Author Archives: Greg

Movie Mastermind?! Maybe not…

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UK movie magazine, Empire, runs a monthly column entitled Movie Mastermind. The object is to stump a filmmaker or actor based on questions from their own films. Cameron was the lucky target for April and here’s how it went…

1. In Singles, Citizen Dick’s LP, Smarter Than You, is released on which label?

Oh man . . . is it not Sub Pop? Ah, you’re killing me. I’m trying to visualize the review on my wall where I used to hang it. Was it . . . Real Clever Records? We wrote a whole review you know. It was a compilation of every hideous Creem magazine review I remembered ever being written.

Correct

2. In Say Anything…, Lloyd drives past the Guild 45th theatre, which is showing another John Cusack film. What is it?

Tapeheads.

Correct

3. In your cameo in Minority Report, what newspaper are you reading?

USA Today. I’m a terrible actor, as you already know from my cameo in Singles, but I went for it. Instantly Steven Spielberg realized how bad I was and put me in the background with a newspaper to read. At one point during the rehearsal, I looked up and (Tom) Cruise was giving me this venomous look. I was like, “What are you looking at me like that for? Come on man, it’s just a rehearsal…” Then I heard from Steven, “Okay, cut, we’ve got it!” I was like, “You fucker! You pulled the bad actor trick on me!”

Correct

4. In Almost Famous, what the full names of the band members of Stillwater – and the actors who played them?

There’s John Fedevich, the drummer, Mark Kozelek is the bassist, Billy Crudup is the guitarist Russell Hammond, the great Jeff Bebe is Jason Lee. But now I need the other names. . . Silent Ed Vallencourt is Fedevich! So now we’re down to the bassist (laughs). Now, Mark Kozelek plays LARRY FELLOWS! (laughs) Man, do I feel good about that!

Correct

5. In Elizabethtown, how much money does Drew’s company lose from the Spasmodica shoe?

It was almost a billion dollars, my friend. [Hears precise answer] Oh, well, come on, what’s a few million dollars between friends?

1/2 point. The correct answer is $972 million.

6. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, what book is Arnold reading while at the pep rally?

Shhhhhhhhit. Don’t have it. Love Arnold, forgot his book.

The correct answer is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

7. What is the first line of Paul McCartney’s Vanilla Sky?

(Starts humming the tune) I’ve got to visualize the end of the movie and I’m there. Right, here is is: “The chef prepares a special menu for your delight.”

Correct

8. Warner Bros. didn’t initially approve of Singles‘ title – can you name three of their original suggested alternatives?

Come As You Are, that’s one. (Chuckles) They always suggest One Hot Summer, that’s a given. Fuck, were they all Nirvana songs? I have to think about this carefully, much pain was attached to this. Was something like Addicted To Love one of them? (Hears the answer). Man, you went deep for that question, didn’t ya?

1/2 point. The correct answer is Addicted to Love, Come As You Are, In The Midnight Hour, Love in Seattle, Leave Me A Message.

9. Finish the line from Jerry Maguire: “I am out here, for you . . . “

I want to say, “Doing it…” Goddamn it! (Hears the answer) Oh, man, SHIT! For the sheer pleasure of rediscovering that line with you, I will accept the loss of question nine

The correct answer is “You don’t know what it’s like to be me out here for you. It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about, okay?”

10. In Rod Tidwell’s advert for Reebok, eventually cut from Jerry Maguire, what is tattooed on the side of his head?

Crap. you guys are good. I know I don’t have it, you know I don’t have it . . . Now why on earth did I work so hard to stop that advertisement? (laughs)

The correct answer is “IN ROD WE TRUST”.

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Apr 20, 2012

Door Reviews: Mama Lion, Navasota & Argent

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Mama Lion - Self Titled LP

Here’s three brand new and brief LP reviews from the July 7, 1972 edition of the San Diego Door. First up is a Mama Lion’s Self Titled LP which has gotten more notoriety over the years for the album cover than the music (I’ll let you Google the uncensored inner album sleeve if you see fit). Equally obscure and panned is Rootin’ by rock band Navasota. Lastly is Cameron’s positive and quick take on Argent’s All Together Now. They scored a huge hit in 1972 with “Hold Your Head Up” which helped catapult All Together Now to platinum status.

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Apr 16, 2012

Music on the We Bought A Zoo Set

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MTV shares this clip about music and its use on the set of We Bought A Zoo. Actors Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church and Matt Damon all chime in with their thoughts. This clip is part of a longer feature on the Zoo Blu-ray.

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Apr 11, 2012

Inquire Within: Bob Sugar, Jerry Maguire & the Rolling Stones

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Welcome to another edition of Inquire Within… Through your submissions, Cameron will answer your questions in his own words.

(Doug Goodwin & John Myers): Given your musical background, In Jerry Maguire – was Jay Mohr’s character name Bob Sugar in any way a tribute to Bob Mould and his post Husker Du band Sugar?

Cameron: It’s funny, I get asked about this quite a bit. Being a longtime collector of all things Husker Du and Sugar and Mould solo… there’s a part of me that wants to say, yes, it’s a tribute to Bob. But, there’s actually another story behind the name, with a different musical slant.

I was in Dublin, Ireland, in July of ‘93, doing interviews with Pearl Jam for a Rolling Stone cover story timed to the release of Vs. The band was playing at Slane Castle, with Neil Young and Van Morrison, and most of the groups were staying at the Mercer Hotel. Most everybody ended up at a bar down the street named Lillie’s Bordello.

One night Mike McCready and bunch of the PJ roadies had gathered there. The place was packed. The word was that the Rolling Stones were in town, and sure enough, the door swept open and in rolled guitarist Ronnie Wood with a small entourage. As we were leaving, we bumped into him. I had written about Woody for Rolling Stone too, and hadn’t seen him in a bit.

The bar was loud, and Ron looked a little bit furtive as he yelled/talked over the music. “I’m being followed!” he told us, looking both ways. “There’s a guy who is stalking me, and he finds me wherever I go. I don’t trust him, and he seems nice, but he scares me.” At this point Woody leaned forward, eyes widening. “He says his name is… Bob Sugar! Bob Sugar!! Can you believe it????” He seemed very emphatic about telling us the name, and we weren’t sure why. Before long, Woody had disappeared into the night, but we couldn’t shake the image of a rattled Rolling Stone being followed by a strange man named Bob Sugar.

All night and into the next day, we kept recounting the story, saying the name with horror. We couldn’t stop saying the name. And then something occurred to PJ roadie Jeff Ousley. “Wait a minute,” he said. “He didn’t say Bob Sugar. He said, ‘BROWN SUGAR.’ We just heard him wrong.” We knew Jeff was right, between the noise and Woody’s accent… of course. He was being creepily stalked by a guy named Brown Sugar, after the song. But the name Bob Sugar just felt so much better and so much more fun to say. So we kept doing it.

When it came time to name the characters for Jerry Maguire, Sugar was the first one on the page. The perfect name for a nemesis — it rolled off your tongue with ease. Jerry Maguire came next, named in part after my first editor at the San Diego Door, Bill Maguire. Originally Jerry’s wife-to-be was named Patty, but that never seemed right. Six months later, after a thousand near-misses, the final name arrived and stuck — Dorothy Boyd. But the one that arrived first…remains as fun to say as it was the first time we misheard it. Gotta give Ron Wood credit for it.

That having been said, my next Bob will be dedicated to Mould.

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Apr 3, 2012

Exclusive: We Shot A Zoo Clip!

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With the North American release of We Bought A Zoo on Blu-ray and DVD just around the corner (April 3rd), we thought you’d like an exclusive sneak peak at We Shot A Zoo, a documentary on the making of the film. This clip explores the casting and rehearsal process. The full length version of the documentary is available on the Blu-ray Combo pack and a shorter version of the doc (It’s A Zoo!) is included on the DVD release.

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Mar 29, 2012

Billy Wilder’s Tips for Writers

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It was 10 years yesterday that the world lost Billy Wilder. We will be sharing some of his wisdom from Cameron’s book, Conversations With Wilder from time to time. Let’s start with his Tips for Writers.

The audience is fickle.
Grab ’em by the throat and never let ’em go.
Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
Know where you’re going.
The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then –
– that’s it. Don’t hang around.

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Mar 28, 2012

Fast Times: March 28th – Million Dollar Theater – UCLA

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Fast Times At Ridgemont High is showing at UCLA’s Million Dollar Theater this Wednesday, March 28th as part of their Classic Film Series. Tickets are available over at their site. Just remember: No shirt, no shoes, no dice…

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Mar 26, 2012