Earth Girls Are Easy
Page 3 of 5
"I can't sleep with you. You're a alien and I'm from the valley." Valerie, 25-year-old manicurist
"Earth Girls Are Easy," Released by Vestron Pictures, overflows with color, music, romance and high camp, inquisitive primary colored aliens romp through the infamous San Fernando Valley under the direction of famed avant-garde filmmaker Julien Temple.
It's another dull day in space as three aliens (Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans) float through the stratosphere fantasizing about earthly pleasures (most of them female). A fortuitous quirk of destiny sends their ship plummeting into a swimming pool belonging to Valerie Dale (Geena Davis), a young manicurist nursing a broken heart over her two-timing fiance, Dr. Ted Gallagher (Charles Rocket).
The sweet -- albiet conspicuous -- aliens, must wait on earth for their space ship to dry, and the brightly colored fur which covers their bodies is difficult to conceal. Clever girl that she is, Val whisks the fuzzy fellows off to the Curl Up & Dye beauty salon. Under the ministrations of her boss and best friend Candy (Julie Brown), they emerge as three handsome hunks, suitable for escorting Val and Candy for a fun filled night on the town -- alien style.
Temple has filled in the outline provided by writers Julie Brown, Charlie Coffey and Terrance McNally, with a rainbowed hued vision of Los Angeles, drawing on his background in music to create an outrageously hybrid form of film entertainment.
The script is a outgrowth similarity song which appears on Brown's debut album "Goddess in Progress." The film reflects it's musical origins as it syncopates along, interspersing narrative with elaborately staged productions of Brown's clever original dance numbers.
Says Brown, "We got the original idea for the song from reading the tabloids about women who had sex with aliens. So, we wrote the song about a disgusting little alien who crawled into my house through the doggie door. Actually I envisioned him as a cross between Flipper and Alan Thicke. He forces me to feed him so I give him Pop Tarts and we spend the night together and I find him incredible. Anyway, as we were writing the song, it occurred to us that this could be the basis for a really funny movie. Traditionally, movies about aliens portray them as 'special' and 'sensitive.' I pictured the aliens in this film as being like truck drivers on their planet, you know, just regular guys."
The story captured the fancy of producer Tony Garnett, who commissioned and developed the script. Says Garnett, "This film operates on so many levels that it can be appreciated by everyone from children to sophisticated adults."
The latter audience will undoubtedly be enticed by Julien Temple's imprimatur. An internationally-known director of music videos and of the films "The secret Policemen's Other Ball" and "Absolute Beginners," Temple was taken with the latitude offered by the script, and the chance to utilize his skill in blending music with visual images. Garnett explains, "I admire this courage of Julien's visual imagination. I also needed someone who could use contemporary music in a way which would further the comment inherent in the film."
Says Brown, "We all wanted Julien because of his knack for visual. But," she laughs, "I was a little worried during production because he never removed his sunglasses. Finally, I grabbed them and put them on and said 'Oh, this is what the film is going to look like.'"
The lead roles of Valerie, the woeful manicurist, and Mac, the head alien, were filled by Oscar winner Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum, whose on-screen chemistry in "The Fly" made it a critical and popular success. Co-author Julie Brown was cast as the quintessential "Valley" girl, Candy, and Charles Rocket of "Saturday Night Live" fame portrays Val's perfidious fiance, Ted.
The unique look of "Earth Girls" was created by Production Designer Dennis Gassner, Art Director Dins Danielson, and Location Manager Donald Pott. Together they combed the streets and towns of urban Los Angeles, constructing a visual playground in which to set the high jinks that give the film its comic framework.
Temple choreographed each scene as if it were a dance number. As an example, Dr. Ted's examination of the aliens is set to a musical "double heartbeat" composed by Stewart Copeland. As Ted's befuddlement grows, elements in the room come alive, "dancing" to the beat, and underscoring his confusion. The water cooler even has it's five seconds of fame, as it bubbles appear on cue, boogying to the beat.
The film was shot in a variety of locations around Los Angeles, with S & G Global Studios in Silver Lake, California, housing the interiors of Val's house, the spaceship, and the Curl Up and Dye beauty salon.
During the evening the dance club sequence was filmed, Visitors to Griffith Park Observatory, a well known landmark located in the hills above Hollywood, would have been shocked to find it transformed into DecaDance, a new-age night club, complete with glowing neon signs and scantily clad revelers. The observation deck overlooking the glittering lights of Los Angeles housed a grand piano on which Mac charms Val with his musical skills.
Less serene was the wild car chase that ensues when Wiploc (Jim Carrey) and Zeebo (The other two aliens) abscond with the pool man's classic "woody" station wagon. Lacking earthly driving skills, the scene required the alien-commandeered car to careen backward down a freeway, Crashing through a billboard and ending up wedged into the center of a giant plaster donut, a familiar Los Angeles landmark adjacent to a well-traveled freeway. To accomplish this feat, a stretch of the freeway was closed for two days, and a special crane hoisted the car into the middle of the enormous donut which sits atop a coffee shop.
The filmmakers took care to utilize locations that would give the impression that the Valley was a universe unto itself. Explains Temple, "The climate, the entertainment industry, and the pioneering attitude of the west coast combine here to create quite a distinctive look. As a sort of alien in Los Angeles myself, I thought I could bring to the audience a feel for what the aliens must have experienced when they first landed in the Valley."
During location scouting Temple happened upon a true L.A. landmark, an enormous billboard of a pneumatic blonde named Angelyne. A person of mysterious origin, Angelyne is a local figure, primarily famous due to the plethora of billboards extolling her likeness lounging on a pink Corvette and trumpeting her management's phone number.
When Temple learned that Angelyne actually existed, he signed her up for a memorable cameo. Angelyne afficionadoes may even recognize that the music emanating from her Corvette is a original tune, penned and performed by the busty blonde herself.
"EARTH GIRLS" pulsates with a candy-colored palette of costumes which reflect the mad-cap vision of the filmmakers. Costume designer Linda Bass attired the earth girls in a fanciful mix of lingerie, bathing suits, and bustiers, and the aliens initially appear as red, blue, and yellow walking plush toys.
The aliens' costumes were created by Bob Clark, an expert in creature effects, and they covered the actors completely. Any surfaces that weren't furry were painted -- down to their teeth. Donning alien garb required two-and-a-half hours each morning (Including tooth cosmetics), and the removal process was equally lengthy.
Needless to say, the 100 plus degree temperature made looking happy and carefree a real test of the actors' skills. They were quite relieved that the script called for them to exfoliate rather early on the story.
However, Altho the aliens look human, Temple enlisted a world-renowned dance troupe to create an alien system of body movement which would set them apart from the earthlings they encounter during their visit.
Temple discovered the group, Iso, at Londons's Fashion Aid benefit. In addition to training the aliens, Iso dancers doubled for the actors in a fanciful "space dance" which takes place in their spaceship as they float weightlessly.
The "earthly" Production numbers were choreographed by Sarah Elgart, an elite member of the dance community with extensive background in film and video choreography. Her staging lends the requisite tongue-in-cheek element to the "Brand New Girl" dance number, brilliantly lampooning the traditional musical. Music director Peter Afterman played a key role in determining the special sound of "EARTH GIRLS." Three original songs featured in the film were written by Julie Brown and Charles Coffey, two of the script's co-writers. Nile Rodgers, a top rock 'n' roll producer, coordinated and produced two dance pieces. The soundtrack features an instrumental by Stewart Copeland, two B-52's tunes, "summer of Love" and "Cosmic Thing;" and "The Ground You Walk On," by Bill Steinberg and Tom Kelly, The team responsible for "Like A Virgin."
The film also boasts Hall & Oates film soundtrack debut -- a cover of the O'Jays "Love Train," The song that has been closing their stage show for the past few years. Stephen Bray, The co-writer and co-producer of three of Madonna's albums, wrote and produced "Baby Gonna Shake," a dance number performed by Warner Brothers recording artists Royalty, with a video directed by Julien Temple. The album is rounded out by Nile Rodgers re-mix of "Route 66," a song that never appeared on an album except as part of a medley, and "Hit Me," performed by Information society.
Three singles from the soundtrack will be released simultaneously in advance of the album's release -- "Love Train", "Baby Gonna Shake" and "Cosmic Thing." All three will be supported by original videos.
Rodgers scored the film with a subtle re-mix of "music you'd hear from car radios at every red light in the valley." He drew on "The heydey of the Hollywood musical, where the music you heard in a film was ostensibly the same type of stuff you heard in normal life."
British-born director of photography Oliver Stapleton, with whom Temple collaborated on "Absolute Beginners," shares Temple's skewed outlook on life in suburban Southern California. His camera manages to transform the san Fernando Valley, -- in reality, a mundane strip of exoburbia full of fast food joints, banks and hair salons -- into a kitschy wonderland where incredulous aliens frolic with nubile Earth Girls under a technicolor sun.
"Earth Girls Are Easy," a Vestron Pictures release, stars Geena Davis, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Jeff Goldblum. Directed by Julien Temple, The picture introduces Julie Brown and co-stars Michael McKean, Charles Rocket, Larry Linville, Rick Overton and Angelyne. Tony Garnett is the producer. Screenplay by Julie Brown, Charlie Coffey and Terrence McNally. Musical score by Nile Rodgers.
With thanks to Cotton
"Earth Girls Are Easy," Released by Vestron Pictures, overflows with color, music, romance and high camp, inquisitive primary colored aliens romp through the infamous San Fernando Valley under the direction of famed avant-garde filmmaker Julien Temple.
It's another dull day in space as three aliens (Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans) float through the stratosphere fantasizing about earthly pleasures (most of them female). A fortuitous quirk of destiny sends their ship plummeting into a swimming pool belonging to Valerie Dale (Geena Davis), a young manicurist nursing a broken heart over her two-timing fiance, Dr. Ted Gallagher (Charles Rocket).
The sweet -- albiet conspicuous -- aliens, must wait on earth for their space ship to dry, and the brightly colored fur which covers their bodies is difficult to conceal. Clever girl that she is, Val whisks the fuzzy fellows off to the Curl Up & Dye beauty salon. Under the ministrations of her boss and best friend Candy (Julie Brown), they emerge as three handsome hunks, suitable for escorting Val and Candy for a fun filled night on the town -- alien style.
Temple has filled in the outline provided by writers Julie Brown, Charlie Coffey and Terrance McNally, with a rainbowed hued vision of Los Angeles, drawing on his background in music to create an outrageously hybrid form of film entertainment.
The script is a outgrowth similarity song which appears on Brown's debut album "Goddess in Progress." The film reflects it's musical origins as it syncopates along, interspersing narrative with elaborately staged productions of Brown's clever original dance numbers.
Says Brown, "We got the original idea for the song from reading the tabloids about women who had sex with aliens. So, we wrote the song about a disgusting little alien who crawled into my house through the doggie door. Actually I envisioned him as a cross between Flipper and Alan Thicke. He forces me to feed him so I give him Pop Tarts and we spend the night together and I find him incredible. Anyway, as we were writing the song, it occurred to us that this could be the basis for a really funny movie. Traditionally, movies about aliens portray them as 'special' and 'sensitive.' I pictured the aliens in this film as being like truck drivers on their planet, you know, just regular guys."
The story captured the fancy of producer Tony Garnett, who commissioned and developed the script. Says Garnett, "This film operates on so many levels that it can be appreciated by everyone from children to sophisticated adults."
The latter audience will undoubtedly be enticed by Julien Temple's imprimatur. An internationally-known director of music videos and of the films "The secret Policemen's Other Ball" and "Absolute Beginners," Temple was taken with the latitude offered by the script, and the chance to utilize his skill in blending music with visual images. Garnett explains, "I admire this courage of Julien's visual imagination. I also needed someone who could use contemporary music in a way which would further the comment inherent in the film."
Says Brown, "We all wanted Julien because of his knack for visual. But," she laughs, "I was a little worried during production because he never removed his sunglasses. Finally, I grabbed them and put them on and said 'Oh, this is what the film is going to look like.'"
The lead roles of Valerie, the woeful manicurist, and Mac, the head alien, were filled by Oscar winner Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum, whose on-screen chemistry in "The Fly" made it a critical and popular success. Co-author Julie Brown was cast as the quintessential "Valley" girl, Candy, and Charles Rocket of "Saturday Night Live" fame portrays Val's perfidious fiance, Ted.
The unique look of "Earth Girls" was created by Production Designer Dennis Gassner, Art Director Dins Danielson, and Location Manager Donald Pott. Together they combed the streets and towns of urban Los Angeles, constructing a visual playground in which to set the high jinks that give the film its comic framework.
Temple choreographed each scene as if it were a dance number. As an example, Dr. Ted's examination of the aliens is set to a musical "double heartbeat" composed by Stewart Copeland. As Ted's befuddlement grows, elements in the room come alive, "dancing" to the beat, and underscoring his confusion. The water cooler even has it's five seconds of fame, as it bubbles appear on cue, boogying to the beat.
The film was shot in a variety of locations around Los Angeles, with S & G Global Studios in Silver Lake, California, housing the interiors of Val's house, the spaceship, and the Curl Up and Dye beauty salon.
During the evening the dance club sequence was filmed, Visitors to Griffith Park Observatory, a well known landmark located in the hills above Hollywood, would have been shocked to find it transformed into DecaDance, a new-age night club, complete with glowing neon signs and scantily clad revelers. The observation deck overlooking the glittering lights of Los Angeles housed a grand piano on which Mac charms Val with his musical skills.
Less serene was the wild car chase that ensues when Wiploc (Jim Carrey) and Zeebo (The other two aliens) abscond with the pool man's classic "woody" station wagon. Lacking earthly driving skills, the scene required the alien-commandeered car to careen backward down a freeway, Crashing through a billboard and ending up wedged into the center of a giant plaster donut, a familiar Los Angeles landmark adjacent to a well-traveled freeway. To accomplish this feat, a stretch of the freeway was closed for two days, and a special crane hoisted the car into the middle of the enormous donut which sits atop a coffee shop.
The filmmakers took care to utilize locations that would give the impression that the Valley was a universe unto itself. Explains Temple, "The climate, the entertainment industry, and the pioneering attitude of the west coast combine here to create quite a distinctive look. As a sort of alien in Los Angeles myself, I thought I could bring to the audience a feel for what the aliens must have experienced when they first landed in the Valley."
During location scouting Temple happened upon a true L.A. landmark, an enormous billboard of a pneumatic blonde named Angelyne. A person of mysterious origin, Angelyne is a local figure, primarily famous due to the plethora of billboards extolling her likeness lounging on a pink Corvette and trumpeting her management's phone number.
When Temple learned that Angelyne actually existed, he signed her up for a memorable cameo. Angelyne afficionadoes may even recognize that the music emanating from her Corvette is a original tune, penned and performed by the busty blonde herself.
"EARTH GIRLS" pulsates with a candy-colored palette of costumes which reflect the mad-cap vision of the filmmakers. Costume designer Linda Bass attired the earth girls in a fanciful mix of lingerie, bathing suits, and bustiers, and the aliens initially appear as red, blue, and yellow walking plush toys.
The aliens' costumes were created by Bob Clark, an expert in creature effects, and they covered the actors completely. Any surfaces that weren't furry were painted -- down to their teeth. Donning alien garb required two-and-a-half hours each morning (Including tooth cosmetics), and the removal process was equally lengthy.
Needless to say, the 100 plus degree temperature made looking happy and carefree a real test of the actors' skills. They were quite relieved that the script called for them to exfoliate rather early on the story.
However, Altho the aliens look human, Temple enlisted a world-renowned dance troupe to create an alien system of body movement which would set them apart from the earthlings they encounter during their visit.
Temple discovered the group, Iso, at Londons's Fashion Aid benefit. In addition to training the aliens, Iso dancers doubled for the actors in a fanciful "space dance" which takes place in their spaceship as they float weightlessly.
The "earthly" Production numbers were choreographed by Sarah Elgart, an elite member of the dance community with extensive background in film and video choreography. Her staging lends the requisite tongue-in-cheek element to the "Brand New Girl" dance number, brilliantly lampooning the traditional musical. Music director Peter Afterman played a key role in determining the special sound of "EARTH GIRLS." Three original songs featured in the film were written by Julie Brown and Charles Coffey, two of the script's co-writers. Nile Rodgers, a top rock 'n' roll producer, coordinated and produced two dance pieces. The soundtrack features an instrumental by Stewart Copeland, two B-52's tunes, "summer of Love" and "Cosmic Thing;" and "The Ground You Walk On," by Bill Steinberg and Tom Kelly, The team responsible for "Like A Virgin."
The film also boasts Hall & Oates film soundtrack debut -- a cover of the O'Jays "Love Train," The song that has been closing their stage show for the past few years. Stephen Bray, The co-writer and co-producer of three of Madonna's albums, wrote and produced "Baby Gonna Shake," a dance number performed by Warner Brothers recording artists Royalty, with a video directed by Julien Temple. The album is rounded out by Nile Rodgers re-mix of "Route 66," a song that never appeared on an album except as part of a medley, and "Hit Me," performed by Information society.
Three singles from the soundtrack will be released simultaneously in advance of the album's release -- "Love Train", "Baby Gonna Shake" and "Cosmic Thing." All three will be supported by original videos.
Rodgers scored the film with a subtle re-mix of "music you'd hear from car radios at every red light in the valley." He drew on "The heydey of the Hollywood musical, where the music you heard in a film was ostensibly the same type of stuff you heard in normal life."
British-born director of photography Oliver Stapleton, with whom Temple collaborated on "Absolute Beginners," shares Temple's skewed outlook on life in suburban Southern California. His camera manages to transform the san Fernando Valley, -- in reality, a mundane strip of exoburbia full of fast food joints, banks and hair salons -- into a kitschy wonderland where incredulous aliens frolic with nubile Earth Girls under a technicolor sun.
"Earth Girls Are Easy," a Vestron Pictures release, stars Geena Davis, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans and Jeff Goldblum. Directed by Julien Temple, The picture introduces Julie Brown and co-stars Michael McKean, Charles Rocket, Larry Linville, Rick Overton and Angelyne. Tony Garnett is the producer. Screenplay by Julie Brown, Charlie Coffey and Terrence McNally. Musical score by Nile Rodgers.
With thanks to Cotton
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