Squirrels to the Nuts (Peter Bogdanovich, 2014)

[hearthesilence]

I'm glad I posted about the music. I actually forgot he used songs from Echo too.

[soundchaser]

Happy that this is finally seeing the light of day, but color me skeptical that the film will play quite the same with a score. Imagine What's Up, Doc? with one - it would amp the zaniness up beyond the breaking point. I wonder who's primarily responsible for it? Both in the decision-making and in writing the score itself.

(One other cut I've confirmed: there's a scene at a department store that's underscored by Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" - now replaced with generic funk music.)

Am I wrong in feeling like Kenney & Company dragged their feet getting this out? Beggars can't be choosers, finding the tape at all was a miracle, but after 2022, radio silence. Would imagine clearing music led to a stop-and-start.

For the record - Kenney has nothing to do with the commercial release. He's been allowed to screen the earlier cut as long as he didn't charge for it, but the final distribution has been down to Stratten and Lionsgate. He was just as much in the dark as any of us!

[JimKen1]

(During the Q&A, it was mentioned that [Adria Petty] basically gave her dad's songs to this film free of charge so that they could be included when it comes out.)

Petty's estate sold his catalog to Warner/Chappell last summer——has to be his widow that pushed for the deal, since his daughters don't see eye to eye with her on handling his music (they sued her for this a few years ago). With Adria's promise of full clearance, it's too bad things didn't get moving before it all changed hands. Am I wrong in feeling like Kenney & Company dragged their feet getting this out? Beggars can't be choosers, finding the tape at all was a miracle, but after 2022, radio silence. Would imagine clearing music led to a stop-and-start.

You're wrong, but that's never stopped anyone from offering an opinion on the internet before. Dragged my feet LOL. Anyway, Lionsgate, Frank Marshall, Petty, etc. are responsible to any alterations to the version I have screened, but no doubt financial reasons explain most of them (but not the added score, which I don't agree with). But I would think the most obvious reason to most for the slowdown in the film's release was, you know, Peter Bogdanovich's death. Anyway, it's out this month.

[Never Cursed]

Squirrels to the Nuts is now available to rent on Amazon Prime. It runs 115 minutes.

[therewillbeblus]

It's so much better this way. I forget almost the entirety of the original (and have low motivation to go back and compare) but this is a real screwball throwback, so twisted in its complications that it serves as both a lampoon and love letter to the genre.

Also, it's by far Jennifer Aniston's best and most insane role (and Will Forte's tamest!) - but the intentionality of her terrible therapist, coupled with the insert shots of Bogdanovich in The Sopranos as counselor to Bracco, only makes me wonder if there's a sly in-joke for those with experience in therapy calling attention to how awful Jennifer Melfi was as a provider

[beamish14]

Squirrels to the Nuts is now available to rent on Amazon Prime. It runs 115 minutes.

Desperately want to see this, but don’t want to give Jeff Bezos any fucking shekels! I hope a Blu-Ray is imminent

[Never Cursed]

Fun fact I discovered recently in unrelated historical research: the proverbial phrase in this film’s title (though obviously a reference to Cluny Brown) dates back at least to the 1700s, though as “apes” rather than “squirrels.” When complaining about insubordinate junior officers during the Revolution, John Adams complained that they were “Scrambling for Rank and Pay like Apes for Nutts.”

Squirrels to the Nuts is now available to rent on Amazon Prime. It runs 115 minutes.

Desperately want to see this, but don’t want to give Jeff Bezos any fucking shekels! I hope a Blu-Ray is imminent

The film is available on other platforms, I had just only checked Amazon when I wrote the above post

[Roger Ryan]

For those interested (and have access), Squirrels to the Nuts is now streaming for free on The Roku Channel (itself a free service). HOWEVER, Roku calls it She’s Funny That Way - Director’s Cut! I was using my Roku device to search streaming services for Bogdanovich’s original cut but only found the re-edited theatrical release on several platforms. I then noticed in “Related films you may enjoy” the reference to the director’s cut version available on Roku. Despite the misnomer, the proper Squirrels to the Nuts title appears in both the opening and closing credits.

I found this original version far more satisfying than the re-shot/re-edited one. The frenetic lunacy, which played unevenly in the theatrical cut, is afforded a much smoother roll out and actually works better by giving the viewer more of everything. The plot is still completely ridiculous but like They All Laughed , you get caught up in the cast seeming to have so much fun with the material, even as that material stretches shopworn farcical tropes to the absolute limit. Along the way, Bogdanovich allows the camera to rest for a moment on an expression or look to add some sweetness to the lunacy as only he would think to do.

This version also more clearly shows its adherence to the structure of What’s Up, Doc?, enough that it begins to feel like a remake of a tribute to an homage. As a final Bogdanovich feature, the effect is surprisingly comforting. Given the amount of borrowing going on, I thought the final gag was the funniest…

Spoiler

A television in a bar gets turned to TCM which is playing Lubitsch’s Cluny Brown, specifically the scene where Boyer explains his philosophy invoking Bogdanovich’s film’s title. Recognizing the dialogue as Owen Wilson’s character’s way of wooing women, Kathryn Hahn exclaims “After all this, it’s not even original!” That feels like a knowing disclaimer for the previous 100 or so odd minutes.