Ask 411 Movies for 09.29.08: Déjà vu All Over Again

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 09.29.2008

Product placements, TV crossovers, Oscar upsets, Andy Griffith, John Ritter, banned from SNL and the passing of Paul Newman

Oscar winning actor Paul Newman, 83, died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, at his farmhouse in Westport, Conn. after a long battle with cancer.

Newman won the best acting Oscar in 1986 for Color of Money and also starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hud, The Verdict, Nobody's Fool, The Road to Perdition, Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, The Long Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Slap Shot, Absence of Malice and many more.

Newman was a racing enthusiast. He served in the Navy during World War II and afterwards attended Kenyon College and studied at Yale. He was also the founder of the Hole in the Wall Gang, a camp for children with cancer, and Newman's Own, a charitable company that marketed salad dressing, salsa and other products under Newman's name.

Newman is survived by his wife, actress Joanne Woodward and their daughters Elinor, Melissa and Clea. Newman had three children from a previous marriage to Jacqueline Witte; Susan, Stephanie and Scott. Scott died of a drug overdose in 1978 and Newman established a foundation in his name to produce anti-drug films for kids. He is also survived by two grandsons and an older brother, Arthur.



I will not reprint, but I will mention that in the comments last week was an odd rant from Serge about Scarlett Johansson being a clone of a German girl. If this is true, where can I buy one? Do they eat much? Can you fold them up and store them under your bed when not in use? Are they really expensive, because Christmas is coming you know?



From YouTube last week we had the old Ronnie Milsap video "She Loves my Car." I challenged people to identify the main girl. It was Mariska Hargitay of "Law and Order SVU' sporting some bitching eighties hair and serious gams. Hargitay has great genes, but she never shows them off. For those who don't know, she is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield.



This week from YouTube we have the Big Wazowski. It's Monsters, Inc. dubbed with dialogue from The Big Lebowski. John Goodman and Steve Buscemi do appear in the both. It could have been done a bit better, but it's funny.



Wal-Mart must have heard that I was stepping out on their dump bin at Odd Lots, because they put some good stuff in there. I picked up Robocop, Bull Durham, Silence of the Lambs and Dukes of Hazzard and Starsky and Hutch on one disc. I'll pay $2.50 to be mildly amused.

Q: I recently read that Louise Lasser was banned from ever hosting SNL again because Lorne Michaels thought her episode was terrible. Personally, after watching it on the DVD SNL Season 1 set, I didn't really find it to be bad at all. But this did get me thinking, which celebrities have been banned from talk shows/game shows/hosting something/etc. for whatever reason?
-JLAJRC

A: The deal with Louise Lasser is that she was apparently undergoing "personal problems" and was incoherent through most of her show. Lorne Michaels never wanted the episode repeated, but it did go into syndication after he left as producer in 1981.

"SNL" actually has a pretty extensive banned list.

Charles Grodin hosted one time in 1977. He never showed for rehearsals and due to that ad-libbed many of his lines and threw everyone off.

Milton Berle hosted in 1979 and was banned because Michaels felt that Berle mugged to the camera too much, was too reliant on cue cards, overacted, slipped in his old bits and tried deliberately to upstage other performers. This episode was banned from rebroadcast until 2003.

Robert Blake was banned from hosting in 1982 when he crumpled up a script and threw it at writer Gary Kroeger.

Infamously in 1982 fans were allowed to call a 900 number to vote on whether Andy Kaufman should ever be allowed back on the show. The fans voted him off forever. This was actually Kaufman's idea to do.

Steven Seagal was banned from hosting after a 1991 appearance for being difficult to work with. Allegedly, a year later Nicholas Cage apologized to Lorne Michaels for the way he was acting and said he must be the biggest jerk they have ever had. Michaels told him he was being hard on himself and the biggest jerk ever was Seagal.

Martin Lawrence was banned in 1994 for a monologue that featured heavy talk about ‘female genitalia.' In rebroadcasts of the episode the monologue has been omitted and text goes over what Lawrence generally said.

Chevy Chase was banned from hosting "SNL" ever again in 1997 after 9 appearances and serving as a cast member in the first season. Chase was known for always being rude to the crew. However, Chase has made some cameos since that time.

Adrien Brody was banned in 2003 after improvising an introduction for musical act Sean Paul. Brody wore fake dreadlocks and used a fake Jamaican accent. Brody also called Sean Paul "Sean John." Lorne Michaels insists that any and all ideas be run by him first.

Several musical acts have also been banned from the show including Sinead O'Connor, Fear, The Replacements, Frank Zappa and Cypress Hill. Zappa was also host in a 1978 episode where he alienated everyone in the cast, save for John Belushi, with his odd humor. Elvis Costello and the Attractions were banned at one point for switching songs, but that was lifted.

Q: Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression got me thinking about other iconic political SNL impressions. You had Aykroyd as Carter, Chevy as Ford, Dana as Bush the elder, Hartman and Hammond as Clinton, and Will Ferrell as W, but for the life of me I can't remember anyone doing a Reagan impression. He's a 2 term president that i can't remember a single sketch about. So, who did do the Ronald Reagan impression for SNL.
-Othello

A: As David pointed out in the comments last week, Phil Hartman played Ronald Regan in a memorable sketch where he was doddering in public, but take charge and smart behind closed doors. Darth Mortis also mentioned that Randy Quaid played Regan during his one season on the show. Joe Piscopo also played Reagan during his four seasons on the show and was the series main impressionist during his time there.

Q: I was watching Batman '89 today and noticed something. When Jack makes his first appearance in full Joker make-up there is a very noticeable blue spot on the side of his neck. Any idea what this is?
-Byron

A: Marc replied in the comments last week that director Tim Burton in his commentary for the first movie said that they used shoe polish to cover a spot on the Joker's jacket and that it rubbed off on Nicholson's face. Do they make purple shoe polish for pimps?

Q: Anyway, I don't know if you watch the Sci-Fi show "Eureka" but it's been kinda obnoxious this year with the Degree Deordorant product placement. From seconds long shots of it on desks to actually having it save the characters lives in the last episode. Now, I'm not anti-product placement at all. In fact, I actually prefer seeing someone using a brand name product in stead of "Brand X" whatever. But this is really pushing it. So what I want to know is what are some of the worst product placements in movies/tv you've ever seen. What are some of the best?
-JLAJRC

A: Darth Mortis suggested Xenadrine from Terminator 3 as the worst product placement and the product placement scene from Return of the Killer Tomatoes as one of the best.



Best part of the clip is Clooney saying "who cares about the actor's guild?"

In one of the most famous product placements ever Reese's Pieces boosted their sales by 65% by appearing in E.T.. Urban legend has it that the Mars Company pulled their M & M's from the movie because they thought it would flop or that they didn't want their candy associated with aliens. In reality Hershey just outbid them for the product placement. The novel of the movie of the film actually mentions M & M's as the candy eaten.

Back to the Future didn't do much for the sales of the DeLorean DMC 12 because they had already ceased production. The movie did make the car a cult favorite. It was chosen due to its ‘futuristic' design and appearance. In earlier drafts of the script the secret ingredient to time travel was to be Coca-Cola. This was dropped and it should be mentioned that star Michael J. Fox was a spokesman for Pepsi and that brand does factor into the original and second film. In fact the whole trilogy has tons of product placements. Another real notable one is Joe Flaherty as a diligent Western Union man delivering Doc's message to Marty and Mattel hover boards in part two. In the first movie California Raisins negotiated to be a primary sponsor. However, it was determined that a bowl of raisins would look like a bowl of dirt on film and nothing could be thought to do with them. The only showing they have in the movie is when Marty jumps over a park bench advertising them.

Don Knotts left "The Andy Griffith Show" for a five picture deal with Universal. The first of which was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. A repeated gag in the film was that a piano in a haunted house was stained with blood and nothing could clean it not even Bon Ami. Universal wanted clearance from the company before using the line, but didn't make any progress. Finally, Knotts himself had his secretary call the company and eventually they made it to the president. Knotts explained the bit and the president loved it. He gave his consent and Bon Ami rose from obscurity and near disappearance. Oddly enough the mascot of the cleaning product is a yellow chicken.

1949 saw the Marx Brothers in their last official film together Love Happy. In an early example of blatant product placement Harpo is chased across buildings with various advertising billboards. In the end he escapes on Mobil Gas' flying red horse logo.

In one of the few good gags in Demolition Man starring Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock, it's revealed in the future that Taco Bell will win the great restaurant wars and that all restaurants in the future will be Taco Bells. For some foreign releases of the film all references to Taco Bell were changed to Pizza Hut with dubbing and digital editing. YUM! Brands owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut along with Long John Silver's, A&W and KFC. The biggest product placement of a fast food joint in a film has to be Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle where getting to the burger chain was central to the plot. However, there is no White Castle in Cherry Hill, New Jersey where the movie is set. Hot Dog Heaven also featured in the film only exists in two cities in Ohio.

Q: A couple weeks ago, I asked about the best acting performances ever. (One correction Jimmy Stewart did not win for Mr Smith; Mr. Chips won for Goodbye Mr. Chips; Steawrt won the next year for the Philadelphia Story).

Thus 2 related questions:
1) Who was the most screwed for best acting oscar in any of the 4 acting categories? I already mentioned Mr. Smith. I would say Russell Crowe (Gladiator) over Tom Hanks (Castaway), Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) over Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven), Art Carney (Harry and Tonto) over Al Pacino (Godfather 2), Cuba Gooding Jr (Jerry Maguire) over Edward Norton (Primal Fear). Sorry couldn't think of any for actresses.

2) Who has done the worst acting performance ever? I am talking 1 movie not whole career.
-David

A: I didn't know you were implying everyone you mentioned had won best acting Oscars or I would have corrected you. Many thought Stewart had been screwed over in the past and the win for The Philadelphia Story was a make up Oscar. Of course, this took some thunder from Cary Grant who many thought deserved a nomination. Robert Donat played Mr. Chips.

Tom Hanks already had two Oscars and he didn't need a third. I was pulling for Ed Harris in Pollock. I've talked about Art Carney's win before. Carney was seen as a sentimental favorite and primarily won because fellow nominees Al Pacino, Albert Finney and Dustin Hoffman said they would refuse the Oscar if they won. The last nominee, Jack Nicholson for Chinatown, was seen as a young turk too and with George C. Scott and Marlon Brando refusing Oscars recently they wanted to play it as safe as possible. A few more below.

Best Actor for Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful in 1999: 1998 was considered a very weak year, but no one gave a comedic actor in a foreign film a chance of winning, especially me. Ian McKellen for Gods and Monsters and Nick Nolte for Affliction were considered the sentimental favorites, while Edward Norton was garnering support among the younger members of the academy for American History X and Tom Hanks for Saving Private Ryan was viewed as the Academy's favorite son in recent years. Both Life is Beautiful and best picture winner Shakespeare in Love are seen to have won due to the furious campaigning of distributor Miramax Films and the fairly recent practice of sending screener copies to voters.

Best Supporting Actress for Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny in 1993: This is one of the most famous upsets in Oscar history. Conventional wisdom says that the occasional xenophobia of the Academy reared it's head as Tomei was the only American in a field of Brits that included Joan Plowright for Enchanted April, Miranda Richardson for Fatale, Vanessa Redgrave for Howard's End and Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives. It is interesting to note that this was before the practice of sending out screener copies and My Cousin Vinny was the only film of this group that was easy to find and see in theaters. Rumors abound that presenter Jack Palance, winner of best supporting actor the previous year for City Slickers, either announced Tomei as the winner because he forgot his glasses and couldn't read the name on the card or did it as a joke. The Academy was too embarrassed to admit the error and never corrected it. Tomei poked fun of this when she hosted "Saturday Night Live" and did a monologue revealing that every major accomplishment in her life had came at the hands of Jack Palance, including winning the employee of the month at a Hardee's that Jack Palance was the manager of and she didn't even work there.

Best Actor for Richard Dreyfuss for the The Goodbye Girl in 1978: Forget other nominees John Travolta for Saturday Night Fever, Marcello Mastrioanni for A Special Day and Woody Allen in Annie Hall. This award was about one guy, Richard Burton in Equus. Burton has 7 total nominations without a win. Burton hadn't made a film in three years when he returned to the screen to make both Equus and The Exorcist II. It was pretty much a done deal that Burton was finally going to win his Oscar, but the Academy doesn't like being told what to do. Rumor is that a large block of anti-Burton voters assembled to give the award to Dreyfuss just to mess with Burton's mind. Several people said that they saw Burton jump out of his seat as soon as the presenter read "Richard" off the card. That's just cruel.

Asking about the best or worst anything is very subjective. Usually the common answer for worst acting performance in a big time, mainstream film is Sophia Coppola in Godfather III. However, it should be kept in mind that she stepped in at the last moment because Winona Ryder bailed and her father Francis Ford Coppola was being pressured by Paramount studio heads to have the movie ready to go for Oscar consideration that year.

Since you put so much stock in the Oscars for your worst acting performance question let's go to the Oscar's black sheep brother in the Razzies. Looking at their list of past winners I'll go with Andrew Dice Clay in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Pia Zadora in The Lonely Lady, Marlon Brando in The Island of Dr. Moreau and Paris Hilton for House of Wax.

Q: Has Andy Griffith ever been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by any of the "big" award ceremonies? It seems like he should at least be given a honorary Oscar for all of the brilliant work he's done (especially his villainous work). I mean, he's a guy that I know everyone will miss when he's gone, so don't you think people should honor the guy BEFORE he passes away and isn't there to see all of his peers who respect and admire his work?

Where do you think John Ritter stands on the "all time greatest" list? Would he even rank on it, or did he play it safe too often? I love Ritter, loved his work on Three Company, 8 Simple Rules, both of his supporting roles with Billy Bob Thorton, and a really funny turn with Jim Belushi. Still, I think he played it safe too often, by picking projects that were a little on the corny side, just to keep his "image" of a wacky guy intact. Am I wrong in thinking this, have I missed some other roles and series he's done that would show he took risks?

GRUDGE MATCH: Clint Eastwood vs Spike Lee. They may have patched things up now, but I know there's still some anger issues left over. So... If you compared their directorial films face to face in an all out brawl, who would win?

What happened to John Singleton? Poor guy's fallen so far off the radar he waved at Yahoo Serious on the way down. Hell, what happened to Yahoo Serious?

-Frosty

A: Andy Griffith won the People's Choice Award in 1987 for best male TV performer in "Matlock" and the TV Land Legends Award in 2004 for "The Andy Griffith Show." He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only major competitive award he's ever been nominated for was best supporting actor in a miniseries Emmy for "Murder in Texas" in 1981.

As I've stated before, Griffith gave one of the best lead acting performances ever in A Face in the Crowd, but he wound up taking the character home and scaring his family and friends. He then vowed never to play a part like that again. Villainous roles he took after were usually humorous, such as in Rustler's Rhapsody or in the TV movie "Gramps" opposite John Ritter. Dramatic roles he usually took were lighter or played off of his homespun persona. I was going to post Andy Griffith's recent appearance in the Brad Paisley video "Waiting on a Woman," but the below clip cracked my shit up. Griffith is a pretty underrated musician too.





That's James Best on electric guitar.

John Ritter probably makes my underrated list with Andy Griffith, but wouldn't be near my all time greatest list. There is some of what you say about Ritter playing it safe, but usually when he tried to crossover it didn't work out for him. I was a fan of "Hooperman" though. His most famous dramatic turn was probably as gay manager Vaughan in Sling Blade. Mario in the comments last week mentioned a guest spot Ritter did on "Law & Order: SVU" shortly before his death. Basically, Ritter was a very gifted comedic actor and I think he probably preferred to channel his energies in that way.



Here's the short of the feud, Spike Lee chastised Clint Eastwood for not including any black soldiers in his films Flags of Our Fathers and Sands of Iwo Jima. Lee said that if the media has any balls they would ask Eastwood why. Eastwood responded with "a guy like him should shut his face." There is also the element that Eastwood was trying to be historically accurate and no black soldiers were involved in raising the flag at Iwo Jima. By a similar token we could ask why none of the soldiers in Lee's new Miracle at St. Anna's are white, gay, handicapped, Jewish or any number of other traits. Eastwood has used African American actors in plenty of his other movies, including directing Morgan Freeman to a best supporting actor win for Million Dollar Baby and doing a bio-pic of jazz legend Charlie Parker. So, I'm siding with Eastwood here.

As far as comparing films, the men are both gifted yet very different filmmakers. I think Eastwood has shown a little more variety in projects than Lee and a tighter style as a visual storyteller. If they have a similarity it's that both work well with actors and usually obtain solid performances from their casts by exhibiting the right amount of control and allowing the right amount of freedom.

John Singleton is currently in pre-production on the new A-Team movie and is currently filming Tulia reuniting Billy Bob Thorton and Halle Berry. Berry plays a Texas lawyer defending a group of black men wrongly accused of being involved in a drug ring. Singleton has also been announced as the director on Luke Cage with Tyrese Gibson tapped to star as the Marvel Comics hero.

Yahoo Serious has written, directed and starred in three films. Young Einstein in 1988 became a surprise hit. He wasn't able to get out a follow up until 1993's Reckless Kelly, which bombed as did 1999's Mr. Accident. In 2000, he sued the search engine Yahoo for taking his name, but he could not prove that he sold any merchandise under the name of Yahoo only or that the search engine caused him any personal harm or confusion in the market place. His real name is Greg Pead. Most recently he's been recognized for his work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as a director and conductor.



Q: I do have a few questions for the column...

1). I know that popular music is used in alot of movies and tv shows to enhance scenes. Is there any record of the song used the most in either medium? The only one that comes to mind is Mad World by Gary Jules, which has been use din alot of TV shows(Jericho, CSI, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, Wow CBS really likes this song!)

2.)With the current remake crazy trend in Hollywood, how long do you think it will be before we start to see remakes of remakes? Or has this already been done?
-Mario

A: I would take it you want to know what popular or modern song has been used most in movies and not commonly known ditties such as "Happy Birthday" or "Row, Row Your Boat." Naturally, the Beatles are probably the act whose songs have appeared in the most films with over 180. The most popular Beatles songs to be used are "With a Little Help From My Friends," Yesterday," "Hey Jude," "She Loves You" and "Let it Be." I've fielded the question before and it's hard to find and exact answer.

Remakes of remakes have already been made. Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been made four times, including last year's The Invasion. Including a TV version, The Front Page has been remade five times and turned into a short lived TV series. This includes His Girl Friday where Hildy Johnson was gender flipped to a woman and the direct remake of that Switching Channels that updated the newspaper to a television news network. King Kong has been made three times.

Then there are films that aren't necessarily remakes, but based on the same story. There have been many retellings of Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral including Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Hour of the Gun, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and My Darling Clementine.

Q: Speaking of Michael Ironside, is there another actor who has lost more body parts than him, he lost an arm in the machinist, both arms in total recall, both legs in starship troopers and his head in highlander 2, that's quite the list!!
-Reido

A: Ironside also plays an amputee in Guy X. He was up for the title role of Robocop, but was too big for the suit. If he would have played that part, he would have been taken apart again. I would say your pick of Ironside is a good one as I couldn't really think of anyone else and research didn't reveal anyone else who had lost so many body parts in so many films.

Q: Great column again this week.

I was bored up here at work and just watched a few episodes of Diagnosis Murder. Well, on these episode, there were several guest stars who reprised characters from other series.

Matlock was on one, as was Mannix and a ton of other stars playing their old roles.

Has any other television show done this before? (other than the Simpsons naturally) It seems like it would be a fun little throwback to older series and to reward fans of the other series too.
-Rust

A: JLAJRC mentioned in the comments section how Mr. Drummond and Arnold appeared in an episode of the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire." It was the next to last episode where Phil was looking to sell the house. The Jeffersons also made a cameo.

Earlier this year we discussed what actor has played the same character on the most shows and TV crossovers in general. Richard Belzer has played Det. John Munch on "Homicide," "Law & Order SVU," "Law & Order," "Law & Order Trial by Jury," "The Beat," "The Wire," "Arrested Development" and "X-Files." To expand his universe, Alfre Woodward appeared on "Homicide" as Dr. Roxanne Turner from "St. Elsewhere." The ending of that series saw Dr. Westfall's son Tommy staring into a snow globe and it was revealed that the whole series took place in his head. If that idea is expanded upon then there are literally hundreds of television shows that exist in his mind as well, such as all the above mentioned Munch shows and also notably "Cheers" as one episode of "St. Elsewhere" had some of the doctors having a drink at "Cheers." Then from there Frasier Crane once gave a talk on Nantucket Island on "Wings" and John Hemighway of "The John Larroquette Show" once called into Frasier's talk show. I could go on and on, just check this link: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html that was provided by Patt Erson many moons ago.

I've got a question from Josh about what celebrities endorse what candidates that I'm going to save for next week.

Don't die.

"Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand."