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Has anyone out there seen the movie Beach Boys an american family? I liked it pretty well, although there were some inaccuracies.

Wrong forum

I saw the second half of it (Smile era - onward) and loved it. Though at times it seemed the actors had only read snippets of their characters, they did a great job. I'd very much like to see it again, whole thing, next time.

Second half, unbelievably awful and completely inaccurate, first half passable.

DUMB ANGEL,

you'll find that Ian is our supreme leader here and his word goes without question.

I will now be dunking my head in a bucket of cold water to re-think my opinions of the movie.

*sigh*
You just liked the second half because it had your spiritual avatar Chuck in it.

I love this movie.  But....Van Dyke was a blonde? Nick Stabile played Dennis and he was excellent!  So was the actors/actresses who played Murry, Audree, Brian and Mike. I had kinda strayed away from the BB for a few years, and that movie brought me right back to the good side!
Carly

I think Van Dyke being blonde was a much less inflammatory slander than him being portrayed as Brian's drug connection.

Anyone have this on DVD? I doubt ABC will ever release it :(

If it was, there'd be more lawsuits.

I saw a vhs set of this movie for sale on Ebay a few months ago, but haven't seen it on DVD, it was some special vhs set that the stations got or something to that effect.  It doesn't play too often, but probably when you see it on TV, tape it so you'll have it.

Wasn't "Tommy Schaeffer" his drug connection?

Heh heh.

I gotta agree with Ian. 

(And I worked on the darned thing!)

Alan

Your Van Dyke words were amazing, though, man. Hilarious perfection.

I saw the first half (up to Pet Sounds) and it made me want to get the Pet Sounds Sessions box thanks to the part where they're cutting the track to Wouldn't It Be Nice (Josh later convinced me to get it and I'm glad I did!). I missed the SMiLE part and I was annoyed because I was so interested in SMiLE but I still hadn't really learned much about it. I guess it's a good thing I did miss it, though. I must say that I was liking it and I would definitely like to see it again.

How much, if any, BB involvement was there on this film?  I notice that Alan Boyd (director of Endless Harmony) is listed as a co-producer and John Stamos as an executive producer.  It's interesting because it's certainly doesn't present a very flattering portrait of Brian Wilson.  From the start he's shown as an ineffectual, if gifted, nerd.  During the making of PS and Smile he's shown as drug-addled and virtually insane.  Mike Love meanwhile is shown as the good guy keeping everything together.  But funnily enough, for those who believe Mike loved PS and Smile all along, this is not the line pursued here.  Mike is actually shown dissing PS as 'Brian's ego music' and Smile is virtually written off as the crazed doodlings of a babbling imbecile.  Doesn't seem to be the ML line nowadays.

I wanted to throw something at the TV during the portion where Brian (with a beard and housecoat) has lost it during the making of Good Vibrations and is flailing helplessly, and Mike swoops in and saves the day with his lyrics. 

I watched it when it aired, but gagged most of the way through.
Best feature- Kevin Dunn & his creepy job with Murry. Gave me the boo-boo geebies...
...1 step, 2 step, talk about a new step...

Mike's involvement is clearly to be seen.... :(  ::)
Brian did some singing to the piano when his character did sing "In my room" and "I get around"

Other than Kevin Dunn's performance as Murry, actually being very good, I thought the movie was OK for a beginner fan of the BB's, but that's about it. 

Lorne being regarded as "Tommy Schaffer" and no mention of Tony Asher, but Van Dyke being the indirect collaborator on PS. 

I thought, overall, it was your typical "made for TV movie based on true facts" - which basically means, the characters say each other's names about 500 times in a 5 minute period in the script.  Ever notice that in the Made For TV movies based on famous people? 

You have the Wonder Years Mom saying "Murry, I can't do this Murry" and "Murry, you never showed any appreciation to those boys, Murry!"  and whoever the chick played Marilyn saying "Brian" about nine hundred times.

I just find that whole "say the name a lot of times" very annoying.

The portrayal of Brian was awful.  Sounded and acted like Pokey on the Gumby claymations.  That had already been done when Nicholas Cage ruined Peggy Sue Got Married.

So bad I can't bring myself to watch it again, let alone share it with anyone. 

And the ending was worse than awful.  A stupid, senseless, abrupt, misleading, anticlimax.  Did that come from ML or Stamos?


While we're mentally recasting this film, who do you think would have been a better choice or choices (young Brian/older Brian) to play the Brian Character?

Consider this before laughing or immediately dismissing it:

Jason Lee.

I missed this movie when it aired... but based on everyone's comments, it doesn't sound like I am missing much.  ???

I think some people might be confusing the movie with another BB movie...there are two movies

An American Family

and

Summer Dreams

I havent seen AAF (I saw bits of it on ABC but I was a lot younger and don't remember much) and I recently watched Summer Dreams a billion times, its nothing special...but anything to do with the Beach Boys is fun.

Anyways, back to recasting...As much as I love Jason Lee, he doesn't have the baby face Brian has, but if you watch Summer Dreams, the guys who played Brian, Carl, and Bruce were great. Mike's actor was alright too...and as much as I like Bruce Greenwood, he did a terrible job playing Dennis.

I don't think anyone is confusing "An American Family" with "Summer Dreams". SD may have been weak, but compared to the mean-spirited inaccuracies of AAF, it was an enjoyable trifle. As a character, Brian retained his dignity in SD; not so in AAF. Almost as bad as Mike's character repeatedly saving the day from blithering idiot Brian was that absurd moment where Brian's character cruelly dismisses Dennis' songwriting saying he'll never be anything more "than a clubber".

Word! Best parts in SD for me were the recording of GOK and their little version of the Cocaine Sessions (which im still trying to get a hold of)

I'd like to know from someone involved what was what.  I'm guessing the writer and director are responsible for whatever was on the screen.  I'd like to know what control by which BB was eyewitnessed, which had any financial or fiduciary interest; I'm guessing there was not much control [and no financial connection] by any.

I've heard BB related lawyers were attempting to/did have influence but whose lawyers if so? Individual's lawyers or BRI lawyers, there always seems to be confusion about which is which.

Wow, I thought he did Dennis pretty well, except for the lack of a groan in his later years.

I thought so too. He did it quite well and so did Stabile imho

The first part is good. The breakdown scene was the best adaptation of what probably happened. I thought the Carl in the film first half was played very well.




**Though I must say, my adaptation of the BB story will blow everyone away for sure**  ;)

Re: Summer Dreams

B Greenwood was too 'Hollywood' for me in the movie, his speech, the way he potrayed himself, felt fake. Compared to the other actors, who I think played their roles much better. I think thats one of the reasons the emphasis on the movie is on Dennis because of the 'lead' role.

The most hilarious bit was Brian burning the SMiLE tapes in the fireplace, then sitting down at the piano and playing Let The Wind Blow.

I liked that performance.

Who performed the songs on that movie?

They were done well, (Forever, LTWB, most notably).

The songs played there were special mixes. It was Dennis lead-track of "Forever" with a new piano dubbed onto it. And it was also Brian's original "Let the wind blow"-singing

But if you remember what you heard of Smile were strange little Smile-like fragments.  I've got a feeling this was due to some kind of copyright thing, possibly to do with VDP.  Notice that VDP isn't VDP in the film but instead he's a VDP-like character with a different name.

The first airing of the movie he was VDP.  VDP demanded he be removed and subsequent airings this was done.  The Smile snippets were written by Alan Boyd who can comment better about it than I.

Yes, VDP wondered (rightfully so) why he was the only collaborator/friend identified by his real name in the movie. The dramatic effect seemed to suggest that Parks was the weirdo who led Brian away from Mike, resulting in Brian losing his talent and sanity. Only in Mike's selfless return as Brian's collaborator could the quality of the music be regained! This whole conceit must seem even wackier now that "SMiLE" has been released and embraced as a masterpiece.

THANKYOU.

I was absolutly convinced upon watching that those were just too good to be covers. Now, is that performance of Let The Wind Blow actually available anywhere on any of the SOT's or anything? It sounded very much more powerful and to the point in that bridge section than the released, WH version does.

It was the released version.

I really enjoyed  the movie.......... Anybody have a copy they are willing to send me

xoxoxoxoxoxo
suga

Fooled me.

God, I HATED the ending. Brian came off as being like Rainman in that one. Also, notice how he had his mid-70s behavior...in the late 60s!

Dumb.

The ending was so...abrupt...it was as if John Stamos ran outta steam and just....stopped. I realize this could have been a week-long movie if he put EVERYTHING in it, but he could have ended it differently.
Carly

Van Dyke was so upset that he ran a "Mike Love joke contest" for a long long time when the movie came out.

It's an entertaining movie on one level... if you forget about all the terrible historical inaccuracies. And the portrayal of Brian as a mentally handicapped person, barely able to complete a sentence (trying to describe GV to his mom: "Uh... vibrations...umm... dogs....uhhh....y'know....they feel....uh...them") is offensive to say the least.

These were special mixes of the original recordings. I think Stephen Desper or Mark Linett did them. Maybe you can ask them about that. But they were, as far as I know, not released on anything other than the movie.

Summer Dreams was absolutely horrible. 

But "American Family" did use original music.  Brian sings a part where his character does the "I Get Around" part in building the song.

Besides the whole "name a bunch of times" I wrote prior in the thread, I forgot how nauseating the guy who played Al was.  He was pure soap-opera school - heavy breaths, melodramatic acting, etc.

this movie really turned me on to the BB, i liked it. The smile parts were funny. The guy who played VDP is great...i think he's on dazed and confused. the guy who played carl was good, had the good combover...but didnt look like him, but he did look like a Beach boy...the Honeys bit was good...phil spector appearance, subtle, but made an ass. mike, one of the closest looking ones. the whole thing where mike was out of it was so brief and he was ok after the next scenes....
something i noticed from the first time it shown (with VDP name) and the 2nd time (with the name Samuel); the 2nd showing, where dennis punches a window, he says, "and now you dont have a drummer." first showing, enever said that...when they combined the two showings into one, it sucked! they cut out so much stuff.
about summer dreams, what Dennis songs did they use?

It was a Mike Love/ Stamos influenced movie. Brian was mostly portayed as the bad influence that disrupted the band.

Summer Dreams is just as awful though, maybe even worse. I hated the cheesy hollywood love scenes.

I agree, Jabba. Though, Murry Wilson was pretty convincing in SD.

I guess I will always wonder if now with Brian releasing SMILE if a cool movie could be made.  Jack Black could be a cool BW.  Does anyone think a real movie will ever be made?

I'm not interested in a movie. The Beach Boys' musical output is enough to satisfy me a life time.

That being said, I think using unknown actors would be the best idea. Nobody wants to see Ben Affleck as Brian Wilson anytime soon.

Spector was an ass in the movie?  Can't imagine why since he's been known to be a complete jerk.   Probably the most accurate part in the movie.   Hey, that doesn't mean I don't love Spector's work. 

Feel the same way about Matthew Sweet - great master of melodies and writes nice crunchy hooky ditties, but total jerk overall.

yeah, i know, it was accurate, i wished they coulda got into something bigger, like playing dont hurt my little sister sessions or wanting to do dont worry baby for the ronnets

Can anyone please tell me the name of the song The Honeys were singing when brian was accompaning them on the piano?

I bought some DVD copy off ebay a I bought some DVD copy off ebay a year ago. 

PM me, if you want details.

it was He's a Doll, the most well-known honeys' song

I love how the drums thunder in after the guitar riff.

Quick detail about the Stamos film, from 2000. The notorious. The controversial. The angrifying.

The Van Dyke Parks character ultimately had a name that wasn't VDP. I seem to recall that it involved "Sam." But is this correct? And, for a spot in the bonus round, can anyone remember what (if any) last name he might have had?

Many thanks....

Check the 4 page thread about the film below. I believe it's there.

question about percussion...it seems there's this wierd "crunching" sound in part of it...anyone know what i'm describring?

Oh, dude, come on.  The Affleck of Mallrats would be perfect.  "I'm gonna f*** you up beyond repair."

Celery, dude.  You're thinking of "Vegetables."

The same crunching sound that's in Be My Baby?

I found a VHS of the original broadcast in a box not two weeks ago.  I don't think I could stomach it again.  But I've slept a little less well lately just knowing it's in the room. Sometimes in the middle of the night I suddenly turn the lights on and I swear it's moved a little closer.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I recall capturing Mike's post-broadcast interview on local (L.A.) news that night.  It might be worth slogging through fast-forward just to report on that.

When "Summer Dreams" aired, they had the late Karen Lamm on for the post-game wrap-up.

 ;D

And there he is.  Jeez, Ian, I was beginning to think you were givin' me the high-hat.  Hadn't heard from you in a while!

Naw, man. Just don't hang in the BB forum too much any more! Missed your friendship, great insights and the greatest wit on the board.
Yes, ladies, he's single.

Well, shoot me an e-mail some time.  One of these days I'll get back out to L.A. and we'll trash the place.  Just don't tell Bruce I'm in town.  Not looking for another pistol-whipping.

You got it, my man! (see avatar)

question about the phil spector scene, what song is being played in the background? i figure it's a generic form of be my baby to sound like the wall of sound. Who played it? assuming not the fake Wrecking Crew

I love Dazed and Confused, which character did the VDP dude play on that movie?  I don't remember him.  I don't think they used any Dennis songs on SD, but the one song that "dennis" was playing at Karen's house was so pretty, I don't think it was a Dennis song, but a Bruce Greenwood song.

Anthony Rapp is the actor theyre talkin about, check out his IMDB here: http://imdb.com/name/nm0710829/ .

I read somewhere that it is infact a Bruce Greenwood song that he plays in that scene at Karen's house. I think theres an mp3 of it on the official Bruce Greenwood site.  :pirate

oooh yeah, anthony rapp was Tony on Dazed and Confused.  :afro

what song is brian playing on the piano after they're 'overdubbing' add some music to your day? it sounds kinda like the end of the piano demo of H&V/im in great shape/barnyard..
also, what's everyone think of that scene where brian just goes off playing the shortenin' bread riff...I assume it was the real brian who recorded it like he did with In my Room/I get around/He's a Doll/perhaps the With me Tonite riff? You think that was Mike's idea to add that into the movie (shortenin scene)? I wonder what he said to brian when he asked to record it for them...."say brian, can you record that little riff you incoporated into a bunch of songs?" wierd

sorry to bring up bad memories but what an absolute piece of crap Mike propaganda this tv show is. just watched it on youtube and apart from the early parts its really dreadful. Makes me sad that stuff like this exists.

Did anyone else notice that when Brian is playing "In My Room" on the piano, not only is it strange that they have 60-something yr. old Brian singing the part, but they dubbed someone else singing the falsetto part "tell my secrets to."  It's like rough old man Brian voice and then all of a sudden young, clear falsetto.  :lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZd4WldDz2g

2:05

This is a horrible movie, so many inaccuracies, so many people from the BBs story left out.

Random useless factoids:

Kevin Dunn, who played Murry, and Kurt Fuller, who played Milt Love, were both on Ghostbusters 2. Dunn was a TV show host and Fuller was the assistant mayor of NY. Dunn was also on an episode of Seinfeld (the 2nd episode, actually, entitled "Male Unbonding) as a guy that Jerry didn't want to be friends with anymore. I've seen Fuller in 8 million different movies. He was the principal on The New Guy, and he played Karl Rove on the sitcom That's My Bush.

And is it just me, or does the guy who plays the Lovester look an awful lot like both Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser) and the guy who played Francis on Malcolm in the Middle?

That whole scene was always jarring for me...old Brian's voice definitely doesn't work there.  I actually always thought that he just nailed that falsetto part, but now that I listen to it again I see what you mean.  It would have probably been better to just have a young singer do the whole thing.  It's not as if old Brian sounds much like young Brian anyways.  A young voice to go along with seeing a young Brian play would have made a lot more sense.

Things that stood out to me...

- mike love's moustache came unglued during one scene where he argues with one of his wives... he sneakily pushes it back on
- john stamos on drums (with pony tale and fake moustache possibly) in the final scene
- bruce johnston being played by either a ken doll or a robot ... plus his mental hand clapping in the final scene
- let the wind blow was freaking awesome
- brian's mentalness was way over the top but hilarious (in that it was so comically bad  a had to laugh)
- they guy who played dennis, nick stabile, looked quite a lot like a young dennis
- mike love and murry were great look-alikes too
- when is aired here in Australia VDP's character had a different name, which threw me
- Al was insignificant
- Brian had a good drawl when speaking (Calling Marilyn "Merr-eh-lnnn")

There were lots of inaccuracies but I had fun watching the movie. You can't expect these Telemovies to be great, you have to embrace the cheesiness of it all.

Not just in Oz - after the initial broadcast, Van Dyke got them to change the name of his caricature to "Samuel". A lot of what he says are direct genuine quotes, but mostly from the mid-70s.

Yeah, I noticed a lot of the dialogue was lifted from direct quotes that I have either read in books or heard in actual interviews.

Also I read somewhere (I think on this board) about a Dennis Wilson movie that was in brief discussion stages a few years back that may have featured  John Corbett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Corbett.jpg) as Dennis. Ever since watching the series The Visitor (97/98) that starred . Corbett I thought that he would be the perfect choice to play Dennis Wilson (circa 1976-1983). He looks so much like him and his mannerisms are a lot like Dennis'.

I would like to see a Dennis film that maybe starts around 1976. The band is well in to their 15 Big Ones period, the musical exploration of the early 70s is dead, Dennis's songs don't really fit in with the new-old sound so he finally goes solo. All the while charting his downward spiral. Or maybe it could start during the Bambu sessions... anyways I'm getting carried away.

John Corbett as Dennis.  I couldn't agree more!  Perhaps he could do a remake of Two Lane Blacktop.  This time with dialogue.  Jack White could play JT's part  :lol