Man on the Moon (1999) and Jim and Andy The Great Beyond (2017)

[rmontro]

Man on the Moon is one of my favorite movies, even though it is admittedly flawed.  It comes off more like a History of Andy Kaufman's Act more so than a real biography of Kaufman himself.  Jim Carrey does a spectacular job of portraying Andy, although I get the impression that Andy as filtered through Jim comes off as more of a jerk than Andy did himself.  Watch Andy's Letterman appearances, and he usually seemed quite likable.  I was disappointing that the movie bombed at the box office, considering Carrey was a huge megastar box office draw at the time.  Still, I was not too surprised.  I was a big fan of Kaufman, and he was undeniably brilliant, but I remember him as more of a niche performer.  I wouldn't expect a movie about him to make a lot of money.  Regardless of its flaws, I still find the movie very touching.

Jim and Andy The Great Beyond is a documentary of the making of Man on the Moon that is currently on Netflix.  In some ways, it is as good or more interesting than Man on the Moon.  It is built around day to day footage capturing Carrey staying in character as Andy (and Tony Clifton) 24/7 while making the movie.  Method acting, and it's fascinating to watch.  Carrey, as Andy, needles and torments pro wrestler Jerry Lawler on the set until Lawler reacts physically, putting him in some sort of hold or something, we don't quite see what happens as it's just off camera.  Lawler explains that in real life, Andy was always very polite to him (off camera), which sounds right to me.  But as I said before, Andy filtered through Carrey becomes more of a jerk.

There is also present day commentary provided by Jim Carrey, who is going through an interesting phase himself.  If you've seen him lately, he is on a deeply philosophical bent, and seems to be espousing ideas from Eastern religions and philosophies.  He has apparently gone through some sort of "awakening" for lack of a better term, and watching his current personality is also fascinating.

The documentary also explains one thing that used to puzzle me:  On the REM video for The Great Beyond, the members of REM throw darts at an image of Carrey as Kaufman performing Mighty Mouse.  This always seemed rather mean spirited, but Carrey explains here that they wanted him to appear in the video but he declined, because by then the filming for Man on the Moon had wrapped, and he didn't want to go back to being Andy again.  Seeing how complete that investment was, it's not hard to see why.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I watched this the other day (the documentary) and it was basically Jim trolling the crap out of everyone for however long it took to film. I felt badly for the cast and crew, because honestly, who the hell would want to work in that insane atmosphere for extended periods of time? And here's where I shit all over method actors... are most of them brilliant? Sure. Could they probably get the same results without being batshit crazy? Sure. That said, I still think Jim Carrey is hilarious and great in the film. 

[rmontro]

On 3/7/2018 at 5:25 AM, Jeebus Cripes said:

I watched this the other day (the documentary) and it was basically Jim trolling the crap out of everyone for however long it took to film. I felt badly for the cast and crew, because honestly, who the hell would want to work in that insane atmosphere for extended periods of time? And here's where I shit all over method actors... are most of them brilliant? Sure. Could they probably get the same results without being batshit crazy? Sure. 

There is that scene where they talk about Mios Forman calling Carrey at home with his concerns, and Jim suggesting maybe they should "fire" Andy and that he could just do an impression of Andy.  But Forman said "No, I don't want to stop it.  I just wanted to talk to Jim".  

Obviously a lot of Andy's act had to do with trolling, so I could see how Carrey grabbed that and ran with it.  But like I said before, I think Andy Kaufman as filtered through Jim Carrey is more of a "jerk" than the real Andy was, who could be quite pleasant when he wanted to be.  As Jerry Lawler tried to point out to him.

Still, I think it's a wonderful story.  All of it.  It's too bad that Man on the Moon didn't do better at the box office.  I hope it gets appreciated more someday.  It's easily my favorite Jim Carrey movie.

[BlueSkies]

On 6/23/2018 at 7:05 PM, rmontro said:

There is that scene where they talk about Mios Forman calling Carrey at home with his concerns, and Jim suggesting maybe they should "fire" Andy and that he could just do an impression of Andy.  But Forman said "No, I don't want to stop it.  I just wanted to talk to Jim".  

Obviously a lot of Andy's act had to do with trolling, so I could see how Carrey grabbed that and ran with it.  But like I said before, I think Andy Kaufman as filtered through Jim Carrey is more of a "jerk" than the real Andy was, who could be quite pleasant when he wanted to be.  As Jerry Lawler tried to point out to him.

Still, I think it's a wonderful story.  All of it.  It's too bad that Man on the Moon didn't do better at the box office.  I hope it gets appreciated more someday.  It's easily my favorite Jim Carrey movie.

Big Andy fan.  I even read the two bios on him Lost in the Funhouse and the one his friend Bob Zmuda put out Andy Kaufman revealed.  They both came out around the same time as the film.  With YouTube I could see Andy's old clips now.

Having said that Man On The Moon was a decent watch.  Jim Carrey I thought did a decent job with the material.  One thing that struck me looking at Andy though was he had big blue eyes.  Jim's are dark brown.  Jim made Andy seem a little more effeminate I thought that he was in real life.

This article was great

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-12-30-9912300121-story.html

Andy's late dad Stan I know never liked Bob Zmuda irl.  Also, Andy's brother was quoted telling him in his last days he was happy to be around him and not some other toxic people (paraphrasing there) he let in his life.  It's suspected he was talking of Zmuda 

[Annber03]

I was in high school at the time Man in the Moon came out, and my main memory of it is going to see it in the theater with my boyfriend at the time :p. I haven't seen it since then - would be interesting to revisit the film sometime. 

I also love the R.E.M. song "The Great Beyond". 

[BlueSkies]

9 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I was in high school at the time Man in the Moon came out, and my main memory of it is going to see it in the theater with my boyfriend at the time :p. I haven't seen it since then - would be interesting to revisit the film sometime. 

I also love the R.E.M. song "The Great Beyond". 

Yes it a very good song!

I did not know the story the OP mentioned about throwing darts at Carrey.

But I know or I think Uncle Andy's Funhouse was a thing Andy did.  When he was in college it was a kid's TV program he worked on developing.  Hence that shirt Style was wearing.  

[BlueSkies]

On 3/4/2018 at 5:36 AM, rmontro said:

Man on the Moon is one of my favorite movies, even though it is admittedly flawed.  It comes off more like a History of Andy Kaufman's Act more so than a real biography of Kaufman himself.  Jim Carrey does a spectacular job of portraying Andy, although I get the impression that Andy as filtered through Jim comes off as more of a jerk than Andy did himself.  Watch Andy's Letterman appearances, and he usually seemed quite likable.  I was disappointing that the movie bombed at the box office, considering Carrey was a huge megastar box office draw at the time.  Still, I was not too surprised.  I was a big fan of Kaufman, and he was undeniably brilliant, but I remember him as more of a niche performer.  I wouldn't expect a movie about him to make a lot of money.  Regardless of its flaws, I still find the movie very touching.

Jim and Andy The Great Beyond is a documentary of the making of Man on the Moon that is currently on Netflix.  In some ways, it is as good or more interesting than Man on the Moon.  It is built around day to day footage capturing Carrey staying in character as Andy (and Tony Clifton) 24/7 while making the movie.  Method acting, and it's fascinating to watch.  Carrey, as Andy, needles and torments pro wrestler Jerry Lawler on the set until Lawler reacts physically, putting him in some sort of hold or something, we don't quite see what happens as it's just off camera.  Lawler explains that in real life, Andy was always very polite to him (off camera), which sounds right to me.  But as I said before, Andy filtered through Carrey becomes more of a jerk.

There is also present day commentary provided by Jim Carrey, who is going through an interesting phase himself.  If you've seen him lately, he is on a deeply philosophical bent, and seems to be espousing ideas from Eastern religions and philosophies.  He has apparently gone through some sort of "awakening" for lack of a better term, and watching his current personality is also fascinating.

The documentary also explains one thing that used to puzzle me:  On the REM video for The Great Beyond, the members of REM throw darts at an image of Carrey as Kaufman performing Mighty Mouse.  This always seemed rather mean spirited, but Carrey explains here that they wanted him to appear in the video but he declined, because by then the filming for Man on the Moon had wrapped, and he didn't want to go back to being Andy again.  Seeing how complete that investment was, it's not hard to see why.

Ever watch?  Recommended

[rmontro]

9 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Ever watch?  Recommended

I have seen that actually, but you're right it's a good source of information on Andy.

[BlueSkies]

35 minutes ago, rmontro said:

I have seen that actually, but you're right it's a good source of information on Andy.

Was another good one.  It's funny I think Andy would like the buzzing noise in the background!

[rmontro]

9 minutes ago, BlueSkies said:

Was another good one.  It's funny I think Andy would like the buzzing noise in the background!

Seen that too!  :)

[BlueSkies]

22 minutes ago, rmontro said:

Seen that too!  :)

cool to correspond with another fan.  I hadn't read this book though.  Looks funny

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Andy-Kaufman-Hate-Your/dp/1934170089

It's interesting back in the day before the internet people would write letters to hate on somebody.  Even I almost kind of forgot about that!  

Edited August 22, 2022 by BlueSkies

[rmontro]

2 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

cool to correspond with another fan.  I hadn't read this book though.  Looks funny

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Andy-Kaufman-Hate-Your/dp/1934170089!  

You got me with that one, I haven't read that.  Looks like an interesting premise, probably shows how a lot of people bought into the trolling Andy was doing.