No, this post is about a convention in the opening credits that I've discussed on this blog once before.
To save you clicking on that link, I'll tell you that it's that moment in the credits when most of the primary cast has been listed and they're about ready to move on to the next section of the credits, but you get the name of one last actor -- the coup de grace, the chef's kiss, the final unexpected name that'll make you squirm with unexpected delight. It's a spot in the credits that actors specifically request in their contracts, and it is always preceded by the conjunction "and."
For me, I have always thought that the perfect sort of actor to appear in this spot is Danny DeVito. So for some strange reason, every time I watch the opening credits of a movie, and it came out during DeVito's career as a professional actor (which covers a 55-year span), I'm always waiting for the "And Danny DeVito" to finish off that section of the credits. When it invariably is not Danny DeVito, I always try to decide if that person has a suitably DeVito-ish quality -- if that person occupies, in some small way, that precise corner of the cinematic landscape that DeVito occupies.
This is not leading up to me telling you that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is finally the movie where I got a real "And Danny DeVito." Sorry to disappoint you again.
In fact, the "And Danny DeVito" in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Willem Dafoe, who may just be the second best "And Danny DeVito" next to the man himself.
But I was consciously thinking about my personal little DeVito meme as I was watching those opening credits. I don't do it as frequently as I once did, so this was noteworthy.
Because about 15 minutes later, there, on the screen, was Danny DeVito.
It might have occurred to me that we'd actually get Danny DeVito in this movie, because of course DeVito played The Penguin in Tim Burton's Batman Returns, not to mention also appearing in Burton's Mars Attacks! and Dumbo. But if it did, it never escaped my subconscious.
DeVito plays a netherworld janitor, and before Burton reveals that he's dead -- like everybody else in this netherworld -- he has the camera approach him from behind, to keep the surprise for a moment longer. I knew right away that it was DeVito, not that you would confuse him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Oh wait.) But even when his voice, still heard without seeing his face, did not sounds particularly DeVito-ish, I thought "That's Danny DeVito," which struck me as particularly funny because I'd just thought of him a few minutes ago.
And it was.
Did I conjure him into existence? I don't think I said his name aloud, likely not once but certainly not three times. Maybe I thought it three times.
In any case, I thought it was a funny coincidence.
So I guess Mr. Danny has slipped from the status of "surprise last inclusion in the cast" to "enjoyable cameo" as he enters his ninth decade of life, though I should say, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is still on the air (its 16th season!) and still popular I guess, and DeVito is still in it. I've seen exactly one of the 170 episodes. Not my thing, really.
In case you don't want to click on the other link in this post, I gave Beetlejuice Beetlejuice three stars, or 6/10 using the ReelGood rating scale. I feel like I give every reheat of IP three stars these days. I'm sucked in just enough by the fan service to overlook the essential flaws in the construction, which equals out to a pretty okay time at the movies. Will it always be this way? Until we're all grapping mops to wash floors in the netherworld of the dead?
No comments:
Post a Comment