Episode 85 — Color of Night

[jeffdacock 64]

The crew was startled about the similarity between Bakulas table and Dales work: Didn't Dale at some point mention that he made the table and the bed for Bakula?

[NigelDungan 9]

The crew was startled about the similarity between Bakulas table and Dales work: Didn't Dale at some point mention that he made the table and the bed for Bakula?

 

I think that part is only in the extended version.

[fuckface 14]

Jason Mantzoukas is a fucking pimp.

[ManekiNeko 2]

I was a bit disappointed no one covered my absolute favorite part of the movie: the completely irrelevant apx. 2 minute kitchen scene in between the two sex scenes! The timing and dialogue in this scene is beyond amazing. (It might only be in the extended version?) "Don't you like my cooking?" "If there's nothing here you like, I have something else.... I think it's ready." This scene played out like a fucking porno in the best way possible.

[Anonymous37 22]

The Director's Cut of COLOR OF NIGHT is a camp classic because it features great talents in front and behind the camera going balls to the wall. The cinematography is beautiful, the transitions are clever, and the performances are deliciously over the top. Plus, the extra 18 minutes allow the mystery more room to unfold--there's too many characters/suspects otherwise. The producer's cut tried to simplify and shorten the film but only succeeded in creating an unwatchable mess.

 

I saw the VHS version, and I can't speak to the cinematography, because I was agog at everything else.

 

I'm willing to provisionally defend this movie, but only because I can't be sure that it isn't a brilliant parody of Skinemax "erotic" thrillers played with deadly stone-faced seriousness by every single actor and actress. If that's what the producers and directors had in mind, then this really does deserve five stars.

[AdamLevenberg 3]

Anonymous 37 - It's not a parody of skinemax films but the film is intended to be funny. The director is famous for mashing up genres and using a heavy hand with physical comedy and punchlines. I think Ruben Blades is really funny in the film, the other actors were aware that the director's tone is incredibly quirky (as well as completely unrestrained) and played the roles accordingly.

 

Unfortunately, the producers cut deleted about 20 jokes and punchlines between scenes as well as many of the quirkier elements that are representative of the director's personal style and vision. In every scene, he attempts to do something different or interesting just to keep the audience's attention.

 

makes me sad the entire panel watched and discussed a confusing, abandoned version of the movie. There are so many problems with the plot in both versions but at least the director's cut delivers on the bizarre and off-kilter personal style that can be found in his earlier films.

[Anonymous37 22]

Anonymous 37 - It's not a parody of skinemax films but the film is intended to be funny. The director is famous for mashing up genres and using a heavy hand with physical comedy and punchlines.

 

If you have a mystery -- even a mashed-up mystery that's meant to be funny -- where what's meant to be a huge reveal to the viewer (the fact that Jane March's character is impersonating multiple people) is obvious from the first moment that you see the second person she's playing, and the movie isn't a parody, then your movie has failed.

 

As I mentioned, I didn't see the producer's cut, but if anything, the movie would have been improved by removing material and making the plot more confusing, because at the very least, the viewer would be more engaged in connecting the dots.

 

I'll take your word that the movie was not meant as a parody. It's a shame, because it reduces what could have been the single best movie parody I have ever seen (well, maybe tied with Starship Troopers) to camp.

[justinmh05 1968]

I watched the producer's cut. Trust me, those extra 20 minutes only made the movie even more bone-headed. And it looked just as cheaply shot.

[cshin 7]

i cannot believe you guys didn't mention the wacky scene where Bruce and Rose are having dinner and she asks him if he likes her lipstick and then he says he doesn't so she says she's never going to wear the color again. AND THEN SHE TOSSES THE LIPSTICK INTO HER WATER GLASS. that's her water glass! she is supposed to drink out of that! who does that? does she think he won't believe her if she says she'll never wear that shade of lipstick again? and if she wants to destroy the lipstick for whatever reason putting it in water won't completely do the job.

 

another thing i was thinking about was the baseball glove chair which you guys did mention but briefly. i was wondering why on earth they had a baseball mitt chair and everyone else seemed to have a regular chair. if everyone had a sports equipment themed chair it would make more sense but they don't. I believe the reason Casey was sitting in the catcher's mitt is because in the first scene with the therapy session there is a fight that breaks out. Casey gets attacked by Richie in the first scene and then later killed by Dale. He is literally "caught" twice. is that why he is in the catcher's mitt? because he is going to get caught?

[AdamLevenberg 3]

When I interviewed the director about his career, we spent about 4 hours discussing COLOR OF NIGHT. I was very interested in what percentage of the audience saw the twist coming. He said about 1/3 of the audience figured it out but that group's overall recommend scores were the same as the 2/3 who didn't see it coming.

 

It was surprising to learn that of all the issues that were on the table during the test screening and editing process, the twist wasn't an issue that either side felt the need to address with reshoots (because the camera work and lighting of a certain character in the therapy scenes could have easily shown us a lot less without drawing attention to itself).

 

Without delving too much into the definitions of camp and parody, it's interesting you mention a Paul Verhoeven film because Richard Rush actually recommended Verhoeven for the job directing ROBOCOP after passing on the project and there are a lot of stylistic similarities between the two directors. They're friends and big fans of each others work.

[Joven 373]

i cannot believe you guys didn't mention the wacky scene where Bruce and Rose are having dinner and she asks him if he likes her lipstick and then he says he doesn't so she says she's never going to wear the color again. AND THEN SHE TOSSES THE LIPSTICK INTO HER WATER GLASS. that's her water glass! she is supposed to drink out of that! who does that? does she think he won't believe her if she says she'll never wear that shade of lipstick again? and if she wants to destroy the lipstick for whatever reason putting it in water won't completely do the job.

 

another thing i was thinking about was the baseball glove chair which you guys did mention but briefly. i was wondering why on earth they had a baseball mitt chair and everyone else seemed to have a regular chair. if everyone had a sports equipment themed chair it would make more sense but they don't. I believe the reason Casey was sitting in the catcher's mitt is because in the first scene with the therapy session there is a fight that breaks out. Casey gets attacked by Richie in the first scene and then later killed by Dale. He is literally "caught" twice. is that why he is in the catcher's mitt? because he is going to get caught?

 

Doesn't she show up, maybe in the next scene after the lipstick thing, in a red dress? Like ill show some sensitivity towards you by not wearing red lipstick...but that's as far as I go.

 

And no symbolism on the chair like that, because it's not sports themed, it's just a hand.

[ABee21 26]

I'm only about 10 minutes in, but I just have to say that I love Jason for so casually dropping a reference to the office where Felicity went to therapy. That's a fairly deep cut, Felicity-wise.

[TylerPetty 4]

I'm pretty sure the Amazon review about the "twisted denouncement" actually meant "twisted denouement," which is a French word that refers to the part of the story where all the plot threads come together.

[dlo burns 129]

I'm pretty sure the Amazon review about the "twisted denouncement" actually meant "twisted denouement," which is a French word that refers to the part of the story where all the plot threads come together.

 

There was a plot?

[KevinMerryman 58]

I love getting little glimpses into Jason's secret nerd life. Like the Felicity reference in this episode, the "BAMF" Nightcrawler reference in another episode, calling out the Harry Potter snake (Nagini?) in the Anaconda episode. I know there are more but I'm blanking.

 

He's like Ogre at the end of Revenge of the Nerds 2: Nerds in Paradise. Tough on the outside but a big ol' nerd under his tough exterior.

[DeathToMikeyBay 130]

Has Jane March ever NOT been naked in a movie?

 

This is the 2nd unhinged character in group therapy played by Brad Dourif (OCD lawyer guy), the other being Billy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He also played the mentat Piter in Dune and Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings, for another two time combo of "creepy adviser to an evil ruler".

 

What the heck happened to Lance Henriksen between Aliens and this? They're only 8 years apart but it looks like he aged 20.

 

Sondra was Miss Scarlet from Clue!

 

 

I'm no expert on therapy, but is group therapy with strangers even a thing? I figured it was just in mental institutions where there were too many patients for 1on1 sessions. Why in the world would working professionals risk their careers and family by revealing their most damning secrets in front of a group of unhinged people?

 

Not finishing watching yet, so this was probably covered in the episode, but why the hell does Bruce Willis all of a sudden get to inherit all of Scott Bakula's stuff? He gets his house, car, and business all because he happened to be a house guest when his friend was murdered? He gets to demand a search warrant from the police? I'm pretty sure the police DON'T need a warrant to search a place where the lone resident just turned up murdered (if they did it would be ridiculously quick and easy to get).

 

BRUCE IS BANGING A TOTAL STRANGER ON HIS RECENTLY DECEASED FRIEND'S BED! (hang gliders!)

 

(what is it with shitty movies and nail guns?)

[DeathToMikeyBay 130]

Did anyone else guess the killer from his very first appearance? The "You should see his bed" line clinched it. How did he know what Scott Bakula's home bed looked like? Then the fact that instead of LINGERING on it like every other red herring, they quickly sweep it under the rug and hurry on to the next scene.

 

That's how you can spot the killer in pretty much any crappy murder mystery: the character that only shows up once or twice and they quickly sweep under the rug instead of lingering on. Scream 2 & 4 are the biggest examples that come to mind. If there is an eager student type then they're definitely the killer (again, Scream 2 & 4).

[Bernard_Shakey 3484]

I wanna give a lot of props to Jason for the first time I think I've ever heard the term "clitoral hood" spoken aloud.

 

Great work.

FYI: There's discussion of those words (although I don't think the exact phrase was used) during ep. 3 of Analyse Phish w/ guest Adam Scott. It comes up when Harris introduces the Scotts to a Phish song called "Harry's Hood". A pretty funny convo ensues.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

Did anyone else guess the killer from his very first appearance? The "You should see his bed" line clinched it. How did he know what Scott Bakula's home bed looked like? Then the fact that instead of LINGERING on it like every other red herring, they quickly sweep it under the rug and hurry on to the next scene.

 

That's how you can spot the killer in pretty much any crappy murder mystery: the character that only shows up once or twice and they quickly sweep under the rug instead of lingering on. Scream 2 & 4 are the biggest examples that come to mind. If there is an eager student type then they're definitely the killer (again, Scream 2 & 4).

It just bothers me in any kind of movie where there's a whodunit when people in general who have nothing to do with what's going on start acting unnecessarily weird. Sure, we don't know if they're the killer or not, but THEY FUCKING DO. When everyone around you is acting like a fucking creep, and it's clear that the killer might be trying to get someone else to take the fall, maybe it's best to not set yourself up to be framed for it. In every post-"Scream" horror/suspense flick, it seemed like EVERY character had to be a suspect, no matter how small. I found it to be a strange coincidence that these communities where these horrible crimes were happening also had the creepiest gas station attendants, window washers, cable repairmen, and insurance salesmen that were all apparently perfectly fine, law-abiding citizens.

[daveB from Oakland 364]

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: If you're like me, you sometimes use old-timey cliche metaphors. Such as:

 

"Elephant in the room"

"Skeleton in the closet"

"800 pound gorilla"

 

Next time you're about to say one of those phrases, say this instead: "Snake in the mailbox".

[Swarlito 4]

I just wanted to mention the reason why Needlemeyer's wife was so upset when Bruce Willis went to talk to her is because he mentioned Richie being one of his current patients and of course, the lady knew he was really dead. Everything else in this episode was spot on although I really wish the gang had seen the directors cut if only for the part in the beginning where the lipstick lady REALLY DOES START FELLATING THAT GUN! I lost my goddamn mind at that part.

[AdamLevenberg 3]

I put together a trivia article about the production history of COLOR OF NIGHT:

 

http://officialscreenwriting.com/fun-facts-about-color-of-night/

[Bernard_Shakey 3484]

This is the 2nd unhinged character in group therapy played by Brad Dourif (OCD lawyer guy), the other being Billy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He also played the mentat Piter in Dune and Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings, for another two time combo of "creepy adviser to an evil ruler".

Woah. Good great call on the Cuckoo's Nest role. I never would have noticed that until you brought it out.

I love that guy as an actor (the Doctor on Deadwood) and, yeah, can he play creepy or what? (Alien: Resurrection)

[rachelpi 228]

I love getting little glimpses into Jason's secret nerd life. Like the Felicity reference in this episode, the "BAMF" Nightcrawler reference in another episode, calling out the Harry Potter snake (Nagini?) in the Anaconda episode. I know there are more but I'm blanking.

 

He's like Ogre at the end of Revenge of the Nerds 2: Nerds in Paradise. Tough on the outside but a big ol' nerd under his tough exterior.

 

Plus referring to lipstick lady as "the sister from Gilmore GIrls" when clearly she is Susan's crazy sister Chloe from ER.

[DaraCrawley 18]

that professod\r is a real dude google it