
This scene contain one bit of business that I loved, but Beverly didn't. When the cops come in, they ask if Beverly knew the landlord:
Dan Fiorella
Dan Fiorella: Writer @ large |
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![]() The horror/comedy film, STEAMED!, co-written by Beverly Bonner and Dan Fiorella, is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. How did it come together? Okay, slight detour... back when she was readying for her birthday fundraiser in 2017, she decided to put together a sample of the movie by filming a scene. Frankly, this made me nervous. They took the cops scene in Beverly's apartment and turned it into an interrogation room scene. Technically, it worked fine. It's just that the actors were in street cloths and not the actors we would be using. They were friends doing Beverly a favor. But now it was something tangible, something that made the movie seem real and it did the job.
This scene contain one bit of business that I loved, but Beverly didn't. When the cops come in, they ask if Beverly knew the landlord:
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![]() From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I never would give up trying to submit something as one of their recurring bits. This was based on a real news story; word had gotten out that McDonald's had been putting beef broth in the fryers to give their fries that special flavor. Naturally, people went nuts. So, naturally, I thought it would be perfect for a ketchup sketch. As I often did once I had a couple of these sketches under my belt, I would recycle some of the opening monologue gags from earlier ketchup sketches that didn't get picked up. There would be a new one and then the others would be ones that I thought were underappreciated lines. The sketch hits one of my long standing annoyances: vegetarians who can't let go of the carnivore lifestyle. They won't eat meat, but they want to hang around McDonalds or have fake tacos. I thought I nailed the tone and pacing of the series, but it got a pass. I need some ketchup to settle down... Ketchup Advisory Board: Fries![]() While catching up with things I've recorded to watch later, I finally saw an interesting double feature shown on the MOVIES! channel: "The Odd Couple II" and "The Odd Couple: Together Again." One worked, the other didn't. And surprisingly the one that worked was not the one written by Neil Simon. The Odd Couple II (1998) starred Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau, back from the first movie as Felix Unger and Oscar Madison but with nobody else. Oscar is retired to Florida and hosting senior poker games. Felix isn't. Turns out their kids fell in love and are getting married in California. And they're going to travel together for the wedding. The movie is more like Felix and Oscar in the Out-of-Towners because the movie is just them facing a series of difficulties trying to get to the wedding in California (Santa Something-or-other). There's some honking noises, some wrinkled shirts but not much else of the orignal characters here. The only reason this movie got to exist is that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were suddenly hot again, thanks to movies like Grumpy Old Men I & II and Out to Sea. And the movie is not special for the same reason. Instead of it being Lemmon-and-Matthau-are-back-together event! it was oh, they're in ANOTHER movie together? Their chemistry is still there, but, like their road trip, there's too much stop and go. And they are too old for the parts. I'm supposed to believe the bride and groom are their children? More like adult grandchildren. And it ends with Felix moving back in with Oscar in Florida, which is probably what the movie should have been. ![]() Now, The Odd Couple: Together Again is a reunion movie of the TV Odd Couple, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. And this one sings, even if Klugman can't. The TV movie was made in 1993, 20 years after the show. Most of the cast is recast, except for their poker buddy Speed and, most surprisingly, Oscar's old secretary, Myrna Turner played by Penny Marshall. That was remarkable. It's not just a cameo. She has several scenes with Oscar with a character arc and everything. This time it's Felix's daughter getting married to some guy not related to Oscar and he gets kicked out by his wife for over-planning and nearly ruining the wedding. They worked in Jack Klugman's throat surgery into the story, so Felix can move in and help with his recuperation, while dealing with the wedding plans. Both guys are in their zone. The set looks identical to the TV apartment they lived in and Canada fills in for NYC well enough. People forget that the first season of the Odd Couple was a filmed, single camera sit-com (it switched to a 3-camera, live audience format afterward) so the switch back to film isn't that jarring. It was a solid, enjoyable reunion with enough subplots so everyone got a moment to shine. The characters sparred over housekeeping and getting Oscar back to work. And it had some weird and wonderful laughs. There was a Rocky parody (!) where Oscar screeches in delight that scares horses. The poker game where they let Oscar win is vintage Odd Couple, even if some of the players aren't. Murray the cop is there, although retired and not portrayed by Al Molinaro. As usual, Felix goes overboard and Oscar has to reel him back in. The show's attitude and rhythms picked up straight from the original series, something the big screen sequel movie did not do. I knew The Odd Couple II existed and had seen it back in the 90s, but I didn't know about the TV reunion, so that was a pleasant surprise and I like it when the cable channels do unusual double-features like this. It's just that now I can't get the Odd Couple theme out of my head. |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
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