Wonkette Movie Night: Lake Placid
'I'm rooting for the crocodile. I hope he swallows your friends whole.'
I am just going to come out and say it.
Betty White is the best thing about this movie. Not even a 30 foot crocodile can compete with the awesomeness of Mrs. Delores Bickerman delivering this line to the sheriff,
If I had a dick this is where I’d tell you to suck it.
Even the croc loves Delores. Could be because she feeds it, the stray reptile that followed her husband home. She tosses it scraps and possibly Mr. Bickerman and the croc grows. And it keeps growing.
We all know if you feed them they are only going to keep coming back. Just like a cat.
I’d like to see JD take on this childless croc lady, because cats and crocs are very similar. Cat or crocs? Stealthy; demands attention or will bite your head off; and they love lying in the sun.
After a beaver tagging diver (also the name of my new riot grrrl band) is bitten in half, a tooth is found so they bring in a scientist. Could it be that this film was inspired by another movie about a toothy man-eating monster from beneath the water? We have a cop, a scientist and a brash adventurer who has an unhealthy obsession with big mouths full of teeth. The only thing missing is a mayor wearing a funky blazer with anchors on it demanding the lake remain open.
The funny thing is, the body of water with a monstrous beast swimming in it is not Lake Placid. I know, imagine that!
The body of water in the movie is named Black Lake with the story set in Maine and just to make it even more confusing the actual lakes used in filming were Buntzen Lake & Shawnigan Lake in British Columbia. The reason the film is called Lake Placid is based on a line from the sheriff.
Yeah, we wanted to call it Lake Placid, but someone said that name was taken.
That is the kind of irreverence that makes this movie fun, it is a classic B monster movie but with a top notch cast. Bull Pullman doing that Bull Pullman swagger; his I’m a badass but also really nice which also showed up as the president in Independence Day. A president who was great at giving a speech, no sir stories or accordion playing needed.
You do want to slap the smug off of the face of Oliver Platt’s character, which let’s be honest Mr. Platt can have that kind of face at times, but still be likable.
Bridget Fonda does overdo the whole damsel in distress but really I’m tough at heart bit. But she is very good at falling out of things and needing to be rescued while still looking adorable.
But the best of the best is Betty.
Her zingers and presence have you looking forward to her next appearance in the movie. It also helped remind people what a fantastic talent she was even at the age of 77 and introduced her to a younger audience. She continued working and in 2010 she began starring in Hot In Cleveland at the age of 88.
We lost Betty shortly before her 100th birthday on New Year’s Eve of 2021 but she is always with us, the joy and laughter she created is forever.
Lake Placid stars Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Betty White, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, and Meredith Salenger. Directed by Steve Miner.
Lake Placid is available for free with ads on Tubi and Fandango at Home; $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules go to WonkMovie.
The animated short is Alligator Liberation, from the Cartoon Network.
Next week’s Movie Night selection is The Philadelphia Story, free with ads on Tubi and Plex. Free on OK RU. $3.99 in the usual places.
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In honor of the movie I did have a hamburger for dinner.
My movie snack is veggie straws, didn't feel like making popcorn.
𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀:
Most of the animals in this movie were created by the masters of computer generated imaging (CGI) at Digital Domain. These visual effects gurus were able to study documentary footage and work with master prop maker Stan Winston to create the killer crocodile, plus his giant un-happy meals, namely a bear and a cow. Live animals do appear as background extras. After studying film footage of a four-foot long crocodile and a twenty-foot crocodile chasing a human, the technicians at Digital Domain then worked with a laser scan of a model built by Winston. The animatronics were built to scale, enlarged to thirty-two feet in the computer, re-sculpted and manipulated by the computer to create all of the intricate articulations that make the digital animal appear real. Over three dozen articulated joints were computer generated for the crocodile alone.