Episode 193 - Blues Brothers 2000: LIVE!

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

There is not an ounce of tire tread in this whole goddamn movie.

 

 

EDIT: I'm not sure about the correct units of measurement for tire tread.

[PollyDarton 1807]

Ok so this might just be me putting too much thought into the movie but because of the start of the film did anyone else think that Scribbles was going to be revealed to be Jake's son and THAT'S why he was in the movie? I thought for sure after they did the bits to show how alike the two were it was going to be reveled that after Jake got out he had a kid and that kid was Scribbles. They never mention WHEN Jake got out so I thought maybe he got some lady knocked up after a wild night celebrating being free from prison. They part he goes on his way never to se her again then eventually dies. He might have never known and maybe told this lady the amazing story of why he was in jail because of his Mission From God to save the orphanage. So when she finds herself preggo she decides to give the baby to the orphanage to raise. Maybe in the hope that they can get him to his father.

 

Anyway that would have made it SO much more satisfying and would have sort of justified Scribbles to the audience. i couldn't finish the movie but I'm pretty sure he's not Blues Brother Spawn right?

 

Regardless of his paternity #SaveScribbles

 

I think they touched on this in the podcast a little, but YES this should have been Jake's kid OR he should have been Jake reincarnated. It would have at least explained why the kid was even there... but the actual explanation is such a bummer. Scribbles was in the movie because the movie execs wanted BB2000 to be a PG kid friendly movie (Cuz nothing says kids like The Blues Brothers)

 

Here's the intereview I found this afternooon which is very insightful to what the hell happened in this movie.

https://www.avclub.c...ndis-1798208456

Here's the part that's pertinent to our discussion:

 

"AVclub: What was the impetus behind Blues Brothers 2000?

John Landis: We'd always intended for a sequel with John, but of course when he passed away, it was obvious we weren't going to do it. But Danny had been performing with John Goodman and Jimmy Belushi and the band, and he said, "You know, this is great, because this music is recognized now—let's do a movie." I said, "Great, sure, okay," and we wrote what I thought was a terrific script. Then Universal Studios eviscerated it. That was a strange experience, because the first thing they said was that it had to be PG, which meant they couldn't use profanity, which is basically cutting the Blues Brothers' nuts off. The first movie is an R-rated film, but there's no nudity or violence in it. It's just the language. Then they said, "You have to have a child, you have to have…" The bottom line was, the only way that movie was going to get made was to agree with everything they said. You know the difference between a brown-nose and a shithead? Depth perception. That's the only time I never really fought with the studio, because they didn't really want to make it. So we did every single thing they said. By the time we'd done that, the script was kind of homogenized and uninteresting. Danny said, "It's about the music. It's just about the music, John, so don't worry about it. We'll get the best people, and we'll make a great album, and get these people on film. We have to document these people." It's interesting, because, as much as I make fun of Danny, three or four of those guys have passed away since we made that movie. People say, "Okay, you've got Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, and John Lee Hooker in The Blues Brothers—who's in Blues Brothers 2000?" The answer? Everyone else. The first movie has five musical numbers, and the second movie has 18."

[PollyDarton 1807]

So - with the quote above blaming the studios aside - it is confusing to me how absent John Belushi/Jake is in this film (Not literally I know he's actually dead ya jerks, I mean in spirit). Why? Why pretend like this isn't a devastating thing... why pretend like he can just be replaced? They don't even show his photo! Elwood pulls out a worn photo of Cab Calloway from his breast pocket, but not Jake, his beloved brother and musical partner? Also when Skynet runs a computer check on Elwood we see his sunglass clad mugshot... and then when he runs a check on Jake we conveniently do not see the screen... and that's just about where his mentions end.

 

Did they think it would be more respectful this way? Because I find it cold and strange. John Belushi is the Elvis of SNL. He is their crown jewel and their biggest legend. I have been an enormous fan of SNL as far back as I can remember and I am quick to absorb any media about it... like books and documentaries (TOTAL ASIDE: James Franco's "Saturday Night" documentary is REALLY interesting.) Anyhoo... in any kind of SNL retrospective Belushi is treated like a mythical creature... so pure and beloved, the comedian who could and should have been a rockstar... his only downfall being hardcore substance abuse. And the people who made this movie KNEW him, as well as anyone could and they didn't try to really honor him in almost anyway. We don't even get to hear Frank Oz's explanation of Jake's death and consolation of Elwood... we don't even get to see Elwood grieve.

 

I'm not saying they need to go full Paul Walker or anything. Even something as little as stock footage of him performing at the end ala Selena/Man on the Moon/Walk the line? It had been 17 years since his actual death and it just seems an appropriate and respectful amount of time had passed for them to make a "statement" on the death of Belushi.

 

Also - please tell me if I'm missing allusions to him in the movie that I didn't catch.

[gigi-tastic 2322]

 

I think they touched on this in the podcast a little, but YES this should have been Jake's kid OR he should have been Jake reincarnated. It would have at least explained why the kid was even there... but the actual explanation is such a bummer. Scribbles was in the movie because the movie execs wanted BB2000 to be a PG kid friendly movie (Cuz nothing says kids like The Blues Brothers)

 

Here's the intereview I found this interview this afternoon which is very insightful to what the hell happened in this movie.

https://www.avclub.c...ndis-1798208456

Here's the part that's pertinent to our discussion:

 

Like a few people have said the music is pretty good on this. I for one love the phone sex music number. It really feels like they were just trying to string a bunch of rando music videos together

[EvRobert 1684]

So - with the quote above blaming the studios aside - it is confusing to me how absent John Belushi/Jake is in this film (Not literally I know he's actually dead ya jerks, I mean in spirit). Why? Why pretend like this isn't a devastating thing... why pretend like he can just be replaced? They don't even show his photo! Elwood pulls out a worn photo of Cab Calloway from his breast pocket, but not Jake, his beloved brother and musical partner? Also when Skynet runs a computer check on Elwood we see his sunglass clad mugshot... and then when he runs a check on Jake we conveniently do not see the screen... and that's just about where his mentions end.

 

Did they think it would be more respectful this way? Because I find it cold and strange. John Belushi is the Elvis of SNL. He is their crown jewel and their biggest legend. I have been an enormous fan of SNL as far back as I can remember and I am quick to absorb any media about it... like books and documentaries (TOTAL ASIDE: James Franco's "Saturday Night" documentary is REALLY interesting.) Anyhoo... in any kind of SNL retrospective Belushi is treated like a mythical creature... so pure and beloved, the comedian who could and should have been a rockstar... his only downfall being hardcore substance abuse. And the people who made this movie KNEW him, as well as anyone could and they didn't try to really honor him in almost anyway. We don't even get to hear Frank Oz's explanation of Jake's death and consolation of Elwood... we don't even get to see Elwood grieve.

 

I'm not saying they need to go full Paul Walker or anything. Even something as little as stock footage of him performing at the end ala Selena/Man on the Moon/Walk the line? It had been 17 years since his actual death and it just seems an appropriate and respectful amount of time had passed for them to make a "statement" on the death of Belushi.

 

Also - please tell me if I'm missing allusions to him in the movie that I didn't catch.

I believe that when he's putting the band back together, just about everyone says "I'm sorry about Jake" and Elwood just kind of nods

[Cameron H. 23786]

So - with the quote above blaming the studios aside - it is confusing to me how absent John Belushi/Jake is in this film (Not literally I know he's actually dead ya jerks, I mean in spirit). Why? Why pretend like this isn't a devastating thing... why pretend like he can just be replaced?

 

Did they think it would be more respectful this way? Because I find it cold and strange.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the original, but isn't their whole shtick throughout the movie that they never lose their cool? Even when Elwood's apartment blows up they just kind of stoically emerge from the rubble and move on. The only time they break this rule is at the very end when Jake breaks down in front of Carrie Fischer and begs her not to kill them. The reason that scene works is because they've been completely emotionless through all the other madness that’s been swirling around them.

 

And, honestly, more than anything else, I think that's why this movie doesn't work. Ultimately, it's the same movie - same plot, same jokes, same music, same structure. The movie doesn't suffer, as some have argued, because John Belushi isn't in it (Goodman is arguably a better actor and singer). The movie suffers because it doesn't give the audience catharsis. We need to have a chance to mourn for Jake. The problem with that is that's simply not who the Blues Bros are. If the movie indulged in sentimentality, it would have betrayed their spirit and would have been even worse. It simply wouldn't have made sense for Elwood to just break down and cry or something - that's not who that character is.

 

I feel like it’s the juxtaposition between the audience's need to come to terms with their loss, and Elwood's need to remain true to character and ignore that loss, that leaves the viewer feeling unsatisfied.

[JammerLea 2070]

Hello. I haven't listened to the podcast in months, due to a mix of stress and depression killing my interest in things I enjoy. But I saw the first Blues Brothers movie yeeears ago, so I thought I'd listen to this sequel episode. Oh my god, "Scribbles" nearly had me in tears from laughing so hard! I'm gonna have to make my roommate listen to this episode. Thank you so much, I really needed this. I hope I can catch more episodes, I've really missed this podcast and the forums.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Hello. I haven't listened to the podcast in months, due to a mix of stress and depression killing my interest in things I enjoy. But I saw the first Blues Brothers movie yeeears ago, so I thought I'd listen to this sequel episode. Oh my god, "Scribbles" nearly had me in tears from laughing so hard! I'm gonna have to make my roommate listen to this episode. Thank you so much, I really needed this. I hope I can catch more episodes, I've really missed this podcast and the forums.

 

We’ve missed you too!

[iamSGA 21]

Listened to ep yesterday. watching movie right now.

 

Is Scribbles the kid? What other movie was he in where he was named Scribbles? I haven't heard anyone called that yet.

 

Also, this shit is horrible lol

[gigi-tastic 2322]

Hello. I haven't listened to the podcast in months, due to a mix of stress and depression killing my interest in things I enjoy. But I saw the first Blues Brothers movie yeeears ago, so I thought I'd listen to this sequel episode. Oh my god, "Scribbles" nearly had me in tears from laughing so hard! I'm gonna have to make my roommate listen to this episode. Thank you so much, I really needed this. I hope I can catch more episodes, I've really missed this podcast and the forums.

 

Welcome back ! I know how hard both stress and depression can be. If you like this one I think you should try the Striptease one and maybe the Rad one as well. They were pretty fun night I thought.

[JammerLea 2070]

Who the duck vandalized wikipedia already?!

 

 

I was legitimately trying to look up Scribbles' actual name!! lmao (it's ok, I found it)

 

 

If I was feeling more ambitious, I'd try to come up with a "Where's Scribbles?" design along the lines of "Where's Waldo?", but I feel like I'd need to actually watch the movie for reference and I am not up to that challenge.

 

 

We’ve missed you too!

 

Welcome back ! I know how hard both stress and depression can be. If you like this one I think you should try the Striptease one and maybe the Rad one as well. They were pretty fun night I thought.

 

Thank you so much, guys! I'll see if I can stick around for a bit.

 

Rad sounded amusing, going by how people were reacting on letterboxd, so I'll definitely try to listen to that one soon.

 

 

Also helpful was listening to the "What's the Tee?" podcast with Paul and June. It was an absolute delight, and again as I said on Twitter I'd absolutely love if RuPaul and/or Michelle could be guests on HDTGM!

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

 

Welcome back ! I know how hard both stress and depression can be. If you like this one I think you should try the Striptease one and maybe the Rad one as well. They were pretty fun night I thought.

Welcome back! I have struggled with similar issues and also trying to keep up with the various movies to watch for this, Musical Mondays and Unspooled. That being said, you can skip Piya Behrupiya from the Musical Mondays rotation.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Watching the movie now and at the Battle of the Bands. Is that really Eric Clapton nerdified?

 

Also, maybe I missed performances. Which songs were the Gator Boys and Jonny Lang's? (I did like John the Revelator in the tent revival. Seems like an odd song to open the movie with.)

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Cameron H. has a talent for finding alternative posters for our Musical Mondays selections. I like this one for BB 2000. To me it almost has the implication of Scribbles being the pet.

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Blues Brothers 2000 has a song link with a previous episode.

 

[gigi-tastic 2322]

Who the duck vandalized wikipedia already?!

 

 

I was legitimately trying to look up Scribbles' actual name!! lmao (it's ok, I found it)

 

 

If I was feeling more ambitious, I'd try to come up with a "Where's Scribbles?" design along the lines of "Where's Waldo?", but I feel like I'd need to actually watch the movie for reference and I am not up to that challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much, guys! I'll see if I can stick around for a bit.

 

Rad sounded amusing, going by how people were reacting on letterboxd, so I'll definitely try to listen to that one soon.

 

 

Also helpful was listening to the "What's the Tee?" podcast with Paul and June. It was an absolute delight, and again as I said on Twitter I'd absolutely love if RuPaul and/or Michelle could be guests on HDTGM!

 

 

 

Also helpful was listening to the "What's the Tee?" podcast with Paul and June. It was an absolute delight, and again as I said on Twitter I'd absolutely love if RuPaul and/or Michelle could be guests on HDTGM!

 

If you like Drag Race I've found a podcast called Squirrel Friend's Cocktail Hour. It's hosted by two friend's Nick and Amanda and they get drunk and talk about new and old seasons of Drag Race what they are watching/ listening too and stuff in their lives. I love it. The each have side projects as well. Amanda has Amanda Loves to Hate Teen Mom where she does HILARIOUS impressions. Her best is her Barb impression which is Jenelle Even's mom. She has this amazing Bostony accent. I had never seen an episode of the show until I started listening (I started because I was also have really bad depression and panic attacks and needed something to help me sleep. This did not do that but only because I was laughing too hard. The cats were NOT pleased). I finished Teen Mom 2 in like a month. If you ever want to feel good about your life choices any version of Teen Mom is your go to. But you do n't have to watch the show to enjoy her talking about it. (If you do like the show and want to hear more funy women talk about it Teen Mom Trash Talk is another great podcast that's hilarious .)

 

Nick does The No Good Very Bad Gay Podcast where he watches movies that are cult classics he's never seen before with someone who loves them and they talk about the film. I love a lot of campy cult classic films and love Nick's voice/ Nick so I enjoy it. Several of them are old Hollywood films like A Star Is Born and they talk about some Hollywood history so that's fun to me. So far I have seen all the films except Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf and they did Bette Middler's tv movie version of Gypsy (which was Amanda's guest episode)

[gigi-tastic 2322]

Welcome back! I have struggled with similar issues and also trying to keep up with the various movies to watch for this, Musical Mondays and Unspooled. That being said, you can skip Piya Behrupiya from the Musical Mondays rotation.

 

To be honest I only watch the movie if it looks interesting, it's free on a streaming thing I own, I've seen it before and kind of enjoyed it (I think I did that with Super Mario Bro's as a kid), or (like The Hurricane Heist which I would never have watched otherwise) I'm going to the show.

[EvRobert 1684]

Watching the movie now and at the Battle of the Bands. Is that really Eric Clapton nerdified?

 

Also, maybe I missed performances. Which songs were the Gator Boys and Jonny Lang's? (I did like John the Revelator in the tent revival. Seems like an odd song to open the movie with.)

 

Jonny Lang's number (performed with Wilson Picket, Eddie Floyd and the Blues Brothers Band) is 634-5789 (Soulsville USA) aka the phone sex number.

 

Which brings up an interesting thought. Lang was legit 16 years old when this was filmed, 17 when it came out. What kind of phone sex line hires a 16 year old kid to work there? Even as a janitor, wouldn't there be laws against that? Why does Wilson Picket and Eddie Floyd hire him? What risk the law for this kid? Is this a horrifying glimpse into Scribbles future?

 

The Louisiana Gator Boys number is How Blue Can You Get and then the return along with the Blues Brothers Band (and eventually the rest of the cast) for New Orleans.

[JammerLea 2070]

 

If you like Drag Race I've found a podcast called Squirrel Friend's Cocktail Hour. It's hosted by two friend's Nick and Amanda and they get drunk and talk about new and old seasons of Drag Race what they are watching/ listening too and stuff in their lives. I love it.

 

My roommate and I love Drag Race, and I'm pretty sure I mentioned it long ago, but HDTGM introduced us to Movie Bitches and Movie Bitches is how we got into watching Drag Race. So Paul and June ending up on "What's the Tee" was like coming back full circle for me lol

 

I may try to check out at least Squirrel Friends. Thanks for the recs.

[i'll hold the mike 165]

Something else I just noticed: there's a character in the new vidya-game Floor Kids that's named Scribbles. Maybe June has been playing this game (and winning all the levels, since she's obviously got massive dance skills)

 

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

Hello. I haven't listened to the podcast in months, due to a mix of stress and depression killing my interest in things I enjoy. But I saw the first Blues Brothers movie yeeears ago, so I thought I'd listen to this sequel episode. Oh my god, "Scribbles" nearly had me in tears from laughing so hard! I'm gonna have to make my roommate listen to this episode. Thank you so much, I really needed this. I hope I can catch more episodes, I've really missed this podcast and the forums.

You've been missed! I hope you know you always have friends here.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I want everybody if you have the time to go back a re-watch Aretha Franklin's Respect number because it has my favourite "what the" moment of the movie. It looks like normal musical number, but try and take you eyes off of main players and look at the people in the background and watch the other employees of the dealership. At first you see two people sitting at desk behind Aretha and Mac and they are just carrying on doing work as normal. No acknowledgement that a song and dance is going on right before them. Then after a while Aretha Franklin move across the room and they start singing in front of a desk with a lone employee who is just grooving and moving along with the song. However, when we see the rest of the dealership in behind the Blues Brothers they all are just working as normal with no acknowledgement. There is only that one guy that seems to be aware or caring that a song is going on. So which is it? Is there a musical number going on and everybody is tired of hearing it but that one guy or what?

[Cameron H. 23786]

I think this movie really suffers the most from its lack of focus. It's obvious that they had at least two (possibly three) different ideas for what a sequel should be and just crammed them into one movie. Those plots being passing the love of Blues to the younger generation (e.g. Scribbles, the PG rating) and the idea that you don't necessarily have to be related by blood to be "Blues Brothers." Rather than just focusing on one of those ideas - either of which would have been serviceable - they tried to force them both together, all while trying to fit it within the framework of the original movie. I feel like their really needed a meeting to cut one of those story lines, because as it is, neither gets fully developed and the entire movie suffers for it.

 

Here's what I would have done:

 

First of all, as much as it pains me to say, we'd have to bench Scribbles. Maybe he could come back for Blues Brothers 3000 or whatever, but for now, the important thing is reestablishing the group and making them relevant again. Let's not worry about whether or not kids think Blues music is cool just yet.

 

Honestly, my version starts out basically the same - with Elwood getting out of prison and learning of Jake's passing. From there, he learns of a voodoo priestess who can resurrect the dead, and subsequently discovers that she's holding a Battle of the Bands in which the winner gets to request a single boon. Elwood decides he wants her to bring back Jake, but in order to win, he needs to put the band back together. He does so, but without Jake, they're just not as good. At that point, the movie could play out pretty similarly. He hires Goodman's character while being pursued by Morton. During the course of their movie, and after a number of wacky misadventures and zany hijinks, Elwood and Goodman's character bond. Morton confronts them at the climax of the movie where the power of the Blues overtakes him and he joins them onstage. While their performance is transcendent, they still lose to the Louisiana Gator Boys, but that's okay. We learn that Erykah Badu couldn't have brought back Jake anyway. What she can do, however, is make Elwood aware of the two new brothers he has standing beside him. Elwood comes to terms with his loss and embraces Goodman and Morton as family - learning that it's not blood but the Blues that binds.

 

 

...oh, and some cars crash or some shit.

[Anitrak 11]

I finally got registered on the forum to comment about this film.

 

First, anyone else notice the Peavey, Cort and Lakland guitars featured predominately in the band? Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, and Matt Murphy had signature guitars at the time. It was just kind of out of place considering the first movie had them playing Gibson and Fenders.

 

The Blues have some history with really young blues prodigies. Derek Trucks, Joe Bonamassa, and Jonny Lang were all performing the blues before they were teenagers. If you go see Buddy Guy he usually has some kid playing with him. Last time it was Quinn Sullivan so the character of Scribbles does have a foot in reality. But it's really poorly executed. Are we to believe that Scribbles whole introduction to the blues was through a couple of songs at the Stripster club and a poor sales pitch from Elwood to Willie about getting the band back together? Where did he learn to play Harmonica? They probably could have filled in some holes rather than blowing up the white supremacists.

 

I read that there was an earlier script where that character was supposed to be played by a down and out 16-20 year old kid which makes sense when Paul mentioned Macaulay Culkin. Even then, my take would to have Scribbles be a student at Columbia majoring in guitar studies where his interest in the blues isn't welcome. He and Elwood somehow meet where he's now the Janitor at the orphanage. After successfully showing the kid 'all the moves' and playing at a blues club for serious blues lovers Scribbles sees an invite to for Elwood to play the Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival which he's hesitant to play without Jake and his old band. Scribbles reunites the old band and convinces Jake that he should care more about the music than age, line ups, or anything else and convinces him to take his place as one of the legends of blues.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I think this movie really suffers the most from its lack of focus. It's obvious that they had at least two (possibly three) different ideas for what a sequel should be and just crammed them into one movie. Those plots being passing the love of Blues to the younger generation (e.g. Scribbles, the PG rating) and the idea that you don't necessarily have to be related by blood to be "Blues Brothers." Rather than just focusing on one of those ideas - either of which would have been serviceable - they tried to force them both together, all while trying to fit it within the framework of the original movie. I feel like their really needed a meeting to cut one of those story lines, because as it is, neither gets fully developed and the entire movie suffers for it.

 

Here's what I would have done:

 

First of all, as much as it pains me to say, we'd have to bench Scribbles. Maybe he could come back for Blues Brothers 3000 or whatever, but for now, the important thing is reestablishing the group and making them relevant again. Let's not worry about whether or not kids think Blues music is cool just yet.

 

Honestly, my version starts out basically the same - with Elwood getting out of prison and learning of Jake's passing. From there, he learns of a voodoo priestess who can resurrect the dead, and subsequently discovers that she's holding a Battle of the Bands in which the winner gets to request a single boon. Elwood decides he wants her to bring back Jake, but in order to win, he needs to put the band back together. He does so, but without Jake, they're just not as good. At that point, the movie could play out pretty similarly. He hires Goodman's character while being pursued by Morton. During the course of their movie, and after a number of wacky misadventures and zany hijinks, Elwood and Goodman's character bond. Morton confronts them at the climax of the movie where the power of the Blues overtakes him and he joins them onstage. While their performance is transcendent, they still lose to the Louisiana Gator Boys, but that's okay. We learn that Erykah Badu couldn't have brought back Jake anyway. What she can do, however, is make Elwood aware of the two new brothers he has standing beside him. Elwood comes to terms with his loss and embraces Goodman and Morton as family - learning that it's not blood but the Blues that binds.

 

 

...oh, and some cars crash or some shit.