Greetings to all my friends in the balcony,
It may be a little perverse, but some of the most fun things
we see in the movies are stuff we were never supposed to see at
all. Like when the boom microphone droops into a shot. This is
bad enough when it happens in movies set in the present, high-
tech world, but it looks even more out of place in a movie set
in, say, ancient Rome. These are the rare instances when the
artifice falls away and we see a little bit of the effort that
went into making the movie in the first place. While it may
deflate the scene a little, in those moments we are like Dorothy
from "The Wizard of Oz" with a kind of "pay no attention to that
man behind the curtain..." revelation. We are forced to come
face-to-face with the disbelief we had temporarily suspended.
Some movie blunders are so pervasive that we have come to
accept them as the true reality, rather than what actually
happens in the non-reel world. Cars exploding just as they go
off a cliff, is one example. Probably the most common thread of
unreality in the movies shows up whenever two characters are
talking on the phone and one hangs up. In the movies - and only
in the movies - the one still holding the phone hears a dial
tone. The silence you really get is far less dramatic, I guess.
Many good movies have some amazing, clanging mistakes in
them. "Star Wars" has one of the classic flubs of all time, the
infamous storm trooper scene. In the first of the Star Wars
movies - now revealed to be Episode 4 (or maybe Episode 38.6, for
all we know) - there is a scene where the storm troopers burst
into a communications room in the Death Star where C-3PO and R2-
D2 are hiding. Watch the tallest trooper on the right in that
scene who clumsily bangs his head on the overhanging blast door
as he enters the room. Amazing that it was left in the final cut
of the film, actually.
I used to think that the days of the classic blooper are
numbered, and that we'll no longer have that small pleasure of
finding them. In this age of CG and computer editing, they can
go back and fix even the biggest and stupidest oversights. Then
came "STAR WARS: Attack of the Clones." Rumor has it that one of
the animated characters bumps his head while entering a room. Of
course, since this is a computer generated character, there is no
reason for that to happen. It may simply be a way of making the
characters seem more real, but more likely it is the first known
major-movie tribute to an earlier blooper. And, maybe, to George
Lucas' sense of humor.
Thanks this week to fellow filmgoers: Kerry Miller, Carol J.
Becwar, Jan Michalski, Jerry Taff, R.J. Tully, Caterina Sukup,
Tim McChain, Charles Beckman, Yasmin Leischer, and Bruce Gonzo.
Thanks to one and all for your contributions and support. Now,
save me the aisle seat and we'll see you at the movies.
Have A Blooper-Free Week,
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FILM SCHOOL DROPOUT FINALLY GETS HIS DEGREE...
-------------------------------------------
In probably the most unusual graduation this year, an old
film school dropout finally went back to complete his bachelor's
degree at age 55. Even though he'd have trouble getting hired at
a studio these days without the degree, you might have heard his
name before.
Steven Spielberg.
The film director, writer, producer, studio owner and self-
made billionaire always cherished the idea of going back to
school to get the degree he'd skipped when he started his
Hollywood career. That was remedied on Friday when Spielberg
walked across the stage at California State University at Long
Beach wearing a cap and gown to receive his bachelor of arts
degree in film and electronic arts. He already has five honorary
doctorates - the latest bestowed upon him by Yale University
earlier this week - but what he really wanted was a humble
bachelor's degree.
Why? Because he earned it.
Spielberg, who dropped out 33 years ago to pursue his dream
of making movies, quietly resumed his studies at Cal State's
Department of Film and Electronic Arts last Spring, and completed
his degree requirements through independent and directed studies.
Most of Spielberg's old professors were dead or retired by
the time he returned to class. Ironically, he ended up working
with younger professors, some of whom actually learned their
craft by studying his works. While that didn't exactly give
Spielberg a pass, it must have made things considerably easier.
To pass the advanced filmmaking class exam, for example,
Spielberg submitted a print of his Oscar-winning "Schindler's
List."
"I think that counts as an advanced ... polished film,"
quipped Sharyn Blumenthal, director of the school's Films and
Electronic Arts Department.
After graduating from high school in Phoenix, Spielberg
applied to the University of Southern California film school
twice and, in a real-life blooper, was turned down both times,
eventually starting school at Cal State.
He was also the only graduate at the ceremony with his own
theme song. As his name was called the college band struck up
the theme from "Indiana Jones" and the audience applauded.
(Reuters)
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"Is it possible to sell anything at the concession
stand that doesn't kill?"
- Film critic Roger Ebert on modern
movie theaters
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E.T.? GO HOME!
--------------
Sian Thurkettle, a 25-year-old woman from Rugby in central
England, first saw the film "E.T." in a theater in 1982, and
immediately fell in love with the movie. Audiences did too, but
not quite as much as Sian.
She has now seen the movie a record 773 times (as of April 2
of 2002... Probably even more now). Thurkettle has also
collected more than 80 E.T. figures and 300 items carrying the
extra-terrestrial's image.
"People think I'm mad, but I just can't get enough of E.T.,"
she said in an interview. "I watch it on video at least once a
fortnight."
Naturally, the 20th Anniversary re-release of the film
earlier this year was just her cup of tea.
"It means I can see it on the big screen all over again,"
she said. "I've bought a month-long pass at my local cinema so I
can see it as often as possible."
She added that the film still moved her to tears every time
she watched it.
It may move her hubby to tears as well. Her loyal husband
George, forced to watch the film 100 times, admitted that he
enjoyed E.T., but added: "I much prefer James Bond." (Reuters)
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"Crikey, mate. You're far safer dealing with
crocodiles and western diamondback rattlesnakes than
the executives and the producers and all those sharks
in the big MGM building!"
- "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin,
star of an upcoming MGM movie, on
dealing with Hollywood
--:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)--
SO MANY BLOOPERS, SO LITTLE TIME...
--------------------------------
- 15 MINUTES
After the fire, DeNiro is being interviewed by a female
reporter. She asks him about something in his hand.
He responds, "This is something we found on the scene.
Whether it's evidence or not has yet to be determined."
Later on, when we see this aired on TV, he says,
"Whether it's evidence or not, we're not sure. We'll
determine that later."
- "ABBOTT & COSTELLO GO TO MARS"
No they don't. In the movie, they go to Venus.
- "ALADDIN"
The cave of wonders says, "Only one may enter", then
Aladdin & Abu BOTH go in.
At one point, Jasmine's pet tiger, Rajah, rips a piece
out of the backside of a rejected suitor's pants, and
he runs off with his distinctive boxer shorts showing.
On the cut back to Rajah, the tiger is holding a piece
of the underwear, not the pants.
- "ANALYZE THIS"
When the feds are taking pictures of Billy Crystal and
Robert DeNiro, Billy is on Robert's right side, closer
to the camera. But, when the feds show the pictures to
Billy, he's on the other side of DeNiro.
- "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" (Star Wars)
Obi-Wan sends a message to Anakin's ship on Tatooine
and tells him to retransmit it to Coruscant. Padme
hits a button to send the message. A few shots later,
she goes to set the coordinates to go help Obi-Wan.
She hits the same button she hits to resend the
transmission from Obi-Wan. Smart button. After she
hits this button, there is a cut to a wider shot. You
can see the control panel she was just hitting has
changed and is now different than the one that she was
just working on in the close-up.
- AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
Austin is told his jet (a Boeing 747) has been kept in
perfect condition since 1967. Good trick: the 747
wasn't even introduced until 1969.
- BAMBI
When running from the hunter, Neither Bambi nor his mom
leave any footprints in the snow.
- BEVERLY HILLS COP
During the chase scene at the beginning, a bus skids
around a corner. Look at the street, and you can see
it's wet, even though every other street in the scene
is dry.
At the hotel, Axel (Eddie Murphy) asks a man for some
bananas. He gives Axel three long straight bananas.
Axel runs outside to shove them in a car's tailpipe.
Notice that the bananas are now short & curved.
- CHARLIE'S ANGELS
When Cameron Diaz is fighting Vivian (Kelly Lynch) at
the end, they burst through a door and roll down a
flight of steps. When they land, they have dirt on
their clothes. In the next shot a second later, their
clothes are clean.
Drew Barrymore is tied to a chair, with her hands
behind her back. She's trying to light her lighter to
burn through the ropes, but it won't light, so she
keeps trying. How does she know it's not lighting,
when it's behind her back?
- CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
When Roy was looking out at the UFO, the UFO gave him a
"sunburn" on the right side of his face, but when we
see him the next day, the burn is now on his left.
- GOOD WILL HUNTING
At the very beginning, the teacher pulls down a
chalkboard after writing on it and then walks around
his desk. After he walks around, we see the board is
back up. The teacher then hands off to his assistant.
He walks toward the board (which is still up). In the
following shot, the board is down again.
- HERCULES
In one scene, five white teenage girls burst in on
Hercules and Phil and run toward the camera. In the
following shot, the one in the blue dress has changed
into a black girl. One of the teenage girls holds up
Herc's headband. If you count, there are now seven
girls. Phil blows his whistle then suddenly, the black
girl in blue is white again. As the girls run out,
there are only four girls instead of the original five.
Throughout this whole scene, there was only one
heavyset girl, yet, as they run out, there are two
large girls.
- INDIANA JONES & THE LAST CRUSADE
When Indy and the girl are in the tomb knee-high in
petroleum, the torch they're carrying constantly drops
flaming sparks into the oil, but it doesn't ignite
until the plot requires it.
While Indy and his father are escaping in the plane,
old dad accidentally shoots off half of the plane's
tail. In the long shots, though, the damage is a lot
less.
During the tank chase scene, the stuntman of the Nazi
commander has a full head of blond hair, yet on the
closeups, the real guy is practically bald.
In the same scene, when the driver of the tank is shot,
he falls on the steering lever, which turns the tank to
the right. The tank should continue to go in a circle,
but somehow it straightens up by itself to head for the
the cliff, just as the plot requires.
- THE LAST STARFIGHTER
The translating device shown in the film is so good it
even makes the aliens mouth movements match the words
they are saying perfectly.
- LORD OF THE RINGS (AKA FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING)
Near the beginning, Gandalf gives Bilbo a hug and
places his cheek against Bilbo's. In the following
shot, they are face to face.
At the end, when Frodo is crying, the tear switch sides
for one shot, then in the following shot, the tears are
completely gone from his face.
- THE MASK OF ZORRO
In the very beginning, two eye holes are cut out of a
tent. From the front, the holes are spaced very close.
Inside of the tent, the holes are wide apart.
- MEN IN BLACK (M.I.B.)
At the end of the movie, after the mission, when J and
K are talking outside, watch the bushes behind them
closely. When J is talking, the trees and bushes are
whipping in the wind. When K is talking, the bushes
aren't moving at all! Obviously, they shot their parts
on two separate days.
The characters names are spelled J & K throughout the
movie (on their lockers and when J is given his name on
the computer), yet in the credits, they're spelled Jay
and Kay. Even the MIB cartoon spells them Jay and Kay.
- THE MASK
Keep your eye on the Mask's hat during the dance number
with Tina (Cameron Diaz). In the middle of the number,
it disappears!
When The Mask, dressed as the cowboy, accepts his award
for his "dying" scene, he takes his cowboy hat off and
drops it on the floor. Yet when he jumps away as the
bad guys are shooting at him a second later, the hat is
back on his head.
Near the end of the movie, the bad guys shoot at
Stanley. Stanley dives over the bar and the bad guys
shoot until their guns are empty, then drop their empty
clips to the floor. Stanley, now as The Mask, jumps
back over the bar. The bad guys now have their empty
clips back in their guns and they take them off again
to reload a second time.
When Peggy Brandt, the reporter, is outside of the auto
shop, she says she's from the Evening Star, but her
press badge says "Edge City Tribune" (this can be seen
better in the next scene at the bank). We know she
works at The Tribune because of her badge and, at the
end, she and Stanley are in the Tribune's press
warehouse (noticeable because of all the Tribune
newspapers).
- RUSH HOUR
Outside the art exhibit, amongst all the ambulances, a
van from TV Station "WFFP Channel 8" is visible. They
sure came a long way for that story! The film is set
in Los Angeles and only TV stations EAST of the
Mississippi river start with the letter "W". Stations
west of the Big Muddy start with "K" (as in KTLA,
etc.).
- SPIDER-MAN
Near the beginning, Peter Parker is taking pictures of
Mary Jane in the lab. We see a view through Peter's
camera while he's photographing her. The view through
the camera and her actual position don't match at all.
When Mary Jane comes out of the Diner, Peter catches up
to her and they start talking. If you watch behind
them during this scene, you will see many bloopers.
While she is talking, you will see cars drive down the
block, then when the view cuts to Peter, you will see
different cars, no cars at all, or people walking in
the middle of the street. There are at least 10
bloopers here.
- TOMORROW NEVER DIES
As Carver (Johnathan Price) is writing his headline on
the big screen, watch the picture below the headline.
First it is a sepia tone picture. Then in the next
shot, you can see it has changed to a black & white
photo. Then the sepia tone picture shows up again.
When Bond is fighting the guy above the presses, his
hair gets all mussed up. The second he throws the bad
guy into the press, his hair snaps right back in place.
The bad guys are trying to open Bond's car, but cannot
even break the windows. They shoot the car with a
machine gun, still with no effect. But after Bond gets
in the car moments later, the same guns can now break
the windows.
The above is even more obvious in the shot through
Bond's broken back window to a car chasing him. This
is some time before the back window glass is shot out,
which takes place later in the scene.
Bond and Michelle Yeoh break a window and rip a banner
down the middle, leaving a big loose piece hanging as
they escape. But when they get on the motorcycle, the
strip of banner is no longer hanging in the background.
Not only that, you can see that the window they broke
through is not broken.
In the scenes attacking the boat, Bond grabs a chain
and swings over the water. He's almost completely
over, when the view cuts to another angle, where he
appears to swing across a second time.
At the end, Wai Lin (Yeoh) is tied to a chain connected
to the boat, which is sinking. So why doesn't she go
further under water as the boat goes down?
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© 2002 by Bill Becwar. All Rights Reserved.
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