A FAIR DEBATE

[carpediem]

Manos...made famous by MST3K...Is that the one that led to the catch-phrase "He tried to kill me with a forklift"?

No, that was Fugitive Alien.

[nomuse]

Manos...made famous by MST3K...Is that the one that led to the catch-phrase "He tried to kill me with a forklift"?

No, that was Fugitive Alien.

Originally called "Star Wolf," and based (pretty closely, too!) on the golden age Edmund Hamilton story.

When I created the sound effect for the television show MIKE TEAVEE is watching (in a recent production of "Willie Wonka") I put in a reference to the meme.  If you listened real closely you could hear a forklift raising the forks as a funky electric guitar plays the "forklift" theme, then a scream.  A Wilhelm, of course. 

[Chew]

Plan 9 belongs in a very special class of "it's so bad it's good".

I could never get past the part where the pilot says, "I saw a flying saucer today. It was cigar-shaped."

[gillianren]

The cops in Plan 9 are scratching their heads with their guns an awful lot.  Apparently, this was in a misbegotten attempt on their part to force Ed Wood to do a second take of the shot.  It turns out that simply wasn't possible.

[Halcyon Dayz, FCD]

Let me just say it's really creepy to hear Darth Vader say your name.

*wheeze* You failed me for the last time, Mr. Windley. *wheeze*

[Al Johnston]

He could have asked about the riddle of steel...

[bobdude11]

He could have asked about the riddle of steel...

... and then changed into a snake ...

[JayUtah]

Share!

I'd rather not spell it out in detail in a public forum, as it might be personally embarrassing to him.  Those who work with him are naturally apt to respect his privacy.  I mention it because it gave me new appreciation for him as an actor and as a person.  His professional voice is not his natural voice, and achieves its characteristic import and depth by means of necessary conscious effort.  When James is having a beer with Neil, I'll go into detail.

[JayUtah]

This was his very first movie, wasn't it?

Yes, his only prior credits were in teleivision.

Everyone in that film had hugely quotable lines, even him.

Thanks largely to Peter George's work on the screenplay, preserving his most lovable characters and the best dialogue from the book.  My favorite line is still, "You can't fight in here!  This is the War Room!"  That sort of in-your-face irony peppers the novel.

When something doesn't work in the lab, sometimes I'll say
Uh..sorry, sir...negative function...

Funny you mention that -- it's exactly how our conversation started.  I was doing a microphone check for our hired-out sound engineer and I said, "Sorry sir, still ... negative function..." and then I looked over to where he was getting wired for his body mic.  He shot back that characteristic toothy grin from ear to ear and said, "Young man, you're way too young to know that reference."  And I said, "On the contrary, I'm a big fan of Stanley Kubrick."  And it went from there.

Let me just say it's really creepy to hear Darth Vader say your name.

Did he say, "Jay, I hoaxed the Apollo missions. "   

Obviously not, and this was actually right as I was starting to pay attention to the hoax theories.  I wish I'd known then that this would be such a big deal for me because I'd have had a chance to talk with someone who worked with Kubrick.  As I said, Tony Frewin (Kubrick's personal assistant for much of his career) has been a wealth of information as well as a genuinely nice guy to talk to.

[ka9q]

"You can't fight in here!  This is the War Room!"

That's just about everybody's favorite line. Mine too, if I had to pick only one. But I couldn't.

I can only imagine how many takes of each scene of that movie must have been done, between Kubrick's well-known perfectionism and the actors cracking up over the dialogue.

He shot back that characteristic toothy grin from ear to ear and said, "Young man, you're way too young to know that reference."

I'm actually surprised he remembered it. Most actors say they forget their lines as quickly as they learn them. William Shatner said during his college appearances in the '70s that it was like cramming for a test. All the Star Trek actors say they constantly encounter fans who can quote every line of dialogue and expect them to remember it as well as they do.

I'm sure Jones knows as well as anyone how enduringly popular that movie has been. I still rank it as either #1 or #2 among the greatest movies of all time.

[ka9q]

And I said, "On the contrary, I'm a big fan of Stanley Kubrick."

Of course you are, he did such a great job faking the Apollo landings.

Right?

[ka9q]

I could not possibly do justice to his voice, but when someone wants my attention and I need to finish up what I'm doing first, I might say "A moment please!" in the Dr. Strangelove voice.

Is a mock Prusso-German voice really that hard? I thought everyone could do one, more or less.

Probably my favorite line from that character (and one I still occasionally use) is Vy didn't you tell the vorld, eh?

[Donnie B.]

"You can't fight in here!  This is the War Room!"

That's just about everybody's favorite line. Mine too, if I had to pick only one. But I couldn't.

I'd have to go with, "...you'll have to answer to the Coca-Cola company!"

Or maybe just, "Ya-Hooooo!  Yaaaa-Hooo!"

Dang, you're right, it's impossible to choose.

[Chew]

James Earl Jones' voice is all the more amazing considering his childhood speech problems.

[JayUtah]

James Earl Jones' voice is all the more amazing considering his childhood speech problems.

Oh, I guess it is fairly public knowledge then.  Yes, he had a serious stuttering problem and he still stutters when speaking in his own conversational voice.  His professional voice is the calm, measured rate that he has to effect consciously in order to avoid stuttering.  I should read Wikipedia more.