Ask 411 Movies for 4.7.08: The Column that Skates or Dies!

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 04.07.2008

Gleaming the Cube, Confessions of a Superhero, Maud Adams, Charles Gray, Charlton Heston, Zelda movie hoax and a YouTube video you have to see!

I can't reveal where I got this from, but I have exclusive footage from Woody Allen's new film Vicky Cristina Barcelona of a lesbian scene between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. Check it out.







YOU GOT RICK ROLLED! And Muppet Rick rolled at that.

I bought Turner Classic Movies DVD guide as done through Movies Unlimited. Basically, it seems like Movies Unlimited's standard sales book with a TCM inspired cover. The book features breakout boxes on such ‘classic' stars as Adam Sandler and the Wayans Brothers. Not that I don't mind having a thumbnail DVD reference guide at my fingertips, but I think the commercial I saw on TCM was misleading. This makes the first time Robert Osborne has ever lied to me.



Director Jules Dassin died last Monday of complications from the flu. He was 96. Dassin was nominated for Oscars for best director and best screenplay in 1960 for Never on a Sunday. His other films include Topkapi, The Canterville Ghost, Night and the City, Thieves Highway, The Naked City, Up Tight! and Circle of Two.



Actor Charlton Heston, 84, died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills. Cause of death has not been released. He won the Oscar for best actor in 1960 for Ben-Hur. His other films include The Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, The Omega Man, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Naked Jungle, The Ten Commandments, Touch of Evil, El Cid, Major Dundee, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Airport 1975, Earthquake and Tombstone.



NETFLIX MOVIE OF THE WEEK: CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO



This documentary traces four actors who make ends meet by playing super heroes in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard in California. Batman is a George Clooney look alike with a dark past and anger management issues. Superman claims to the son of Sandy Dennis and is obsessed with the man of steel. Wonder Woman is a small town Southern girl who like many before her went to Hollywood with stars in her eyes. The Incredible Hulk is a black man who lived through the L.A. Riots and homelessness to pursue his dream of Hollywood stardom. All of these people are mentally unhinged in one way or another, but also somehow likable in one way or another too. They don't have any delusions as to where they are, but they do have delusions as to where they are going. The piece skips around a bit too much without focus and some elements seem staged, such as Batman visiting a psychiatrist in costume. It is an interesting look at a very unique, very small subculture.

Q: Don't know if this quite counts, but Martin Lawrence played about three or four other characters outside of his main character in his old sitcom.
-JLAJRC

A: I think the idea was they were asking about an actor who played completely different characters on various guest appearances than something like Martin Lawrence as the star of his own sitcom playing various characters in make up. This happens often in films, Eddie Murphy and Peter Sellers have done this on several occasions. The record for one actor playing the most parts in one film would seem to go to Alec Guiness who played nine different characters in the film Kind Hearts and Coronets in 1948.



Q: This has to do with your question about Joe Don Baker playing 2 different characters in Bond films. That's not the first time that happened, not only did Maud Adams play 2 different Bond girls in Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy, but Charles Gray went from an ally of Bonds in You Only Live Twice to Blofeld, of all people, in Diamonds Are Forever. My question is why did they feel the need to use the same actors in different rolls? Was there really no one else who could have played Blofeld in 1971?
Thanks
-Quint

A: Thanks for writing in. I glossed over that portion of the question last week, but I was aware of those instances.

Originally considered for Octopussy were Persis Khambatta, Faye Dunaway and Sybil Danning. When they all fell through and time was running thin, Roger Moore suggested bringing back Adams who he enjoyed working with on The Man with the Golden Gun and had become friends with. Producers balked at using her twice, but they wound up not having another choice. Adams actually appeared in three Bond films as she is an extra in A View to a Kill because she was visiting Moore on set one day and just wound up in a shot.



I couldn't find an official reason as to why Charles Gray was brought back as Blofeld in Diamonds are Forever after playing Henderson in You Only Live Twice. I would guess it's a similar case to Adams above where Connery and others remembered working with him and liked him enough to bring him in for a pivotal role that was hard to cast. I happen to like Gray a lot in the film, although I don't care much for the movie itself. It's too campy without any of the self-awareness that the Moore films had. David Bauer who plays Morton Slumber in the film also has a bit part in You Only Live Twice as an American diplomat.



And just for fun, pics of the Bond girls from that film, Lana Wood and Jill St. John.





Q: Hey Leonard, I got a question that I hope you can either answer in the column, or preferably respond to this email, because the question has been bugging me.

Back in the 80's there was a Christian Slater movie. The movie as I knew it was called 'Gleaming the Cube'. Upon a visit to my cousin's house, he started talking about this movie that was called 'A Brothers Justice' and the plot he outlined was identical to the plot of 'Gleaming the Cube'. Turns out, after a viewing of this Brother's Justice that it is in fact the same movie.

Anyway, the discussion came up again between us recently, and an internet search came up with the fact that the movie title was changed when the movie aired on television. What was lacking, was any explanation about why this change was made. Can you shed some light on this subject? Why was the title changed, as the change almost mirrored the title of a Keanu Reeves movie of about the same time frame, called "Brotherhood of Justice".? What was the motivation for this? Also which title gained the movie more popularity, and what is it known by to most?

As I said I really don't mind if you want to save the column for other questions, as I would appreciate an email response to this, so I can finally get it out of my head.
-Todd



A: As a note, I usually don't give individual email responses, unless I'm in a really, really good mood, so don't ask.

Gleaming the cube was a term invented for this movie, but has become a skateboarding term. As the story goes, the son of one of the producer's of the film was a skater and also liked to make up nonsensical phrases. His dad heard him say to a friend one day that he was "really gleaming the cube" and he liked the sound of it. It basically means to reach your peak or go to the edge as it came to use. There is a scene in the movie where the ‘cube' is described as the place you go to skate by yourself and let your emotions out. The movie did poorly at the box office and it was thought it was because filmgoers didn't know what the title meant or were turned off by a skateboarding movie targeted at teens. So it was changed to A Brother's Justice in some outlets because it was thought to be more marketable by being more generic. The film has gained a cult following over the years, especially in the skateboarding community, under the original title and was released for DVD under that title in 1999 and 2002. So I would say more people know it by that name.

Apparently the working title was Skate or Die after the Nintendo video game, but I couldn't find if that was dropped due to rights issues or they just didn't think the title would work. It's known under many different names in other countries. In Denmark it's Downtown Hero. In Italy it's California Skate. In France it's called Skate Rider. Again, this ties back to people in other nations not knowing what gleaming the cube means and being confused by it.

The movie was filmed in 1987, but didn't receive a limited theater release until 1989. Christian Slater plays a teen skateboarder who looks to avenge the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother. Stacy Peralta was the stunt coordinator on the film and many top skaters of the time served as stuntman. Tony Hawk and Tommy Guerrero appear in the movie as friends of Slater.

Q: Leonard,

Thank you again for answering questions. And if I do come up with a dozen at a shot, I will give you my address, just to meet you for that half a second before you deck me.

I came across this movie trailer, and I was wondering if it was real or fake. If you notice the release date, I think it is fake. If it is, then it is really well done.

http://www.curse.com/videos/details/1321/

What's the word on the WarCraft movie? And do you think it will be more suck than rock? We all know the track record of video game to movie transitions. Something has to break through and have that "whoa, that was awesome!" effect.

That's it this time.
-Paul in Canada



A: The trailer was done by IGN as an April Fool's joke. It's not real. However, it was an elaborate one as Rainfall Films and Sam Balcomb spent three months creating the trailer with filming and special effects post-production.

At BlizzCon in August 2007, it was revealed that the Warcraft movie was shooting for a 2009 release date and be PG-13 in rating. The movie would take place about a year before the storyline of the game. Thomas Tull of Legendary Pictures said the film would focus more on the war aspect than the quest aspect. No cast, crew or script elements have been revealed yet. The projected budget will be $100 million.

Most video game films have bombed. I think it's a combination of game fans being unhappy with the translation, critics not getting it and the general filmgoer not caring. Video games can be one dimensional in characters and storyline. They can be hard to adapt by staying true to the fantastical world of the game while trying to be more realistic and cinematic. I think the right game hasn't been chosen yet for adaptation with the right personnel and approach. What game that would be, I couldn't tell you as I'm not really a gamer. Now if we could get a good live action Burger Time movie.

Don't die.

"If my dog had a face like yours I'd shave his ass and tell him to walk backwards."