Stuff I like
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| Julie Delpy |
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| Killing Zoe (1993) |
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| But I’m a Cheerleader (1996) |
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| An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) |
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| The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) with Eric Stoltz, Helen Mirren and Peter Fonda |
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| Before Sunrise (1995) |
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| Before Sunset (2004) |
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| Before Midnight (2013) |
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| The Countess (2009) |
Jenny Agutter was born on December 20th, 1952 in Taunton, Somerset, England.
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| Jenny Agutter |
Best known for her roles in Logan’s Run, An American Werewolf in London and Child’s Play 2.
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| Logan’s Run (1976) |
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| An American Werewolf in London with David Naughton (1981)  |
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| Child’s Play 2 (1990) |
Nancy Kyes, known professionally as Nancy Loomis, was born on December 19th, 1949.
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| Nancy Kyes |
Known mostly for her work in John Carpenter films.
She is the only actor to be featured in the first 3 Halloween movies, Halloween, Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
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| Nancy with P.J. Soles and Jamie Lee Curtis |
She was also in Carpenter’s The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13.
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| Assault on Precinct 13 |
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| Janet Leigh and Nancy Loomis in The Fog (1980) |
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
with Tom Atkins
She was married to Tommy Lee Wallace, another Carpenter collaborator, and they have two children together.
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| Wallace and Loomis |
Neighbors was released on December 18th, 1981.
Neighbors (1981)
The black comedy is based on the Thomas Berger novel of the same name. Directed by John G. Avildsen (Rocky and Karate Kid) and starring John Belushi in his final movie role. It also stars Dan Ackroyd, Cathy Moriarty and Kathryn Walker.
Walker, Belushi, Moriarty and Ackroyd
Near the end of pre-production, Belushi and Ackroyd decided to switch roles. Belushi played a mild mannered suburbanite and Ackroyd the garish swinger. The exact opposite of their typical characters.
Ackroyd and Belushi
Belushi had recently become a die hard fan of the punk band Fear and brought them in to do a song for the credits. He even sang back up vocals on the track. When execs shot the song down, Belushi made it up to the band by pulling some SNL strings to get them on the show as musical guest…
…. but that’s a whole different train wreck.
Fear Frightens Saturday Night Live
The song that never was
A dark and strange movie with a troubled production that wasn’t received all too well. Naturally I love it.
On December 17th, 1977, Elvis Costello made his debut performance on Saturday Night Live.
He was set to play the prepared single, “Less Than Zero” (which hadn’t been hitting right with American audiences). A few bars in to the performance he stopped the band and announced that “There’s no reason to play that song here”. They tore into an anti-corporate rock song that they had been working on but not yet recorded called “Radio, Radio”.
This earned Costello a spot in an elite club of performers to be banned from the show by creator Lorne Michaels.
Costello was a last minute replacement for the Sex Pistols, who had visa issues and had to cancel. Chances are they would have been banned as well if they would have been able to make it.
The Sex Pistols and The Filth and the Fury
It’s quite possible that Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on December 16th, 1770.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
No one is quite sure as it was so long ago and no birth record was ever located. Also his father was always ambiguous about his age as he was touting his son as a child prodigy and may have been dishonest about his actual age on occasion.
Ludwig’s Birthplace in Bonn
It is known that he was baptized on the 17th and it was common practice to have a newborn baptized within a day. So most scholars agree that Beethoven was born on December 16th, give or take.
Young Frankenstein was released on December 15th, 1974.
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| Young Frankenstein (12/15/1974) |
Written and directed by Mel Brooks and co-written and Starring Gene Wilder.
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| Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder |
Also starring Madeline Kahn, Terri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman and Peter Boyle.
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| Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder and Terri Garr |
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| Madeline Kahn and Wilder |
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| Peter Boyle |
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| Rolfe Sedan in one of his last roles |
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| I will never not laugh at this. |
Mel Brooks discovered that the designer of the laboratory sets for the original Universal Frankenstein films was still alive and living in Los Angeles.
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| Frankenstein’s Laboratory |
Ken Strickfaden had stored all of the old equipment in his garage. Brooks made a deal with Strickfaden to rent the equipment for the new movie and gave him the credit he didn’t receive for the original films.
Edward Scissorhands was released nationally on December 14th, 1990, a week after a limited release.
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| Depp and Ryder |
Directed by Tom Burton and written by Burton and Caroline Thompson. Starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Diane Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Alan Arkin and Vincent Price.
Stan Winston was nominated
for an Oscar for make-up
One of the actors to turn down the role of Edward was Gary Oldman. Let’s all take a moment to consider this alternate reality.
Ryder and Oldman in Dracula (1992)
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| Depp and Price |
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| Wiest and Depp |
Filmed in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, particularly in Lutz.
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| Lutz, FL |
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| Yep. That’s Lutz all right. |
The “Edward Scissorhands” house recently went up for sale. A local couple was chosen from a viral list of potential buyers from around the world. The couple are fans of the movie with the gentleman actually working on set washing dishes. They are in the process of turning the house into a shrine and museum of sorts.
It appears as if they are running into a few legal issues and have a gofundme set up for legal fees. You can find them on TikTok or Instagram at “officialscissorland”.
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| Scissorland (2021) |
