Tag: eileen brennan

No Static at All! FM Available on Blu-ray July 2nd from Arrow Video

FM (1978) will be available on Blu-ray July 2nd from Arrow Video

The airwaves crackle with the delectable sound of smooth rock in FM, a riotous comedy about the heady world of late-70s US radio.

Michael Brandon (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) stars as Jeff Dugan, the ultra-cool program director at Q-SKY Radio, LA’s number one rock station. Dugan encourages a free-wheeling culture at work, employing an array of eccentric DJ personalities: Mother (Eileen Brennan, Private Benjamin), a husky, world-weary ex-hippie; Eric Swan (Martin Mull, Clue), a mad-cap romantic looking for love, and The Prince of Darkness (Cleavon Little, Blazing Saddles), a cool cat who keeps the night-time airwaves alive. But when the station’s future is thrown in to jeopardy by corporate bosses looking to cash-in, the Q-SKY troupe are forced to batten down the hatches and turn up the volume – will a fully-fledged rock ‘n’ roll rebellion save the day?

Legendary cinematographer John A. Alonzo (Chinatown, Scarface) directs this slickly-produced rock film, which combines hilarious studio hijinks with epic footage of Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffett in concert. FM also boasts an incredible platinum-selling soundtrack featuring a pantheon of AOR greats including Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Eagles and Tom Petty (who also cameos). Now, High Fidelity meets High Definition as FM debuts on blu-ray with a selection of exciting new extras.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
  • Uncompressed stereo 2.0 PCM audio soundtrack
  • Mono 1.0 music and effects track
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • No Static at All, a newly filmed interview with Michael Brandon, the star of FM
  • Radio Chaos, a newly filmed interview with Ezra Sacks, the writer of FM
  • The Spirit of Radio, a newly filmed video appreciation of the era of FM radio and the FM soundtrack by the film and music critic Glenn Kenny
  • Extensive gallery of original stills, promotional images and soundtrack sleeves
  • Original trailers
  • Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
  • First pressing only: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by writer and critic Paul Corupe

CLUE – With All Three Endings! – Screens at The Tivoli Midnights This Weekend (June 22, 23)

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“Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage!”

clue7

CLUE plays midnights this weekend (June 22nd and 23rd) at The Tivoli Theater as part of the Reel late at The Tivoli Midnight series.

Way back in 1985, before we were translating literally every board game, video game, or action figure into a movie, there was CLUE.

clue2

As in the Parker Brothers board game, seven suspects find themselves in a mysterious mansion with the body of someone who has been murdered by one of them. Was it Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) with the revolver in the conservatory? Or was it Miss Scarlett (Lesley Ann Warren) with the rope in the billiards room?

Could it be both?

clue6

CLUE was filmed with three possible endings. That’s 321 fewer endings than the board game permits, but two endings more than offered by most movies.

“What are you afraid of, a fate worse than death?” Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd) asks.

“No, just death,” replies Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan). “Isn’t that enough?”

When I first saw this film back in 1985, I found it a tiresome retread of Neil Simon’s MURDER BY DEATH with director Jonathan Lynn’s pratfall-heavy jokiness a poor substitute for Neil Simon’s scriptwork. Even the cast seemed a bit of a comedown, though Eileen Brennan was in both films. It was not a box-office success then, but time has done funny things to CLUE. Not only has it developed a huge cult following, but my own eyes have been opened to the slow-burning cleverness of Lynn’s well-presented concept and a cast that, perhaps because it had no A-list stars, felt more need to dig into the material and get every last bit of funny out of it. You might miss Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) the first time she says her husband just “lies around on his back all day”, but you know enough to laugh the second time.

clue5

“Husbands should be like Kleenex, soft, strong, and disposable,” says Mrs. White.

“You lure men to their death like a spider with flies!”

“Flies are where men are most vulnerable.”

The lines are seldom as good as that – though the late Ms Kahn seems to get the best ones, and there’s some weak business involving pseudonyms and minor characters that only gets in the way of the central business. I still groan at the line “Communism was just a red herring“.

clue3

But CLUE succeeds in its central mission of merry-making, aided by the multiple-ending gimmick and Tim Curry’s central role as the zany butler Wadsworth who recaps the entire movie in five minutes. The pratfalls are a lot better than I thought the first time, too.

clue1

Now you can see CLUE, and ALL THREE of its endings on the big screen when it screens midnights this weekend ( June 22 and 23) at The Tivoli as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.

A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/2071386713103505/

The Tivoli’s located at 6350 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO. Admission is a mere $8!

The Tivoli’s website can be found HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

Here’s the Reel Late at the Tivoli Line-up for the next few weeks:

June 29-30          THE EVIL DEAD

July 6-7                 ROBOCOP (1987)

July 13-14            AKIRA

July 20-21            YELLOW SUBMARINE

Aug. 29-30           BLAZING SADDLES

Sept. 5-6              PURPLE RAIN – 30th anniversary

Sept. 12-13         GHOST IN THE SHELL

CLUE – With All Three Endings! – Screens Midnights This Weekend at The Tivoli

CLUE-HEADER-560

“Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage!”

clue7

CLUE plays midnights this weekend (July 25th and 26th) at The Tivoli Theater as part of the Reel late at The Tivoli Midnight series.

Way back in 1985, before we were translating literally every board game, video game, or action figure into a movie, there was CLUE.

clue2

As in the Parker Brothers board game, seven suspects find themselves in a mysterious mansion with the body of someone who has been murdered by one of them. Was it Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) with the revolver in the conservatory? Or was it Miss Scarlett (Lesley Ann Warren) with the rope in the billiards room?

Could it be both?

clue6

CLUE was filmed with three possible endings. That’s 321 fewer endings than the board game permits, but two endings more than offered by most movies.

“What are you afraid of, a fate worse than death?” Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd) asks.

“No, just death,” replies Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan). “Isn’t that enough?”

When I first saw this film back in 1985, I found it a tiresome retread of Neil Simon’s MURDER BY DEATH with director Jonathan Lynn’s pratfall-heavy jokiness a poor substitute for Neil Simon’s scriptwork. Even the cast seemed a bit of a comedown, though Eileen Brennan was in both films. It was not a box-office success then, but time has done funny things to CLUE. Not only has it developed a huge cult following, but my own eyes have been opened to the slow-burning cleverness of Lynn’s well-presented concept and a cast that, perhaps because it had no A-list stars, felt more need to dig into the material and get every last bit of funny out of it. You might miss Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) the first time she says her husband just “lies around on his back all day”, but you know enough to laugh the second time.

clue5

“Husbands should be like Kleenex, soft, strong, and disposable,” says Mrs. White.

“You lure men to their death like a spider with flies!”

“Flies are where men are most vulnerable.”

The lines are seldom as good as that – though the late Ms Kahn seems to get the best ones, and there’s some weak business involving pseudonyms and minor characters that only gets in the way of the central business. I still groan at the line “Communism was just a red herring“.

clue3

But CLUE succeeds in its central mission of merry-making, aided by the multiple-ending gimmick and Tim Curry’s central role as the zany butler Wadsworth who recaps the entire movie in five minutes. The pratfalls are a lot better than I thought the first time, too.

clue1

Now you can see CLUE, and ALL THREE of its endings on the big screen when it screens midnights this weekend ( July 25th and 26th) at The Tivoli as part of their Reel Late at the Tivoli Midnight series.

The Tivoli’s located at 6350 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO. Admission is a mere $8!

The Tivoli’s website can be found HERE

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/st.louis/tivolitheatre.htm

Here’s the Reel Late at the Tivoli Line-up for the next few weeks:

Aug. 1-2               THIS IS SPINAL TAP 30th anniversary, digitally restored

Aug. 8-9               AKIRA           

Aug. 15-16           TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – The Original!

Aug. 22-23           ARMY OF DARKNESS

Aug. 29-30           BLAZING SADDLES

Sept. 5-6              PURPLE RAIN – 30th anniversary

Sept. 12-13         GHOST IN THE SHELL

Throwback Thursday: ‘Clue’

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The 1985 murder comedy ‘Clue’ is a rare breed.  It is one of the few films that whenever I stumble upon it as I flip through channels, regardless of how far into the film it is, I have to stop and watch.  Sometimes five minutes.  Sometimes until the next commercial break.  Sometimes all the way to the end.  It’s a kind of fix that only a film as funny and as timeless as ‘Clue’ can provide.

It wasn’t the first comedy to broach the subject of murder.  It wasn’t even the first murder mystery comedy.  Screenwriter and director Jonathan Lynn (‘My Cousin Vinny’ and ‘The Whole Nine Yards’) was definitely influenced by classic films like ‘Arsenic & Old Lace’ and even more recent murder mystery comedies like ‘Murder by Death.’  However, there is an intensity to ‘Clue’ that is unmatched.  The comedy thrown out at its audience comes a mile a minute and just as consistent.  Not only do the jokes come fast, they come nonstop and just about every one it hit out of the park.  Some are campy.  Some are witty.  Some incorporate the best sight gags since the silent era.  ‘Clue’ is a comedy that has something for everyone, and each brand of humor is executed just as flawlessly as the next.

More than 20 years later, the idea of taking a board game and turning it into a feature film is becoming a trend.  With feature film adaptations of ‘Battleship,’ ‘Ouija,’ and ‘Monopoly’ just on the horizon, you have to give credit to ‘Clue’ for being the frontrunner on the trend more than two decades prior.  Lynn takes the best elements of the board game (the creepy house, the eccentric characters, the various weapons, etc.) and puts each one to good use.

The casting in ‘Clue’ is flawless.  Michael McKean plays the dorky Mr. Green who keeps insisting he “didn’t do it”.  The late and great Madeline Kahn plays the melancholy Mrs. White, who may or may not have murdered her husband. Eileen Brennan plays the somewhat senile and overly naive Mrs. Peacock.  Christopher Lloyd plays the sex-crazed Professor Plum.  Martin Mull plays Colonel Mustard, who seems tough until he is faced with death and who misses his mommy and daddy.  Lesley Ann Warren plays the seductive Miss Scarlet.  Each actor is phenomenal in their own way, bringing the equally phenomenal characters to life.  Every actor brings out the best in the character, and none of them fall behind in the laughs department.  I dare you to not, at least, crack a smile during the scene where Madeline Kahn’s Mrs. White goes off on how much she hates Yvette, the maid.

However, the real standout performance in ‘Clue’ is for a character that is completely made up for the movie.  Tim Curry stars as Wadsworth, the butler, who has brought the other six to the mansion.  Curry is a force within this film, hardly taking a breathe for seemingly minutes at times.  The film’s final act, where Wadsworth essentially runs through every event leading up to that point, is a juggernaut of comedy and Curry keeps the pace of the film without effort.

Of course, what ‘Clue’ is most notable for to the general public is the idea that three, different endings were shot.  Random endings were shown depending on what theater you attended.  It was a bold attempt at marketing, sadly one that didn’t work all that well in ‘Clue’s favor.  The film was anything but a box office success, pulling in just over $13 million in its entire run.  It didn’t help the film’s chances that it came out on the same day as ‘The Jewel of the Nile,’ the sequel to ‘Romancing the Stone.’  Audiences had a choice between comedies, and most headed for adventure instead of mystery.

Despite its box office receipts, the various endings for ‘Clue’ is probably what the film is most remembered for.  When it was released on VHS, all three endings were included.  It wasn’t until the film was released on DVD in 2000 that I had the opportunity to watch it with a completely random ending.  In more recent years, the film has gained a cult following, particularly among fans of Tim Curry’s other, famous film, ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show.’  Theaters will sometimes acquire a print of ‘Clue’ and show the film, once again, as it was intended to be seen with a completely random ending.

No matter how you watch it, on VHS or DVD, in theaters with a crowd of hundreds or late at night starting an hour in, ‘Clue’ is a hilarious film that is just as funny today as it was nearly a quarter of a century ago.  It is an intensely fun movie that, despite its central theme of murder and blackmail, is anything but a “dark” comedy.  If you’ve never seen ‘Clue,’ do yourself a favor and check it out.  If you have seen it, go back and watch it again.  I guarantee it to be just as funny now as it was when you first watched it.