ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Wow, talk about variety!

~ A theme park in which the attractions eat the tourists!

~ An invasion of evil tribbles which eat peoples brains!

~ And a Marilyn Monroe comedy is which she plays a sexy angel, complete with wings!


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The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

The basic premise for this franchise — the idea that dinosaurs can be recreated using an advanced scientific technique — is so intelligent that it's potential for new stories is practically limitless.

Here's just a few examples of the ideas I came up with.

~ A large portion of the endangered Amazon rain forest could be designated as a preserve and then populated by dinosaurs, both to give them a place to live and make them the protectors of this fragile and important ecological region.

~ In the far future, an exo-planet is discovered with a lush environment with ample vegetation — but very little animal life. Earth's scientists decide to populate the planet with dinosaurs and create a new Earth, circa 65 million years ago!

~ During an experiment with a time machine, a group of scientists accidentally destroy the Earth's environment 65 million years ago. They realize that they were the cause of the "extinction event" we've assumed was the result of an asteroid!

In a desperate effort to fix the problem they caused, these scientist repopulate the Earth with dinosaurs and then engineer the events which caused the evolution of mankind which resulted in our present-day domination of the planet.

What do you think, guys?
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The Brain Eaters (1958)

IMDB has 9 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text.
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~ Producer Ed Nelson, who also stars, created the parasites himself using little wind-up toys covered with fur from an old coat and pipe cleaners for antennae.

Note from me: Somebody should make up a few thousand of these and sell them at conventions!

~ The producers of this movie were sued by Robert A. Heinlein, who claimed the plot stole several elements of his novel, "The Puppet Masters". The suit was settled out of court.

Note from me: I wonder how much the settlement was. Couldn't have been very large, I imagine.

~ A favorite of late night TV in the 60's and 70's, this film was usually referred to by LA Horror Host "Seymour" (Larry Vincent), as "The Attack of the Bunny Slippers", because of the cheesy monsters.

Note from me: Imagine a clever spoof of this movie using fuzzy bunny slippers as strange creatures which attach themselves to their victims' feet and control their brains, causing them to shuffle around in a zombie-like state . . . wearing pajamas and carrying a cup of coffee.

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~ Narration was added to the movie during editing because the sound quality was poor and you couldn't hear what was being said by the actors. Notice that actors are talking but you don't hear them in some parts. The added narration was by Alan Frost.

Note from me: I just checked the sound quality on the nice-looking YouTube video and it seems just fine! I haven't been able to get much pleasure out of watching this quirky movie in the past because the picture quality was bad (and perhaps the sound as well).

I think I'll download it and give it another try.
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The Seven Year Itch (1955)
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IMDB has 58 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text.
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~ Billy Wilder preferred shooting in black and white, but Marilyn Monroe's contract with Fox called for all of her movies to be shot in color. Monroe always thought that she looked far more attractive and glamorous in color than in black and white.

Note from me: Wilder was nuts. Fox was right. Bud can prove it.







I rest my case . . .

~ According to George Axelrod, the reason The Girl has no name is because neither he nor Billy Wilder could think of one.

Note from me: As I state above, Marilyn was an "angel", which is why she had no name.

~ Not without a distinct ring of irony, the nine-month Marilyn Monroe-Joe DiMaggio marriage officially ended during this shoot. DiMaggio was furious about the filming of the scene where his wife's dress blows up, and the next day, Monroe reportedly required make-up to cover up bruises from the ensuing domestic fight. Three weeks later, she filed for divorce.

Note from me: He HIT her! Just because she let her legs show! Jeez, what an asshole!

~ In the 1970s Billy Wilder called the movie "a nothing picture because the picture should be done today without censorship . . . Unless the husband, left alone in New York while the wife and kid are away for the summer, has an affair with that girl there's nothing. But you couldn't do that in those days, so I was just straitjacketed. It just didn't come off one bit, and there's nothing I can say about it except I wish I hadn't made it. I wish I had the property now."

Note from me: If this movie had followed the play it was based on, it would would have end up as tacky as Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), the drab little movie with Dean Martin and Kim Novak. Instead, it's wonderful movie about a husband who loves his wife and son so much he isn't resist his urges and shows what a noble guy he is.

~ After seeing Walter Matthau's screen-test performance in the part of Richard Sherman, Billy Wilder believed he had found his leading man. However, 20th Century-Fox was unwilling to take the risk on a newcomer. That's when Wilder next turned his sights on the actor who had originated the role on Broadway, Tom Ewell -- who is inexplicably billed as "Tommy Ewell" in the opening credits.

Note from me: I'm a big Walter Matthau fan. His performance in A Guide for the Married Man delivers the same noble message as this movie about me resisting their sexual urges and remaining faithful to their wive.

But Walter would NOT have been as good as Tom in this role. Period.

~ Marilyn Monroe's lifelong bouts with depression and self-destruction took their toll during filming; she frequently muffed scenes and forgot her lines, leading to sometimes as many as 40 takes of a scene before a satisfactory result was produced.

Note from me: And yet when we watch this movie it seems like Marilyn's performance was flawless. Wow . . . Hollywood magic.

~ Adapted from the Broadway play by George Axelrod starring Tom Ewell and Vanessa Brown. When the project moved from Paramount to 20th Century-Fox, Brown was replaced by Marilyn Monroe. Due to the Hays Code, not only was most of the racy dialogue omitted, over the objections of Axelrod and Billy Wilder, Sherman's romance with The Girl became a product of his imagination.

Note from me: And thus the movie was transformed form a sleaxy sex comedy to a beautiful story about what it's like to be an insecure man and a devoted husband in a world of beautiful women.

Okay, so it was NOT intentional . . . but it still works like a charm.

~ The film was banned in Ireland due to the fact it was "indecent and unfit for general exhibition."

Note from me: Boy, did THOSE guys miss the point!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)