Dom Deluise Was Awesome

I'm not sure when the news broke wide, but I heard in on the radio yesterday afternoon driving home from out of town for a few days...comic legend Dom Deluise has passed away. Anybody who knows me knows that Dom Deluise was an actor who was near and dear to my heart. He was in scores of movies that I watched as a kid and stared in some of my all-time favorite movies including my very favorite movie of all time: The Cannonball Run (1981). Dom made alot of appearances over the years with his good buddy Burt Reynolds, but the two of them were never better than in the star-studded cross country race that was The Cannonball Run. They teamed up for another Cannonball race in The Cannonball Run II (1984) and they appeared together in the sequel to another one of my favorite movies in Smokey and the Bandit II (1980).

Deluise was also often found in Mel Brooks' films. These were some of my earliest exposures to comedy and are also still some of the funniest films ever made. His earlier collaborations with Brooks gave us Blazing Saddles (1974) where he has a bit part all the way at the end of the movie but it's still one of the most memorable scenes in the film; Silent Movie (1976) which is a hilarious and often over looked gem from Brooks' earlier years; and the classic History of the World Part 1 (1981) where Dom plays Emperor Nero. All, good stuff! Dom even turns up in some of Mel Brooks' later works: Spaceballs (1987) which, sorry, I'm not a fan off...and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Dom also had a habit of turning up in cameo roles in lots of movies that I loved. He was the first of a slew of cameos in the brilliant The Muppet Movie (1979). He turns up once....once, in a fantastic Michael Keaton movie called Johnny Dangerously (1984) which I've seen a million times. And he even shows up in the comic biblical epic Wholly Moses! (1980) which I used to watch all the time as a kid, but watching it now is actually kind of painful.

One of Dom Deluise's most famous roles was in Fatso (1980). I've actually never seen that movie but in my opinion, his tour-de-force performance was in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) where he played Melvin P. Thorpe - he sang, he danced, he turned in one heck of a performance and poured his heart and soul into that role. He steals the show!

Career wise, his star started to dim with the one-two punch of Haunted Honeymoon (1986) a dreadful black-and-white comedy where he played "Aunt Kate" opposite real life couple Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner (a low-point in all their careers) and Going Bananas (1987) where Dom teamed up with Jimmy "J.J." Walker and some dude in a cheap monkey costume. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds!

Deluise also kept busy with voice work in cartoons. He was known for his vocal appearances in almost all of Don Bluth's animated films: The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989) and all of their various sequels, direct to video movies and Saturday morning cartoons. He even did voice work for Disney in the wonderful Oliver & Company (1988).

Even though he hadn't appeared on screen much in the last decade or so, It was always a treat when I found Dom Deluise on TV for one reason or another. He's always been in my movies and TV shows and it will be sad knowing he won't pop up and surprise me again.

Here's a short film that I've seen many times that kind of showcases Dom Deluise's style and sense of humor....

Bob-Howdy! I Loves Movies!

Just a random movie meme that I found on the internet. Feel free to answer any or all of these questions in the comments section!

1.Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

When I was little there were several movies that I watched a million times on HBO. The ones that stick out in my head the most are The Cannonball Run, 9 to 5, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and Popeye. In more recent years, the only two I've watched a ton of times are Ace Ventura Pet Detective - which we used to watch religiously in college, and Spice World - a movie I could never get enough of!

2.Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

My top two answers are The Little Mermaid - which I've seen 7 times at the movies, and The Flintstones which I made it to 6 times (three of them being opening day).

3.Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Woody Allen

4.Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.

Jack Black, although his new one, Year One, looks pretty good.

5.Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

Smokey and the Bandit - at least once a day!

6.Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.

The Little Mermaid, of course. I could also do Little Shop of Horrors, but that's because I've been in the play before.

7.Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.

Xanadu and The Great Muppet Caper

8.Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is a really good movie most people haven't seen. I'm also a big fan of the under appreciated A Goofy Movie.

9.Name a movie that you own.

I just got Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp on DVD!

10.Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

Even though he's only recently started making good movies, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a really entertaining fella!

11.Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

I know I've seen 101 Dalmatians and Mary Poppins at a drive-in when I was younger. In college, we went to a triple features of The Adventures of Pinocchio, Kingpin, and Down Periscope. (The theme was actors from Cheers) Another time we went to a double billing of Free Willy 2 and Under Siege 2.

12.Ever made out in a movie?

That is a waste of money.

13.Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.

I really wanted to see the new Hairspray when it came out but didn't bother to rent the DVD. I just TiVo'ed it off HBO, so hopefully I'll get to watch it soon!

14.Ever walked out of a movie?

No, but I've thought about it in Dragonheart.

15.Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

I buy into movie theatrics so easy...it doesn't take much to make me tear up. Serious answer: Saving Private Ryan; Silly answer: Homeward Bound

16.What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

Monsters vs. Aliens

17.What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Comedy...Family is a close second.

18.What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

An animated film called Once Upon A Time which has since fallen off the face of the earth.

19.What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Friday the 13th Part V - can still have nightmares about it some 20 years later!

20.What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

I was just thinking the other day about this weird movie that I saw in the theatre and really liked but I hadn't seen it since and I couldn't remember the name of it. It's a Cameron Diaz flick called A Life Less Ordinary. I don't remember much about it, but I'd like to see it again sometime.

21.What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

The previously mentioned Friday the 13th Part V, when I was 9 Poltergiest scared the ever living hell out of me!

22.What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

I've seen alot folks, I contend to this day that laugh-for-laugh Airplane! is the funniest movie ever made!

Does Anyone Still Smoke a Corn Cob Pipe?

My cell phone was ablaze yesterday with text messages and phone calls from friends sharing the news of the passing of Jerry Reed. Known to my friends and I as "Snowman," Jerry Reed was a country singer who also appeared in all three Smokey and the Bandit films. If you ever hung out with my friends and I during our college years, there's a good chance you saw Smokey and the Bandit at least once! Reed played Burt Reynolds sidekick in the first two films and then took over the leading role when Reynolds bowed out of the third film. Seriously, Smokey and the Bandit is easily one of my favorite movies of all time and arguably one of the funniest movies of all time. The Snowman will be missed!

* * *

My kids have never been ones to just fall asleep any old place. If it's not nap time or bed time and they aren't in their bedroom, there's a good chance they'll keep chugging all day long. So, it was very amazing and funny when Tanner decided to konk-out on the floor right inside the front door of the house. Not only did he choose this odd spot on the hardwood floor but he was out cold for an hour and a half! He was a bit disoriented when he woke up though.

And...feast your eyes on these bad boys:


We were huge fans of the mini-burger appetizers at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Since our local CiP closed it's door a few months back, we're tried the "Sliders" craze at other restaurants but we haven't found any that really hit the spot the way Cheeseburger in Paradise's did. So I took it upon myself to create our own homemade versions of Sliders. I don't want to brag or anything, but I nailed the taste pretty good. I used frozen mini-Bubba Burgers, I think next time if I used fresh ground beef and seasoned it well before cooking they'd be even better. And I should have used a chopper for the onion instead of hand chopping it. The onion pieces should be smaller. But, in the end it was a good dinner!

It's a Smokey and the Bandit Kind of Week

One of my favorite movies, which some friends and I are semi-fanatical about, is the 1977 car crash classic SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT staring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed and the legendary Jackie Gleason. So imagine my surprise and delight while flipping through the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly and saw this brand new full page ad for M&M's. It's the Bandit himself Burt Reynolds as a little M&M dude, sporting his BANDIT attire and standing along side the famous 1977 Pontiac Trans Am (also from the film).
The ad is promoting M&M's new website Become an M&M.com, which has something to do with making an M&M character of yourself. I went to the website and there was nothing about SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT there so I kind of lost interest...but the ad is cool! Next I'd like to see M&M's of The Golden Girls, the Police Academy recruits, and The Apple Dumpling Gang!


So then a couple of days later, I was strolling through the isles of my local Target and spotted a very cool Smokey and the Bandit T-shirt, with that trendy retro-vibe thing going on. Very Cool! Somebody out there that can fit into T-shirts such as this, please buy one and wear it for me! Seriously, if you wanna get one: Target doesn't have them on their website but I found this other place called 80's Tee's.com that has a selection of five different SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT t-shirts. What a great way to say "I Love You" to your valentine this year!