Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

[zoey1996]

The Weird Al biopic, out on Roku. From imbd: Explores every facet of Yankovic's life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like 'Eat It' and 'Like a Surgeon' to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.

We watched it tonight, and it is indeed weird. It's a fun parody of parodies. Too many well-known actors to list, but I loved Quinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary as Oprah. Daniel Radcliffe was excellent as Weird Al. Watched through the credits, as I always do. Interesting to say the least.

[Spartan Girl]

The whole third act threw me for a loop. Whatever I expected, it sure wasn’t THAT.

[Twilight Man]

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

Watched through the credits, as I always do. Interesting to say the least.

Now You Know is the song he "specifically" wrote as a "Crazy Credits" ending song.

   Twice the song "sounds" like it is ending as the credits disappear from the top,

   the screen stays black for a few seconds, only for the song refrain to begin again

   with Al screaming "Fake-Out Ending"!!!  (or "Double Fake-Out Ending!!!!!)

The Soundtrack is now available to download,  with actual physical copies available

for pre-order.   The physical copies will EVENTUALLY be sent to you much later.

[Browncoat]

That was hilarious!  A huge thanks to Roku for making it free to watch, too!

A highlight for me was Andy Warhol saying, "Well, hello, Dali" to Salvador Dali.  I about fell off my couch.  So much funny about that whole party scene at Dr. Demento's house.  And it just kept getting more and more absurd from there.  I loved it.

Daniel Radcliffe is proving to be quite the entertainer.  I love that he just goes all in, no matter what he's doing.  No holds barred.  I was also skeptical of his being cast as Weird Al, but he was really good.

[Spartan Girl]

Favorite part was Al turning down Live Aid: “HARD PASS!!” 🤣🤣🤣

All the cameos had me rolling.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Chyromaniac]

My biggest fear was that they had used all the best jokes 12 years ago in the trailer.  Tbh, it was odd seeing those same moments recreated in the actual movie with different actors.  And frankly, for some scenes, like when Al goes full Lizard King, I still prefer the original cast.

But thankfully this had a lot more going on than just the original clip.  The party scene, the bizarre 80’s action movie parody, the ending…  They managed to take something that felt like a bunch of funny jokes about rock biopics, and turned it into, well, a real movie.

[Kel Varnsen]

Watched it last night and thought it was really funny. The idea that Eat It was an original song and then Beat It was the parody was hilarious. I thought the drug lord stuff was a bit too strange bit making Madonna a drug lord was a good payoff. As was his going home and being inspired to record Amish Paradise.

Daniel Radcliffe was really good. And the fact that he was totally shredded every time he too his shirt off made me laugh a lot. 

[Trini]

Article and podcast at Variety: '‘Weird Al’ Yankovic on Outlasting the Stars He Parodies, Why He’s Not Making New Music and the Truth About His Torrid Affair With Madonna '

[Spaceman Spiff]

Watched this last night. It was ok in my opinion. Nothing really made me laugh out loud, I would say I always had a wry smile on my face though.  Small things like Dr Demento always being in his top hat, the Eat It song being an original and how furious Al got when he thought Michael Jackson parodied it, Madonna becoming a drug lord because it was all just "business", all the celebs at Demento's pool party. Jack Black as Wolfman Jack was a good casting since I used to listen to Wolfman, but whomever they had do PeeWee Herman was waaay too short. At times I had to remind myself that this was a parody of Al's life when things go a little over the top. I personally think UHF was a better movie, so many LOL moments in the one.

[Trini]

Eight Emmy nominations!

• Television Movie
• Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie -- Daniel Radcliffe
• Casting For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
• Writing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
• Picture Editing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
• Sound Mixing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
• Music Composition For A Limited Or Anthology Series, Movie Or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
• Original Music And Lyrics -- "Now You Know"

 

[shapeshifter]

Having a Roku TV (and therefore having seen ads for this daily for who-knows-how-long) I finally broke down and watched this when it got Emmy noms.
It was better than I expected.

Daniel  Radcliffe’s performance is certainly worthy of the Emmy nomination, and no less so because we can’t readily tell that it is Weird Al’s voice doing the singing.

Interestingly, based on Wikipedia, Yankovic’s parents were nearly the opposite of the parents portrayed in the movie. For example, regarding Yankovic's real-life father:

Quote

He believed "the key to success" was "doing for a living whatever makes you happy" and often reminded his son of this philosophy.

And, in real life:

Quote

A door-to-door salesman traveling…offered his parents a choice of accordion or guitar lessons at a local music school.…  
[Yankovic] said that they chose the accordion because "they were convinced it would revolutionize rock".

But then (also in real life) tragically: 

Quote

On April 9, 2004, Yankovic's parents were found dead at their home in Fallbrook, California, the victims of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/"Weird_Al"_Yankovic#Personal_life

— which makes me wonder if the fictional parents are an expression of Yankovic’s unresolved grief and anger over their sudden deaths, albeit in their early 80s.

Throughout the film, whenever the camera focuses on the face of Yankovic (playing producer Tony Scotti) we see pretty telling emotions — kind of reminiscent of closeups on a subject’s face in a “This Is Your Life” production — which is presumably a deliberate choice of both camera work and directing in Weird.

Edited July 15, 2023 by shapeshifter

[Trini]

Some making of/behind-the-scenes info at Variety: 'Al Yankovic Breaks Down How That ‘Weird’ Celebrity-Stuffed Pool Party Came Together'

Quote

“It was an $8 million budget — we’re not shooting it on our cell phones, but it’s a small budget by Hollywood standards,” Yankovic says. “Thankfully, we shot in Los Angeles because that allowed me to call in some favors.” 

Appel confirms. “Al basically just shared his Christmas card mailing list with me and he said, ‘Here are people that I know well enough that I can reach out via text or email and get a yes or no really quick.’”

 

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Trini said:

Some making of/behind-the-scenes info at Variety: 'Al Yankovic Breaks Down How That ‘Weird’ Celebrity-Stuffed Pool Party Came Together'

Quote

“It was an $8 million budget — we’re not shooting it on our cell phones, but it’s a small budget by Hollywood standards,” Yankovic says. “Thankfully, we shot in Los Angeles because that allowed me to call in some favors.” 

Appel confirms. “Al basically just shared his Christmas card mailing list with me and he said, ‘Here are people that I know well enough that I can reach out via text or email and get a yes or no really quick.’”

Thanks for posting this, @Trini! 
— maybe the most fascinating “making of” article I’ve ever read.

I was surprised a Roku movie was Emmy nominated, but now I understand how the movie’s accomplishments were seen by the entertainment industry professionals.

And so timely to read with the recent passing of Paul Reubens.

I hadn’t noticed Andy Warhol was played by Conan O’Brien. I may have to rewatch with a visiting daughter.

[Orbert]

"Hello, Dali" cracked me up.

[Trini]

This won an Emmy! 'Outstanding Television Movie'; [ETA:] also 'Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)'.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Trini