Rick Moranis Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Bob & Doug McKenzie Live Without Rick Moranis
Filed under: Animation », Home Entertainment », Remakes and Sequels »
Nestled solidly in the halls of beer worship, hosers, and Canadian film is Bob & Doug McKenzie, the men behind Strange Brew. It's been a whopping twenty-six years since the Canadian comedy from Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas was released, which makes me feel ancient, and it's still one of the top films about beer. But its staying power stretches beyond cinematic brew infamy.
Did you know that two years after their 2-4 anniversary, they've jumped into the world of animation? Yesterday evening marked the premiere of Bob & Doug, a new adult-themed animated show in Canada that follows the toque-topped Bob and Doug through their life in Maple Lake. It all came from the short film included on the DVD, but there is one big change. As we all know, Moranis keeps the TV and film world at arm's length these days, so a different man had to take the gig -- the one who threw Alanis Morrisette into a rant-filled frenzy -- Dave Coulier.
It's a blow to not have the real Bob, and read that Moranis said: "I would love to be excluded. I just don't want to do it, you know?" But it does look cute. While I didn't get a chance to see it air, there is a trailer tacked onto the teaser "12 Days of Christmas" video shown below. (Plus a few awesome clips from the movie after the jump.) So far, there doesn't seem to be any US airdates, but early reports did speculate that Fox could add this to their animated lineup. Cool, eh?
Watch This: I Miss Moranis
Filed under: Fandom », Trailers and Clips »
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If you're like me, you wake up practically every morning thinking about Rick Moranis and why he decided to leave us so soon. Granted, Moranis has been doing some voice work here and there over the past several years, but he had a stretch there where it was just so damn comforting to find him in a film. To name a few: Ghostbusters, Spaceballs, Brewster's Millions, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Parenthood, Little Shop of Horrors, My Blue Heaven, Little Giants ... oh, do I miss this man. I'm not sure what happened to him later on because it's obvious he's still working (he even released a country/comedy album in 2005), but I'd just give anything to see him show up in a dorky cameo somewhere. C'mon Apatow, find a place for Moranis -- help bring him back to us!
Anyway, this dude feels the same way I do -- only he took it one step further, created a song, recorded said song, and shot a video of himself traveling around Los Angeles with Moranis' face on a poster board. Strange? Yes. But we salute this man and all the other Rick Moranis fans who've been left empty-handed since the late 90s. This is for you, Rick. Please come back to us.
Ghostbusters Are (Kinda, Sorta) Back!
Filed under: Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Fandom », Newsstand », Games and Game Movies »
The boys are officially back ... but, sadly, they'll only be in videogame form for now. According to Variety, Vivendi Games has struck a deal to turn Ghostbusters into a videogame franchise, with the first title set to hit streets in the fall of 2008. All four Ghostbusters -- Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis -- have signed off their voice and likeness rights, while Aykroyd and Ramis will write a story for the game that takes place in the early '90s, following Ghostbusters II. For fans of the movie franchise (and, seriously, who's not a fan?), this could potentially be very cool. Aykroyd has been trying to get a Ghostbusters III off the ground for a long time now; at one point, he was considering a CGI flick to continue the story without having to ask a bunch of old timers to strap on the proton packs for another live-action go-round.
With a videogame version, we'll still see the story Aykroyd had planned for a third installment (I believe one version involved NYC opening up to reveal a hell-ish underground), only we'll get to play along too. Apart from the four original cast members, William Atherton, Brian Doyle and Annie Potts will also be involved. No word on Rick Moranis or Sigourney Weaver just yet. I know some of you will be bummed out by this, but I'm totally up for it -- so long as they create a cool multi-player gaming experience. Just last night, my friend and I were talking about how much fun those old multi-player games were; the kind where you and a friend could sit down in the same space, control different characters and fight your way through a universe together. The last great multi-player game, in my opinion, was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. If they can create something on par with that (only add a whole lot of Bill Murray dialogue), then they've already sold one game ... to me. What do you think?
This Week's Straight-to-DVD: Brother Bear 2 (More Moose)
Filed under: Animation », Disney », Family Films »
Disney has been releasing a number of sequels to animated films directly to video, so it should be no surprise that Brother Bear 2 is next on the list, with an announced release date of August 29. The original Brother Bear did low box-office business for a Disney animated film -- $85 million -- but I suspect its real money was made on DVD.Brother Bear included an unusual feature on its DVD that definitely boosted adult rentals and sales: a commentary track performed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis as the moose characters from the 2003 film, in a manner quite similar to their Doug and Bob McKenzie routine from SCTV. (If you don't know who these guys are, you might want to rent Strange Brew.) I would never have watched this movie myself without the commentary track. At times, the commentary bordered on the subversive (for Disney, anyway), with the moose likening the spirit totem in the film to a souvenir from a Canadian airport, and noting that chipmunks always seem to appear just before something dangerous occurs. Disney is obviously aware that these two minor characters and their hilarious commentary track had something to do with Brother Bear's DVD success: not only are Moranis and Thomas back in the sequel, but they're joined by two more moose, played by SCTV alumni Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara. If all four do a commentary track, this may appear on my own rental list.
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