REST IN PEACE, MARTIN LANDAU (1928-2017)

Martin Landau applied to the prestigious The Actors Studio in 1955 and was one of two candidates out of 100 to be accepted.  His classmate was Steve McQueen.

Arguably his most complex undertaking as a classically trained actor was in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), where he expertly plays a moral, upstanding doctor, fraught with guilt after he hires a hitman to kill his mistress (Angelica Houston) when she threatens to tell his wife about the affair.  He was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but would end up winning five years later for his role in Ed Wood (1994), for his spot-on portrayal of Bela Lugosi as the aging former horror movie actor-turned-junkie, relegated to the parts he gets in Wood’s slapdash, B-movies.

In the opinion of the editors at Nitflix, he should really have two Oscars and highly recommend Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Goonies Never Say Die!

THE GOONIES (1985)

Back in my ‘Business of Film’ class in college, there was assignment where we had to create a film project on paper.  From writing the script to the marketing and distribution strategy, it was up to us to attain the ‘greenlight’ for production from the professor and thus, a passing grade.

One film project that I deserved the ‘A’ the most was a fellow student’s pitch for a Goonies sequel.  The story starts off where Mikey, Mouth, Chunk and Data have all spent through the booty they pillaged from One-eyed Willy.  Being completely destitute, they plan for a jewel heist, Tarantino-style.

To be perfectly honest, I would clean Steven Spielberg’s house for a year if it meant this movie could get the greenlight.  But I don’t have the heart to steal the idea and I don’t have the time to be a domestic.

Any ideas out there that someone could pitch for a Goonies sequel, other than what’s written above?  Let’s do lunch and get a treatment down. 

You Don't Have A Movie Without...

CADDYSHACK (1980)

Never has there been a better comedic villain than Judge Elihue Smails (Ted Knight).  Smails is a snob, a blowhard, and a golf cheat.  He’s the guy you love to hate. 

It’s easy to see how Knight’s portrayal of news anchor Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore show gave him the template for such a boorish character, and Knight takes it one step further to a more sinister place.  It’s nothing but brilliant.   In the opinion of yours truly, The Nitpicker, if you don’t have Ted Knight, you don’t have a movie.  A casting director couldn’t possibly find someone else to play this role.

From the reader and film buff, would then come the reply of, “Goodman!  With such memorable comedic talents on the screen together, are you suggesting that the likes of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield should be re-cast?  And that Ted Knight is the glue that keeps the film together?”

Yes.  Ted Knight stays in the film.  Here’s a hypothetical casting call below with 3 replacements per role.  Add yours in the comments section.

Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) – Dean Martin, Steve Martin, Tim Matheson (fresh off Animal House)

Carl Spangler (Bill Murray) – Jerry Lewis (w/Dean Martin only), Robin Williams, John Belushi (also fresh off Animal House)

Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) – Danny DeVito, Buddy Hackett, John Belushi (he’s versatile)