Tag: costumes

Dan Aykroyd Talks Fried Chicken, White Toast, and The FBI

Though it was released over 40 years ago, The Blue Brothers remains a timeless classic to this very day and still enjoys a cult following. As crazy as the movie was at times, however, some of the behind the scenes stories are even crazier. And so it was that Dan Aykroyd told the Guardian some of those stories, like the following gem, which touches on fried chicken, white toast, and of course, those classic costumes that made Aykroyd and Belushi look like FBI agents.

“Landis wrote the “four fried chickens and a coke” scene after seeing John Belushi [who played the other Blues Brother “Joliet” Jake] consume four fried chickens. Elwood’s dry white toast came from when I grew up in Ottawa and moved from my parents’ place – my toaster was a coat hanger on a stovetop. That was an old trick. We were inspired by John Lee Hooker’s House of the Blues record – he had the suit and the shades. Who wouldn’t want to look that cool? We put on a suit and tie and ended up looking like FBI agents. It was a universal look that worked so well.”

For those so inclined, the interview in The Guardian can be found online and contains more stories, not just from Aykroyd but from director John Landis as well. It’s a wild ride, and well worth the read!

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Will Ferrell Talks Eurovision

Officially out on Netflix for everyone to stream, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is every bit as fun as you’d expect a Will Ferrell movie to be, and every bit as ridiculous as well. Ferrell and co-star Rachel McAdams play a duo of aspiring singers doing their best to bring home the Eurovision prize to their native Iceland, but while the movie is full of music and love, there’s so much more to it making it a very worthwhile watch. Ferrell recently talked to Screen Rant about the film, here’s what he had to say about the film’s origins, and the Eurovision contest itself:

“You know, it’s funny. I literally was aware of Eurovision, like, it’s been 20 plus years. The first time I got any sort of whiff of it was visiting with my wife and her family in Sweden, and we happened to be there in Spring in May, during the contest. We were having dinner, and at the end of dinner everyone said, “Now it’s time to watch Eurovision.” I’m like, “Okay, what is that?” And then I don’t think I said a word for the next three hours. I’m just like, “What is this thing? This is incredible.”

Just between the staging, the costumes, the kitschy-ness of the songs – and then some of the songs are actually really good. And it was just such a [jump] from the sublime to the ridiculous, and I just remember in that moment thinking that would make a great movie. But I always thought that someone in Europe would have done it.

And around five years ago, two years before Lisbon, we went to the contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. That was the first actual time I was there, and that was the year Conchita Wurst for Austria won. And we were like, “We have to do this.” It took a while to get it going, but I’m so happy this moment is here. That people are finally getting to see the labor, the labor of our work.”

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