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Quint interviews Director of UNDERCOVER BROTHER!
Hey folks, Harry here... Ok... If you don't understand why UNDERCOVER BROTHER rules planet Earth from up on high, then I just plain don't understand you. Here's a movie that is just breathlessly hilarious I talked with him and asked what Quint thought of the deleted scene featuring Jim "DRAGON" Kelly? Quint blinked exactly 17 times before going, "What deleted scene?" When Quint finally pulled it up - he started spasming like Forrest Gump when Jenny touched him. Made exactly those noises... I'm not kidding... And WHY THE HELL NOT??? Jim Kelly is only a GOD of epic geek levels. Growing up on films like BLACK BELT JONES and ENTER THE DRAGON... well it just made Kelly the man. I mean - I believed without a doubt that he was the baddest muther with a dick around! I then sent Quint to get the whole story on why Jim Kelly wasn't the star of UNDERCOVER BROTHER... Here's what he found out...
Ahoy, squirts! Everybody's favorite funky ol' seaman, Quint, here getting my groove on with Mr. Malcolm D. Lee, director of the he-larious flick, UNDERCOVER BROTHER. Mr. Lee gave me some time to promote the DVD, which comes out next Tuesday. I was sent an advance copy of the DVD to prepare for the interview and brother! I found something in the deleted scenes section that was so amazingly cool that it leaked outta my crusty TV and filled this Honkey McCracker seaman to the brim with soul. What could possibly have that effect on me? None other than a cameo by the coolest of the cool, one of the overlooked superstars of Blaxploitation, Mr. Jim Kelly of ENTER THE DRAGON and BLACK BELT JONES fame.
Then it hit me... I was watching a DELETED scene. DELETED!!! How the hell could a brotha have had Jim "Dragon" Kelly in his movie, then cut him out? I was going to have some words with Malcolm Lee. No pussyfootin' around. That sunuva bastard threw panties in my face, figuratively speaking of course. My salty cookie was going to verbally kill him if he didn't have a good excuse. He was going to answer for cutting Jim Kelly out of his movie, if this young white geek fanboy had anything to say about it!
QUINT: First thing's first. How the hell could you cut out Jim Fucking Kelly from you movie?
MALCOLM D. LEE: (pause) It was a very hard decision. Very hard. But you know who the first person was who said it should go? Actually, there were a lot of people who said it should go, but I didn't listen for a long time, but (screenwriter) John Ridley said, "I love it. It's nostalgic. You gotta cut it." The only reason we did it was because people did not... There weren't enough people like you in the audience that would have appreciated it. Half the kids who saw the movie didn't know who the hell he was.
QUINT: But still! It's BLACK BELT JONES!
MALCOLM D. LEE: I know! I know! And he looks great! No, it was really tough. I was glad he was able to come and do a cameo, but, as with any scene, you gotta go in late and come out early. It's one of the bad things about comedy. The nostalgia doesn't always live up. I made my argument, but I was shot down.
QUINT: I guess I can accept that...
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Harry here-- I Can't!!! He Should've Been The Damn Star!!!)
QUINT:At least we have the DVD.
MALCOLM D. LEE: Uh-huh, exactly. That's what DVDs are made for now!
QUINT: Something that struck me when I first saw the film when it was released was that it didn't come off as a spoof of Blaxploitation flicks, but more of a loving homage to those films. I think that's why I was so taken with it, as I'm a huge fan of those movies. I take it you're a fan of the Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Isaac Hayes kinda flicks as well?
MALCOLM D. LEE: It's funny that you say that. I'm not... I didn't really grow up watching those movies per se. I mean, I may have watched them here and there and heard them being talked of, but I think for me it was more a love of the attitude of the '70s, the whole vibe. Black people were just, in a sense, taking it to the man, meaning they were not going to be confined by societal constraints. They were gonna wear their hair long. They were gonna wear crazy clothes. The Motown sound was done, it was all about The Funk. You know, Black Power. That's what I kind of attached myself to.
Over the years I'd seen Blaxploitation films and I knew what they were about, but I don't think I studied them like... It's funny, I hear people talk about Blaxploitation films and how they love them and stuff and they weren't great movies, but I love the whole vibe.
QUINT: Well, the attitude is what made those movies.
MALCOLM D. LEE: Exactly. And they always had funky music. No matter how bad the movies were, the music was always tight. I reviewed a bunch and I wish I had reviewed a couple more, just looking back... You always play Monday Morning Quarterback when you look at your movies and say, "I shoulda done this, I shoulda done that."
I didn't want it to be spoofy. I knew it was going to be silly, but I didn't want it to be over the top goofy... stupid funny. You know what I mean?
QUINT: Most definitely... I mean, you made Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) a hero, so you did something right!
MALCOLM D. LEE: Man! Let me tell you... Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious. I mean, great he was Doogie Howser and everybody knows him for that and you can have that one joke throughout the whole movie... You know, the guy is also very talented in terms of what he can do when he first comes onscreen. He knows exactly what he has to do or at least he wants to come off real well and he works at it really hard, thinks about what he does, every move that he makes. And some of the adlibs he added were just... Priceless.
QUINT: You got a lot of hilarious actors in you film. I'm a huge fan of Dave Chappelle's work.
MALCOLM D. LEE: I tell ya'... I was not a fan of his movies. I had seen his standup and I think his standup is... I don't think he's been given the right role to showcase his talent before Conspiracy Brother. They got him doing a whole lotta stuff where he ends up doing a whole lotta big expressions and stuff... He does a few things like that in UNDERCOVER BROTHER, but he's so smart and I've never seen his wit come off onscreen like it does in this movie. He was the perfect choice for Conspiracy Brother.
QUINT: Most definitely. He seems like this big bundle of energy. Was hard focusing that energy into a performance?
MALCOLM D. LEE: Here's the thing about Dave. You can try. Like, I tried at the beginning to, like, "Dude! Do what's on the page, here! This is funny, it's gonna work." And he might do it... He'll do it, but then you gotta give him a take that he can do what he wants with and that's usually 10 times better than what was on the page. What was on the page was funny and he did it funny, but he will come up with stuff... he's always thinking about how to make something funnier. The whole thing about the derivation of the word "Good"... that was all him. The GOOD WILL HUNTING thing, that's completely him. He came up with it and I was just like... You know, that joke was just OK, but he made it that much more funny.
Eddie (Griffin) surprised me also. I've seen him in movies where he's just kinda played himself onscreen. He's played the Eddie Griffin character. I think in UNDERCOVER BROTHER he really did some different things, meaning that he played a character. He embodied Undercover Brother. He had a real appreciation for Jim Kelly and Blaxploitation films and funk music and George Clinton, so it was all in him inherently, so when it came to the role he was a natural for it.
QUINT: How many times did Billy Dee Williams crack up when Chris Kattan is doing his little dance number?
MALCOLM D. LEE: Never. Never.
QUINT: Never? You're telling me he was able to keep that stone face throughout that whole sequence?
MALCOLM D. LEE: Yep. He didn't even laugh afterwards. I don't know what he was doing, but he kept it together.
QUINT: But he's, like, an easygoing guy, right?
MALCOLM D. LEE: He is an easygoing guy.
QUINT: So, he was just able to perform some badass actor's trick to not laugh.
MALCOLM D. LEE: I guess. I mean, Chris is hysterical in that scene. That was part of a reshoot and I talk about that on the Director's Commentary. For the longest time we had him just saying things, you know, making urban slang colloquialisms come out of his mouth, then correct himself. It's OK at first, but you can't keep that going, so we had to give him a physical activity. Chris loves to be physical and he loves to dance. He picked out that Mary J. Blige song and we just went with it and he just tore it up.
QUINT: Any Lando jokes onset or did you have none of that?
MALCOLM D. LEE: Uh... Not from me. Chris made a couple, but he's said before he doesn't like those Lando jokes. But Billy Dee was huge before EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
QUINT: Yeah, I collect one-sheets (movie posters) and I have a few posters of his earlier stuff, like BLAST.
MALCOLM D. LEE: Yeah, BLAST. Yeah, he was in LADY SINGS THE BLUES, MAHOGANY... He was a heartthrob way back in the day. It was great to be able to cast him, someone who is still very well respected and well known.
QUINT: Right and because he has that respect and class when you see him whore out Fried Chicken. I know I was laughing my ass off when I saw that. I mean "Nappy meals?" Jesus, dude!
MALCOLM D. LEE: Uh-huh. Indeed. There was some fear from the studio executives and (producer Brian) Grazer and a couple of other people who just went, "Uh... I don't know. Can we do that?" I'm like, "Look. The Blaxploitation genre grew out of racism. If we're going to go there, we have to go there full steam ahead. Full throttle."
QUINT: Have you seen a movie called DARKTOWN STRUTTERS?
MALCOLM D. LEE: No.
QUINT: It's a very obscure Blaxploitation flick about a group of Black female bikers going after this evil Colonel Sanders look-a-like who runs a chain of take out joints aimed at the black community who is using it as a front while cloning the Black leaders of the time as a way to control the black community.
MALCOLM D. LEE: Oh, really? That's hysterical.
QUINT: Since you had some obscure references like "My cookie would kill you" in the film, I thought perhaps you had seen it and some of the jokes in there were a nod to the film.
MALCOLM D. LEE: It was actually Michael McCullers (screenwriter) that came up with the fried chicken angle. I don't know. I know he's a fan of Blaxploitation films, but I think we were just going for the biggest stereotype we could that wouldn't be too ridiculous. We weren't going to have any Sambos running around out there, although we did toy with the idea of making part of the "Nappy Meal" a little toy lawn jockey and have the general dress up as a lawn jockey! (laughs) But we just couldn't fit it anywhere.
QUINT: What are you working on now?
MALCOLM D. LEE: I'm actually juggling a coupla projects. One is a romantic comedy called FEAST AND FAMINE. Then there's a black male stripper drama comedy called BUCK WILD. There's also a movie called THE RUCKER that has to do with street basketball. One of those will be lensed in '03, but I don't know which one it'll be yet, though.
QUINT: What's your favorite dirty joke?
MALCOLM D. LEE: When I was younger I used to tell what were considered dirty jokes back in the day. There's this one joke called "Dynamo." It's about this magic penis. A husband couldn't get it up with his wife. He couldn't satisfy her, so he brought home Dynamo, which is this jumping penis. He'd just say, "Dynamo! Pussy!" and Dynamo would go after the wife. It was just banging her all the time.
The key was Dynamo would not respond to stops. You had to have it do something else, like "Dynamo! Hit the floor!" or whatever. So, when the wife got tired of it, she said, "Dynamo! Stop!" and it kept going. So, she has to get out the house. She puts on her clothes, walks bow-legged down the street, gets on the bus and the bus driver's like, "What is that?" She said, "It's Dynamo." He said, "Dynamo, my ass!" That was an old joke when I was, like, 7. It's funny that I even remember it.
SELECTED---
That was a fun one, wasn't it, squirts? Now for something serious... If anybody out there knows how to get in touch with Jim Kelly's agent, manager, brother, neighbor, mechanic or Jim himself, please drop me an email ( at aicnquint@yahoo.com). I think it'd be a killer interview and I know the Alamo Drafthouse would love to talk to him about showing some of his films.
That's it from me. I think it's time I push off. I got some goodies comin' up in the near future, squirts. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
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I worked with Anjanue Ellis at a Subway when she was in college. A real nice girl. Happy to see her doing well.
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It's a shame it didn't do better at the box office because I thought it was hilarious. Michael McCullers was also a writer on the Austin Powers movies, so there is a definite similarity in the style of comedy. But Goldmember was just a tired rehash while UB was genuinely original and funny. Maybe it will have new life on DVD.
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Of course Kelly has the honour of making one of the worst martial arts films ever. Black Samuri has to be seen to be believed, worst kissing, taxi and plane arrival sequences ever committed to film.
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all that and not one question about Denise Richards? Guess that's on the interview DVD.
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Jan 13, 2003 11:56:30 AM CST
What, exactly, would you ask about denise Richards?
by radagast t brown
Q: "So, Denise Richards ... she's pretty hot, huh?" A: "Yeah, pretty hot, uh-huh." Q: "And she's a good actor too, right? With degrees in mathematics and physics?" A: "Um ... she's pretty hot."
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This was the funniest film of last year. The whole cast and Lee did an amazing job playing with blaxploitation and the race issue and just making it all damn funny. I literally laughed from the minute it opened until the closing credits. In Austin Powers 3 I don't even think I laughed once. It's Ridley man! That guy is such a great writer. Check out his crime books too! Can't wait for the DVD.
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Billy Dee Williams is apparently one of the biggest assholes on the planet. He showed up at my friend's radio station last year with like an entourage of 20, then proceeded to be a jerk and give the worst interview in the station's history. Like he was still pimping Colt .45 or something.
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are always so fan boy and always so damn boring
if ur going to fawn at least be funny and interesting
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I have always been a fan of Jim. Loved Black belt Jones and Hot Potatoe (even Black Belt jones II made me laugh..cause it was that bad..anyway)
Shame they cut him out of Undercover brother :(
"Like something outta a comic book"...Class
Lee -
I really didn't think Undercover Brother was all that funny. It had a few moments, but wasn't nearly as entertaining as everyone makes it out to be. It seemed like it was made by a bunch of amateurs, like a movie that me and my friends would put together. Does anyone else have this opinion? It was like Austin Powers 2. There were a lot of dead moments of jokes falling flat and scenes that just sort of...ended. No resolution, nothing to tie it in to the next scene. It felt oddly uncomfortable. The moments that were funny were hilarious, I'll give it that, but those were few and far between. I just want to know if I'm missing something here. A far funnier movie dealing with race is Blazing Saddles. Now that's a comedy. By far Mel Brooks' best, thanks to Richard Pryor. Now is there some underlying subconscious hilarity to Undercover Brother that I'm missing?
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Jan 13, 2003 5:19:08 PM CST
I'm Pretty sure they could have gotten away with a sambo joke or
by thematarife
Probably would have been pretty funny too. A couple of directors have gotten away with some pretty racist stuff recently, so I guess the MPAA is loosening up. Oh yeah, Mods, delete above post, I accidentally bumped the enter key.
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I totally got this movie and screamed my ass off with laughter in a 42nd Street movie house in NYC (that made me wish it was a 70s 42nd St. movie house that showed all the kung-fu/blaxploitation flicks that this one sent up). The funniest damn movie I saw all last year, and I am first in line for the DVD tomorrow a.m. Hats off to you, Messrs. Lee & Ridley et al. I never got the Austin Powers movies which I thought were just okay. "UNDERCOVER BROTHER" rocks.
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This movie should have been a hit. You fucking retards, you guys should have come out in force; Now we get NO sequel to this sequel worthy movie. Hilarious movie. If you didn't see it in theater DON'T RENT IT. You don't deserve to see it. SHITHEADS.
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i mean, seriously... i've seen a lot of movies. i like a lot of movies. i straight up love a lot of movies. but for gods sake seems like whenever harry opens his mouth it's about how he "grew up" on some movie that will function to give him some manner of geek street-cred regarding whatever the fuck he is talking about at the time. seriously... go back and read the reviews... in each one there is some movie he just happened to grow up on. you know what i grew up on? no, because i don't need to bring them up whenever i talk about what a piece of crap some other movie was. not to mention the fact that there really weren't all that many movies i "grew up on". the ones that i did are few and precious and it would befoul that specialness to include my "deep, personal love" of return of the living dead within that group because i happened to be talking about zombie movies. i can understand using other films as contextual references to make a point or something, but this is just ridiculous. I
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Ha, Ha, the black man does not like Mayonaise, Ha, Ha, that's SOOOOOOOO hilarious! I live in the south, and have two very close black friends and they thought UB was one of the stupiest movies they have ever seen. First off, I never knew condiments were racially predispositioned. Second, if anything, I have never known a black people to have a dislike for mayo, at least not anymore than any other race. On another note, UB breaks into a bank to erase black people's BAD CREDIT. I'm sorry, I don't care what color you are, you only get BAD credit if you don't pay your bills on time, or not at all. Just because you are black does not automatically mean you get a bad credit rating. Oh, I forgot, that is suppossed to be one of the FUNNY scenes in this oh, so funny movie. The only funny thing in this entire movie was the Orange Drink Dispenser in UB's car. Yes, black people like orange drink, but I know a lot of white people that also like orange drink. Why, a year later, are we getting an interview with a sub-par director? Is news that hard to come by?
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Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior to others, and the belief that said race has the right to rule over inferior races. People can make jokes based on stereotypes without being racist. Jeez, relax.
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