DailyHeights

devincf, a semi-occasional-regular-of-late on the Daily Heights Message Boards, reports on his difficult interview with Richard Dreyfuss on the set of Poseidon, a remake of The Poseidon Adventure. The interview ends with Dreyfuss punching him (playfully? hard?) in the chest:

Devin: So I understand that you retired from films in 2004. What brought you back?

Dreyfuss: Money.

Devin: OK. But what was it about Poseidon in particular that really got your interest?

Dreyfuss: The money they offered.

Devin: Tell me again who you’re playing.

Dreyfuss: Nelson.

Devin: Nelson Reilly?

Dreyfuss: Who?

Devin: Charles Nelson Reilly.

Dreyfuss: Just Nelson. We just call him Nelson. As we call Achilles. Achilles… Nelson.

Devin: About two weeks ago they did a screening of Close Encounters out at Devil’s Tower.

Dreyfuss: Outside?

Devin: Yeah.

Dreyfuss: That would be cool.

Devin: Do you ever revisit your films from the 70s?

Dreyfuss: Regularly. Yearly. I carry these Richard Dreyfuss itineraries, for these three day train rides. We go on the Richard Dreyfuss Memorial Tour – this is where American Graffiti was shot, this is where Tin Men was shot.

devincf narrates: “Dreyfuss builds up to the punch. He gets an iced coffee, and after taking a sip he throws some of the ice at me. He immediately follows that up by splashing the coffee itself in my face.“

Devin: That was pretty tasty.

Dreyfuss: It’s taken them sixty something days to get it right.

Dreyfuss takes a small “This is for CHUD, right? This is CHUD. It’s not like for the Nobel Prize.

Tiffany, defincf’s official Warner Bros. liaison, attempts to spin it: “You’ll make sure people know he was being funny?” she asks.

Read the rest of this painful exchange and devincf’s attempt to turn it into an article at Chud.com.

Discuss.

Thanks to Paul Berger for name-checking Daily Heights in his New York Times article about the renegade anagram bandit who’s been messing with the marquee of the long-closed Flatbush Pavilion movie theater:

“David Collins, a tall, thin, 43-year-old father of two, was tired of seeing the marquee of the Flatbush Pavilion display the same film titles since it closed in May 2004. There’s only so much staring at “Van Helsing” and “Man on Fire” that a man can stand, especially when the titles appear on both sides of the marquee. So one night last month Mr. Collins, an investor relations consultant, lugged out his stepladder and took matters into his own hands. He climbed up and rearranged most of the letters to spell ‘Hanna Have Snail Venom For Ginseng Firm.'”

Huh. Wasn’t that “Ginseng Fern”? Ah, anyway…

It would have been simple for Paul to point out that Sarah broke the story of the “sign enhancement” right here on Dailyheights.com … but even better, Paul gave a shout out to the chatter in the Prospect Heights Message Boards:

“Indeed, the message boards at the Web log Dailyheights.com have been full of suggestions for alternative films and even rumors that the graffiti is part of a guerrilla marketing campaign. Last week, someone complained that Van Helsing should be returned, and Mr. Collins’s reply was swift. Within a couple of days, he turned the M upside down to form ‘Van Helsings AWOL in Iran.'”

“With enough letters to spell Miers, FEMA and Nagin, expect more topical offerings coming to this theater soon.”

Finally, this line is great:

“I thought if I changed it, it might make people think a bit more about their surroundings.”

It’s exactly the reason Dailyheights.com exists.

More Procrastination: Read the chatter in the Prospect Heights Message Boards.

Sarah from the Slope sent in this shot of the which has been “improved” by local movie buffs: “This was sent to me from my husband’s cell phone, and I’m forwarding it to you because I love your site (even though I actually live in the North Slope). I guess some artist-poets-vandals finally got tired of wondering when “Man on Fire” and “Van Helsing” would actually close… though I think the poet-vandals must have added some letters of their own, right? Or am I mis-remembering the movies that were on there before?”

Discuss: Van Helsing Vandals Strike! [dailyslope/dailyheights message boards]

Im’ really Rosie

Originally uploaded by trevorbrklyn.

Welcome to Trevor Day on Daily Heights…

trevorbrklyn writes: “Rosie Perez showed up and out at a screening of Do The Right Thing @ The Brooklyn Academy of Music. She kept it very real with the audience answering questions for an hour. I was very impressed with how gracious, articulate and intelligent she was. She humbly stood outside of BAM and answered everyone’s question and signed autographs for everyone, and was the last one to leave I was amazed by that graciousness.”

Check Out: Fort Greene Message Boards

Filming the Robert De Niro film, “The Good Shepherd.”

Via turbanhead.com. …was Angelina there too?

Discuss: [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Message Boards]

“Crash” [Trailers]: Saw this at the AMC on Times Square. I went in very skeptical, but this film is totally engrossing. I don’t want to give anything away, but the film is more about challenging expectations, rather than being preachy about race relations. I wouldn’t say it’s “required viewing,” but it was a great feeling to walk out of the theater and feel like you didn’t just waste the last 2 hours of your life. In fact, we spent about an hour afterwards just talking about the issues it raised.

There were some cringe-worthy moments – some extremely artificial melodrama, and this whole recent trend of injecting “smart and witty” dialogue into scenes that don’t need it, not to mention the inclusion of Sandra Bullock, whose acting style may be even more wooden and forced than Julia Roberts. However, there were some amazing plot twists, and a scene where Ludacris, playing a carjacker, goes on an anti-rap tirade (could have been funnier if he played it better).

We actually skipped “The Aristocrats” to go see this. Reading the Village Voice review pretty much steered me away from it… I was already afraid the film had a bit of a weak premise. However, now I’m intrigued again, after reading Douglas’s review of it: “it was possibly the most shocking and revolting exposition i have witnessed in any medium in recent memory. in other words, near-euphoria. oh, and it’s a relief to discover that i can still be shocked.”

Read Comments on “Crash” and Racism in the City

UPDATE, Saturday, June 11, 2005, 1:15:50 PM: John Turturro, walking past the corner of President St. and Prospect Park West, gave a passerby directions to Ocean Parkway. He then proceeded in a northeasterly direction, toward Union St., where he waited briefly at the crosswalk, then crossed over to Grand Army Plaza.

PICTURED: Mr. Turturro, wearing sport shoes and pulling a grocery cart, interacts with fellow Brooklynites at the GAP greenmarket, still in full swing. Click here for full image.

STATUS REPORT: It has been nearly 1 year and 9 months since our last John Turturro update. As reported Thursday, October 23, 2003 at 03:51 PM, Turturro was spotted striding purposefully past the Blockbuster near Flatbush and 8th Aves., wearing a dangly earbud and engaging in an intense cell phone call. As he strode past, Turturro pinched the microphone component between his left thumb and index finger, drawing it closer to his mouth in an attempt to improve the call quality.

Heights Coffee, the new coffee house at 335 Flatbush Avenue (between Park Place and Seventh Avenue, next to Geido) is having an Open House tomorrow (June 16th) from 6-9 pm. The place is owned and operated by realtor Tony Atterbury of Slope Heights Realty. The storefront, pictured, is the same one formerly occupied by Slope Heights Realty, which has moved a few doors down the street.

TIP: Roy Frasier in the Park Place/Underhill Avenue Block Association newsletter. [Download PDF]