Who knew that the 1985 board game adaptation Cluehad so many fans? These people certainly weren’t around 24 years ago when the movie opened 6th at the box office, behind even the terrible Santa Claus: The Moviein its third week (I’ll admit, though, Santa Claus is one of my dear guilty pleasures). But suddenly, via the internet, loyalists are everywhere, up in arms over news that a new Clue adaptation is moving forward as if the original were as popular a film as the 1985 box office champ Back to the Future (which grossed as much as 14 times more than Clue).
Well, I am with the devoted to an extent. I have loved Clue since seeing it in the theater, and am embarrassed to admit it was probably the film that introduced me to the comic talents of Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Michael McKean (what can I say except that I was 8 and hadn’t yet seen Rocky Horror, Blazing Saddlesor Spinal Tap?). But I’m not joining the protest, because I know we’ll always have the original movie. Plus, I recognize that it was anything but an original idea (never mind that it was based on a board game; hasn’t anyone see Murder By Death?). And besides, the new version, to be directed by Pirates of the Caribbean’sGore Verbinski, hardly sounds anything like either the game or the first film. “Global thriller and transmedia event”? I don’t know what that is, but it isn’t the Clue I played.
After the jump, the internerds weigh in on their love for Clue or (gasp!) their excitement for Verbinski’s effort:
The Kills have been one of my favorite bands for the past couple of years. They used to be fairly obscure, but now that one half of the band is dating Kate Moss, pretty much every move The Kills make makes it into the British press. And so last week there was an item in the NME about their new album’s U.S. release date, and it included an interesting bit of information: “the entire record was inspired by a documentary called Pizza Pizza Daddio, which focuses on children in inner city schools in 1960s America.”
I did some research, and I found the film in question. It’s actually called Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, and it’s a short, anthropological study of games played on playgrounds by young Black girls. The whole film is available for streaming or download at Folkstreams.net; I’ve embedded a one-minute trailer above.
As the ominous narrator puts it, “Over the past several hundred years, Afro-American children have developed a repetoire of singing games that have become a permanent part of the Black heritage.” With the exception of a couple of interruptions from the narrator, the 18 minute-film is almost wall-to-wall documentation of the games––it’s essentially a concert film. It may seem like an unlikely source of inspiration for a contemporary, tabloid friendly indie rock band, but I see the connection. The Kills’ songs are repetitive, chant-like, and often incorporate elements of call and response–kind of like the songs in Pizza Pizza Daddy-O, except sung by chain-smoking vegans and set to menacing guitars.
I’m sure there are many who are happy that Mike Figgis has essentially given up on filmmaking in order to make softcore ads for Agent Provacateur, but I kind of liked his version of Miss Julie, and sort of wish he’d make another film where the corsets are narrative-mandated and period-appropriate instead of, like, for sale. In any case, here’s his latest promo. This one is for a new line of Agent Provacateur shoes, and it’s much more of a straightforward advert than the shorts Figgis made for AP with Kate Moss last year. And–sorry boys–new AP model Maggie Gyllenhaal unfortunately does not make an appearance. Since it’s basically semi-tasteful bondage porn, it’s probably not safe for work, but considering it’s the Friday before Christmas, that’s probably not an issue. Happy Holidays!
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Who knew that the 1985 board game adaptation 
