OT: RIP Ivan Reitman
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/ivan-reitman-dead-dies-ghostbusters-director-1235180792/
This news broke late last night and was pretty much lost in the aftermath of the Super Bowl. I'd imagine most of us have seen Animal House, Stripes, and Ghostbusters, which are probably his top 3 films in no particular order as well as part of the upper echelon of comedy film history. He also directed Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Dave...and apparently that NFL film Draft Day (didn't see that one).
February 14th, 2022 at 12:15 PM ^
So many great films. Also the cult animation Heavy Metal.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
Didn't know about Heavy Metal.
Tried to live like Animal House for about two years of college....memories are somewhat hazy of those times....
February 14th, 2022 at 2:57 PM ^
Eight years of college down the drain.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:18 PM ^
RIP Ivan.
As a corollary, his daughter, Catherine Reitman, has a pretty good show on Amazon Prime called, Workin' Moms. It's more geared towards women, but its a good show for husband as well if you are looking for a show that both you and the wife would like.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:23 PM ^
Her best work was when she transitioned to a cat as Maureen Ponderosa.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
Still pissed at her for trying to ruin the purity of the McPoyle bloodline.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^
She certainly enhanced herself.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^
What, with that diamond on her death tooth from Dennis' alimony payments? Put a diamond on anything that's dead and its still dead, Maureen! Oh, you mean the other thing....
Maureen is a really good character but Bill Ponderosa is probably right behind Rickety Crickett as being the best supporting character on the show.
February 14th, 2022 at 4:40 PM ^
Pondy's the coolest!
February 14th, 2022 at 4:50 PM ^
Somebody's dying today, baby!!
February 14th, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
Jackie Denardo is still trying to get the scoop on this.
February 14th, 2022 at 11:56 PM ^
My wife watches that show. I’m not a huge fan but must admit there have been a few scenes that are piss-your-pants funny.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^
An Ivan Reitman-adjacent story about "Animal House" makes me cringe-laugh every time.
Donald Sutherland, at the time one of the biggest actors in the world, agreed to be in this relatively small upstart's (Reitman's) gross-out-humor movie on a whim. Long story short, Sutherland was offered $35,000 and 15% of the film's gross for the role. Assuming the movie would flop, he refused. He settled on a salary of $50,000 straight up with no percentage. If he had taken the original offer, he would have earned about $20 million.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:44 PM ^
He also got to implied-bang Boon's girl, Katy (Karen Allen)
February 14th, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
50K doesn't seem like much considering his bare ass will be preserved on film for all eternity.
February 14th, 2022 at 3:28 PM ^
I mean, there are a lot of great stories like this in film though.
For example, George Lucas was so convinced that the first Star Wars film would fail that he sat down with Steven Spielberg and they talked about another project to pass the time on occasion. That project turned into "Raiders Of The Lost Ark".
Those little factoids are always fun.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:55 PM ^
I got a good one from a DP friend of mine. On the set of The Royal Tenenbaum's, it was known that Gene Hackman was a raging asshole, especially to the director, Wes Anderson. Anderson was a quiet sort who didn't take well to Hackman's asshattery. Bill Murray didn't take kindly to the asshattery, either, so he would hang around the set, even when he didn't have a scene, just to let Hackman know that he was there and he would intervene if Hackman started unnecessarily picking on Wes.
February 14th, 2022 at 3:30 PM ^
Not too bad. That reminds of the story about how Sean Connery famously turned down a similar offer to the play the role of Gandalf in the LOTR films (which of course wound up being played by Ian McKellen). Had he taken the percentage, he would have wound up earning somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 million for the role.
February 15th, 2022 at 2:13 AM ^
I think it worked OK for Mr. Sutherland.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:31 PM ^
Yeah this is especially sad in today's era of creatively bankrupt Marvel movies churned out ad nauseum that simply follow scripts already written in comic books from decades ago and rebooting all of the older good movies into usual and direct downgrades of the originals
February 14th, 2022 at 12:38 PM ^
if the audience stopped purchasing movie tickets, the studios would stop producing them. Until then, assume a new marvel movie ever month.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:15 PM ^
Like the Marvel movie you didn't know you needed:
Moon Knight.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
I was trying to convince people at the SB party we attended that Moon Knight's ship was an X-Wing and that this was Disney's attempt to merge the two franchises. Think I got some of the 10 year olds on board.
Cheers
February 14th, 2022 at 5:58 PM ^
Hence . . .
February 14th, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^
He directed and produced some great movies. Dave is one of those movies I thought was really great, but people don't seem to remember it. Fantastic and underrated, imo.
RIP.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:52 PM ^
Dave is fantastic. Love Kevin Kline, such a great actor.
February 14th, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
I enjoyed Charles Grodin as Dave's accountant who showed up at the White House in a beat up old car and an adding machine and proceeded to balance the federal budget. You gotta love Hollywood.
As funny as he was as the accountant in Dave, Grodin will always be Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas.
Jonathan Mardukas: I asked you if you were hurt and you said "yeah, I'm hurt".
Jack Walsh: That's because you made me say it. Startin' to put words in my mouth
Mardukas: Jack, you're a grown man. You're in control of your own words.
Walsh: You're goddamn right I am. Now here come two words for you: shut the fuck up.
February 14th, 2022 at 4:50 PM ^
I'll jump right in to "Midnight Run" anytime it's on.
February 14th, 2022 at 12:55 PM ^
Vontae Mack...no matter what
February 14th, 2022 at 1:06 PM ^
In case you didn't click on the link, his early, brief bio is worth reading and repeating.
Ivan Reitman was born in the predominately ethnic Hungarian town of Komárno, Czechoslovakia, on October 27, 1946, the son of Klara and Ladislav "Leslie" Reitman. Both of Reitman's parents were Hungarian Jews; his mother survived the Auschwitz concentration camp and his father was an underground resistance fighter. His family arrived in Canada as refugees when Reitman was four years old, having been locked in the hold of a freighter, during which voyage he was drugged to keep him calm and quiet during the passage.
Personally, I'm thankful that he and his family found the strength to survive and give us this very talented man.
You will be missed, dear man.
Lights! Roll cameras, annnnd action!
RIP
February 14th, 2022 at 3:02 PM ^
Thanks for sharing the text. I did not hit the link. It's always good to be reminded of the evil that lurks in our world, the courage with which we must resist it, and the impact those who persevere can make.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:15 PM ^
Loved his movies and for some reason a particular fondness for the use of “double secret probation”.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:35 PM ^
One if the the most enjoyable comedies ever, imo.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:52 PM ^
Animal House is one of the great American comic films of the last 50 years. Truly great.
Stripes, however, is deeply flawed. The first 3/4 of it is really funny and great character development. But then he didn't know where to go with it. To have this rag tag group of recruits and suddenly thrust them into a hot combat zone driving a tricked out RV is just, well, dumb.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:22 PM ^
you have described about 90% --if not more-- of the movies made.
February 14th, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
I'm pretty sure they ran out of money and just had to end it, kinda like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
February 14th, 2022 at 3:35 PM ^
Story goes that the boys wanted to end Monty Python and the Holy Grail at Harrod's because, of course, Harrod's carries everything (including Grails).
Harrod's wasn't interested.
February 14th, 2022 at 9:25 PM ^
They ran out of snorts
February 14th, 2022 at 1:41 PM ^
Some of my favorite movies of all time. Especially Animal House and Stripes. Knowledge is good, Emil Faber.
February 14th, 2022 at 1:57 PM ^
RIP, love his movies and Draft day wasn't bad actually. At least not as bad as the team it revolves around anyway.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:12 PM ^
RIPIR
February 14th, 2022 at 2:13 PM ^
When I was in high school I joined his film co-op he ran with David Cronenberg. At the time I had no idea these guys were going to be who they were to become. I was just a kid but he was generous, creative and funny as fuck.
RIP.
February 14th, 2022 at 2:23 PM ^
Great director and a real loss for the comedy community.
February 14th, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
Bob Saget was murdered
February 14th, 2022 at 6:02 PM ^
By this guy??
February 14th, 2022 at 6:35 PM ^
Was Craig James involved?
February 14th, 2022 at 3:37 PM ^
Just watched the new Ghostbusters with my kids, in which, they pay homage to Harold Ramis. RIP!
February 14th, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
Was it over Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?