"It's like magic Monkees"
Like so many fans, I looked forward to seeing the movie and it was good and it was disappointing.
I am going to review the movie in 3 categories: Nice touch, Wrong- My nit pickers list and Would it have been nice
Nice Touch
The things I especially liked in the movie
Micky's audition and the "checkmate" comment
The big fat auditionee brought to tears by "Van" (Note: I love it when the guy comes out of the room and said to Micky "Don't go in there Corky")
"Van" doing an audition by pretending to yell at someone on the phone
A bit of Davy's and Mike's black and white audition interviews
Smoking grass at an NBC affiliate meeting
Peter trying to help Micky when Micky gets frustrated learning the drums
The guys lose their bodyguards on purpose and start being chased by girls
then having to be rescued by getting in the back of a waiting police car
Mike's "Whoo Wee! Let's show 'em what we can do" comment when they enter the studio to record
Headquarters (Note: I don't think he actually did this, but it was cute)
Peter's joy over recording as a real band then the sadness when it was short lived
A comment from Mike producing work during the Summer of 1967 (The Witichia Train Whistle Sings)
Davy visiting his dad and Davy's unhappiness with success
Mike and Peter screwing up the scene from the "Fairy Tale" episode (Note: I could watch that all day)
In the "Daydream Believer" video, Micky goes through Peter's legs near the end of the song
Small recreations from a couple of episodes and "Head"
The guys have the dancing moves down pretty well
Mike and Micky's "philosophical" comments from the "Monkees On Tour" episode incorporated into the story
(Note: especially Mike's comment which was spoken to his infant son)
Peter is seen as smart, caring and spiritual person and not just the dumb guy
Micky and Davy watching "Head" in a theater in disguise
The story dealt well with the drug use- didn't shy away from it and did not overly dramatize it either
Mike coming to the realization that it's not so bad to ba a Monkee
The movie captured the spirit of the Monkees very well
Wrong- My Nit Pickers List
The things done incorrectly either by time continuity, dramatic purposes or to keep costs down
The executive in present time pitching the Monkees concept: it is confusing because the movie does not go back to present time
at the end and makes it seem out of place
Accents: especially Mike's and Davy's accents and the guy who played John Lennon
The costumes at concerts: they wore suits not the 8-button shirts or white outfits (Note: unless you count the concert performance from "Head")
The costumes during "Daydream Believer" video: in the real video, Mike had on a shirt, tie & red pants with the tie hanging over his guitar,
Davy wore a red shirt with a gold tassel necklace, Peter wore a white nehru jacket with several necklaces and Micky wore a blue shirt backwards
with a necklace & brown pants
During the "Daydream Believer" video, Micky is holding an closed tambourine but he actually had an open tambourine plus he kept missing the edge all through the video
The costumes for the "Hillbilly Honeymoon" episode (Note: or the episode they were going to film at the farm) are pretty accurate except that Peter
wore a coon skin hat
The movie did not mention why Mike wore a green wool hat
Don Kirshner did not have anything to do with the casting (Kirshner commenting that wool hat "could be a problem").
He came into the Monkees project after the pilot was filmed
Micky has fuzzy curled hair through out the movie when he only had the fuzzy curly hair after the first season
Micky is at the "cattle call" audition but he had a private audition
I kind of doubt that Micky was easily recognizable from his days as Corky on "Circus Boy" because he was around 10
and his hair was blonde
Mike shows up for the interview in a nice convertible not the battered old station wagon he had at the time
Phyllis is pregnant with Christian at the time of the audition but he was born months before the auditions took place
The movie only shows that Mike and Phyllis had only one son but their other son, Jonathan, was born in 1968
The visit to the mall by Peter and Micky occurred just to Micky- he was going to buy Christmas gifts (a couple of months
after the series starting airing) at the mall he always shopped at for years. He just entered the mall (not on the escalator) when
people started to recognize him
The canister that Mike finds during the black and white audition interview was smaller than the actual one
At the NBC affiliate meeting, the guys actually did disrupt the meeting by turning off the lights, throwing around a stuffed toy
peacock and doing some physical comedy on stage
For their first concert in Hawaii, they jumped through a paper screen onto the stage and their performance was part of the Miss
Teenage Hawaii pageant
The guys doing the Monkee walk on the beach are in the wrong order- it should be (left to right) Davy, Peter, Micky and Mike
Several scenes from the movie's TV show intro are not in the actual TV intro (Mike as "Princess Gwen", Mike with Groucho glasses & mustache and the guys in monkey masks
from the pilot)(Note: But you got to love actor Aaron Lohr recreating Micky sliding down the stair railing into the tall cake and actor L. B. Fisher as Peter wearing bunny ears)
It was Bob Rafelson who rammed the farmer's fence to get to the "Don't Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth" episode location and the outfits they wear for the scenes on the farm
look much similar to the "Hillbilly Honeymoon" episode
The guys are playing volleyball at the beach with Phyllis and Christian watching the game: while there was a weekend softball game
with various wives/ girlfriends in attendance but Mike and Phyllis would never join them
"All Of Your Toys" is not on the Headquarters album and was not released until 1988's Missing Links album
Mike does the backing vocals for "All Of Your Toys", but in the movie he is not seen doing the backing vocals
The guys never performed "All Of Your Toys" for the cameras on the pad set
The guys didn't haven't the Moog Synthesizer for the Headquarters recording sessions- it was used during the
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd. album
The Emmy award presenters for the 1966-67 Best Comedy Series were Anissa Jones (Buffy on "Family Affair") and Jimmy Durante
The Emmy Awards show was a larger event than portrayed with a large stage that winners would have to climb a few steps to accept their awards
Phyllis was not at the Emmy Awards
When Davy come home to see his dad: his dad would not let him in the house before he got his haircut
Davy singing "Daydream Believer" in the studio without the "What number is this, Chip?" line
Davy hit Peter first (not the other way around) that causes Davy to get several stitches
The guy playing Jack Nicholson: every actor thinks they can "do" Nicholson, but in fact they end up "over doing" Nicholson
Phyllis staying at the hospital after her car accident: she and Mike were Christian Scientists and would not stay in a hospital
plus it looked like they had Phyllis on the children's floor
The happy ending: while it would be so nice to say "and they lived happily ever after", but each guy ultimately wanted to be known
as an individual not just a Monkee. It was sometimes frustrating for them and sometimes it benefited them to have the notoriety as a Monkee with
various reunions and the onset of new fans who were not around when the series first aired (Note: like myself)
Would It Have Been Nice
The things I would have like to have seen in the movie (Note: if there was an unlimited budget and 10 hours to fill)
People: Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider & Jim Frawley (Note: although they have been incorporated into the "Van" and "Harris" characters),
Samantha Dolenz, Linda Haines & Reine Stewart (Note: basically more on the guys personal lives), Chip Douglas, Jonathan Nesmith (Note:
he was born in 1968 and the other son of Mike and Phyllis) and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart
The Monkeemobile
Mr. Schneider
Monkeemen (Note: "Up Up and Away")
A graphic the end of the movie about events after "Head": the 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee NBC special, Peter leaving the group while the other 3 continued to tour
and released 2 more albums ("Instant Replay" and "The Monkees Present: David, Michael and Micky"), Mike left, Micky and Davy did
one last album ("Changes") before calling it quits, the 20th anniversary (MTV airing the TV show, Micky, Davy & Peter touring, the "Pool It" album, Mike joining the other
3 on stage at the Greek Theater in LA), the 30th anniversary (the "Justus" album, the ABC special, their performance at Billboard Live) and these reunions brought back a big interest
in the group which generated new fans who weren't even born when the show originally aired
The guys finding out about the release of "More Of The Monkees" after seeing it in a store
Davy smashing the studio gate when the guard didn't recognize him when Davy was running late one day
Mr. Babbitt
Showing a camera filming a "romp" scene with the director yelling out things for them to do
Micky attacking his salad more viciously at the restaurant soon after they met for the first time: in Davy's book,
Davy describes Micky getting salad all over himself with Mike and Peter not noticing Micky until Davy speaks
up about Micky's table manners
A better ending: showing (or recreating) the footage of Mike joining Micky, Peter and Davy on stage for two songs on
September 7, 1986 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. It would still keep with the idea of "and they lived happily ever after"
Davy's draft scare
The guys "romping" around in the orange wet suits
Jimi Hendrix jamming with the guys
One very memorable moment from the 1968 Far East tour for Peter: The guys were performing "Sunny Girlfriend"
and were sounding good ("in the pocket" as musicians say) when Davy walks over to Peter and says "we're going to form a group"
Davy having those "stars" in his eyes when he falls in love with a girl
Include Mike's comment to Don Kirshner before Mike hits the wall: "Donnie we could sing 'Happy Birthday'
with a beat and it would sell a million records"
The use of several catch phrases: "Don't do that", "Isn't that dumb", "You must be joking" and "the old Monkees
scare (Note: as Jim Frawley puts it)
Micky in Hyde Park (London, England) the morning after the Beatles party walking around stoned and after talking
to fans for a while until the crowd got uncontrollable
More about Moog Syntheiser
Continue into the 70's, 80's and 90's
The "Killer" game: Used to relieve tension on the set and on tour, the idea was that a person "shoots" and whoever was
"shot" had to "die" a very dramatic "death". If you don't "die", you lose a "life" and after 3 "lives", you are out of the game forever.
The guys, Bert Schneider, Bob Rafelson, Jack Nicholson and Jim Frawley were the only participants. Towards the end of the
second season, Jim Frawley (who invented the game) could not be persuaded to "die" anymore
Recreating Mike's speech about loving music from "The Devil And Peter Tork" episode
See a guest star talking to the guys behind the scenes
Davy's habit of filing and manicuring his nails
Mike's habit of reading car magazines
Micky walking on cat walks watching other shows being filmed in the studio
Showing Bob Rafelson filming one of the episode ending interviews and what they may have said that did not air
Micky and Davy hearing "Last Train To Clarksville" for the first time on the radio in a car while pulling up to the place
they were sharing at the time
Recreating the "Head" trailer with the guy (John Brockman) staring for a minute then saying "Head"
Recreating the outtakes of Mike and Micky asking each other about the buttons that the other person was wearing (Note:
which would have been from the "Monsterous Monkee Mash" episode)
A clip of Micky directing "The Frodis Caper (MIJAGEOCO)" episode
A clip of Peter directing "Monkees Mind Their Manor" episode
The guys on unicycles
The Black Box
Showing their dressing rooms and how different each one is: Mike's room had aluminum foil & safety pins stuck to the walls
with bubble (Christmas) lights, Micky's room had shag carpet, pillows & a candle, Peter's room had wall to wall musical instruments
and Davy's room had Broadway reviews & telegrams on the walls and a large mirror with light bulbs surrounding it
Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson trying to put a "Head" sticker on the back of a cop's helmet and when the cop moved, the sticker
ended half on the helmet and half on the cop's face
Mike German shepard dog Fraak
Micky's Laurel Canyon home that resembles a ski chalet
Micky building a gyrocopter in his living room and after it was assembled, he could not get it outside
E-mail me with your review.
I'll be Back upon my feet