YOU DON'T STILL WANNA BE A DENTIST

[ghost]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ro_1f9FnD0
this movie is HILARIOUS

[ghost]

i just cried when brian met marilyn.

[Rocker]

i just cried when brian met marilyn.

I cried the rest of the movie.... 

[Don_Zabu]

They couldn't get the guy from Rent to dye his hair black for the Van Dyke Parks part?

[puni puni]

I always thought that they just viewed photos of what modern VDP looks like and then imagined for themselves what he looked like in 1967.

[Don_Zabu]

Check out the guy they got to play Nick Venet; he would've been a much better fit for the Brian role than the actor they ended up with.

[Alex]

The guy who played VDP was also a TA in Road Trip!

[ghost]

The movie had incredible potential. I think it's ruined mostly by the guy cast as Brian.

[pixletwin]

He makes Brian act like Jeff Daniel's character in Dumb and Dumber. 

[Jay]

Seeing as how much of a "fan" he is, you'd think Stamos would have been able to do a decent job of finding people that actually looked somewhat like who they were supposed to be playing. 

[pixletwin]

It's funny that the height of the actors they got for AL and dave were opposite to the actual heights of al and DAVE.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

The movie had incredible potential. I think it's ruined mostly by the guy cast as Brian.

I think Brian would be a very hard person to play. He was a musical genius on top of what he was doing, but also a fragile individual with mental illness. Over all, I think he did a good job.

I know the movie has plenty of errors in terms of time and accuracy, but I feel that they did a fairly good job capturing the Spirit of the BBs. It would be impossible to present them perfectly because the real actors wouldn't want certain things about them in the movie. So given the balance of the political and the spirit of the BBs, I think they did pretty good.

[ghost]

The movie had incredible potential. I think it's ruined mostly by the guy cast as Brian.

I think Brian would be a very hard person to play. He was a musical genius on top of what he was doing, but also a fragile individual with mental illness. Over all, I think he did a good job.

I know the movie has plenty of errors in terms of time and accuracy, but I feel that they did a fairly good job capturing the Spirit of the BBs. It would be impossible to present them perfectly because the real actors wouldn't want certain things about them in the movie. So given the balance of the political and the spirit of the BBs, I think they did pretty good.

Oh they definitely captured the spirit pretty well - the movie puts me "there" whether that "there" is imaginary or not! But the guy who played Brian... come on, Brian's a special guy but I strongly doubt he was as nervous and weak as portrayed even in the early years. Whether Murry spanked his ass all the way into the public eye or not - I don't think anyone could end up in Brian's situation without being capably extrovert and entirely functionable socially. Weren't Brian & Mike thought of as the main band leaders? Or Brian as sole leader [Mike as frontman]? He could've never fit that role if he was actually like he's portrayed in the movie.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I hate hate hate when biopics take lines from interviews and insert it into dialogue, pretending like it's part of everyday conversation. Nobody converses in regular conversation the way they respond to interview questions and this is especially true in the case of Brian. Biopics tend to do this all the time though, I suppose in striving for some kind of authenticity, but in fact, this is precisely what makes the film so apart from reality. And this movie of the week does it all the time to the point of absurdity.

[RONDEMON]

The scene where they are recording vocals for Wouldnt It Be Nice is particularly awful.
Carl's speech is hilarious.

[ghost]

omggggg u guys, when Brian asks Mike to write lyrics for Good Vibrations it is SO SWEET. awwwww

mike is so pleased, his cousin invited him back in the fold - THAT'S ALL HE EVER WANTED

MIKE JUST WANTS TO BE LOVED

[puni puni]

Shortenin' Bread is the best scene

[oldsurferdude]

omggggg u guys, when Brian asks Mike to write lyrics for Good Vibrations it is SO SWEET. awwwww

mike is so pleased, his cousin invited him back in the fold - THAT'S ALL HE EVER WANTED

MIKE JUST WANTS TO BE LOVED

Sometimes you gotta give love to get love-Luhv never loved anyone but himself.

[Don_Zabu]

There's one thing we can all agree on, though:

At least it's better than Summer Days.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

The movie had incredible potential. I think it's ruined mostly by the guy cast as Brian.

I think Brian would be a very hard person to play. He was a musical genius on top of what he was doing, but also a fragile individual with mental illness. Over all, I think he did a good job.

I know the movie has plenty of errors in terms of time and accuracy, but I feel that they did a fairly good job capturing the Spirit of the BBs. It would be impossible to present them perfectly because the real actors wouldn't want certain things about them in the movie. So given the balance of the political and the spirit of the BBs, I think they did pretty good.

Oh they definitely captured the spirit pretty well - the movie puts me "there" whether that "there" is imaginary or not! But the guy who played Brian... come on, Brian's a special guy but I strongly doubt he was as nervous and weak as portrayed even in the early years. Whether Murry spanked his ass all the way into the public eye or not - I don't think anyone could end up in Brian's situation without being capably extrovert and entirely functionable socially. Weren't Brian & Mike thought of as the main band leaders? Or Brian as sole leader [Mike as frontman]? He could've never fit that role if he was actually like he's portrayed in the movie.

Don't get me wrong. I think a much better movie is out there to be made about them. But I like it for what it is. As for Summer Days, it is much darker then this one. And much cheaper. But it captures more of the Brian and Dennis relationship which is nice.

[Chris Brown]

Seeing as how much of a "fan" he is, you'd think Stamos would have been able to do a decent job of finding people that actually looked somewhat like who they were supposed to be playing. 

Give credit where credit was due - Matt Letscher was an uncanny Mike Love, almost eerily so.  Murry and Audree were cast very well too.  With Fred Weller it's hard to say whether it was really his fault that Brian was portrayed as he was - perhaps that's just how he was instructed to play the part.  Whoever made that decision deserves the brunt of the blame.

I actually just watched this again over the weekend, and really, if you can somehow overlook the portrayal of Brian and the countless timeline errors, it's pretty enjoyable to watch.  I just hate the fact that it gave the casual viewers the idea that Brian was a barely functional mentally handicapped person who had to beg Mike Love to help him finish his masterpiece.

[Jay]

In some ways, I tend to think that Summer Dreams was better. It's still a severely flawed movie that has all the characteristics of a cheesy soap opra, but Summer Dreams has a few scenes of "raw honesty" that An American Family would have never had the balls to mention. The "cocaine sessions" scene, for example. There was also that scene where "Dennis" makes a drug reference through the microphone at a concert, and the fight backstage that ends with "Dennis" getting kicked out of the group. I think that the people who played Brian and Mike in Summer Dreams were much better than the people in An American Family. The guy who played Dennis was pretty good in the last few scenes where Dennis would have been older.

[MBE]

In some ways, I tend to think that Summer Dreams was better. It's still a severely flawed movie that has all the characteristics of a cheesy soap opra, but Summer Dreams has a few scenes of "raw honesty" that An American Family would have never had the balls to mention. The "cocaine sessions" scene, for example. There was also that scene where "Dennis" makes a drug reference through the microphone at a concert, and the fight backstage that ends with "Dennis" getting kicked out of the group. I think that the people who played Brian and Mike in Summer Dreams were much better than the people in An American Family. The guy who played Dennis was pretty good in the last few scenes where Dennis would have been older.

I agree. The facts were off (how many times do we have to see 1975 Brian in 1968?) but the general personalities came off better. It was a bad movie in some ways but considering it didn't have the music, budget, or support, it came out much better. I just like it better as a movie.

[Jay]

Speaking of support, did the group ever comment on the movie? I would assume that most of the group hated it. But it would be interesting to know if any members of the group mentioned it in the media.

[ghost]

Guys, what do you do when you lead a girl on and realize you're better off alone in your schizophrenia? as in, realize you can't pretend to be normal anymore and do things like girl/boy relationships - you've become a tree, or a cloud. I just realized I led a girl on in one night and got her to devote herself to me in word in love as my girl. But now I realize that I can't do it - I'm actually a reptile.