In the 79th reel of COL Movies, the boys go back in time to solve the mystery of 1985’s “Clue”. After the FBI breaks that case, they head to the theater to watch Leonardo DiCaprio play the originator of the FBI in “J. Edgar” (or Jedgar). Since Leo looked so much like a Muppet with all of that make-up on, they decide to review the trailer for the revival of “The Muppets”. In news, they talk about the possibility of the Dr. Who movie, a live-action/CGI Lego movie, and Eddie’s out and Billy’s in for the Oscars. It’s the 79th reel of COL Movies…”I don’t know, he’s on everybody else’s, why shouldn’t he be on mine?”

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News:

• David Yates to direct a Dr Who movie?
• Live action CGI Lego movie greenlit? 
• Eddie Murphy steps away, Billy Crystal is hosting the Academy Awards..again!

The Past:Clue (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 70% Fresh, 85% Audience

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Director: Jonathan Lynn

Starring: Tim Curry, Madelin Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull

Trivia:

• Prof. Plum indicates at dinner that he works for the World Health Organization, part of the United Nations Organization. This means he works for UNO WHO.
• Three endings were shot, and a different one shown at each theater. All three are included on video. The DVD, however, aside from all three endings, also offers the option to play the movie with one randomly selected ending. In some cities, the newspaper print ads indicated which version (“Ending A”, “Ending B” or “Ending C”) was being shown at each theater.
• The parquet floor in the Hall resembles the ‘Clue’ game board.
• There are few departures from the original board game; in the movie the hall has been transformed into part of the playing board and has been replaced by the front doors. This was probably done so that the rooms didn’t have to stand alone.
• Eileen Brennan also starred in the film adaptation of Murder by Death, Neil Simon’s parody of murder mysteries.
• Differences in two weapons in the film include that the revolver in the board game is most commonly a pepperbox revolver (an early 1800s revolver with the six bullet chambers jutting out from the main gun parts). However, it is changed to a regular .38 caliber revolver to possibly keep up with the modern time period the film is set in. The lead pipe in the game was also bent at an angle, to emphasize the fact that it was (possibly) used in Mr. Boddy’s murder; the film shows it completely straight.
• The first movie based on a board game.
• in the movie, “Hill House”, was named after the producer of the movie, Debra Hill.
• Madeline Kahn ad-libbed the short monologue about her hatred for Yvette the French maid.
• The screams heard when the characters rush to the maid in the billiard room are not from the actress playing the maid. They are from the actress playing Miss Scarlett, from the scenes where the dead body of the cook and the live body of Wadsworth fall out of the meat locker.
• There is an inscription over the fireplace which reads “Nouveau Riche Oblige”.
• The color of each characters car is the same color as their playing piece in the game.
• The term ‘Schtupping’ is actually a crude German/Yiddish word for the sex act; this is why Madeline Kahn’s character in Blazing Saddles is named “Lilly Von Schtupp” for rather obvious reasons.
• The actor playing Mr. Boddy is the front man of the punk rock band Fear, and was chosen because his name is Lee Ving – Mr. Boddy will be ‘LeaVing’ soon.
• Kellye Nakahara’s movie debut.
• The line “And monkey’s brains, although popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington DC” appears in two of the filmed endings.
• During the scene in the kitchen at the beginning of the movie where Wadsworth is checking on dinner, you can see the Senator McCarthy hearings playing on the television. Thus another of the movie’s references to the communist scare during the 50’s.
• The murder scenes from the movie are an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians.
• In the theatrical trailer, John Morris’ score is not used. In it’s place is Elmer Bernstein’s score from Airplane!.
• The song Yvette is dancing to in the beginning of the film, “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” is the version recorded by Bill Haley & The Comets, only it is sped up with the pitch increased. This trick was also used in Airplane! in which the BeeGees song “Stayin’ Alive” is also played in a sped up version.
• In the board game, only Professor Plum and Colonel Mustard any identifiable backgrounds given their titles. All of the other characters’ backgrounds are left ambiguous. However, on some editions of the board game, the covers show Mrs. White dressed as a maid.
• In an interview conducted in November 2009, Jonathan Lynn stated that he had cast the film himself. He said that whilst actors were recommended to him via the casting department, it was his final decision on whom he would cast.His original choice for Wadsworth was British actor Leonard Rossiter, most famous for the role of Rigsby in Rising Damp, but he sadly passed away in 1984 just prior to pre-production, he was followed by Rowan Atkinson who was well known in England for his roles in Not the Nine O’Clock News and The Black Adder, but the studio felt he was to unknown to American audiences to be the leading actor in an American Production. Ironically Atkinson would go on to huge success with his character Mr. Bean in America some years later.Jonathan Lynn had known Tim Curry since they were teenagers, and personally asked him to be in the film.
• The phone in the lounge lists the number as YL-7091. The corresponding number prefix (95) was reserved for radio station use in the 1950s.
• John Cleese was considered for the role of Wadsworth.
• According to an interview with writer Jonathan Lynn, after a screening on the 25th Anniversary of the film’s release, Carrie Fisher was originally to have been cast as Miss Scarlett, until she ended up in rehab four days before filming started. Lesley Ann Warren was a last-minute substitute.
• Mrs. Peacock’s car is a Packard.
• One of the photos burnt is a photo of Colonel Mustard and a soldier, both in US Army dress uniform. The soldier is likely his driver and the Motorist.
• The film takes place in “New England,” as revealed in the opening scenes. Soon after, Miss Scarlet is picked up by Professor Plum and explains that she is on her way to Hill House, which is “off Route 41.” In real-life New England, there is a Route 41 that spans the northwestern section of Connecticut, continuing through the southwestern section of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. So, Hill House, story-wise, is located in either of these two New England states.
• In the opening scene when Wadsworth checks on Mrs. Ho the cook, the live-televised Army-McCarthy hearings are on the kitchen’s television. One phrase spoken by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy that can be heard clearly as Wadsworth departs, is “…professors and teachers, who are getting their orders from Moscow…” This Senate hearing is also the same one in which the famous quote of ‘…Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?’ is spoken by Head Counsel for the Army Joseph Welch. With the coverage of the hearings taking place on live television, the events of the movie take place on Wednesday June 09, 1954.
• After the production concluded, the mansion set was bought by the producers of Dynasty, who used it as The Carlton Hotel.
• While all the other rooms in Hill House were constructed on a sound stage, the room used for the Ballroom was actually located within the house used for the establishing matte shot, 160 S. San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena.
• The painting behind Mr. Boddy’s chair in the dining room depicts Mr. Boddy in a butler’s uniform, foreshadowing the revelation in Ending C that Mr. Boddy was the real butler.
• Originally, there were endings in which each character killed off everyone once, and then the ending where they all did it. However, the final cut would have made the movie over two and a half hours, and director Lynn thought it to be excessive, hence the three endings that are in the final cut.
• When walking through the hall to the library, Col. Mustard pauses to look up at the chandelier that later in the film, almost kills him.
• There was actually a fourth ending scripted and shot, in which Wadsworth committed all the murders out of a twisted need for perfection in his life. He reveals that he poisoned everyone with a slow-acting toxin in their drinks. It ended with Wadsworth being killed by dogs as he attempted to escape by car from the house. The rather grim nature of the ending is probably why it was never released. It was never shown because the film makers thought the ending would have been too obvious – it only survives in the novelization and the storybook, which features but a single photo from that ending (the Chief punching Wadsworth in the stomach).
• The line, “Communism was just a red herring,” is said in all three endings (twice by Wadsworth and once by Miss Scarlet), and it is a pun. Particularly after World War II, the Russian communists were frequently called “Reds”, for example in the anti-communist slogan, “Better dead than Red.”
• When Wadsworth cuts the power to the house during his solving of the mystery, it represents the point of divergence of the three endings.
• We learn that Mr. Green is being blackmailed because he is a homosexual working for the government. Later on, J. Edgar Hoover calls the house. In “Ending C” where everyone is guilty, we learn that Mr. Green is really an FBI agent sent in to infiltrate the blackmailer. In a couple of ironic twists, J. Edgar Hoover has long been suspected of being a homosexual and in the 1950’s, Hoover started a case called “Operation: Babydoll” in which he gathered intelligence on possible homosexuals working in the federal government.
• In Ending A, there is a discussion between Wadsworth, who believes the Revolver had been fired six times (he says “1 + 2 + 2 + 1”) and is empty, and Miss Scarlett who says there had been only five shots (she argues “1 + 2 + 1 + 1”). Wadsworth is proved wrong, and in the last line of Ending A he reviews his calculation: “1 plus 2 … plus 1 …” The camera cuts away as he continues speaking, so it is often unnoticed that the sum he actually utters is neither six or five, but seven.

Talking Points:

• Didn’t do well in the box office – but received a cult following
• Favorite ending(s)
• The point of distributing the movie with three different endings.

What We’ve Learned:

• Cars Get Frightened?
• The double negative leads to proof positive
• J Edgar Hoover is on every one’s phone.
• Monkey Brains are a Cantonese delicacy

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: One of my favorite movies of all time, well put together, well acted and cleverly written. It hits all my buttons. Everyone should see it at least once.
Ray: Tim Curry shines in this.. but it’s hard not to shine when the rest of the movie is so dull. The Cast looks incredible on paper.. but fails in execution. Ill take “The Private Eyes” over this one any day.
Steve: I’ve always enjoyed this movie. The variety of characters are fun and I really enjoy Tim Curry’s performance. It’s campy fun.

Intermission:

The Present: J Edgar
Rotten Tomatoes: 41% Rotten, 66% Audience

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts

Trivia:

• Joaquin Phoenix was rumored to play Clyde Tolson, but the rumors were denied.
• Charlize Theron was originally cast as Helen Gandy, but dropped out to do Snow White and the Huntsman. Amy Adams was then considered, but Naomi Watts was ultimately cast.
• Armie Hammer, who plays Clyde Tolson, is the great-grandson of Occidental Petroleum tycoon Armand Hammer. In his biography of Hammer (the tycoon, not the actor) called “Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer,” author Edward Jay Epstein reported that the tycoon had a multi-decade history of being scrutinized and suspected of Soviet ties by J. Edgar Hoover.
• Shipped to theaters under the code name “Lawman”.

Talking Points:

• Relevance to today’s political / social climate
• Theme of secrets?
• GLBT Theme & brief mention of cross-dressing – did you expect it?
• audience response to kiss

What We Learned:

• Fame if unchecked, leads to villainy
• What determines a man’s legacy is often never seen
• The Ladies appreciate facial hair
• Senator McCarthy was an opportunist not a patriot
• Sometimes you need to bend the rules a little to keep your country safe.
• Admiration can’t fill the spot love goes, or warm your bed
• Solid weight looks good on a man

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: This movie surprised me in how much I ended up enjoying it. Still a little iffy on Di Caprio’s vocal performance but enjoyed it overall. Also surprised on all the homosexual references and undertones. I think it’s a worth see but pretty sure will be put in the GLBT category for subject.
Ray:I found the pacing extremely slow, and the structure a little confusing. The Makeup was a huge distraction for me as well. I find the message of this movie is still relevant today… just replace the word “Radical” with “Terrorist” but ultimately I was disappointed with this because I felt if focused too much on his actions and not his motivations.
Steve: The first 45 mins to an hour were utterly boring to me. After waking up, I enjoyed the rest of it. I like biopics to a point, but would have been much more interested in seeing more about the FBI versus just all the “secrets” about him and those he held about others.

The Future: The Muppets

Director: James Bobin

Starring: Amy Adams, Jason Segel, Chris Cooper

Summary:

When 3 Muppet fans learn that Tex Richman wants to drill under the muppet theater for oil Gary, Mary and Walter set out to find the Muppet’s who have been split up for years

Trivia:

• First theatrically-released Muppet film not to include Frank Oz or Jerry Nelson as Muppeteers.
• Of all the actors and actresses making cameos in this film, ‘Liza Minnelli’ and Alan Arkin are the only ones to ever appear on The Muppet Show, back in 1979. Although Whoopi Goldberg appeared in an episode of the follow-up series Muppets Tonight in 1996 – a series set in a TV studio, not the classic Muppet Theater revisited in this film.
• When not being used the Muppets got placed into a large bed so that they are simply “sleeping”. One day a group of young schoolchildren visited the set and, when the characters didn’t respond to them, they immediately began sobbing and were certain that the characters were dead.

Talking Points:

• Will being a Disney franchise possibly change the “feel”?

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

Excitement:
Jeff: THE MUPPETS!!!! YEY!!!! *giggles like a 5 yo*
Ray: I wouldn’t be running out to the theater to see this if it wasn’t for this show.. but it makes me happy that the Muppet’s are still going. I hope the movie is successful if only so that they can continue and be introduced to new generations.
Steve: I’m glad that they are coming back, for sure. I have always loved the movies, although I can’t say that I’d run out to see them in the theater. Muppets have always been a fun at-home experience for me. I am interested in seeing how they update them for today’s audience, though.

Coming Attractions

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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