Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Movies Go To the Movies: Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon (1987, Richard Donner)

The Wiltern Theatre

Along with Die Hard, Lethal Weapon was one of the major action template movies of the 80's and it's influence is still being felt today, the Rush Hour movies being a prime example. I rewatched it recently for the first time in at least a decade and a half; the script by highly paid at the time screenwriter Shane Black lends a certain wit and attitude to a rather nondescript plot that floats from action set piece to action set piece without taking any pause for logic. Director Richard Donner moves things at a brisk enough pace that it's not until a post viewing mental summation you realize that the parts don't really add up to a coherent sum, but by that point, it doesn't really matter.

More to the point of this blog post, at about the thirty minute mark Seargants Riggs and Murtaugh take a break to get a hot dog on the corner of Western and Wilshire:


If you are a fan of those funny pages games where you try to figure out what's askew in a particular picture, you would have noticed two things off kilter in this frame:

1.) The Wiltern, though originally a movie theatre, was by it's 1985 rennovation converted to a concert venue.

2.) Lethal Weapon was released on March 6th, 1987, while The Lost Boys, which is here regaled as "This Year's Hit" would not hit theatres until July 31st, 1987.

Well, as for the first point, it's a movie they do that. On the second part, a little wishful thinking on the part of the executive producer of The Lost Boys, who is none other than Weapon director Richard Donner.

Ah, cross promtion/in-joke synergy!

Tip of the hat to Heath for the suggestion.

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