Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY Boston's news video.
Speaker 2: All right, Nicole, thank you very much.
Speaker 3: Yes, there seems to be a cease fire on the
Speaker 3: doorstep in the Middle East. Anytime people stop killing each other.
Speaker 3: I'm all for it. Long overdue and it's about time.
Speaker 3: That's all I can tell you. Then I look over
Speaker 3: here on the left. I'm looking at television monitors here
Speaker 3: in the Beezy studio, and I see that Kamali's team
Speaker 3: continues to make excuses about their loss, why they didn't
Speaker 3: go on Rogan and blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: It's over. Let it go.
Speaker 3: That's it. That's it. That is about as serious. No,
Speaker 3: that is as serious as I'm gonna get tonight because
Speaker 3: I'm ready for turkey stuffing, movies and sweatpants. The greatest
Speaker 3: adventure you know, the man or.
Speaker 2: A woman is.
Speaker 3: It's the sweat band. It is the elastic band. It
Speaker 3: is the rope that you can let out in your sweatpants.
Speaker 3: I remember my uncle Jim, after Thanksgimmick dinner, sitting in
Speaker 3: front of the television set to watch football, literally unbuckling
Speaker 3: his belt and just letting the thing hang off and
Speaker 3: then unbuckling the top button, unbuckling the top button of
Speaker 3: your pants. You would be arrested today if you did that,
Speaker 3: but thanks to the sweatpant on Thursday, you don't have
Speaker 3: to do it. This is where my head's at. No
Speaker 3: heavy lifting, no heavy thinking. It's the holidays, people, and
Speaker 3: let's get do it. So coming up tonight on Night Side,
Speaker 3: Gary Tagway for Dan Ray, we're gonna get into the
Speaker 3: holiday movies. My buddy Drewiano is gonna join us. Screenwriting
Speaker 3: professor at BC for over a decade, wrote the screenplay
Speaker 3: No Safe Haven. Has written a number of novels. Also
Speaker 3: wrote a book called The Third Act. Has been a
Speaker 3: consultant for Will Smith in Will Smith's Company. This guy
Speaker 3: knows movies like nobody's business, and he's been working on
Speaker 3: a list all day for the best holiday movies. Now,
Speaker 3: there are some obvious ones. The one thing that about
Speaker 3: the holiday movie the new ones really haven't captured it.
Speaker 3: There's been nothing new lately. There is one with Kurt Russalove,
Speaker 3: we'll get into that, which I liked the Christmas Chronicles.
Speaker 3: One was good, two was a little much. But I
Speaker 3: think he wanted to get Goldie in it. I understand,
Speaker 3: so they made a Christmas Chronicles two. I like Christmas
Speaker 3: Chronicles one, but that's really the only recent holiday movie
Speaker 3: that I think is any good.
Speaker 2: I could be wrong.
Speaker 3: I could be wrong on that, but that's anyways. We're
Speaker 3: going to cover that and also some great stories with
Speaker 3: Drew on these holiday movies. And where would we be
Speaker 3: without John Hughes. God bless him me he rest in peace.
Speaker 3: I mean John Hughes as a writer and a director
Speaker 3: made the two of the best holiday movies Plays Trains
Speaker 3: at Automobiles and Home Alone. Those are not my top
Speaker 3: those might be in my top five. But I'm going
Speaker 3: to tell you my number one holiday movie coming up,
Speaker 3: which I think initially the critics just panned. And also
Speaker 3: there's a very interesting story on how two actors didn't
Speaker 3: get along in it, and that's coming up in just
Speaker 3: a few moments. What's going on in the world of entertainment.
Speaker 3: One of the things we like to do around the
Speaker 3: holidays is sit on our ass and watch TV and
Speaker 3: stream and movies and look for things. There just is
Speaker 3: not the inventory that we're accustomed to. Sure, you can
Speaker 3: go back and you can watch the older movies, or
Speaker 3: maybe there's something you haven't seen. I haven't seen shinless
Speaker 3: lists and I just can't bring myself to do it,
Speaker 3: and I need to do it, should do it. Every
Speaker 3: time I go to do it, I go it's too heavy.
Speaker 2: I can't handle it. I'm whistened out.
Speaker 3: But I should do it out of respect for the story,
Speaker 3: the cause, live loss, Lives lost, sacrificed, the filmmaker, the actors.
Speaker 3: I just need to watch that movie, but I just
Speaker 3: I just can't. I can't bring myself to do it.
Speaker 3: But what's going on with the world of entertainment? There
Speaker 3: was a big meaning between Netflix and all the powers
Speaker 3: that be out in Hollywood. It did not go well.
Speaker 3: I mean, listen, TVs. We all know, I mean TV
Speaker 3: is dead. Thank God for Law and Order. I mean
Speaker 3: Law and Order and the fbis and of course reality
Speaker 3: reality television. You know where you have the voice, so
Speaker 3: you have American Idol, or you know, you have these
Speaker 3: survival shows or f Boy Island that I'm finding.
Speaker 2: Out that my teenage daughter is watching. I'm like, what,
Speaker 2: excuse me?
Speaker 3: When you get to the third kid, I'm too damn
Speaker 3: tired to worry about what they're watching.
Speaker 2: They all know so much.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, what kids know at fourteen and fifteen.
Speaker 3: I didn't know when I was twenty, and I blame
Speaker 3: the phones. Can't blame me, the parent, blame the phones.
Speaker 3: But I mean, when it comes to like what we
Speaker 3: grew up with TV, it's like stuff like that or
Speaker 3: The X Factor, right, or The Survivor. But when it
Speaker 3: comes to drama, great fiction, great shows, great movies, it's
Speaker 3: all streaming. Where's it going? When are we going to
Speaker 3: see the next great show? There's not a lot out there, right,
Speaker 3: I mean, right now, picketts are pretty slim. I've got
Speaker 3: a few. But what's going on in the industry and
Speaker 3: how are we going to be entertained in the future.
Speaker 3: One of the things I'm going to ask Emily Kennedy about,
Speaker 3: who is an agent for the WSM Agency and has
Speaker 3: worked in a number of areas of entertainment throughout her
Speaker 3: career before going into the agency business, is is the
Speaker 3: situation comedy's gonna be replaced by Instagram? My wife goes
Speaker 3: on Instagram and just scrolls it and laughs and just
Speaker 3: laughs one after another after another.
Speaker 2: I mean, is there no reason to have a new Cheers? Right?
Speaker 3: I mean Abbot elementary God, but thank God for that.
Speaker 3: But at one point in time, we have five or
Speaker 3: six or seven or eight Abbot Elementaries.
Speaker 2: You could watch now.
Speaker 3: It's Abbot Elementary and Instagram or f Boy Island. Oh God,
Speaker 3: Porzingis is back Celtics. If you have Porzingis, They're not
Speaker 3: gonna lose to anybody, not at all. They are not
Speaker 3: gonna lose to anybody. And Peyton Prishart could he be
Speaker 3: the sixth Man of the Year. Gotta get into some
Speaker 3: Celtics here with Jackson. Jackson Tulliver's gonna join us. Also
Speaker 3: one of my prime students at Emerson, but he does
Speaker 3: great work for CELNS Media, so we're gonna talk Celtics
Speaker 3: soup with him. This is interesting coming up at ten thirty.
Speaker 3: Make sure you join us for the Dark Side of
Speaker 3: AI Scarbarredell. Anytime AI screws up, I'm all for it.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I do realize that I don't realize how dependent I
Speaker 3: am on AI. When I look at my phone, you know,
Speaker 3: or when you just say you're you know, you send
Speaker 3: a text and you get autocorrect. I mean that's AI.
Speaker 3: We are so dependent on AI. I don't even know
Speaker 3: when AI helps me. I really don't. But anytime there's
Speaker 3: a black mark on AI because AI scares the hell
Speaker 3: out of me, even though I use it all the
Speaker 3: time and it makes my life easier. I'm such a hypocrite.
Speaker 3: I'm all for it, and he's got a story coming up.
Speaker 3: But we're going to talk about this because.
Speaker 2: I do worry. Will computers run the world? Will they?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 3: Come on, I root against AI, even though I am
Speaker 3: totally dependent on it. That's all coming up at ten
Speaker 3: thirty eleven o'clock. I need your help. What are we
Speaker 3: thankful for? I started with sweatpants, but I want unique things.
Speaker 2: We are or we're.
Speaker 3: Grateful for love, We're grateful for help. I'm grateful for
Speaker 3: Rob Brooks, you know. I'm grateful for Marita, who produced
Speaker 3: the show tonight. I'm grateful for my family. I'm grateful
Speaker 3: for my health. Believe me, I bet hey. I was
Speaker 3: at Dana Farber. I am grateful for Dana Farber. By
Speaker 3: the way, if you have a couple of extra shekels
Speaker 3: you're looking to maybe get a little tax break, Dana Farber,
Speaker 3: send the money over there. They will either save your
Speaker 3: life or they will save somebody. You know, trust me
Speaker 3: because I've experienced both. Or mass general I'm not getting it.
Speaker 3: Whatever you know, when it comes to cancer, man, if
Speaker 3: you can, if you can help out, do it this Christmas.
Speaker 3: Send a little money does it can be a dollar,
Speaker 3: it can be five dollars, It doesn't have to be
Speaker 3: a lot.
Speaker 2: Can be fair, I mean, fifty cents.
Speaker 3: Take your change drawer. Does anybody have those anymore? I
Speaker 3: mean with Venmo people probably don't even have change drawers.
Speaker 2: Take it.
Speaker 3: If you do, you have a change drawer buried in
Speaker 3: the socks like me, send it over to dand Farber.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that is the show tonight, what we're thankful for,
Speaker 3: but I want to be We're gonna have some fun
Speaker 3: at eleven o'clock. It's not the typical stereotypical things we're
Speaker 3: thankful for. Let's get into the movies. Let's get into
Speaker 3: the holiday movies. Let's get into the stories behind the
Speaker 3: stories again. I have a great story for you coming
Speaker 3: up on ELF. What was going on with that set?
Speaker 3: We'll get into planes, trains, and automobiles, and a big
Speaker 3: portion of that was cut out and it turned out
Speaker 3: for the better.
Speaker 2: The only problem I have.
Speaker 3: With Home Alone is they made Home Alone two. They
Speaker 3: should have just left it alone. Sorry, for the Redundancy.
Speaker 2: Droiano, screenwriter, author, professor and friend of Gary, joins us
Speaker 2: as we talked holiday movies. Next he on wbz's Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan d Mine from the Window World
Speaker 1: Videos on w b Z the News Radio.
Speaker 2: Oh huh, why did you kiss my hair? Where you're
Speaker 2: holding my hand? There's your other hand between two pillows.
Speaker 2: Those aren't pillows.
Speaker 5: Oh hey, huh.
Speaker 2: See that Bear's game last week? Helloa game, Hello game.
Speaker 2: Bear's got a great team to ship. They're gonna go
Speaker 2: all the way.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, one of the best movie scenons ever. Welcome
Speaker 3: back NICs like Gary Tank, We for Dan Ray, Steve Martin,
Speaker 3: John Candy, of course, planes, trains and automobiles. We're talking
Speaker 3: about holiday movies and joining me now is my friend
Speaker 3: Drew Giano.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: Screenwriting professor also has written a book called The Third Act.
Speaker 3: By the way, if you want to write, you have
Speaker 3: to get the Third Act. Will Smith absolutely use this book.
Speaker 2: You have to.
Speaker 3: If you want to write, you have to get The
Speaker 3: Third Act by Drewiano also wrote The Smart One Michael
Speaker 3: Vogel in Idea Story to Screen.
Speaker 2: What's going on? Horace? How you doing? Happy Thanksgiving?
Speaker 4: Happy Thanksgiving gear.
Speaker 3: Hey, doesn't I hear that clip? And I just get
Speaker 3: all fuzzy inside.
Speaker 2: I just love it.
Speaker 4: It's it's just still funny. The whole movie is just
Speaker 4: still funny. It's a classic. It'll go forever, all right.
Speaker 3: Drew's got a list of the great holiday movies. If
Speaker 3: you guys want to chime in, give us a call
Speaker 3: to if you have any suggestions. But we're going to
Speaker 3: try to get into some of the stories behind the stories.
Speaker 3: And I know you're a big John Hughes fan, but arguement,
Speaker 3: I mean, listen, it's not my number one. I'm going
Speaker 3: to tell you what my number one holiday movie is
Speaker 3: coming up in a bit. But I think from most everybody, Planes, trains,
Speaker 3: and Automobiles is number one.
Speaker 4: Well, certainly the number one Thanksgiving movie. I mean, my
Speaker 4: wife and I will watch it tomorrow night, we always do,
Speaker 4: like before Thanksgiving. And you know, incidentally, it was released
Speaker 4: thirty seven years ago yesterday. Wow, And it's such a
Speaker 4: great story. And Hughes had the idea when he was
Speaker 4: going on vacation and he's going down the list of
Speaker 4: things so I wouldn't forget, And they thought, well, if
Speaker 4: I forgot one of my kids literally how they came
Speaker 4: up with the idea, Oh no, I'm thinking to the
Speaker 4: other one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's easy to do.
Speaker 4: Ows trains, planes trains. He got from his own experience
Speaker 4: as a copywriter, right, And he was sitting around and
Speaker 4: they were all talking about, you know, getting stranded in places,
Speaker 4: and you know that was by strains, which he then,
Speaker 4: you know, paired John Candy with Steve Martin, which is
Speaker 4: the greatest pairing in comedy history.
Speaker 3: I think, do you think hughs Because he was in
Speaker 3: the advertising business and a copywriter, he was able to
Speaker 3: bring that commercial end or that commercial angle to.
Speaker 2: The movies while still delivering a lot of heart.
Speaker 3: Because if you think, like you always told me when
Speaker 3: we were talking about Drew, about a movie, it's got
Speaker 3: to have heart, you know, I mean there's got to
Speaker 3: be some heart in there. Okay, maybe Halloween one through
Speaker 3: five doesn't have heart, but you know, when you're a
Speaker 3: copyrighted yeah, when you're comedy, to have heart, right, And
Speaker 3: he was.
Speaker 2: He was awesome at that. Hughes was the master.
Speaker 4: Yeah, totally. And the thing about writing commercials is economy.
Speaker 4: You have to tell a story really quickly. Think of
Speaker 4: all the best commercials you've ever watched. I mean, they're
Speaker 4: a story in such thirty seconds or a minute, and
Speaker 4: I think that helped him. And you know, you can
Speaker 4: see it on the screen, especially plain strains, because it
Speaker 4: was three hours and forty five minutes once they were
Speaker 4: done filming, and it ended up being an hour in
Speaker 4: thirty three minutes. He cut out all the stuff that
Speaker 4: didn't need to be there.
Speaker 2: It was that Wow, it sounds like a Scorsese film.
Speaker 4: Yeah. No, he just kept filming and they led him
Speaker 4: and you know, you have Steve Martin and John Candy.
Speaker 4: They improvised a lot, so you know, they just kept
Speaker 4: it and then just when it came time to edit,
Speaker 4: man did they addit.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: It was so interesting from Martin because I remember when
Speaker 3: he came out with the wild and crazy guy in
Speaker 3: the balloons and all that, and that for comedy that
Speaker 3: really wasn't my thing. A lot of friends in college
Speaker 3: liked him on SNL, Wild and Crazy Guys and all
Speaker 3: that that. Really, yeah, I thought he was okay, you know,
Speaker 3: he wasn't my cup of tea. But boy, in movies
Speaker 3: like this, that guy was nails. And here was a
Speaker 3: guy known from comedy that was really he had the
Speaker 3: dramatic role in this movie.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, oh yeah, he didn't have the lines. And
Speaker 4: you know, you think about Martin, he the first arena comic.
Speaker 4: You know, you got Nate Bergatzi and right, Nashi Messk
Speaker 4: calcol and all those guys you know playing in arenas
Speaker 4: back then that didn't happen, and he was the first.
Speaker 4: And you're right here he is playing a straight guy
Speaker 4: in his first straight you know role, even though it's comedy.
Speaker 4: And you know he talks about that. Yeah, there's Netflix
Speaker 4: that has the documentary. It's a terrific documentary.
Speaker 6: It is.
Speaker 2: It's great. Yeah, it's great.
Speaker 3: Drewiana was our guest talking about holiday movies and right down, planes,
Speaker 3: trains and automobiles one of the best. And you're right,
Speaker 3: it's not if if you don't watch it on demand,
Speaker 3: it's on TBS or TNT or it's.
Speaker 2: Somewhere over there.
Speaker 4: You can find it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's easily easily, you can find it.
Speaker 3: So the thing that I found really interesting, and it
Speaker 3: was in the Steve Mark and Steve Martin doc is
Speaker 3: that candy speech at the end when when he reveals
Speaker 3: that he doesn't have a home because he lost his
Speaker 3: wife and during the holiday days he just travels and
Speaker 3: and well people know the story pretty much and grabs
Speaker 3: on to people. Originally that speech was what three four
Speaker 3: minutes he.
Speaker 4: It was a page and a half in the script,
Speaker 4: and you know, Steve Martin and the documentary they said
Speaker 4: he was tears with candy delivering it, because that's the
Speaker 4: beauty of candy. He could be funny as hell, but man,
Speaker 4: he could act. And you know, I think John Hughes
Speaker 4: made the right choice because he just has to say
Speaker 4: those couple of lines. You know, you know, what are
Speaker 4: you doing here?
Speaker 1: Dell?
Speaker 4: You know I don't have a home, Neil. You know
Speaker 4: my wife died eight years ago, and boom, and you
Speaker 4: know from all the action that's taken place that what
Speaker 4: that speech says, you've already taken in right, You've interpret
Speaker 4: that in their actions, and so I do think it
Speaker 4: was the right move. They also had, you know, talking
Speaker 4: about this three hours and forty five minutes. They filmed
Speaker 4: this scene with him having dinner with the family after
Speaker 4: he comes up with his you know, trunk, and they're
Speaker 4: going in the house and don't need that, right, So
Speaker 4: that's the kind of thing where they film and don't
Speaker 4: need it.
Speaker 3: I think walking up the street with both of them
Speaker 3: carrying the trunk is iconic.
Speaker 4: It's that is the word. It's iconic. You show that
Speaker 4: to anybody any time of the year and the feeling
Speaker 4: just comes up. It's so funny because sometimes, you know, July,
Speaker 4: he'll be switching the channels all of a sudden, Blames
Speaker 4: trains will be on and I can't help but watch
Speaker 4: it if it's on. But you're right, you see that
Speaker 4: scene and you just get choked up. It's great.
Speaker 3: Do you think this is what led opportunities for Candy,
Speaker 3: for example, to be in JFK because he can act.
Speaker 2: We saw that he could act.
Speaker 4: That's exactly right. I mean this. He deserved an Oscar
Speaker 4: nomination as far as I've been saying, I think he
Speaker 4: had a Golden Globe nomination. I don't know if you
Speaker 4: had any o Thiss, but he deserved it because you know,
Speaker 4: you're an actor. So I talk about it all the time,
Speaker 4: actors who act with their face, you know, it's not
Speaker 4: so much what they say, but they can literally deliver
Speaker 4: the emotion on their face. And he does that in
Speaker 4: this movie like constantly, particularly in that train scene at
Speaker 4: the end. It's amazing, and I think that's why he
Speaker 4: got cast in more serious roles, because he could act.
Speaker 2: I think it's so hard, Drew.
Speaker 3: Drew and I have written screenplays together, and we love
Speaker 3: to write, and we love to talk about movies, and
Speaker 3: so fartha, it's so hard, especially now where people are
Speaker 3: accustomed to film and human behavior and the story formula.
Speaker 2: If you will that, some people will say, well.
Speaker 3: It's too formulaic, and I'm like, well, no, there is
Speaker 3: still a formula.
Speaker 2: You just have to do a very good job at
Speaker 2: disguising it.
Speaker 3: Now you see it over ten episodes as opposed to
Speaker 3: seeing it over three acts. But when you watch that
Speaker 3: movie Planes Trains, there are easter eggs along the way
Speaker 3: that tell you his situation.
Speaker 2: But I never picked up on it.
Speaker 3: And the hardest thing to do as a writer is
Speaker 3: to surprise somebody but still make it believable.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you got to plant those things, and they did.
Speaker 4: And then you know when he when Martin's on the
Speaker 4: train going home and he starts thinking, and then they
Speaker 4: played the you know, the soundbites of what Candy says,
Speaker 4: and all of a sudden he realizes, oh my god,
Speaker 4: you know, I've been home in years. You know that
Speaker 4: line and all the others. And when you hear him
Speaker 4: in the movie during the movie, because it's moving fast,
Speaker 4: you just think, oh yeah, okay. But then when he
Speaker 4: wraps it up at the end, boom, you know, and.
Speaker 3: He's talking about and when he talks about his wife, right,
Speaker 3: you know, he'll he'll speak about his wife, and you think, okay, well,
Speaker 3: she's just at home waiting for him.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, we got at least we got wives
Speaker 4: who love us or something like that. When they're in
Speaker 4: the second hotel room, you know, I just know where
Speaker 4: the car burns up.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, let's talk about that, Drew. When they're
Speaker 3: driving down the highway and the thing is spinning around
Speaker 3: how to get.
Speaker 4: Thro and he punches him in the stomach and he
Speaker 4: listens says, you know, that's how Audini died. You know,
Speaker 4: I laugh every time I hear that. That's such a
Speaker 4: great line.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 4: It is true that it is how Houdini died, which
Speaker 4: makes it even more funny.
Speaker 3: Anyway, we're just getting started. We got to talk about
Speaker 3: Home Altte next. Plus Drew has seven other holiday movies
Speaker 3: you can't miss. Plus is die Hard a holiday movie.
Speaker 3: It's all coming up on WBZ with our guest Drew
Speaker 3: Giano here on Nightside.
Speaker 2: You're on night Side.
Speaker 1: With Dan ray on WBZ, Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 3: Welcome Buck, Gary Tankway for Dan ray tonight. Drew Janno
Speaker 3: was my guest screenwriter professor Screenranger BC.
Speaker 2: We're talking about holiday.
Speaker 3: Movies in movies that we love and John Hughes is
Speaker 3: a big part of this. Can you imagine if there
Speaker 3: was no John Hughes, I mean Drew, I mean this guy,
Speaker 3: he really he kind of developed a style, if you will,
Speaker 3: a format.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, I mean you go back sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club,
Speaker 4: which is just iconic. You know, all these movies Home Alone.
Speaker 4: He just was amazing. And you know, Plaines Trains was
Speaker 4: the first one that wasn't set in like the teen
Speaker 4: years in the yearly twenty years. He just was amazing.
Speaker 4: And it's sad we you know, we lost them when
Speaker 4: we did, because he'd still be making great movies. I'm sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean tell you what you've told me.
Speaker 3: The story before he was an ad executive in Chicago
Speaker 3: and then he just decided to go to La How
Speaker 3: did he get his big break?
Speaker 4: He wrote a script and it was one of the
Speaker 4: yearly ones. I don't know if it was sixteen Candles
Speaker 4: or not, but you know, immediately they recognize his talent
Speaker 4: because he just and he was. He would write in
Speaker 4: the bathroom, he would write anywhere he could. You know,
Speaker 4: he wrote I don't know if it was Home Alone
Speaker 4: or one of them in like two days, which you
Speaker 4: know is about impossible, but he just I think that's
Speaker 4: again that's his whole ad agency kind of thing, because man,
Speaker 4: they have to turn stuff out, and he just he
Speaker 4: had that kind of brain.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's get to Home Alone. Now.
Speaker 3: Now it was directed by Chris Columbus. How come was
Speaker 3: he just not in a situation at that point in
Speaker 3: time to be able to direct because he wrote it
Speaker 3: and he produced it, but Chris Chris Columbus directed it.
Speaker 4: He was available because he was on the set most
Speaker 4: of the time. He I don't think he wanted to
Speaker 4: direct it, and you know, he got Chris Columbus. I
Speaker 4: forget who the other guy was that he originally fought.
Speaker 4: But Chris Columbus became available because he was going to
Speaker 4: do National Lampoons Christmas dication and he didn't get along
Speaker 4: with Chevy Chase. He's not alone in that category. So
Speaker 4: he quit and John Hughes grabbed him and had him
Speaker 4: do Home Alone and he did a great job. But
Speaker 4: they worked so close together. I mean, why wouldn't you
Speaker 4: if you're the director and you got John who's sitting
Speaker 4: next year.
Speaker 2: Well, there's similar directors.
Speaker 3: I mean they have that similar I mean you know,
Speaker 3: if you think about Chris Columbus, you think miss is
Speaker 3: out fire.
Speaker 4: Right, Well, it's that heart thing. There's a comedy with
Speaker 4: heart again, right, It's what people love. Make me laugh
Speaker 4: and make me feel well.
Speaker 3: That's why Abbed Elementary is so good. The formula hasn't changed.
Speaker 4: No, it's hard to do. It's hard as hell to do,
Speaker 4: and you notice it when it's not there, when it's
Speaker 4: just kind of funny but there's no heart. But yeah, no,
Speaker 4: it's it's it's what we all want.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: You were just starting to talk about when we opened
Speaker 3: up the show, how he got the idea for oh, and.
Speaker 4: I got to fix stuff on that because I love
Speaker 4: of the ideas. But the Home Alone one, he's literally
Speaker 4: making out a list before he and his family go
Speaker 4: on vacation. He's like, when I forget you. I could
Speaker 4: forget one of my kids. And you know, you know
Speaker 4: how that is.
Speaker 2: You get an idea for a movie, Oh.
Speaker 4: Man, they just come into your head and that was it,
Speaker 4: and he wrote it quickly and the rest is history.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about the cash for a minute.
Speaker 3: Because when I think of Joe Peshi, obviously I always
Speaker 3: think of Goodfellas, the classic scene, you know, so you
Speaker 3: think I'm funny, do I amuse you? And you think
Speaker 3: of de Niro raging Bull, you know, and that's stuff,
Speaker 3: you know, even JFK. But I always forget how great
Speaker 3: he was in Home Alone, Home Alone too.
Speaker 2: I looked up the money.
Speaker 3: He got four and a half million for Home Alone
Speaker 3: and seven million for Home Alone two. Yeah, and my
Speaker 3: cousin Vinny too. I mean, let's talk about Peschi for
Speaker 3: a minute and his comedic ability. And this is a
Speaker 3: guy that wasn't classically trained.
Speaker 4: No, de Niro was the same way. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 4: he can do conty, that's for sure. I mean, right,
Speaker 4: Peshi on Home Alone was a little difficult because he
Speaker 4: didn't think the lines were suitable for someone with his
Speaker 4: training and acting ability, and he couldn't wear it. So
Speaker 4: that's why he does all that gibberish sounds like swearing
Speaker 4: in the in film. And the other big thing that
Speaker 4: you know they talk about is he hated he wanted
Speaker 4: to play golf, and they were filming in the spring,
Speaker 4: and he wanted to play golf before his scenes. But
Speaker 4: he'd get a call seated like you know, seven o'clock
Speaker 4: or eight o'clock in the morning, and he flat over it.
Speaker 4: And finally they never shot any of his scenes until
Speaker 4: you know, in the morning, so he could play his
Speaker 4: nine holes to golf.
Speaker 3: I did have a chance to interview him on a
Speaker 3: golf course once drew not I was Brad Faxon and
Speaker 3: Billy Andre's tournament. I think the CBS fundraiser down to
Speaker 3: Rhode Island, and my god, I interviewed Glenn Fry.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, this is a flashback. How about this?
Speaker 3: I interviewed Glenn Fry and Joe Peshy nice and Glenn Fry,
Speaker 3: God blessing me. Rest in Peace was so pissed off
Speaker 3: at his golf game. I mean he was like so,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, hey, you know, you know I'm working
Speaker 3: a Channel four and you know you're trying to get
Speaker 3: the happy Hey, how's it feel.
Speaker 2: To be out of here today? It's a beautiful day.
Speaker 2: Play golf.
Speaker 3: He was miserable. He had put one in the woods.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, you'd swear to god. I mean, he
Speaker 3: was like out of his mind. I couldn't put it
Speaker 3: on TV. And then John Hurley, who played who was
Speaker 3: on Seinfeld.
Speaker 2: He's a native guy. He was there. He was terrific.
Speaker 2: But I interview Pecci and you know what I said
Speaker 2: to him, this is such a stupid thing to do,
Speaker 2: you know, with stupid reporters.
Speaker 3: Try to be funny. I said to him, I go
Speaker 3: hit me, you know, like den Heiro did a riging ball.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, go hit me.
Speaker 2: And he just looked at me like, just.
Speaker 4: Go away, Oh dear, go away.
Speaker 3: And my photographer was a woman who was very attractive.
Speaker 3: He wanted to talk to her. He did not want
Speaker 3: to Yeah, he did not want to.
Speaker 2: Talk to me.
Speaker 3: But that's really interesting. So Home Alone, where do you
Speaker 3: if you had to pick one of the two playing
Speaker 3: strains are home Alone?
Speaker 2: Which would you go with?
Speaker 4: Man, it's so hard and they both have the same
Speaker 4: thing at the end of that emotional punch at the end,
Speaker 4: you know, well.
Speaker 2: The neighbors broke the neighbor with the shovel. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's brill but.
Speaker 4: But cans Ohiera when she says, Oh, Kevin, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 4: You're gonna die when that happens. And it's hard for
Speaker 4: me to say. I think they're almost equal in my book.
Speaker 4: And what I love is I can watch Planes Train
Speaker 4: three before Thanksgiving and the watch Home Alone right before Christmas.
Speaker 4: You know, it's like it's like the two old ones Home,
Speaker 4: you know how at the end, and White Christmas. I
Speaker 4: love both of those movies. You know, my father used
Speaker 4: to sit down and watch old movies with me and
Speaker 4: you know he got me looked on it. So it's
Speaker 4: the same kind of thing where you know which one's better.
Speaker 4: I don't know. I don't think they're better.
Speaker 3: Remember her, like I thought when she was in that
Speaker 3: movie that was a big Oh she's part of the
Speaker 3: whole se TV crew you know from Canada.
Speaker 2: I mean Candy John Candy crew.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah, she's she's creaked. I thought like her. I
Speaker 3: thought she would be like am. I thought you would
Speaker 3: be in like a series of big box office situation,
Speaker 3: you know, comedies down the road.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I thought she was gonna be like a Goldie Han type.
Speaker 3: But I never I don't remember her after that.
Speaker 4: Well, she worked a lot, and you look at her IMDb,
Speaker 4: but I think you know, the projects he chose just
Speaker 4: didn't take off, like Home Alone.
Speaker 3: Well, the thing about Home Alone is it really she's
Speaker 3: very good in it CTV. I mean, that's that's Home
Speaker 3: Alone for her must have been a walk in the park.
Speaker 4: Well look how far down the list you go, and look,
Speaker 4: she's great in it. But even Jacks and Candy, who's
Speaker 4: just gitting a tiny bit of it.
Speaker 2: I forgot about that. Yeah, Oh, we got to talk
Speaker 2: about that now. He did that as a favor, right
Speaker 2: for yous.
Speaker 4: He got paid less than the pizza delivery boy. Yes,
Speaker 4: and he had to shoot it in one day because
Speaker 4: he was filming something else, and most of it was improvs.
Speaker 4: He made up those things. You know, did you ever
Speaker 4: leave your child home alone?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 4: We left them at the funeral home one time, you know,
Speaker 4: right there with the courts. I mean, it seemed just
Speaker 4: kills me every time I watch it. He made that
Speaker 4: up on the right there, that's it's just a funny
Speaker 4: human being.
Speaker 2: What was the name of the It was the Poka Band.
Speaker 4: The Poka band. Yeah, Pok Pok Poka. We sild about
Speaker 4: that another great.
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm gonna go. We got more to do with
Speaker 3: Drew here, but let's just grab that in Florida. Who
Speaker 3: wants to chime in? Matt, you got a holiday movie
Speaker 3: we should talk about?
Speaker 6: Well, I just had to can test what you said. Gary,
Speaker 6: Holoo Too is probably like up there with The Godfather
Speaker 6: to in terms of sequels, I don't know how you
Speaker 6: don't like that movie. Really, that's a solid sequel.
Speaker 3: I mean, I Godfather too, dude, that's I mean, Matt Man,
Speaker 3: I trust you. I take your word at me, but
Speaker 3: I mean god Father too. That's high praise.
Speaker 6: Well in terms of sequels, I mean that's in the
Speaker 6: top five, I think. Okay, And I got our question
Speaker 6: for you, guess in terms of drawn Hughes, is it
Speaker 6: true Ferris Bueler was supposed to be like a serious
Speaker 6: movie and then they screened it for people and no
Speaker 6: one got it. Everyone hated it. And then you know,
Speaker 6: like you can kind of see that in a few
Speaker 6: scenes where he's talking with Ferris is talking about life,
Speaker 6: and you know, those scenes are actually pretty serious if
Speaker 6: you look at it. But I guess the studio made
Speaker 6: him turn it into a comedy. But that was my
Speaker 6: only question. Thanks Chris.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, man, I appreciate that a fluid.
Speaker 4: It wouldn't surprise me. I don't know that well enough,
Speaker 4: but I mean, if it's true, just look what he did.
Speaker 4: He took something that was serious and made it, you know,
Speaker 4: an iconic comedy. So look, he's just a great writer.
Speaker 4: It wouldn't surprise me. I'm going to look it up
Speaker 4: afterwards because I want to know. If that's the case,
Speaker 4: that's that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: All right, well you can do it. The break, we
Speaker 2: have to take a break. Guoriano's here.
Speaker 3: We want to talk about his other five top other
Speaker 3: seven top movies, and also he will answer the question
Speaker 3: is Diehard a Christmas movie?
Speaker 2: Is it a holiday movie? That's next to WBZ?
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on' WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Gary Tank. We for Dan tonight.
Speaker 3: Greoriano is our guest screenwriter, professor, author, talking about holiday movies.
Speaker 3: As we just talked about two of the best home
Speaker 3: alone and planes, trains and automobiles. Drue, did you look
Speaker 3: up the Beaudler thing? Because I have something on my phone.
Speaker 3: D Yeah, what do you got?
Speaker 2: I did?
Speaker 4: I didn't see anything about it. He wrote the script
Speaker 4: in a week, which again doesn't surprise me. With John Hughes,
Speaker 4: he just wanted to, you know, have a guy like this.
Speaker 4: And there was somebody I guess in his childhood and
Speaker 4: somebody went to school with who had like twenty seven
Speaker 4: you know, absences from school. It was the constant truant.
Speaker 4: But he wanted but he wanted a guy who just listened,
Speaker 4: in complete control. And you know, it's again another iconic film.
Speaker 4: I don't know if there's much as much heart and
Speaker 4: Ferris Bueller is in the others. It's a funny film
Speaker 4: and very good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and also again, if you want to believe the web,
Speaker 2: it says you was originally wanted Johnny DApp and Anthony
Speaker 2: Michael Hall turned it down.
Speaker 4: Oh, he wanted a bunch of people, Cloney, I guess
Speaker 4: wanted it. A bunch of people wanted to play the part.
Speaker 2: I guess. But well he got the right one. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's for sure.
Speaker 4: Yes he did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, here we go, Drew. Here's the question.
Speaker 3: Is Diehard a holiday movie?
Speaker 4: You know this from knowing me for years and years
Speaker 4: and years that Diehart is my favorite action movie of
Speaker 4: all time. It's just tremendous and it takes place during
Speaker 4: the holidays, so I guess technically you can say it's
Speaker 4: a holiday film, but I don't think it is. They
Speaker 4: played the Christmas music at the end, you know, when
Speaker 4: our guys driving away were you know, John McLean in
Speaker 4: the back seat with his wife. But it's not. It's
Speaker 4: not a Christmas movie. It takes place at Christmas. It's
Speaker 4: like there's an old movie The Apartment, great movie Jacqueline
Speaker 4: just that takes place over Christmas, and I don't think
Speaker 4: of it as a Christmas movie. You can watch it
Speaker 4: in July, and that kind of distinguishes it because I
Speaker 4: think a true Christmas movie, you're not watching it in July.
Speaker 4: But you can watch certainly watch Dieheard any time, you
Speaker 4: don't just watch it at Christmas. So that's how I
Speaker 4: did find it. Christmas movie definition.
Speaker 3: Run with a kid. Well is Alan Rickman the greatest
Speaker 3: villain ever? Because I think he is.
Speaker 4: Ever ever, absolutely, and I mean he he had just
Speaker 4: finished doing Shakespeare in the Park before he's filmed that.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's the kind of actor. He is, and
Speaker 4: that's what made it so great.
Speaker 3: And of course Harry Potter, I mean, you know, yes, yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean what a body he was.
Speaker 4: He was so well written, well written in Diehard, such
Speaker 4: a full character. I mean he was, he was terrific.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It wasn't just a typical batty. There was a lot
Speaker 3: of depth there. Okay, what do you have for your
Speaker 3: the list threw what else should we be watching if
Speaker 3: we need a reminder of what great holiday movies are
Speaker 3: out there?
Speaker 4: Okay, we've covered planes, trains, I mentioned Holiday in White
Speaker 4: Christmas come alone. Uh, it's a wonderful life. You got
Speaker 4: to watch. It's, you know, a top ten film of
Speaker 4: all time. I usually watch it every Christmas. Another great story.
Speaker 4: I grew up in upstate New York in a town
Speaker 4: called Little Falls. And there's three falls, you know, state
Speaker 4: New York that all think there's a place where Frank
Speaker 4: Capra sat. It's one of the life Seneca Falls, Guns
Speaker 4: Falls and Little Falls, Little Falls lesser. But we had
Speaker 4: a bridge just like that bridge.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 4: It's rumored that he had traveled around up Staton Ark
Speaker 4: and gone to all these places and just the pieces
Speaker 4: of it. But anyway, that's you know, neither here or there.
Speaker 2: How come a remake? Hop quickly? I know you want
Speaker 2: to roll about how come there's never been a remake
Speaker 2: of that?
Speaker 4: Because they shouldn't. You know, there's certain ones that are untouchable.
Speaker 4: But you know, they were thinking of doing a remake
Speaker 4: of playing Trains of Automobiles with Will Smith by the way,
Speaker 4: it which would be a travesty. So you know, I
Speaker 4: think it's the one that's a life would be a travesty.
Speaker 2: I don't know, but they do it all the time.
Speaker 2: I'm just surprised they haven't tried anyways.
Speaker 4: Continue well, of course, just for Will Ferrell, because he's
Speaker 4: just hysterical. I never liked the third acting else but
Speaker 4: I love the film anyway, and it's just funny because
Speaker 4: it's funny. There's lines in there that people quote all
Speaker 4: the time. And you know, you sit in a thronal eyes.
Speaker 4: I mean, you smell like beef and cheese. I don't
Speaker 4: put on all of them that's saying. I know him.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's just a funny guy that's making that movie.
Speaker 2: And I mean he just when he says, well, I
Speaker 2: know it's everything straight.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Oh no, he's he's nominal in it. Yeah. The
Speaker 4: guy who wrote that, David Barbaum. He wrote a few
Speaker 4: other movies that no one ever went to see. Nothing
Speaker 4: against him because I know that. But he you know,
Speaker 4: else is on. It is going to be on every
Speaker 4: night from now until New Year's. You can't go to
Speaker 4: your guide on your cable and not see else somewhere
Speaker 4: going because it's on.
Speaker 2: It's number one for me, help you, it's what my number.
Speaker 4: One is that that's great. Well, he's just so good
Speaker 4: at it. And you know, I like Miracle on thirty
Speaker 4: fourth Street, the nineteen ninety four version, which was written
Speaker 4: by John Hughes, which I think is better than the original,
Speaker 4: which was actually nonate for Best Picture back in nineteen
Speaker 4: you know, forty seven, I think it was. But I
Speaker 4: liked to remake a lot, and you know, John Hughes
Speaker 4: wrote it. I thought he did a hell of a job.
Speaker 4: There's hard at the end of that one. So I
Speaker 4: usually watched that one too. My wife loves it, so
Speaker 4: we usually watched that one as well.
Speaker 2: I just in elve.
Speaker 3: I love the fact that Bob Newhart's in the beginning
Speaker 3: and Ed ed As is in the end.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: You know, he's thinking the Central Park Rangers.
Speaker 4: And James Kahan talk about taking somebody here out of character, right,
Speaker 4: he's jeez, you know, Godfather getting shut up on the
Speaker 4: Long Island Expressway and he's so he's father.
Speaker 2: Did you see where? He said?
Speaker 3: When they were filming it, and and Farrell said this
Speaker 3: when they were filming it, Jimmy Conn was pissed a him.
Speaker 3: He thought he was terrible. He said, this isn't working,
Speaker 3: is terrible. And then when he saw the actual movie
Speaker 3: put together, he went up to Farrell after and he
Speaker 3: said it was genius. But like he told him, like
Speaker 3: Jimmy Conn was telling Will Ferrell, you suck. This is awful,
Speaker 3: and you know, and then it kind of fit the character, yeah, perfectly.
Speaker 4: You know those are mine. I mean, you do down
Speaker 4: a list of other Christmas movies, Santa Claw, Polar Bad, saying,
Speaker 4: you know the great is still Christmas, the Holiday. There's
Speaker 4: a Christmas movie I like.
Speaker 2: That one in the Holiday, you know, And as I have.
Speaker 4: Actually a very good film.
Speaker 6: It is Christmas movie, yep.
Speaker 2: And as we've got about forty seconds to go here, Drew.
Speaker 3: And the one thing I will say about Daddy's Home too,
Speaker 3: the only part I really like about it is when
Speaker 3: the three old men argue about the thermostats.
Speaker 4: That's great. Well, we all do that.
Speaker 2: We all do that.
Speaker 3: Hey, listen, Happy Thanksgiving. I'll talk to you again. Best
Speaker 3: is in the family. Thanks for coming on. I really
Speaker 3: appreciate you. Are great.
Speaker 4: Well, I loved it. Thanks all right, I'll talk to
Speaker 4: him Thanksgiving. Everyone.
Speaker 3: Happy Thanksgiving. There you go, Dreiano one of the great ones.
Speaker 3: He's also get some great books out if you're looking
Speaker 3: for a great book. The Smart One Michael Vogel is
Speaker 3: a terrific book if you're a screenwriter.
Speaker 2: The Third Act.
Speaker 3: Will Smith, I mean he consulted with both Smith on it.
Speaker 3: Will Smith, that's his bible, So check that out. Hey, listen,
Speaker 3: we got more entertainment stuff coming up. I'm going to
Speaker 3: talk to him. Friend for the WSM agency. Emily Kennedy
Speaker 3: joins us on the future of showbiz next on WBZ.