Some times when I am trying to fall sleep, unprotected in the street, I dream of a different version of To Live and Die in L.A. In my version, William Peterson lives! And he has a coffee with Jane Leeves.
The ironic bit is that Jane Leeves steals a dollar from the Starbucks tip jar. (I understand that Starbucks was not around in 1985.) Turns out the dollar is a counterfeit, made by William Dafoe (the actor, not his character in the film, Rick Masters).
It gets confusing at this point. Rick Masters (the character, not the actor Dafoe) is working in the back room of the Starbucks. Just as William Peterson (again, the actor, not Richard Chance, the character) is about to leave the coffee shop, Rick comes from the back room and recognizes Peterson from CSI: (Yes, I understand that CSI: did not premiere until years later.)
They laugh about the coincidence, and congratulate Jane Leeves on booking the role of Daphne on Frasier.
POST SCRIPT: In my fantasy, my version of To Live and Die in L.A. is never released. It is just bonus footage on the DVD Criterion Collection of the real version of To Live and Die in L.A., released in 1985, well before DVDs are introduced.
My "real" version of the movie is the same as the original real version, except William Dafoe (the actor, not the character Rick Masters) opens a diner at the end, but is still killed by John Vukovich played by John Pankow (the actor).
To be clear, Vukovick/Pankow shoots Dafoe in the blooper real - not the film proper. The blooper real of a Burt Reynolds film to be precise.
The ironic bit is that Jane Leeves steals a dollar from the Starbucks tip jar. (I understand that Starbucks was not around in 1985.) Turns out the dollar is a counterfeit, made by William Dafoe (the actor, not his character in the film, Rick Masters).
It gets confusing at this point. Rick Masters (the character, not the actor Dafoe) is working in the back room of the Starbucks. Just as William Peterson (again, the actor, not Richard Chance, the character) is about to leave the coffee shop, Rick comes from the back room and recognizes Peterson from CSI: (Yes, I understand that CSI: did not premiere until years later.)
They laugh about the coincidence, and congratulate Jane Leeves on booking the role of Daphne on Frasier.
POST SCRIPT: In my fantasy, my version of To Live and Die in L.A. is never released. It is just bonus footage on the DVD Criterion Collection of the real version of To Live and Die in L.A., released in 1985, well before DVDs are introduced.
My "real" version of the movie is the same as the original real version, except William Dafoe (the actor, not the character Rick Masters) opens a diner at the end, but is still killed by John Vukovich played by John Pankow (the actor).
To be clear, Vukovick/Pankow shoots Dafoe in the blooper real - not the film proper. The blooper real of a Burt Reynolds film to be precise.
4 comments:
And, of course, every Burt Reynolds "blooper reel" is also known as the "closing credit sequence."
Knowing this fact, I checked my Reynolds Automobile-Comedy Box Set. Sure enough, right at the end of Smokey and the Bandido (this was the version released in Durango), there's the part referenced by the lead post above.
I should never have doubted you. I won't again. Thanks for having the courage to identify the phenomenon rampant in our "popular" culture.
J. Bruce Hakes, M.D.
Bless you Dr. Hakes for your contrition. I believe that you are a member of the esteemed Class of '90 at Vanderbuilt Un. or some University of similiar stature - so that verification means the world to me.
So cold...
Also on the blooper reel: a first take of the harrowing car chase, in which William Petersen mistakenly takes the on-ramp to the freeway. The result is a leisurely, three-hour drive that takes up all of Disc 2 of the special edition. Included is commentary from Petersen, who complains that Friedkin cut the shots of him waving to motorists who let him into their lanes.
My brother has a fetish for lane changing, so I will send him this disc. He will find this excellent material for self-abuse!
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