Questions that came to mind when I should have been paying more attention to the movies:
- Why did a film called "Father's Day" open on Mother's Day weekend?- In "The Fifth Element," why do the female flight attendants on the 23rd-century interstellar shuttlecraft all look like hookers?
- Haven't I seen Joan Cusack and her brother John Cusack in the same film before they teamed up in "Grosse Pointe Blank" (in which Joan plays the receptionist/secretary to hit man John)?
(A little research reveals they also appeared together in 1983's "Class," 1984's "Sixteen Candles" and 1989's "Say Anything."
- Why did Mike Myers include so many cheesy sex gags and low-road toilet jokes in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery"?
Was he going after that ever-powerful teenage movie audience - the one that laughs even if the jokes aren't funny?
If so, why does the story contain so many specific references to the '60s, which the teen audience obviously won't get?
Does he care that he may alienate the teens with too much material they don't understand and that he'll alienate the older audience with too many jokes they'll find offensive?
And why don't kids find this stuff offensive???
- Do the kickboxing kangaroos with magical powers in "Warriors of Virtue" keep their weapons in their pockets?
- In "Volcano," vehicle tires blow out when a lava flow runs under them, but in "Dante's Peak," Pierce Brosnan's jeep drives right over a lava flow, the tires catch fire and they still don't blow.
Was Brosnan driving a James Bond Jeep prepped by Q?
- Why do people in biblical and historical epics speak with British accents?
You may think of this as an affectation of a bygone era. But watching a golden oldie and a brand-new film within a couple of days disproved that notion.
The basic cable channel AMC showed "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964) last month, with James Mason, Alec Guinness, Chris-to-pher Plummer and Anthony Quayle, among others, all using their heavy British accents. Then, the TNT channel premiered its latest made-for-TV Bible picture, "David," with Jonathan Pryce and Nathanial Parker also speaking in their pronounced English accents.
- Why didn't anyone notice in the editing process that a boom microphone shows quite prominently in "Grosse Pointe Blank" during the scene where the hit man (John Cusack) visits his mother (Barbara Harris) in a nursing home? (It happens during the wide shot at the end of this sequence.)
- When "Romy and Michele" was being heavily promoted prior to its theatrical release, why was it touted by so many national critics as the first distaff version of "Dumb & Dumber"? Didn't any of them see "B*A*P*S"?
Not that anyone could blame them if they skipped it. . . .
- When David Spade was promoting a movie on David Letterman's "Late Show" and used the phrase "Farley Family Reunion," was it just a generality he came up with for rural rubes, or had he actually heard the title of James Arrington's local one-man show?
- Did anyone else notice the name of the festival being celebrated in "Dante's Peak"?
In an early scene in the small Northwestern town where the film is set, mayor Linda Hamilton delivers a speech and we see a huge banner above the podium that reads quite clearly, "Pioneer Days."
And it isn't even July 24!
- Since the 20th Century Fox movie "Volcano" opens with a title card that says it is a production of "Fox 2000," is the studio getting ready to change its name at the turn of the century?
And if so, will that name have to be changed every year - Fox 2001, Fox 2002, Fox 2003, etc. - or will they just start calling it 21st Century Fox?
- In "Breakdown," when Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan's car stalls and a trucker offers them a lift to the nearest telephone, Russell doesn't want to go because he's afraid his car may be vandalized. So, Quinlan goes off with the trucker while Russell stays with the car.
Is this supposed to tell us that he cares more about his automobile than his wife?
- Why have so many movies lately been set (or had lengthy sequences set) in Las Vegas? "Hard Eight," "Vegas Vacation," "Fools Rush In," "Mars Attacks!" . . . even the upcoming "Con Air."
Is it because so many movies crap out at the box office?
Hey! Inquiring minds want to know.
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Former Beatle Ringo Star, who is currently touring America with his All-Starr Band:
"The next thing we're really trying to pull together is `Yellow Submarine,' the (1968 animated) movie. It'll probably be cleaned up and sound-enhanced, just like `Star Wars.' You could edit some `Star Wars' in - no one would notice."
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK II: John Cusack, star of "Grosse Pointe Blank":
"I try and avoid the celebrity culture as much as possible, but you can't totally get away from it. There are places I can't go without attracting a lot of attention, and that can be hard. I'm not into wearing disguises."
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK III: Billy Crystal, talking about his teaming with Robin Williams in "Father's Day":
"I started watching a lot of Dean Martin movies with Jerry Lewis, and watched how Dean really controlled the action and was really the Daddy. I decided when we rehearsed that I could get a lot of mileage out of looks and doubletakes.
"You watch guys like Jack Benny, who, when everything is crazy around him, is still the center of his universe.
"And Oliver Hardy, who was so brilliant. He'd look at the camera and he was us, he was the audience, letting us know that he knew Stan was screwing up, giving a look like, `Do you believe what I have to put up with?'
"I loved the patience of playing this character, of getting so much said out of not saying anything."