"Communism was just a red herring."

I just got back from Jorian's place, where we had a rousing showing of the film Clue. I really like the line in the title, and it's amusing how it (among other lines) is used in a slightly different manner in the three endings. (It was fun to see which parts reappeared in the different endings and how their context changed.)

The film has a great cast and is a great film. Tim Curry is the "butler" (or butler, depending on the ending). He is perhaps best known for his role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and he also had a minor hit in the early 80s with "I Do the Rock." (It's a really cool song.) Another musical connection is Jane Weidlan, a member of the Go Go's who has a brief role in the movie as the singing telegram lady. (If you're familiar with the Go Go's, Weidlan is the one with the slightly squeaky voice. She also tends to be the most playful member of the band during concerts, and that was definitely true for the concert of theirs that I attended. If you're not familiar with the Go Go's, then I recommend you start with the songs "Head Over Heels" and "This Town." Those aren't their most famous songs, but they are my favorites by that group.)

It's quite cool how faithfully and successfully the board game was turned into a movie. Some people making films based in video games could definitely learn a few lessons here. The IMDB site does point how a ton of continuity flubs, however, although none of it bothered me (and I can't say that I particularly noticed them).

Also, there are other games that could make cool movies, although I think it might be unfortunate to see too many of them. "Life" might make a cool movie, and I'm sure a movie based on "Hungry Hungry Hippos" could compete successfully with Snakes on a Plane.

Finally, I should mention in this entry that one of Lloyd's movies had alternate endings with Clue as the specific motivator. (In fact, that's how I first heard of the film.) In that movie, which was filmed the summer between my junior and senior years, the directors spent too much time trying to develop too many characters, which is absolutely not the point of a Lloyd movie. However, if you see the full two-hour version, you'll see Jim Melnyck mindwipe me (a la Men in Black, although he is trying to be Austin Powers) three different times. (You see one of them in each of the three versions.) There's also an extra scene at the end in which I am telling Ben Williamson how 'nothing ever happens around here' with a beard that is much longer than what was in the film earlier (there were several weeks involved). I had postponed shaving for continuity purposes until after that scene ended, and Jaideep Singh '00 was disappointed that I did. He exclaimed that before I shaved, "[I] looked Amish!" and "[I] could scare small children!" (And I do have to admit that the quality of scaring small children is a favorable one...)