ENCINO – They call him the Weasel! And he finally called the Party Favors.
After nearly twenty years since Pauly Shore decimated MTV with his Totally Pauly, he dialed up the Dynamite Massage hotline for a brief chat about his Pauly Shore: Natural Born Komics Sketch Comedy Movie: Miami DVD. This follow up to Pauly Shore Is Dead has him spoofing various reality shows. He also does a Scarface sketch with Steven Bauer as Manny.
The most controversial of the sketches is his impersonation of John McEnroe as a guest star on To Catch A Predator. He has the tennis superstar demanding young women “goober my balls.” Seeing how John is not exactly known as a guy who takes a joke with a hearty laugh, has Pauly heard from McEnroe or his representatives?
“I’m sure I will. I’m sure I’ll hear from everyone,” Pauly said. He didn’t seem scared about the consequences of making the hotheaded Wimbledon champ the star of NBC’s hottest show. “It turns me on comedically to go to unsafe territory. I’m not Jerry Seinfeld.”
We joked about how MSNBC has 24 hour marathons of To Catch A Predator. Does he get sucked into watching the creeps arrive at the house with their teddy bears and condoms? “I watched it when it first came out. Now I’m bored of it. Now it’s its own sitcom,” Pauly declared.
The discussion turned to Predator‘s host, Chris Hansen. We joked about how Chris almost seems heartbroken when the sexual predators aren’t happy to see him instead of the promised 14 year old boy. In this era of public crusaders turning into perverted culprits (like Eliot Spitzer who busted all those call girl rings, but didn’t mind using their services) is there a potential scandal brewing behind Hansen’s own kitchen door? “It’s almost like he’s getting turned on,” Pauly described the host’s confrontations before the cops apprehend the potential child molesters.
Another segment in the show is “Spunk’d” where Pauly twists around MTV’s now canceled Punk’d. We joked about how Ashton Kutcher’s new Pop Fiction series plays with “Spunk’d.”
“I did it first. He stole that idea from me. They all steal from me, but that’s OK,” Paul joked. “What’s he doing on his show is basically what I did on my show which is the opposite of Punk’d. His (series) is a celebrity punking the paparazzi. Mine is a celebrity punking the average person.”
Pauly has a valet fooled into thinking a thief has stolen Charlie Murphy’s car. The stunt goes into overdrive when the fake cops discover Charlie’s stash, but he goes state’s evidence against the valet. Pauly was amazed at how well the stunt worked on the valet. “We got him good. He was crying.”
Pauly swears that over the last decade the swarms of paparazzi photographers swarming Los Angeles has skyrocketed. I joked that the digital revolution has made being a photographer so easy that the folks who used to panhandle the stars are now stalking them with a camera to make a fast buck.
“I wonder how much a picture of Pauly Shore gets them. It couldn’t be that much,” Pauly pondered.
While Natural Born Komics spoofs reality shows, Pauly is a veteran of the genre. Minding the Store dealt with him running The Comedy Store. How real was the reality on the show?
“No reality shows are reality,” Pauly declared. “The only one was the Tom Sizemore show where he’s doing crack on the side of the road. Reality shows are based in reality, but it would be horrible to continually shoot someone with no plan. You got to have some sort of structure.”
?Reality shows are the new version of the sit-com except it doesn’t require true comic timing and a studio audience. During our chat we figure the father of this new “realiticom” was Larry David with his improvising “real moments” using a plot outline.
“I think Curb Your Enthusiasm did a good job of a reality kinda sitcom” Pauly said. He hears the pitches of potential star based reality shows. “Everyone is like ‘It’s like Curb.’ No it’s not. Curb is good.”
Does Pauly have any interest in using a reality show to find a new party pal like Paris Hilton is doing? “No. If they’re going to be my party pal, we’re just going to be watching TV. We’re not going to be really doing anything.” Although sitting back and relaxing with Pauly while watching the widescreen action would be a fun evening. Wonder if he has the missing Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp episodes? They could have a challenge of figure out the remote.
Although speaking of actors who come off as apes barely dressed as human; how freakish was Andy Dick when he co-starred with Pauly while making In the Army Now? Was Andy always as insane or has it built over the years?
“I think it definitely has built. When I had him, I had him directly before he became weird. Everyone I work with always turns weird. (After making Bio-Dome,) Stephen Baldwin found Jesus. Andy Dick lost his mind. I probably have something to it,” Pauly conceded.
While critics and academics scoff at Pauly’s cinematic legacy, there’s plenty of women who secretly embrace Son-in-Law as a guilty-pleasure movie. I know one lady who lists it in her Top 10 next to Dirty Dancing and Ever After. “It’s one of those movies that plays and still holds up. It has a lot of heart. It’s a funny movie with great characters. It was a joy to work on. I’m happy that she amongst others are enjoying it. It’s one of those movies that people just enjoy.”
Did his time on location entice Pauly to start up a farm? “Oh no. I’m a city slicker.”
Occasionally you’ll see Pauly Shore appear amongst the guests at Playboy Mansion parties. What’s it like when he enters the house of Hugh Hefner and The Girls Next Door? “It’s like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate House of Pussy,” Pauly described. The curious mind has to ask about the action in the infamous Grotto. Is it still the watery home to debauchery? “Things don’t really go on in there as much. People go in there as a tourist site. People just stare at it instead of participating in it,” Pauly said.
How sad. James Caan must be crying at this news.
Pauly’s hoping to make a second Natural Born Komics movie in Las Vegas. A project he’s currently putting together is Pauly Shore Adopted in which he tries to follow the lead of Madonna and Angelina Jolie. You can follow the progress at Paulyshoreadopted.com.
As Pauly Shore enters his third decade in showbiz, he’s still as wild as ever. You can’t stop the weasel.
FRIENDLY FESTIVAL
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival serves up another healthy dose of truthful filmmaking from April 3-6 in Durham NC. Unlike Sundance, you won’t have to stand in a blizzard praying they have enough seats for you after Paris Hilton’s entourage hordes the best views. It’s just a fine dose of Southern Hospitality in the city that brought you Bull Durham. Plus they serve BBQ near the lobby!
There are three biographical films screening this year that I’ll be doing my best to see. Glass: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts is directed by Scott Hicks. You might remember his last movie about a pianist called Shine. It’ll be interesting to see how he captures live piano action. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson focuses on the man who made “Fear and Loathing” a buzz word for reaching political truth through the help of pharmaceuticals. Johnny Depp reads Hunter’s works. Good Ol’ Charles Schulz looks at the man who drew Peanuts for 50 years. I’ll attempt to ask the director if he ever found out what happened to Sherman? Did Patty get pissed off when Peppermint Patti arrived on the scene?
This year’s career award goes to William Greaves. They’ll be screening quite a few of his films including Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey and Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One. Is Symbiopsychotaxiplasm covered under Blue Cross? The big opening night film is Trumbo. The documentary mixes actors reading the blacklisted screenwriter’s scripts with testimonials.
If you’re in the area, drop by Full Frame. For more info such as parking visit www.fullframe.org. This is the friendliest film festival in America.
DVD SHELF
Father Knows Best: Season One shocks with its purity. How often do you turn on a family sitcom only to be barraged by tons of sex jokes? What do we expect with Charlie Sheen playing a “dad?” But once there was a time in America where parents didn’t talk about sex or drugs or even cussing. Robert Young and Jane Wyatt never worried about improving their orgasms during dinner conversation. The kids weren’t smoking dope and taking Prozac. Nobody feared child predators raping their youngest via internet seduction. Dad lit up a cigarette and nobody complained about cancer. Father knew best because there was no worst lurking outside.
The masters used on this Shout! Factory release came from Robert Young’s estate. This unfortunately means that only half of the episodes are their original running length. What’s amazing is “24 Hours in Tyrantland.” This special episode was to promote buying savings bonds. Dad decides to teach the kids the meaning of freedom by adopting the Soviet mindset. He breaks their souls. There’s also new interviews with the daughters, Elinor Donahue and Lauren Chapin. Father Knows Best is a nostalgic good time for people who want a moment of unreality.
Sweeny Todd gives you a great idea of what Edward Scissorhands: The Musical will look like on Broadway. This was the most bloody musical of the year since Hairspray played it safe by removing the song “Baltimore, City of Grizzly Murders.” Don’t show this to small children in the hopes that they’ll embrace musical theater. Johnny Depp plays the title role of a demon barber who gets his revenge on London by giving them an extra close shave. Helena Bonham Carter helps dispose the bodies and make a tidy profit. The Two-Disc Special Edition features a full disc of behind the scenes featurettes. Learn all the movie magic that went into the meat pies.
There Will Be Blood is Daniel Day-Lewis going into overdrive as a pioneer in the oil drilling business. There’s more to the film than the “I drink your milkshake” catchphrase. Day-Lewis is just shocking as he nearly explodes on the screen. It’s an intense experience. You might lose a filling as he confesses in church. Paul Dano continues his career as becoming the next John Cazale. The two DVD set includes “The Story of Petroleum,” a silent documentary from 1923. There’s also plenty of little bonus shorts dealing with the production and a few deleted scenes. Before you play this disc, go down to Hardee’s for a real milkshake.
NO ONE ESCAPES
Ivan Dixon passed away. Even though he went on to have a very successful career as a director of hour long dramas, he’ll always be Sgt. Kinchloe on Hogan’s Heroes to me. He was the radio operator that spent plenty of time in the tunnels beneath Stalag 13.
Dixon was part of a trio of actors who redefined the role of black males on TV. He, Greg Morris on Mission: Impossible and Mod Squad‘s Clarence Williams III made middle America understand they didn’t have to fear minorities in the office.
If you get a chance, witness Dixon’s amazing work in Nothing But a Man.
Comments: None
Leave a Reply |