March 12, 2002

6:43 AM

Here’s a nice addition to your movie memorabilia collection. Would that I had the spare £15,000 lying around. If you could owe one little piece of a favorite cult film, what would it be?
posted by Fenriss (51 comments total)

Madness takes its toll. Yikes.
posted by mimi at 6:48 AM on March 12, 2002

Luke's hand in formaldehyde. With the blue lightsaber.

Wow, how morbid of me.
posted by adampsyche at 6:58 AM on March 12, 2002

I'll take the typed 'novel' Jack Nicholson was working on in The Shining. One of the scariest props ever.

I would have said the sled from Citizen Kane, but Steven Spielberg already owns it.
posted by evanizer at 7:03 AM on March 12, 2002

Koyaanisqatsi. And, hey, I could own the DVD for $180, but that's still too much for a film, IMHO.
posted by wackybrit at 7:13 AM on March 12, 2002

Gaff's little tinfoil origami unicorn from Blade Runner. Possibly the most meaningful prop in the entire film.
posted by biscotti at 7:17 AM on March 12, 2002

Note that said spooky artifact belonged to the Countess of Rosslyn, whose family was said to be hip deep in Freemasonry, latter-day Templars, and lord knows what else. Rosslyn Chapel is said to have mysterious connections with Rennes-le-Chateau in France, whose secret is supposed to be the identity of the hidden descendants of Jesus Christ, possibly via extraterrestrials from Sirius. What connection could this hidden bloodline have to the Roslin Institute, home of the famous Dolly the Sheep? And was there a related Freemason plot involved in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin?? And why was a related discussion on Metafilter just yesterday???

Gosh, I love paranoia!
posted by gimonca at 7:24 AM on March 12, 2002

what the heck is a "music hall escapologist"?
posted by zoopraxiscope at 7:24 AM on March 12, 2002

A music hall escapologist is an old-fashioned term for an escape artist ala Houdini; a stage performer who escapes from various contraptions. This type of thing was very popular in the late 19th century up until the end of vaudeville. A music hall is a term for a theater, in this case one that would have featured such vaudevillian acts as an escapologist.
posted by evanizer at 7:45 AM on March 12, 2002

The glowing briefcase from Pulp Fiction. So I could see Marsellus Wallace's soul.
posted by Fofer at 7:54 AM on March 12, 2002

I think it'd be cool to have the Chevy Malibu from Repo Man.
posted by Fenriss at 7:58 AM on March 12, 2002

Easy. No objects. Just the pieces of film. Either the kiss in Hitchcock's Rear Window or any snippet from Antonioni's Mystery of Oberwald.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:04 AM on March 12, 2002

Can I have what was in the trunk?
posted by adampsyche at 8:08 AM on March 12, 2002

zoopraxisscope: Chaplin started as a music hall comedian. Music halls were variety shows featuring anything that could be described as a skill performed in front of people willing to pay to see it. Cheap entertainment for the masses. I always assumed it was an English, or at least not-American, thing.
posted by vbfg at 8:10 AM on March 12, 2002

You know when De Niro was training for Taxi Driver he actually was a NYC cab driver for a while. Then shortly after completing filming he lost his hack licence somewhere. That'd be an interesting bit to have.

Of course any of the Indiana Jones props would be cool to have, as would any James Bond gear.

But obviously the most coveted props will always be the McGuffins, the ones that are most sought after in their respective movies, like the suitcase from Pulp Fiction, Rosebud from Citizen Kane or the Maltese Falcon.
posted by KnitWit at 8:16 AM on March 12, 2002

ah, thanks for the "escapologist" definitions, gang....that was sort of what i intimated, but i've never heard that particular term before.
posted by zoopraxiscope at 8:18 AM on March 12, 2002

Gaff's little tinfoil origami unicorn from Blade Runner. Possibly the most meaningful prop in the entire film.

Why not make your own?
posted by KnitWit at 8:29 AM on March 12, 2002

a working gort (the day the earth stood still), you know it makes sense.
or a nifty little get-about (silent running).
but i'd settle for the name of god (pi), if they weren't available.
posted by asok at 8:49 AM on March 12, 2002

Music halls were variety shows ... I always assumed it was an English, or at least not-American, thing.

Hence the name of a famous venue in New York City, "Radio City Music Hall."
posted by kindall at 9:27 AM on March 12, 2002

The life-sucking machine from "The Princess Bride".

I can't get mine to work.
posted by starvingartist at 9:32 AM on March 12, 2002

StarvingArtist, try working in tech support. It works just fine.

I'd like the Tom Servo robot used in the MST3K series & movie.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:46 AM on March 12, 2002

bud cort.
posted by mlang at 10:10 AM on March 12, 2002

Evanizer: I would have said the sled from Citizen Kane, but Steven Spielberg already owns it.

Hmmm. Powerful media giant? Ties with movies, print, and radio? His wife gets work because of him?

Yeah. Steve can keep the sled.
posted by ColdChef at 10:19 AM on March 12, 2002

I don't know what I would choose now, but as a kid I desperately wanted the intertwining snake medalion from the movie "The neverending Story". I adored that film....

I also wanted Falcor the good luck dragon, but that's a different story.....
posted by Windigo at 10:48 AM on March 12, 2002

Are you allowed to sell dead people?
posted by ODiV at 10:48 AM on March 12, 2002

I want Beau Bridges' cane from Joe vs. The Volcano.

...and, of course, an everlasting gobstopper from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
posted by bingo at 11:13 AM on March 12, 2002

I'd like the Tom Servo robot used in the MST3K series & movie.

I thought about that (although I'm more of a Crow fan myself,) but I think having a prop that used to be "alive" just sitting quietly on a shelf or in a glass case somewhere would take a lot of the magic away from it. Maybe it's just me.

Bogart's chess set from "Casablanca" would be pretty cool, though.
posted by Cyrano at 11:49 AM on March 12, 2002

I want the cheesy exploding heads from Scanners.
posted by elgoose at 12:30 PM on March 12, 2002

mlang: i get dibs on mr cort. :)

seriously, though: i would love the copy of man and the universe in the movie trust (written by ned rifle...aka hal hartley, the film's director!) or information theory from the same movie. or the o brother, where art thou? book from sullivan's travels.

that's an awful lot of fake books to put on my bookshelf...
posted by pxe2000 at 2:04 PM on March 12, 2002

drill from 'Rififi"
posted by clavdivs at 6:01 PM on March 12, 2002

Wooderson's Ted Nugent T-shirt from Dazed and Confused.
posted by jonmc at 6:14 PM on March 12, 2002

Captain America’s bike from Easyrider or the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.
posted by Tarrama at 6:14 PM on March 12, 2002

I once saw a full-sized (8 feet tall) Pumpkinhead model for sale, identical to the one actually used in filming the movie of the same name (according to the label). Of course, I'd prefer the actual one used in filming, but I'd have bought that if it hadn't been out of my "toy budget" price range.
posted by sennoma at 10:20 PM on March 12, 2002

bud cort (ne cox) was my father's best man at my parent's wedding.

(to everyone who knows this already I apologise for the redundency)
posted by goneill at 8:49 AM on March 13, 2002

i'm meeting bud cort for brews on st. patrick's day, if anyone (in westchester county or its environs) wants to join us.
posted by mlang at 1:02 PM on March 13, 2002

Sorry. Can't join you. But how about an autograph? Or--even better-- a photo of you and Mr. Cort? That would rool!
posted by ColdChef at 1:08 PM on March 13, 2002

mlang, could you hook me up with him? er, not in a sexual context, but -- i would love to work with him someday.
posted by pxe2000 at 1:45 PM on March 13, 2002

yeah pxe2000 - mlang is really in good...
chef... would you settle for bcort's brother jcort?
posted by goneill at 7:14 PM on March 13, 2002

Did he also star in "Harold and Maude?" Because–if not–then...no.

But, thanks anyway.
posted by ColdChef at 8:24 PM on March 13, 2002

well, no, but mlang is almost guaranteed to be able to get HIS picture on Sunday... But we'll work on it all for you...
posted by goneill at 8:51 PM on March 13, 2002

Uh, back on track, I'd be very happy with any of the following: that fabulous Billy Idol-esque wall mural with lighted "earring" from St. Elmo's Fire (for the sheer kitchiness of it), the red doorknob from The Sixth Sense and/or one of those huge Louis Vuitton trunks from Joe vs. The Volcano.
posted by Dreama at 10:05 PM on March 13, 2002

Dreama! You are one of the few that appreciates Joe vs. the Volcano! All my disagreements with you are suddenly trivialities!
posted by bingo at 8:32 AM on March 14, 2002

"I told you I was a flibberdigibbit..."
posted by ColdChef at 9:19 AM on March 14, 2002

"a real adventure... very interesting... as a luggage problem!"
posted by Fenriss at 9:33 AM on March 14, 2002

I'm not arguing that with you. I didn't say that. If I said that, I would have been wrong.
posted by bingo at 4:32 PM on March 14, 2002

Bingo, don't make me try to like you! Oh wait, too late! May you live to be a thousand years old, sir.
posted by Dreama at 4:42 PM on March 14, 2002

But why do you keep calling me Felix?
posted by bingo at 1:09 AM on March 15, 2002

joe vs. the volcano may or may not be a good film; i'll not weigh in on that topic (though i think we all can agree that it's infinitely superior to castaway). but i would like some validation of this experience: joe vs. the volcano is not a good first date movie.

i recall a certain evening during the spring of 1990 (my freshman year of high school) when i had my mom drive janine boldrin (a sophomore!) and me to the poughkeepsie galleria for a screening of the aforementioned celluloid extravaganza. i paid for her ticket and even bought popcorn...but the budding relationship went nowhere.

to this day i hate both tom hanks and meg ryan (not that there are any shortage of better reasons to hate them).
posted by mlang at 7:11 AM on March 15, 2002

Holy shit, Mlang! "Joesph and his mighty battle against the Magma Mound" was a "first date" for me, too.

About ten minutes into the movie (right around all that "prosthetic testicle" stuff) this couple sitting behind us starts to get bored.

"This movie sucks. Why did you make me come see this?" said he. "You owe me money for these tickets."

"I thought it was going to be good." said she. "I'm sorry. Maybe I can make it up to you." At which point, she begins to fellate him...Loudly.

Want to talk about uncomfortable? Picture me staring at the screen as if to burn a hole in it with my vision, while the slurping and glurping behind me becomes louder and louder.

And then...the unimaginable! My date turns around and admonishes them to either stop or leave the theater. At which point, the guy threatens to kick MY ass. I quickly stood up, grabbed my date's arm and (without looking at the couple...who, BTW, haven't stopped their "lovemaking") and moved to the opposite side of the theater. I spent the rest of the movie listening to my date bitch about how rude they were for "spoiling" the movie.

Thanks for bringing all this back to me. That was, BTW, the first and last date with her. I can't abide someone talking during a movie.
posted by ColdChef at 7:56 AM on March 15, 2002

How was the fellatio not spoiling the movie?

That's the eternal conflict when someone near you causes a disturbance...it's hard to just sit there and let them ruin your own experience, yet if you call them on it, you are yourself taking the disturbance up a notch. It's a tough call, but I could hardly blame someone for complaining about blowjob sounds.

mlang, I'm curious about exactly how Joe vs. the Volcano itself made your date bad. Seriously. I think it's quite a romantic story.
posted by bingo at 11:30 AM on March 15, 2002

Maybe mlang has a "brain cloud."
posted by ColdChef at 11:38 AM on March 15, 2002

The metal syringe Vincent Vega uses to shoot up before he goes to pick up Mia.
posted by oh posey at 9:09 PM on March 15, 2002