" and "Murder, She Wrote" having ‘next on' bits. Often times these are cut in syndication to save time and fit in more commercials.

Don't die.

"Me, I just enjoy making things up."