What Happens on a Film Set is None of Your Business! -- According to Daniel Craig

I’ve seen bloopers from many films -- some entertaining such as those from the comedy “Liar Liar” starring Jim Carrey and others that were boring including some of the “Bad Boys II” outtakes. Who hasn’t? No matter how funny or amazing or silly blooper reels are to watch, however, they’ve long since lost their novelty; still, movie goers expect to see them -- if not during the promotional period leading up to a film’s release -- at the very least, on the special features menu of its DVD.

If you’re a James Bond fan, you may not want to hold their breath waiting to see any “Skyfall” bloopers -- not now or anytime in the near future. Actor Daniel Craig, star of this twenty-third James Bond film, says the cast and crew were treated to a hilarious blooper reel during their wrap party -- but, no one outside of that group is going to see them. When it comes to audiences’ inability to access these types of extras, Craig wouldn’t have it any other way...

© 2012 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved. / Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.“It’s what happens on a film set. You want to be in film? Get a job. -- People are like, ‘Show [the outtakes]!’ And it’s like, No! It’s a secret. It’s like smoke and mirrors.

It’s like that magician thing of giving the gag away. I really kind of respect that -- I think it’s great that you can keep a secret. ‘How does that trick work?’ None of your business!” - Daniel Craig

While I understand the importance of preserving the magic of movies, I also believe that showing bloopers from any film -- including a James Bond movie -- does not detract from the amazement of the final film itself nor does it give audiences an all-access pass to the inner workings of a movie set. If anything, it makes people more in awe of the magic and keeps them on the edge of their seats in anticipation for what comes next. Either that, or it makes them want to rewatch the film and brag to their friends about the fact that they know some juicy details about the making of the movie. Of course, this is assuming that the blooper reel is any good or worth watching at all.

There are times when sharing details about the making of a movie does more help than harm. “Life Of Pi” has a whole marketing campaign centered on how Ang Lee’s special effects department built a computer generated tiger -- going so far as to promote itself as the next “Avatar” -- another movie that didn’t hold much back in terms of telling and showing audiences about all of the fancy things that James Cameron and his production team did to make one of the most expensive movies ever released. No matter how much (or how little) I already know about the making of “Life Of Pi,” I’m still celebrating my birthday weekend watching it -- in 3D!

Having had the pleasure (and unfortunate displeasure at times) of making my own films, I know that there are tidbits about the scenes (such as having to reorder a key prop because the first one arrived broken or the wrong size; two actors started fist fighting, the caterer got punched in the process and called the cops) and related things that probably happened on the “Life Of Pi” movie set that none of us will ever know. Now, THAT’s the kind of stuff that people do have to literally work in film to find out.

What are the funniest movie outtakes that YOU ever saw?

Films within a Film - The Sequel

I finally watched Dennis Dortch’s dramatic feature “A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy” this weekend, after having difficulty streaming it online a few months ago. The movie holds no bounds (seriously, there were a few times when I started wondering if this movie was some kind of stylized porno) on expressing intricacies of sexuality and relationships, through six different stories that all take place in one day.

Aside from having a groovy soundtrack, 70s flair and one of the longest movie titles ever, “A Good Day to Be Black and Sexy” is the inspiration for the theme to this week’s Monday Movie Meme: Films within a Film - The Sequel: Shorts inside Features.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring vignettes. These films are not about one particular story but rather, multiple stories within the same movie. Also, don’t forget to visit the blogs of fellow Monday Movie Meme participants. Here are my selections for this week’s Film within a Film - The Sequel: Shorts inside Features theme.

Personal Velocity
This dramatic piece directed by Rebecca Miller tells the stories of three women who are each at a crossroads in their lives. I rented this on DVD a while back and am not sure if I even remember whether I liked it or not. I don’t even recall enough to determine that even today -- I only remember the scene where one of the women (played by Parker Posey) excuses herself from a social setting so that she can go masturbate in the bathroom and the scene where a battered wife literally takes matters into her own hands while trying to make a better way for herself and her children.

Love Actually
Tina at Life is Good listed this romantic comedy for the first Film within a Film meme several weeks back; One of the ten stories in “Love Actually” involved two actors who develop a liking for each other while working as body doubles on a movie set. Although most of the stories are linked in some way, the fact that there are ten of them (my favorites are the story of a grieving single father finding happiness again; the one about the married advertising executive who gets in a compromising position with his flirtatious assistant; and the one about the beloved politician who falls for a loud, unrefined, foul-mouthed office worker) film makes it a good candidate for this week’s Sequel.....don’t ‘cha think?!

What movies have YOU watched that feature vignettes or several different stories within them?

‘I’m Fine, Thanks’ in a Nutshell -- Extended Edition #indiefilm

Grant Peelle's directorial debut “I’m Fine, Thanks” is a fast paced documentary produced by Adam Baker, with a catchy soundtrack.

"I'm Fine, Thanks" DVD and Poster BundleIts bright, crisp and welcoming scenes are uplifting amidst tales of self-doubt, panic attacks, deteriorated health and most importantly -- longing. The subjects are longing for the day when it feels good to get out of bed in the morning; to live a fulfilled life, whatever that looks like.

Through home video footage, interviews with people who each have a different definition of the American Dream, clips of his crew and narrated tours of a cross-country road trip to end complacency, Peelle makes it clear that “the day” to finally go after a dream never comes to those who just sit back in their rut and wait for it to arrive. The day to live a dream is today. The time is now. “I’m Fine, Thanks” blends humor, adventure and sometimes tragic reality checks that illustrate one thing - being fine is a miserable way to live.

No one has to bathe his or her brain in caffeine just to tolerate a job that he or she hates. No one has to work so many hours that he or she develops a hole in the intestine after sleepwalking for days on end while ones’ immune system plummets. It is heartbreaking -- alarming even, to climb a ladder, reach the top and then realize that you have it leaned up against the wrong wall. Realizing that you don’t even know what the right wall is, however, is even scarier. Continuing on paths that disappoint you is one way to guarantee that it will never be found.

Actresses Virginia Wilcox, Claire Kennedy-Vega and I at the East Coast Premiere of "I'm Fine, Thanks." Photo by Dave LaTulippe; Courtesy of Grant Peelle.

When people follow their dreams and live a life that is in alignment with who they are, they don’t answer the question “How are you?” with “I’m Fine, Thanks.” They respond with “I’m fucking great! Never been better. How about you?” 

I don't know about anyone else, but that's the kind of response that I'd like to make more often than not. It beats the alternative!

What started as my attempt at writing a short review turned into this extended assessment. So, it looks like there will be two review series from now on at this blog: short reviews such as the one on “Blitz” and not-so-short ones such as the one on “Player Hating: A Love Story.”