Clue (1985) 94 Minutes

It was a dark, and stormy night...

Over 109 Selections, the Movienight Gods have seen fit to provide us with 108

rain free Wednesdays... but finally Mother Nature got the better of us.

Technically speaking, we might have been able to squeeze this Pick in

between the rain if we still had the easy set-up our original Back Yard

provided. Jaja’s final Pick, ‘Ed Wood,’ was presented under similar

circumstances, and as it happened that night the rain did indeed stop between

9 pm and midnight. The Sheet is less rain friendly than our old stalwart Stucco

so the Crew yielded to the weather and headed back to Tooda’s for our

12th Indoor Pick.

While this will be logged as a Wiener Pick, he was on the road this week so he handed his Selection to Bourbon Cookie. ‘Clue’ marks Cookie’s second at bat as SELECTOR, following up her well received debut, ‘The Last Picture Show.’

Netti was in Japan, Jaja was unavailable, and Pat Towne continued his boycott of Indoor Selections - but the rest of the Membership was on hand for this spirited farce.

There was some controversy surrounding this Pick, as Tooda and Bourbon Cookie violated the first three of our By-Laws by discussing the Selection ahead of time. Tooda pointed to the fact that significant others have long discussed their Picks with each other (i.e. Joby and Moni’s Picks) but it still led to a less than perfect presentation. Tooda urged Cookie to show only one of the film’s three endings, and just as Bourbon Cookie had known, this was not the way to go. After the credits, we went back to watch the other two while Tooda chewed on humble pie.

Despite that small blemish, the Crew seemed buoyed by the film and everyone enjoyed a few rounds of the actual game “Clue” (“The Simpsons Clue” to be exact) after the film. It should be noted that Tooda won the first round of “Clue” on his very first guess - which makes him wicked cool.

‘Clue’ marks the return of many familiar faces to Movienight. Madeline Kahn (‘Blazing Saddles,’ ‘What’s Up, Doc?’) and Eileen Brennan (‘The Sting,’ ‘The Last Picture Show’) now join Ruth Gordon as the only three females to appear three times. Martin Mull returns after debuting in Tooda’s ‘My Bodyguard.’ Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Mckean, Lesley Ann Warren, and Colleen Camp all bow for the first time with this Selection.

Next week we will return to the Great Outdoors, and Tooda will be back at bat to follow up his highly unorthodox - ‘Extras.’

‘Yup, two corpses - everything’s fine!’

Written and Directed by: Jonathan Lynn

BBD Comments:

Cookie did me proud once again. My sole regret about her Selection is that I allowed the first three of our By-Laws to be violated. She seemed so torn about her Pick that I couldn’t help but offer my advice. It is a great joy of our Salon not knowing what is coming so to be denied that pleasure diminished the experience for me somewhat. While I admitted after the film that Cookie’s instincts were correct vis a vis the films three endings, but I stand by the principle that made me suggest going with only one. When ‘Clue’ was released in the theaters there was only one ending shown and I figured Movienight is about the theatrical experience rather than the Home Video one.

Still, for any snafus, ‘Clue’ was a very solid choice for a dark and stormy night indoors. The film is flat out fun. The masterful ensemble takes one of the stupidest ideas in cinema history (turning a board game into a movie) and makes it remarkably fun and funny. It is to the movie’s credit that we were all struck with the same urge to play the game after the movie ended.

Bourbon Cookie came of age with this one, and I will never again violate the By-Laws when she steps up to the plate. She proved she doesn’t need the training wheels.

Onwards.

Brandon Comments:

There was imagination, premeditation and consideration placed on Bourbon Cookie’s Selection for this week’s MovieNight festivities. From the dark chair in the corner of the apartment, she carefully analyzed who would be attending that night, how the weather would behave, the ratio of men to women…all just hours before 9:00 erupted. As Tooda and I shouted answers at Alex Trebek on the widescreen, Bourbon Cookie diligently deliberated on her two Selection possibilities, finally deciding on ‘Clue’ as her winner.

I must say, ‘Clue’ is a fun film. The rain, the enclosed environment and the characters of the film closely matched our own predicament of the evening (we had an indoor viewing because of the weather). I had never seen it before, and although I loathe slapstick comedy (see my review for ‘Bringing Up Baby’) I did enjoy this one. More than being just a good comedic film with the very talented Tim Curry at the helm, ‘Clue’ was carefully orchestrated by its Selector to fit the groove of the night—and it did. And although we argued afterward about the decision to only show one random ending to the film (from the three back-to-back available), I think it was the right choice. We left the film’s ending to Lady Luck, and we found our murderer. And from now on, whenever I watch this film again, I will permanently remember the cinematic closure that fate handed us that night….and it will be my own personal ending to this film.

And let it be known, there were three wonderful strains of Bob floating between us that night, which made the evening all the more wonderful. Buffy was packing Snowcap, Tooda was packing Grapefruit, and I was packing some Blue Diamond. And that’s when MovieNight really shines…when there's a literal potluck of vices on the table.

Great sophomore Selection, Bourbon Cookie.

Nubs Comments:

‘Clue’ is one of those movies I grew up on and know by heart. I never would have considered it for Movienight, yet I am pleased Bourbon Cookie found a situation which called for the unusual. As long as the rain was going to trap us indoors, quite clever of Ms. Bourbon, with the sophomore pick, in Tooda's apartment, to slay us with this silly, schticky classic.

Though I made my point thoroughly post pick, I will reiterate for future situations; Amy should have gone with her first instincts and made the choice that served the night best, rather than please the movie-dorks that remember the silly promotion of it's original theatrical release. Yes, I remember seeing the one and only ending we got on Wednesday and waiting for it to go to Cable before seeing all endings. When it played repeatedly on cable, however, I always watched all endings as they were all meant to be seen. Since we inevitably watched the alternate endings after a very disruptive end of pick bathroom run, I do think that the film and night work better to watch them as one climax. I compare my long, hard, decision to start ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ without it's original 8 minute overture, because though it is not the original theatrical release the filmmakers wished, it would not serve our unique forum which depends wholly on the reveal and it's momentum. It is really what still makes Movienight fun 3 years and counting. Bourbon learned a bitter lesson when she broke By-Laws 1 through 3. You never talk about your Pick, because who you tell might make you change your wonderful mind.

I'm glad she at least didn't rethink ‘Clue.’ It is a movie who's amazingly committed cast warrants a cheery house to seek shelter from the storm. It seemed like fate in that only indoors, earlier than usual, could we have had the environment that would encourage a board game. I love the game and the movie, so good night all.

SELECTOR Comments:

Woo hoo! I get another Selection!

Damn, we’re inside, again, for my Pick.

Once again I was honored by Mr. Weiner to take over the duties of SELECTOR while he was out of town. I had a great Pick that would do him proud, but it’s not on DVD. Onward. As I was running out of the house with my second pick, something caught my eye, a third, and yes, better Pick. Then I made a mistake and broke the law. I had a little talk with Tooda about the Picks. Yeah, yeah, all the other significant other Guest Selectors have done this, but come on, I thought I was past that. Two good things came from the talk, I solidified my Pick and later was able to prove Tooda wrong, always a treat. With the rain raging, well, except for during the film, the darkness of the night, and the door locked, I feel ‘Clue’ came off quite well. I do apologize for listening to Tooda about playing only one ending instead of all three, which makes the movie the classic that it is. I promise to never listen to him again.

I love ‘Clue.’ It was an odd follow up to Slim’s ‘American Beauty,’ but we were under special circumstances. The first time in Movienight History to be rained out on a Wednesday, being sent inside, and me being a guest I feel made it all okay. I wanted something uplifting and just plain funny. ‘Clue,’ for me, is one of those movies, like ‘American Beauty,’ that I haven’t seen all the way through in a long time and when it comes on TV, I sometimes watch it, but usually for only a few minutes, then move on. But when it started to play, I was excited about the great, simple story that was ahead. The performances in this film are goofy, intelligent, and perfect for the time period. There is nothing like seeing classically trained stage actors practicing their craft with long cuts that you just don’t see today in other films. This movie has a great flow and comedic timing that builds until then end, when yes, it should come to a bang with the three endings that grow in hilarity with each one. My absolute favorite performances are by Eileen Brennen, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, and Michael McKean. Eileen Brennen at the dining room table, rambling on about uncomfortable silence is brilliant and I can’t imagine anyone else being able to do it. The normally creepy Tim Curry playing the slick deadpan butler losing it outside the water closet, “All right, I’m shouting,! I’m shouting, I’m shouting, I’m…” kills me. His imitations of the other characters during his montage of “Who done it” is spot on. The heaving flames that Madeline Khan uses to describe her hate for Yvette is done only as she can do it. My favorite line is delivered by Michael McKean at the end of the third ending, “I’m going to go home and sleep with my wife.” His little smile at the end seals the deal for me. Their dedication to their silly board game characters never stops. It’s the characters and the actors who portray them that make this film for me. They have taken a script with fast dialogue and wonderful one-liners and built a story that I can watch time and again, knowing every line.

For my sophomore Pick and mistake with the ending, I hope everyone had an enjoyable indoor night. No more advice from Tooda. We’ll see how long that lasts. Cheers to all who joined indoors. I hope to be brought back again and thank the Crew, and especially Weiner, for bringing me in on the fun and challenge of being a SELECTOR.

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