Wednesday, August 27, 2008

This Blog has been modified from its original version...

I've found a lot of funny clips of this stuff on YouTube and thought that I would share with everyone.

You know how when a movie that gets shown on network television or cable often has one of those disclaimers reading, "This movie has been modified from its original version"? And then it goes on to mention how it has been edited for content and to run in the time alotted? Usually what that means is that the film has had its violence/nudity/profanity cut out or cut down to make it more 'TV friendly.' Then there are some movies that are so short that to get them to 'run in the time alotted,' some studios would often re-insert cut footage so that the film could fill a 2 or 3 hour time slot! The Superman films were a prime example of this.

However, what I would like to focus on right now is the whole 'edited for content' versions of movies. There's usually two ways that Network execs go about this. 1) They use alternate footage filmed by the director where they actually had the actors speaking cleaner language, being clothed, or a close-up to cover up gore/violence. But access to said footage would usually be very rare especially in the 80s. Sometimes they would have the footage but not the sound and would need the actors to either return to the sound booth and dub in new cleaner dialogue or if they were unavailable, hire a sound-alike resulting in often funny sounding scenes where the voice-over actor didn't even come close to sounding like the actual actor!

2) The 'Parental Advisory' method I call it. Like many recording artists of the last 10 years or so who put out albums bearing a 'PA' sticker, they are usually requested by the record label to record a more friendly 'CLEAN' version of their albums recording different words so as not to upset concerned parents or other authority figures. Many movies in the last couple of years will actually be filmed with both the script dialogue and an alternate 'CLEAN' script in preparation for being shown on network or cable. So this way, they won't have to call in actors or 'soundalikes' to re-dub or re-film scenes.

Right now I'd like to give you a bit of a video history in this world of 'Edited for Content' versions of popular films. Be prepared to hear some of the most random "clean-ups" ever! You gotta wonder what goes through some of these guys heads when they're thinking, "What sounds like this and matches the lip movements???"

Starting with one of the most famous to come out of the 80s, 'Scarface'.

A comparison of the film itself and its TV version.



One thing I'll never forget as a child was catching one of my all time favorite movies (at that time!) on ABC one Saturday night, 'Ghostbusters'! Or so I thought...having watched the VHS tape many many times, I was a bit confused when I watched scenes like these...









Next, a classic John Hughes comedy, 'Weird Science' while even though it was a PG-13 movie, many networks were still somewhat sensitive to certain pieces of dialogue.



Next, we have a TBS airing of 'Die Hard 2: Die Harder' with a voice-over artist dubbing Bruce Willis...and sounding NOTHING like him!



Here is one of my personal favorites that contains a HUGE amount of TV friendly edits, 'Pulp Fiction'.



Now here's one of possible mistaken identity in the sound booth! A scene from Martin Scorsese's 'Casino' featuring a new voice dub for Joe Pesci. However, with the new guy's voice, I think he must've thought he was trying to dub for Buddy Hackett because that's who he sounds like! NOT Joe Pesci! See and listen for yourself!



Following that we go into one final classic edit and I still am amazed as to how they managed to think of the line...a scene from 'The Big Lebowski.' (For the record, the ACTUAL line is "See what happens when you f**k a stranger in the ass?!")



All through the years, and they keep getting funnier and funnier with what they choose to replace stuff with! I hope you enjoyed!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

DVD UPDATE: 8/26/08

It's the last week of August!!!!! Sweet. This Summer's really been a good one. You know? I was just thinking today of what to call this one. You know I always give every Summer I've had since 2002, a title. 2002 was 'The Best Summer of My Life,' '03 'The Hardest Working Summer,' '04 'The Most Hectically Busy,' '05 'The Summer of Love,' '06 'The Summer of Vegas,' '07 'The Summer of New Experiences,' '08? As of right now, I got nothing...although I might know by the end of the week and write a new more personal blog about it as it's been a while since I did one!

But, for now here's the new DVD UPDATE Courtesy of The Digital Bits!

BTW, for you newbies reading this blog of mine for the first time, just to let you know, DVDs marked with an asterix (*) are DVDs I am posting for the benefit of others and are not ones I am personally interested in purchasing. Get it? Got it? GOOD! Let's roll with it baby!

September 2

*

(WHOA! A Nickelodeon cult classic!)

*

*

*

September 16

*

(Will & Grace-The Complete Series)

September 23

*

*

*

*

*

September 30

*

October 7

*

*

*

*



(SWEET! Almost time for the Shemp shorts!!!)

October 14

*

*

*

October 21

*

October 28

*

November 4

*

(Oh man, I actually remember seeing this when I was a kid!)

*

*

*

(Just another way of squeezing money out of the American consumer...)

November 11

*

*

*

(And starring 'Son of the Beach' Volume 1's Timothy Stack!!!!)

November 18

*

*

*

*

November 25



*

*

(Well how 'bout that? It's only now just playing and they already have it's DVD ready!)

December 12

*

*

December 9

*

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Why 'Media Guru'?

This should answer your question before you have a chance to ask it!

I am a huge movie buff. I own close to 400 DVDs that are all stored in 3 big binders. If you'd like to see what I own or have seen on DVD go to http://mr-flix-1983.dvdaf.com/

I started watching movies as early as 1984 and around the time I was 9 years old, I was able to quote them and do impressions of the various characters seen on film. I am like a walking-talking version of The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/).

I also enjoy music. Mostly classic rock, 80s, and alternative. My iPod alone contains well over 5,000 songs.

Radio. It's a world I never thought I would see my future in. I was always more interested in acting and being on stage in front of large audiences. In my Freshman year of college I discovered that my university had its own student-run radio station. I promptly joined during my spring semester and remained with it til graduation. I held positions as DJ (with my own show that ran from Fall, 2003-Winter 2006), HR Director for two years in a row, Programming Director, Entertainment News Anchor, and Promo Producer.

I did two internships. 1 in the Summer of 2005 in Philadelphia and the other in the Summer of 2006 here in Las Vegas. I subsequently chose to move out to Las Vegas after graduating college and found work as a Traffic Producer/Reporter for Metro Networks where I report the traffic on the air for KNUU 970 AM, KXTE 107.5 FM, KVGS 107.9 FM, and SIRIUS channel 155.

I know much about the world of media, and am always ready to engage in a conversation about any and all aspects of it. Hence why I call myself The Media Guru.

From Xanga to Blogger

Well, as most of my friends have left the Xanga world behind, so shall I. This shall serve as the spot where I transfer the bulk of my blogs from Myspace. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more readers than I did on Xanga before everyone left it for either Myspace, Livejournal, or Facebook. Traitors!!!!