THAT is a noble cause.
September 10, 2020 12:29 PM   Subscribe

The cast of the Princess Bride will reunite virtually this Sunday for a script reading and Q&A session to raise funds for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Donors (of any amount) get to watch the livestream, submit questions for the cast, and help flip Wisconsin, leaving Prince Trumperdinck wallowing in freakish misery forever.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark (70 comments total) 36 users marked this as a favorite
 
Fuck Ted Cruz.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:05 PM on September 10, 2020 [23 favorites]


The only thing better would be a reunion of Celebrity Apprentice contestants under a banner saying "You're Fired, Donald".
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:27 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


So as a non-US-citizen, you’re forbidden to donate, and therefore unable to watch?
posted by Omission at 1:30 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


Maybe we'll get Fred Savage as a "special guest" doing the Peter Falk part.
posted by hippybear at 1:31 PM on September 10, 2020 [15 favorites]


hippybear, what a lovely idea.
posted by Silvery Fish at 1:36 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


So as a non-US-citizen, you’re forbidden to donate, and therefore unable to watch?

I think that's because it's a US election fundraiser and we have laws about foreign contributions to US elections. Not entirely sure, though.
posted by hippybear at 1:40 PM on September 10, 2020


Who will play Fezzik, I wonder?
posted by dywypi at 1:42 PM on September 10, 2020


Man, at dinnertime on a Sunday night? And no replay link? I have kids, that ain't gonna work. :7(
posted by wenestvedt at 1:44 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


I'm not a Princess Bride afficionado, but I am a Mandy Patinkin fan, and his son filmed a beautiful string of clips of him reminiscing about filming the Princess Bride - all in this Twitter thread.

Make sure you watch at least until halfway through Sword memories 3 when he bursts into tears: "I just miss it. To this day. I'm such a fucking cry baby. But it was so incredible to work on it with everyone."
posted by penguin pie at 2:00 PM on September 10, 2020 [21 favorites]


Maybe we'll get Fred Savage as a "special guest" doing the Peter Falk part.

No no no. Fred Savage needs to be in the bed and Ryan Reynolds needs to do the Peter Falk part.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 2:06 PM on September 10, 2020 [19 favorites]


A virtual Princess Bride event with the original cast? Inconceivable!

(And in my case apparently unwatchable as well) :-(
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:14 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


Maybe we'll get Fred Savage as a "special guest" doing the Peter Falk part.

According to his twitter, Eric Idle got that part. (ugh. Strike that, he's doing the Impressive Clergyman.)
posted by pmbuko at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


After watching Mandy's reminiscing about the sword fight, go watch Jill Bearup's amazing analysis of it from a stage combat expert's point of view.
posted by hanov3r at 2:26 PM on September 10, 2020 [9 favorites]


I got a cast list by email:

- Fezzik: Josh Gad (who I'd never heard of)
- Impressive Clergyman: Eric Idle
- the Grandfather: Rob Reiner
- Ancient Booer: Whoopi Goldberg(!)
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 2:31 PM on September 10, 2020 [15 favorites]


Josh Gad (who I'd never heard of)

He's been everywhere lately, though perhaps most famously, as Olaf in the Frozen movies. It will certainly be interesting to hear his take on Fezzik.
posted by pmbuko at 2:36 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


Impressive Clergyman: Eric Idle

I think Eric Idle is a worthy successor to Peter Cook, yes. And, since Cook once stood in for Idle in a Python sketch in one of the Secret Policeman's Balls, it's highly appropriate.
posted by hanov3r at 2:39 PM on September 10, 2020 [9 favorites]


He's been everywhere lately, though perhaps most famously, as Olaf in the Frozen movies. It will certainly be interesting to hear his take on Fezzik.

Book of Mormon, Avenue 5, Central Park, Beauty and the Beast. And those are just the big names.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 2:42 PM on September 10, 2020 [3 favorites]


I think Eric Idle is a worthy successor to Peter Cook

Terry Jones was in the film The Princess Bride in the role of Impressive Clergyman.
posted by hippybear at 2:49 PM on September 10, 2020


Terry Jones was in the film The Princess Bride in the role of Impressive Clergyman.

That's not accurate for this incarnation of the multiverse. Wait! Are you in the universe where Eric Stoltz played Mary McFly?
posted by hanov3r at 3:01 PM on September 10, 2020 [6 favorites]



Terry Jones was in the film The Princess Bride in the role of Impressive Clergyman.


No, it was Peter Cook.
posted by Liquidwolf at 3:02 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


Well, goodness. I've lived for decades thinking that was Terry Jones. Even at this advanced age I can learn new facts!
posted by hippybear at 3:04 PM on September 10, 2020 [5 favorites]


Ancient Booer: Whoopi Goldberg
Crazily enough, this will be the third project that Whoopi Goldberg and Wallace Shawn have collaborated on (that I know of).
posted by phooky at 3:07 PM on September 10, 2020 [2 favorites]


I watched this unfold on Twitter the other day, when Ted Cruz tried his ham-handed Princess Bride paraphrasing to slag this idea, and got dogpiled for it. And then the Wisconsin Dem chairman chimed in and said he couldn't believe it, but he was thanking Ted Cruz for helping them hit their biggest fundraising haul ever.

Learn to live with disappointment, Ted.
posted by martin q blank at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2020 [30 favorites]


Donated! Has anyone seen a running total of receipts for this thing?
posted by Glinn at 3:31 PM on September 10, 2020


Crazily enough, this will be the third project that Whoopi Goldberg and Wallace Shawn have collaborated on (that I know of).


In another branch of the multiverse, there's a Guinan-meets-the-Grand-Nagus episode of Deep Space Nine.
posted by kaibutsu at 4:19 PM on September 10, 2020 [10 favorites]


Just donated. I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that Buttercup turned into Claire Underwood. Looking forward to it.
posted by AMyNameIs at 4:45 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


Are you in the universe where Eric Stoltz played Mary McFly?

Great Scotia!
posted by snofoam at 6:31 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


I got a cast list by email:

I don't see Carol Kane's name on the site. Please tell me she will also be at the reading?!
posted by Mchelly at 8:39 PM on September 10, 2020


Kane is listed on the official poster, so....
posted by hippybear at 8:50 PM on September 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


No Christopher Guest? Who’s playing Tyrone?
posted by mr_roboto at 9:39 PM on September 10, 2020


Christopher Guest is listed on the poster
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:02 AM on September 11, 2020


The poster was updated after this post was made. The first link on this post has a version of the poster without Christopher Guest. So I imagine they've been getting late confirmations of the more high-profile actors. Be kind to each other.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:16 AM on September 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


INCONCEIVABLE!
posted by dchase at 1:00 PM on September 11, 2020


Well, goodness. I've lived for decades thinking that was Terry Jones. Even at this advanced age I can learn new facts!

This is blowing my mind. I am a big Peter Cook fan, a large Princess Bride fan, and a huge Monty Python fan. Yet I have spent the past 30 or so years certain that it was Jones in this role. But of course it is Cook and not Jones! Now that I unsee it, I can't see it.
posted by scarylarry at 4:08 PM on September 11, 2020


5 minutes to go! Right now it says there are >40K people watching live. If the average contribution is $25 (it's likely higher), that would be $1 million for Wisconsin Dems!
posted by Tsuga at 3:56 PM on September 13, 2020


Is anyone watching? The livestream isn't working for me and I am VERY PUT OUT.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 4:04 PM on September 13, 2020


Not working for me, either. I have an appropriate background, but there's nothing on it.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:04 PM on September 13, 2020


I have the changing WisDems logo, so I'm getting some kind of feed, but no Princess Bride.
posted by Tsuga at 4:06 PM on September 13, 2020


me either
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 4:06 PM on September 13, 2020


Nothing working for me yet either...
posted by Mchelly at 4:06 PM on September 13, 2020


what tsuga said
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2020


Not working for us yet, either. Democrats in disarray!
posted by phooky at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2020


I had Patton Oswalt come on briefly to introduce things, but he crashed after 10 seconds. I refreshed and now can't see anything except the website background.
posted by Tsuga at 4:16 PM on September 13, 2020


I am feeling very stressed out for whomever the tech person on this thing is.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:17 PM on September 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


Now it's working again. Someone clearly not a Princess Bride actor talking up the importance of Wisconsin to this election.
posted by Tsuga at 4:19 PM on September 13, 2020


Oooh, trying a different browser worked for me.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:24 PM on September 13, 2020


As I expected, I am missing it. *deep, martyred sigh* Any generous soul who wants to PM me with a way to watch it later will have my lasting gratitude!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:19 PM on September 13, 2020


The bit with the mask --"Everyone will be wearing them soon" -- was funny.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:20 PM on September 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


my daughter and I read the book during the early part of the pandemic. (Heads up, you may need to censor some of the original book if you are reading it to a small child.) Anyways, she is cheering and dancing and enjoying tonight's performance.

As a heads up, this was slated as a 'once' performance. Someone will have had to screen grab the whole thing. There are 99.4k people watching it, so the likelihood of someone having done so is probably above 0... incidentally at $27 for the average donation - that's just south of 2.7M raised by grass roots donations for this. The 10-15 minute stump speech from the Democratic party of Wisconsin at the beginning said that this has been their most successful fundraising event... in other words, expect things like this more.

Pandemic aside - things like this are the best things to come out of 2020.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:36 PM on September 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


Billy Crystal recreating the Miracle Max shack with a bunch of random shit he had lying around was just the best
posted by phooky at 5:58 PM on September 13, 2020 [4 favorites]


Yeah, the bits I saw, I really liked Gad having an accent but not trying to copy Andre....which would have sounded terrible, I think.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:18 PM on September 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


Inspirational stuff from Mandy Patinkin (in general, but specifically in the Q&A). Be the Dread Pirate Roberts you want to see in the world.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:34 PM on September 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


I was upset that Mandy Patinkin didn't do the 12 wardrobe changes he joked around when his son introduced him a few days ago.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:50 PM on September 13, 2020


Cary Elwes now has Chris Walken's hair. Wallace Shawn is the picture in Robin Wright's attic. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane are possibly immortal. Chris Sarandon looks so little like his onscreen persona (probably it's the missing Little Lord Fauntleroy hairdo) that I thought he was a stand-in. And yet they all were warm and fun and obviously affectionate to each other.

What fun! How awesome! A delight!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:45 PM on September 13, 2020


I loved this, technical difficulties and all. Still don't understand why Fred Savage wasn't involved, but whatever.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:04 PM on September 13, 2020


Well dangit, I watched the first 15 minutes or so (with LOTS of technical difficulties with various cast) and then it crashed and got error messages for the next 30 minutes, so I gave up.
posted by Glinn at 6:20 AM on September 14, 2020


We watched in its 3.5 hour entirety (and gave WisDems $50 as well). The tech difficulties were tiring to watch but nevertheless I'm glad we attended.

Every time Oswalt or Reiner said "everyone that was in the cast that's still alive is here" my wife and I would say "except Fred Savage". There's a story there, I'm convinced of it.

There were many awesome things:
Rob Reiner channeling Peter Falk
Josh Gad channeling Andre the Giant
Robin Wright just so lovely, in body and spirit alike.
Mandy Patinkin absolutely killing it
Billy Crystal actually doing set work in the background for his role
Carol Kane yelling LIAR (and again in the Q&A in reference to the person holding the White House hostage)
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:53 AM on September 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


We loved this. There was a crash for us just at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity, so we missed the whole swordfight through till the middle of the wrestling match, and there was no way to rewind. But there were so many gems. I wasn't in love with the kid's performance at all (clearly he hasn't seen it a million times like I have), but the second Chris Sarandon came in and was full-on Humperdink from the first word, I think it brought up the energy for everyone involved.

I loved so many of the performances, and the mask joke made me laugh out loud. And I loved when they ad-libbed - Mandy Patinkin's (I think it was) "You have a way with words... if we could hear you" to Gad's mic issue, Crystal's calling for some "Cel-Ray tonic" at the end of his MLT speech.

I hope they make it available again down the road - someone must have recorded it. It was just delightful.
posted by Mchelly at 7:34 AM on September 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


When I went back to the page this morning it said something like, "Come back soon to rewatch" -- but re-loading the page removed that message. So....who knows!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:12 AM on September 14, 2020


There's a copy on YouTube
posted by kaibutsu at 8:49 AM on September 14, 2020


There's a copy on YouTube

Already removed (at least in the US).
posted by hanov3r at 10:23 AM on September 14, 2020


Like Spartacus, many more have appeared and raise their voices defiantly!

(During the original broadcast was the audio out of sync a lot?)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:38 AM on September 14, 2020


Who played the albino? Was that Matt Lucas?
posted by hanov3r at 12:43 PM on September 14, 2020


I'm not a Hollywood actor or anything, but I think, were I to be involved in a production potentially to be viewed by thousands of people, that I might take a little time to get the lighting and sound to a semi-professional state.
Maybe not try to record on the cheap built-in laptop webcam? Use a $50 external microphone?

I guess once people are seeing it, they've already paid, but man, some of those looked like they were being filmed with cuseeme over dial-up.
posted by madajb at 2:44 PM on September 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


For those who missed it, this link is working, at the moment.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 7:22 PM on September 14, 2020


madajb: I might take a little time to get the lighting and sound to a semi-professional state.

I have no connection to this otherwise-good writer & publisher: the new short e-book "Take Control of
Zoom Essentials
" is free right now, and covers exactly this. Short, well-illustrated, simply explained -- it's great.

I sent it to my town school department's IT director to review and consider sharing to the teachers and public officials who I am sick of seeing silhouetted on my screen so often these days.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:09 AM on September 15, 2020


Well, as an empirical measurement of success for this event, I just got an email from wisdems - Parks & Rec cast reunion (minus a few folks *cough* Chris Pratt). They are time boxing it a bit more to an hour (as opposed to the 3 that The Princess Bride reunion took) - but yes, successful enough to replicate quickly. This is apparently going to be the next big money making strategy for political campaigns.

I wonder how deep they would need to go to get a reunion for The Apprentice to stump for Biden?
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:11 AM on September 15, 2020 [2 favorites]


I sent it to my town school department's IT director to review and consider sharing to the teachers and public officials who I am sick of seeing silhouetted on my screen so often these days.

Yes.
You can forgive dropout and other technical glitches, but really anyone who does more than one video conference should know not to aim the camera at a window (or up their nose).
posted by madajb at 3:45 PM on September 15, 2020 [2 favorites]


$4.26 million raised.
posted by Tsuga at 5:03 PM on September 17, 2020 [2 favorites]


Is this legally available to people outside the US?
posted by Mitheral at 2:00 AM on October 2, 2020


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