ATLANTIC BEACH – Welcome to the summer of Danny McBride!
He’s already tearing up the indie cinema in The Foot Fist Way. Come the heated month of August McBride will be a hype monster that rivals the size of the Hulk with superstar making roles in Seth Rogen’s The Pineapple Express and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder. Plus he’s already doing the early promotions for next summer’s Will Ferrell epic Land of the Lost.
The clock on Danny’s 2008 conquest kicked off in the spring with his part as Owen Wilson’s homeless buddy in Drillbit Taylor. In case you don’t want to watch the whole movie when it comes out on DVD this July 1, here’s Danny’s highlights:
Come August, people will ask: Where did this Danny McBride come from? There will be numerous answers, but my favorite: me.
I produced a movie at North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Filmmaking that starred Danny. As far as I’m concerned, it was his first big break in the world of showbiz. “In the Sauce” was classic tale of a young man who needs fatherly advice to score with the ladies. The secret can be found in the family’s spaghetti sauce recipe. Showing his diversity, Danny played the father. The director described the character as “a stereotypical Italian father.” Danny played it to the hilt. I believed Danny’s late wife was played by a photo of Dom DeLuise in drag from Haunted Honeymoon. Danny gave that heartbroken look at Dom’s mug. Dom and I had worked together on Candid Camera. Now Danny will be this summer’s Dom to Seth Rogen’s Burt.
It seemed like hours that Danny remained it that character. He stirred a giant pot of spaghetti sauce under the hot lamps. He was so humble back then. At no point did he brag that he’d be making a $100 million plus big screen version of Land of the Lost. Shivers go down my spine while remembering him rubbing the thick red sauce on his checks for the martini. Everybody cracked up on the set once “cut” was called. During the screening, it was easy to testify that Danny was bound for greater roles than a guy in a hat covered in sauce.
I haven’t been able to locate a copy of “In the Sauce.” Rumor has it that a few years back the Dean “requisitioned” all the student project videotapes to record the Charles In Charge marathon on PAX. By September, perhaps a bootleg of it will appear on Youtube. Although for now you must settle for the red band trailer of The Foot Fist Way.
It is strange that Danny has taken off as an actor since he wrote and directed the film that was a sensation at the film school’s LA screenings. It was about a pack of teenage superheroes. Before the lights had come up, agents were passing cards to Danny. He spent the next few days bouncing around at all the major agencies getting the Entourage pitch. My major memory of his glorious hour was when we discovered the 16mm print received a thick green scratch down the middle of all the frames. The film school dean blamed me for an agency flunky’s projection screw up. Thus my last memories of Danny involve restraining myself from slapping the dork that brought you Meet the Deedles.
As I watched Danny on the MTV movie awards talking crap with Will Ferrell, I understood what Roger Corman feels when he sees Jack sitting courtside at Laker games. A strange sense of pride that you boosted that man to the stars; along with the sad knowledge that he’s priced himself out of your cinematic budgets. There will be no Danny McBride’s Killer Sloth.
BEFORE SHE SWUNG
The hottest new TV series this summer also has a Corey connection. Long before Kate Norby was razorblading lines on CBS’s Swingtown, she got cut out of another film I produced.
Norby currently plays Gail Saxton, the coke fueled semi-divorcee neighbor. She’s the one with the daughter that ran away. But she doesn’t care what the kid’s doing as she lines up her next line. She was also in the first season of Mad Men. Here’s a clip of her trying to bring a little girl-girl action to the world of Leave It to Beaver:
Norby was at the North Carolina School of the Arts at the same time as me. I remember “discovering” her on the set of a project shooting in 16mm. The camera remained on her face while the crew was tweaking a light. Her face filled the video monitor. I was mesmerized by her relaxed look. The key to a good actor is how they appeal to the eye when they aren’t playing with the ball. She had that talent. At that moment, I wanted to be her manager. But that was not to be.
We did the next best thing and cast her in an independent feature that I was producing in Wilmington, NC. Her role was extremely small. She was the ex-girlfriend of a guy sent down to the coast to work on his grandfather’s fishing boat. The old man was supposed to set him straight. Her role consisted of being on a videotape watched by the boy. Her video footage was shot at a fake picnic on the top of Pilot Mountain. Fans of The Andy Griffith Show might recognize that name as Mount Pilot. Kate teased the camera like a true professional. She looked sweet high above sea level.
Things however went weird during the 35mm production when the director decided we needed to juice up the scene. He had our hero masturbating on the sofa while watching Norby on the TV.
Production was halted due to circumstances that my lawyer has advised me not to expose since the statue of limitations is active on a couple event. We took the footage and made a short film so we’d have something to shop to festivals. Norby discovered the clip of the hero spanking to her image. She was not at the raw nature of the scene. But I promised her that the footage would not make it into the final short film. Thus when the “Outer Banks” short played several film festivals, she was not in the credits. This probably helped her career since she has yet to be referred to as the “girl in the spanking scene.”
Although that didn’t prevent her from being known as “the girl in the shower scene” from Rob Zombie’s Devil’s Rejects. Norby rocked the merkin in that film when she wasn’t being terrorized by Sid Haig. As a demonstration of how weird the world connects: Rob Zombie’s former girlfriend (Sean Yseult) in White Zombie’s father was the head of the English Department at NC State that surrendered my first degree. You want to know the first secret of success: Get to know me.
It is nice to see Kate Norby back on my video monitor even if she is strung out while competing for mother of the year.
BLAND OUT
Shame on ABC for Wipeout. What’s the point of ripping off Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (or for my Japanese readers: Takeshi’s Castle) if you’re going to bland it up? The various challenges as shown in the previews are grey vinyl in the middle of a mud pit. Gimme some f’n color! Half the fun of MXC on Spike is the outrageous costumes on the contestants and the color props that knock the crap out of them. The blah equipment looks like it was stolen from an elementary school’s gym storage room.
Why is American TV afraid of hues? Enough of the earth tones. Liberace once said, “If you’re going to be a spectacle, wear something spectacular.” Network executives need to take note. Enough of the dark suits and mall clothes. What’s the point of colorful HDTV if everyone looks like a funeral home director? Did Six Feet Under establish the wardrobe rules for the 21st century?
DVD Shelf
Even with the new season of Weeds and Swingtown, I need to supplement my viewing pleasure with shiny discs. What’s new? Let’s look.
Californication: The First Season helped establish Showtime as the location for adult sitcoms. David Duchovny returns to his Red Shoes roots by bringing nudity back to the pay channel. This time he’s a stud writer in Los Angeles that is screwing any woman that mistakes him for the guy from The X-Files. He’s still getting over his divorce from Natascha McElhone. One of his conquests turns out to be his ex-wife’s boyfriend’s daughter. For those who pondered what the daughter from The Nanny (Madeline Zima) would be like as the ultimate jailbait: Merry Christmas. This is one of my favorite shows in production.
Futurama: Beast with a Billion Backs is the second feature length movie starring the delivery men of the future. A crack in the universe has allowed a strange creature voiced by David Cross to conquer the earth. There’s great moments when everyone thinks they’re taking escalators to heaven. Does Warren Beatty get a royalty for using his iconic assumption technique? This series deserved to be revived.
Early Edition: The First Season has Kyle Chandler get tomorrow’s newspaper a day early. It’s his job to fix things. Fisher Stevens (currently appearing in Lost flashbacks) is his buddy on these time preventing adventures. They have to stop airplanes from crashing, basketball players from dying and dognappings. It’s kind of like a constant “City on the Edge of Forever” life for them. Of course this show wouldn’t work in the 21st century since we all read the newspaper online. Early Edition lasted four seasons which is a headline to me.
Dynasty: The Third Season, Volume 1 takes us back to that time when hair and shoulder pad were stacked high. The rich Carrington family rule Denver in these dozen episodes. The focus seems to be on Joan Collins remarrying and a kid proving he’s really Blake’s son. It’s trashy good fun for those who want more conflict from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: The Fourth Season should be called Nick Bakay Talks Like a Pussy. It’s fun to watch the Shagmaster General from Night After Night with Allan Havey voice an animatronic cat. This is not the animated version. You really get Melissa Joan Hart casting spells around the house. The big moment this season is when she goes to the prom. Fernwood Tonight fans get to see Martin Mull continue as the principal that’s dating Beth Broderick. Think he’s ticked off at the money given the “Things White People Like” since he paved the way with The History of White People In America?
Jericho: The Second Season proves that not every series that fans fight to revive will thrive in their second life like Family Guy. The fans fought so hard and when the new season started, the ratings were worse. Here are the final 7 episodes about what happens when America gets nailed with a nuclear attack. Skeet Ulrich has to maintain his community of Jericho as they discover others have plans on them. Who can you trust? They also released Jericho: The Complete Series for those who want to watch it all. It is a shame the show got axed, but it speaks about the diminishing audience for network entertainment.
Meerkat Manor: Season Three continues to remind us that the kids from The Hills are not nearly as interesting to watch as a pack of animals in Africa. The Whiskers are certainly more entertaining that the Hogans, Simmons and Osbournes. This season opens with Flower guiding the Whiskers tribe to better hunting grounds. But they run into trouble with their rival Zappa tribe. How cool is it that they named a tribe after Frank’s family? It also demonstrates Mean Girls is real as the females fight to rule their families. This is the only family-based reality show that a family should watch.
Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins is a prequel to the Animal Planet series. We get to follow Flower’s rise to power. She’s a regular Rose Kennedy amongst her Kalahari clan. There’s plenty of lessons we can take from her since there’s little difference between their organization and our community. Whoopi Goldberg fills in for regular narrator Sean Astin.
The Streets of San Francisco: The Second Season, Volume 1 reminds us of the power of Michael Douglas’ hair. He’s the young cop to Karl Malden’s old school vet as they patrol the city of Rice-A-Roni. The nice part is they shot around San Francisco instead of L.A. backlots. You get a real sense of the city as they chase down hoods and hustlers. Martin Sheen pops up in “Betrayed.” Vic Morrow gets ’em ill on “The Twenty-four Karat Plague” when uranium is part of the heist. It’s become on of my favorite ’70s cop shows.
Walker, Texas Ranger: The Fifth Season is an excuse to drink. Chuck Norris continues his style of kicking ass and letting his assistants take name. “Higher Power” has him buttkicking to protect the reincarnation of a Buddhist monk. “Patriot” has him overpowering white supremacists that hijack a minority TV station. Even spirits help Walker kick ass in “Ghost Rider.” The nice part is watching without commercial breaks that lessen the impact of Norris’ kicks. Why isn’t Chuck Norris being mentioned for Vice President?
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