Ask 411 Movies for 10.6.08: The Column Endorsed by Nobody!

Posted by Leonard Hayhurst on 10.06.2008

Celebrity political endorsements, more SNL, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Frank Whaley and banned from talk shows

I returned to the Odd Lots $3 bin this week to get Burt Reynolds in Fuzz, Robert Englund in Phantom of the Opera and Bill Cosby in Leonard Part 6. My name is in the title, how can it be bad?

This week from YouTube we have the Big HeBowski. They needed to be more consistent in who had what voice. And Orko should have been Donnie.



Swoltz pointed out in the comments last week that the picture posted of Mariska Hargitay was photo shopped. I took a closer look at it and he's probably right, but what the hell.



There was also some love for The Adventures of Ford Fairlane from Piperfan01 and JMAC. Hey, I own the movie and think it's fun, but looking over all of the Razzie winners that just stuck out to me. Andrew Dice Clay is no actor.



From 1990, Ford Fairlane (Andrew Dice Clay) is a private detective specializing in cases for rock stars. After Bobby Black (Vince Neil) dies on stage he attempts to find a groupie named Zuzu Petals (Maddie Corman, named after a reference to It's a Wonderful Life) who might have been involved. The eclectic cast includes Priscilla Presley, Wayne Newton, Gilbert Gottfried, Morris Day, Sheila E., Lauren Holly and Ed O'Neil. While the film flopped and was chided by critics, producers at 20th Century Fox thought enough of it to give director Renny Harlin Die Hard 2.

Q: I'd guess that the most used songs in movies and tv are:
It's Just a Shout Away - The Rolling Stones
Fortunate Son - CCR
-Eric von Erich

A: The Rolling Stones song is "Gimme Shelter." I pointed that out in the comments last week, but I wasn't logged in as me. According to imdb, "Gimme Shelter" has been used in The Departed, Layer Cake, The Fan, Casino, The War, Goodfellas and Adventures in Babysitting. Well, we know Martin Scorsese likes the song. The tune also served as the title for the documentary of the Stones' 1969 concert tour. Other frequently used Stones songs include "Satisfaction," "Jumpin' Jack Flash" "Sympathy for the Devil," "Paint it Black" and "Wild Horses."

"Fortunate Son" has appeared in Live Free or Die Hard, The Manchurian Candidate, Prefontaine, Forrest Gump and Crossing the Bridge. Other frequently used Creedence Clearwater Revival songs include "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain." "Run Through the Jungle" and "Up Around the Bend."

Q: Hey Leonard!
Thanks for answering all of the questions I've ever asked so promptly and thoroughly! With that, here's another one:

With the approaching election we are constantly being bombarded with celebrity endorsements of one candidate over another. Could you put up a list for each candidate of who their famous friends are? What is you opinion of celebrities publicly endorsing candidates? Have any celebrity endorsements ever been proven to be a success (or failure) for any presidential nominee?

Thanks for doing what you do, I appreciate it.
~Josh

A: It's not a complete list, but from snooping around here are celebrities I have found who have openly endorsed a candidate or have been linked to a candidate through personal appearances or remarks made.

Barack Obama: Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson, Chuck Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Herbie Hancock, Charles Barkley, Kathleen Turner, Robert DeNiro, Q-Tip, Edward Norton, Common, Ben Affleck, Quest Love, Stevie Wonder, Emilio Estevez, Wyclef Jean, Sharon Stone, Babyface, Jay-Z, John Legend, Diddy, Usher, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Will Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Zach Braff, Nick Cannon (he's hi-larious), Taye Diggs, Jessica Biel, Kerry Washington, Hulk Hogan, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda, Roseanne Barr, Fran Drescher, Lucy Liu, Kathy Griffin, Eddie Murphy, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Rosario Dawson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Pamela Anderson, Jason Alexander, Joan Baez, Meg Ryan, Jodie Foster, Will Ferrell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billy Joel, David Geffen and Warren Buffet.

So basically, hot chicks, black dudes and egotistical douchebags.

John McCain: Angie Harmon, Heidi Montag, David Zucker, Jon Cryer, Craig T. Nelson, Jon Voight, Robert Duvall, Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, Lacey Chabert, Patricia Heaton, Dean Cain, James Caan, Sylvester Stallone, Stephen Baldwin, Robert Davi, Wilford Brimley, Lou Ferrigno, Adam Carolla, Victoria Jackson, Gerald McRaney, Lorenzo Lamas, Kevin Sorbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Selleck, Rip Torn, Dick Van Patten and Gary Sinise.

There's a few A-listers on there, but everyone else would have trouble getting a good table at Waffle House.

Ralph Nader: Sean Penn, Val Kilmer and possibly Tim Robbins who supported Nader last time around.

I thought Obama had the douchebag market covered.

Ron Paul: Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Penn Jillette, Howard Stern and possibly Clint Eastwood.

As you would expect, whack jobs.

Bob Barr: My buddy Dan Weber and that's about it.

Q: I was watching for whatever reason "Drillbit" Taylor the other day and noticed Frank Whaley had a cameo. I'm wondering what ever happened to Frank Whaley, and what warrants him getting an uncredited cameo? Except for Vacancy with Luke Wilson, I can't really think of any other movies he's been in recently where he's gotten credit. Help?
-Luthor

A: You can admit your man crush on Owen Wilson, it's ok.

Of high profile films, Frank Whaley was in World Trade Center in 2006. He's listed to be in the upcoming Aftermath, which is the last movie of Chris Penn, and Thicker about a brother and sister who try to get back their inheritance that their recently deceased mother was buried with.

Whaley, 45, is a native of Syracuse, N.Y. and left home at 18 to pursue acting. He made his directing debut in 1999 with Joe the King featuring his good friend Ethan Hawke and Doors co-star Val Kilmer. He and Hawke founded the Malaparte theater company with Robert Sean Leonard and Steve Zahn. His brother is actor and musician Robert Whaley.



Q: I'm pretty sure Martin Lawrence was later unbanned from SNL as I remember him hosting a second episode a few years later (I think he was promoting Big Mamas House) and he addressed the controversy he created when previously hosted and gave a joking apology about how he was now gonna follow the cue cards.

Anyway, to further the banned question, has anyone been banned from a talk show/game show/hosting something non-SNL related/ etc.?
-JLAJRC

A: From everything I found, Martin Lawrence only made the one appearance and has never returned to "Saturday Night Live."

As depicted in the film American Splendor, comic author Harvey Pekar was kicked off "Late Night with David Letterman" after being very harsh on NBC parent company General Electric and getting into it with Letterman. He was later let back on.

Screenwriter Harmony Korine shoved Meryl Streep in the green room of "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1999 and was banned from the show.

Kathy Griffin has boasted about being banned from "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "The View." However, several of these shows have booked Griffin after she was supposedly banned or claim that she is not.

Joan Rivers was the permanent guest host of "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" in the eighties and looked to be the heir apparent to the throne. However, she left for her own late night show on Fox in 1986 that quickly failed. Carson was mad that Rivers did not talk to him personally about her getting her own show on another network and banned her from "The Tonight Show" along with never speaking to her ever again.

George Carlin was a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" in the seventies and Johnny Carson asked "Saturday Night Live" not to book him when the series debuted. Lorne Michaels reportedly didn't take kindly to Carson thinking he was the king of NBC and booked Carlin to host the very first episode. Due to this, Carson never hosted "SNL" and Michaels never appeared on "The Tonight Show." Oddly, Carson suggested to NBC that they should have original programming on Saturday nights because they were using his reruns and he wanted to save reruns for his own holidays and vacations.

Comedian Charlie Callas was bombing on a 1982 episode of "The Tonight Show" and shoved Carson in desperation to get a laugh. Carson was visibly upset and banned Callas on the spot.

Carson exposed fake mentalist Uri Geller in 1973 with the help of magician James Randi by not allowing Geller or his people to touch any of the props beforehand. Geller was unable to perform any of his ‘feats' successfully. In 1987, Carson used help from Randi again to expose faith healer Randi Popoff. Popoff was receiving information from his wife through an earpiece disguised as a hearing aide. Popoff and Geller were not invited back from what I could find. Randi, of course, was a good friend of Carson's and made several appearances.

Q: With all the talk of SNL last week, who has hosted the show the most and who have been all the anchors on Weekend Update?
-Jim

A: Steve Martin has hosted "SNL" 14 times, including three times in 1978 and once with Chevy Chase and Martin Short to promote Three Amigos. Alec Baldwin has hosted 13 times and has a standing invite to host whenever he would like, along with Christopher Walken who has hosted seven times. Baldwin once hosted with then wife Kim Basinger. John Goodman has hosted 12 times, including a record one episode per season for 11 straight years. Goodman has also guested when he wasn't host and holds the overall record of 21 appearances by a non-cast member. Buck Henry hosted twice a season for the first five seasons for 10 times total. Chevy Chase is the former cast member who has hosted the most with nine times.

Chevy Chase was the first Weekend Update host, but he left after the first season. Jane Curtain then took over until 1980, being paired with Dan Aykroyd and later Bill Murray. She co-anchored one time with Buck Henry. Charles Rocket hosted during his one season on the show. When ratings flagged he was paired with Gail Matthius a few times. In 1981 the segment changed to SNL Newsbreak and was hosted by Brian Doyle Murray, brother of Bill. He had two co-anchors in Christine Ebersole and Mary Gross. The following season it became Saturday Night News with Brad Hall. Various cast members and hosts then anchored the news spot from 1983 to Dec. 1984 when Christopher Guest permanently took over until the end of the season.

Weekend Update returned in 1985 and became more steady with Dennis Miller as anchor from 1985 to 1991 for the longest single anchor tenure. He was replaced by Kevin Nealon in 1991. Norm MacDonald took over in 1994 and was famously taken off the desk in 1997 because NBC West Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer didn't think he was funny. He was replaced by Colin Quinn. Dual anchors returned in 2000 with Jimmy Fallon and Tina Fey. When Fallon left the show, Amy Poehler took over for the first time two females had been put together. Horatio Sanz briefly sat in while Fey was on maternity leave. Poehler and Seth Meyers are the current hosts. Fey has anchored the most with 118 appearances to Miller's 111. Curtain and Fallon are tied for third on the list with 80 appearances. Poehler is fourth at 71 and should take over third place before leaving the series for her own show.

Don't die.

"That's the news and I'm outta here!"