What to See This Weekend: 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' and Big Stars in Small Movies

We're in the limbo between summer popcorn-movie season and serious Oscar-movie season. So there's only one new wide release this week, which is still more likely to spark popcorn sales than awards buzz. Keep an eye out, though, for big stars among this week's rush of art-house movies.

New in Theaters: 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
What It's About: In the fourth installment of the popular videogame/horror franchise, Jovovich is back as zombie-fighter Alice. Five years after the zombiepocalypse, she's the Omega Woman, looking for survivors. Rumors that Los Angeles is a haven for the uninfected turn out to be, um, overly optimistic.
Why Should You See It? This one's shot in state-of-the-art, James Cameron-approved 3-D. Fans of the games should inside references and more fidelity to the game play. For everyone else, well, it's another opportunity to see the waiflike Jovovich prove once again that she's actually a credible, sleek action heroine.
You Might Like It If You Like: The first three 'Resident Evil' movies, 'Aliens,' '28 Weeks Later' We're in the limbo between summer popcorn-movie season and serious Oscar-movie season. So there's only one new wide release this week, which is still more likely to spark popcorn sales than awards buzz. Keep an eye out, though, for big stars among this week's rush of art-house movies.

New in Theaters: 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
What It's About: In the fourth installment of the popular videogame/horror franchise, Jovovich is back as zombie-fighter Alice. Five years after the zombiepocalypse, she's the Omega Woman, looking for survivors. Rumors that Los Angeles is a haven for the uninfected turn out to be, um, overly optimistic.
Why Should You See It? This one's shot in state-of-the-art, James Cameron-approved 3-D. Fans of the games should enjoy inside references and more fidelity to the game play. For everyone else, well, it's another opportunity to see the waiflike Jovovich prove once again that she's actually a credible, sleek action heroine.
You Might Like It If You Like: The first three 'Resident Evil' movies, 'Aliens,' '28 Weeks Later'

Short on time? Mr. Moviefone's Six Second Review of 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'

•Showtimes & Tickets: 3-D | 3-D IMAX | 2-D
•On the Scene: 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' Set Visit
•Milla Jovovich on Girl Fights, Being a Mom & 'Resident Evil'
•Trailers & Clips

'Resident Evil: Afterlife': Trailer No. 2

'The Romantics'

Starring: Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, Josh Duhamel
The movie's a Little Chill, with several recent college grad pals reuniting for a wedding, where an old romantic triangle involving the maid of honor (Holmes), the bride (Paquin), and the groom (Duhamel) resurfaces. Galt Niederhoffer directed this adaptation of her own novel.
• Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Cinematical | The Hollywood Reporter

'I'm Still Here'

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
It's either a documentary of a movie star's epic meltdown, an extended Method acting exercise, or a massive put-on. The film recounts the recent exploits of Joaquin Phoenix as he publicly renounced acting in favor of hip-hop. Making his directing debut is Phoenix's brother-in-law, Casey Affleck.
• 'I'm Still Here' Timeline: Milestones in Joaquin Phoenix's Countdown of Crazy
• Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Cinematical | Variety

Short on time? Mr. Moviefone's Six Second Review of 'I'm Still Here'

Also in Theaters (Limited Release)

•'Legendary' is an inspirational wrestling drama produced by WWE (you read that right) about a youth who decides to follow his brother (John Cena) and late father into the ring. Patricia Clarkson and Danny Glover co-star.
Interview with John Cena | Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Entertainment Weekly

•'Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?' Well, he's the idiosyncratic 1970s singer-songwriter who's the subject of this documentary.
Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews: Time Out New York | Village Voice

•'Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould' is another documentary about an idiosyncratic musician. This one asks whether the celebrated classical pianist's quirks were real personality tics or just something he did in public to cultivate an eccentric image. (Sounds like this would make a good double feature with 'I'm Still Here.')
Showtimes & Tickets | Reviews: Village Voice | The New Yorker | Time Out New York

•'Heartbreaker' offers a rare chance to see Vanessa Paradis (Johnny Depp's inamorata) in a French romantic comedy, in which professional romance-buster Romain Duris is hired to end her romance with her fiancé, only to strike sparks with her himself.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: Entertainment Weekly | Variety

•'Lovely, Still' shows it's never too late for romance, as seniors Ellen Burstyn and Martin Landau discover.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Reviews: New York Magazine

•'Bran Nue Dae' is an Australian road-movie musical set amid the social upheavals of the 1960s. Geoffrey Rush co-stars.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | Reviews: Chicago Reader | Roger Ebert for Chicago Sun-Times
Still In Theaters, Still Awesome

•'Machete' - Milla Jovovich isn't the only action heroine on screen this weekend. Michelle Rodriguez and Jessica Alba are no slouches either, and even Lindsay Lohan gets to show off her shooting skills.
Showtimes & Tickets | Will 'Machete' Ignite a Firestorm Over Its Immigration Stance? | Red-band 'Machete' Trailer (Contains NSFW Language and Violence) | Lego Version of the 'Machete' Trailer (Contains NSFW Language and Violence) | Mr. Moviefone's Six Second Review | Critics' Reviews

•'The American' - A lot of people were enraged by this movie, since it's not the action-packed ride its ad campaign suggests. It's certainly not for everyone, but it does boast George Clooney, a hot naked Italian babe, and some thoughtful, Euro-style, existential action drama.
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailers & Clips | What's Wrong With Critics -- and Why Do They Love 'The American'? | George Clooney's 10 Best Movies | Exclusive Photos | Mr. Moviefone's Six Second Review | Leonard Maltin's Review | More Critics' Reviews

•'The Tillman Story' - Watch for this acclaimed Afghanistan War documentary, about the military cover-up surrounding the death of NFL star-turned-soldier Pat Tillman, to expand into more theaters over the coming weeks
Showtimes & Tickets | Trailer | Critics' Reviews
Staying In This Weekend?

New on DVD This Week: 'Killers' is a romantic comedy/action pic starring Katherine Heigl as a woman who discovers that new hubby Ashton Kutcher is actually a spy with a license to kill. (Buy or rent the DVD) 'MacGruber' is Will Forte's expansion of his recurring 'Saturday Night Live' parody of 'MacGyver' into a full-length feature. (Buy or rent the DVD) Michael Douglas stars in 'Solitary Man' as a divorced man in need of redemption, but with a talent for self-sabotage. (Buy or rent the DVD)

Also Out This Week: Bryce Dallas Howard plays a strong-willed heiress in 1920s Memphis in the unearthed Tennessee Williams gem 'The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond.' (Buy or rent the DVD) Hal Holbrook earned Oscar talk last year as an aged farmer fighting to hold onto his land in 'That Evening Sun.' (Buy or rent the DVD) More new DVDs

Movie Homework: Why wait until you're middle-aged to have a midlife crisis? As 'The Romantics' is only the latest movie to show, you can have one when you're barely out of college. In fact, some recent grads barely give themselves enough time to frame their diplomas before they start brooding over their wasted potential and uncertain futures. The classic model for this, of course, is Dustin Hoffman's aimless Benjamin Braddock in 'The Graduate' (Buy or rent the DVD), but he had to endure his quarterlife crisis pretty much all by himself; most mid-20s-malaise movie characters prefer to commiserate in groups of fellow alumni. After all, college (in the movies, at least) may be less a launching pad for adulthood than a cocoon for extending adolescence, leaving graduates unprepared for the harsh economic and emotional realities of the real world, but suffering the indignity of having to grow up fast is at least easier among friends.

So it is with the Me Decade hedonists of 'The Last Days of Disco' (Buy or rent the DVD), the '80s Brat Packers of 'St. Elmo's Fire' (Buy or rent the DVD), and the '90s Gen X slackers of 'Reality Bites' (Buy or rent the DVD) and the woefully underrated 'Kicking and Screaming' (Buy or rent the DVD). Besides 'The Romantics,' the most recent example is the adorable comedy 'Post Grad' (Buy or rent the DVD), in which Rory Gilmore Alexis Bledel confronts the horrible current job market for new college graduates with the aid of just one former classmate (Zach Gilford of 'Friday Night Lights'), the once-platonic friend she suddenly sees in a new light. That's the other lesson of these quarterlife crisis films, from 'The Graduate' on: adulthood may not work out the way you thought it would, but it's never too late to fall in love with someone you couldn't imagine as a romantic prospect during your undergraduate years.

On My Netflix Queue: You don't have to be a sci-fi geek to love 'Forbidden Planet,' the classic 1956 space opera that cleverly updates Shakespeare's 'The Tempest.' Highlights include a lovably clunky robot, a pioneering all-electronic music score, and the delightfully stolid Leslie Nielsen, back when he was considered a sober-minded man of action and not a deadpan comic genius. It's just out on Blu-Ray, so now's your chance to see it again, or for the first time. Buy or rent the DVD
•Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

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Actors Who Do Their Own Stunts: Tom Cruise and 8 Other Daredevil Stars

Last week, Tom Cruise scaled the world's tallest building while filming his own stunts for 'Mission: Impossible 4.' The idea of a 48-year-old Scientologist peering through the windows at tourists visiting the indoor observation area on the 124th floor is certainly a compelling one, but Cruise is hardly the first big star to perform his own stunts.

Let's take a look at other highly paid actors from recent years who have risked life and limb in pursuit of making things look just a little more authentic on-screen. Keep reading to learn about hardcore stars such as Jason Statham and Chloe Moretz who have elected to take the action into their own hands.

Jackie Chan

Chan, who holds the Guinness World Record for "most stunts performed by a living actor," has to appear first on any list like this. And while his recent fare, such as 'The Karate Kid' and 'The Spy Next Door' haven't been as physically impressive as, say, that bit in 'Police Story' where he uses an umbrella handle to hook onto a speeding city bus, he's still the living master at putting your body out there in order to get the shot. Jason Statham Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
The British bulldog of absurdist kicks-and-explosions spectacles since the turn of the millennium, Statham is a former Olympics diver who does almost all of his own stunts -- including the driving -- which is extra impressive given how much abuse his characters in series like 'The Transporter' and 'Crank' take. While he wasn't behind the wheel for the mind-blowing 'Transporter 3' Audi-on-two-wheels-caught-between-two-semi-trucks stunt, much of the bad-ass BMX sequence was all him -- as were about a zillion other things you've seen him do on-screen. Christian Bale Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
Bale thrills at the prospect of radically transforming his body as a sort of visual stunt, depending on the role he's playing -- he famously dropped down to 121 pounds for his role in 2004's 'The Machinist', then immediately bulked up to 230 to play Batman the following year. But for the director Werner Herzog, Bale was also willing to put his body at more immediate risk: For 'Rescue Dawn,' he refused to let a stuntman dangle from a moving helicopter in his stead, telling About.com that, "F**k yes, I want to be doing that." Harrison Ford Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
There were plenty of things to find unimpressive about 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' but Harrison Ford's intestinal fortitude on set wasn't one of them. The 65-year-old did "90% of his own stunts," according to costar Shia LeBeouf. While Ford doesn't jump off of motorcycles in his movies, pretty much every time you see Indy take a punch, that's Ford doing the physical stuff. Viggo Mortenson
Like an American Jackie Chan, Mortenson performed all of his own stunts as Aragorn in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and followed that up with an intense horse-racing period piece, 'Hidalgo,' in which he engaged in high-speed action while on horseback. (According to Internet lore, he was willing to film scenes that even the stuntmen refused.) Meanwhile, in 'Lord of the Rings,' he insisted on carrying a real steel sword for his scenes rather than an aluminum or rubber proxy. After filming 'Hidalgo,' he even bought the horse he rode for much of the action. Chloe Moretz
The stunts Moretz performs in 'Kick-Ass' may not be as physically daring as, say, those done by Statham in 'Crank,' but for a 13-year-old, she holds her own pretty well. She did nearly all of her own work, except for the part where Hit-Girl scurries up a wall. In the end, according to an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, she had more trouble with the swearing than the action. Angelina Jolie Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
While Tom Cruise was dangling 124 stories up for the 'M:I 4' stunt, he was supported by a full harness with a number of redundant safety wires. When Angelina Jolie walked a narrow ledge 12 stories high for 'Salt,' meanwhile, she had only a single wire there in case she fell. That bit in the trailer where the secret agent (or whatever it is she plays in that movie) jumps off of a bridge? All Jolie, as well. Her motivation? She told 'Entertainment Weekly' that she wanted to do her own stunts to impress her kids. Cameron Diaz Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com
While filming 'Knight and Day,' Cruise wasn't the only star getting in on the action: Cameron Diaz did much of her own driving for the film's chase sequences. While she did use a stunt double for some of the movie's more unbelievable sequences, she threw her own kicks and punches in many of the action sequences and even took an 'Entertainment Tonight' reporter along with her for a test-drive of the stunt car on-set.

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'Better Off Dead' -- The Stars' Oral History of Their 1985 Cult Comedy

"I want my two dollars!" If you know what that means, then you belong to the cult of 'Better Off Dead' -- a surreal 1985 comedy in which John Cusack starred as Lane Meyer, a suicidal teenager who tries to win his girlfriend back by skiing the dreaded K12 mountain. Written and directed by "Savage" Steve Holland, the film contains a mysterious French girl who may sway Lane's heart, a group of Howard Cosell–obsessed drag racers, a maniacal paperboy, and a dancing hamburger. Initially, a box-office disappointment, the film has grown in legend and is now a cult classic.

To celebrate the film's 25th anniversary, Moviefone spoke with Holland, as well as cast members Curtis Armstrong (who played Charles De Mar, Lane's oddball pal), Aaron Dozier (Roy Stalin, the smug nemesis), Diane Franklin (Monique, the lovely exchange student) and Amanda Wyss (Beth, the heartbreaking ex). They shared their memories about their time on the set, John Cusack's distaste for the movie, and the passionate fanbase that has made the movie more popular than ever. "I want my two dollars!" If you know what that means, then you belong to the cult of 'Better Off Dead' -- a surreal 1985 comedy in which John Cusack starred as Lane Meyer, a suicidal teenager who tries to win his girlfriend back by skiing the dreaded K12 mountain. Written and directed by "Savage" Steve Holland, the film contains a mysterious French girl who may sway Lane's heart, a group of Howard Cosell–obsessed drag racers, a maniacal paperboy, and a dancing hamburger. Initially, a box-office disappointment, the film has grown in legend and is now a cult classic.

To celebrate the film's 25th anniversary, Moviefone spoke with Holland, as well as cast members Curtis Armstrong (who played Charles De Mar, Lane's oddball pal), Aaron Dozier (Roy Stalin, the smug nemesis), Diane Franklin (Monique, the lovely exchange student) and Amanda Wyss (Beth, the heartbreaking ex). They shared their memories about their time on the set, John Cusack's distaste for the movie, and the passionate fanbase that has made the movie more popular than ever.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Believe it or not, much of the film is autobiographical. Like Lane Meyer, Holland also had a real high school girlfriend who broke his heart, and he even went so far as to stand on a plastic garbage can in his garage with a rope around his neck that hung from an overhead pipe. Realizing it was a terrible idea, he tried to step down, but as he did so, the lid cracked under his weight. He collapsed into the can and the pipe broke. With water pouring on top of him, as he flailed in the garbage can, his mother entered the garage and got upset -- because of the mess he had made.

"Savage" Steve Holland: My girlfriend dumped me for the captain of the ski team -- that's all true. I wasn't allowed on the ski team because I didn't make the time, and that's how he moved in on my girlfriend. I guess in my fantasy world, I had this "If I could only do it again, I'd win that race." The K2 is the biggest mountain out there, so I made it the K12 so it'd be super-double-extra-awesome. So, in my fantasy world, that's me winning and getting my girlfriend back.

ASSEMBLING THE SUPPORTING CAST
Curtis Armstrong: My agent called and said somebody had offered me a movie -- which no one had ever done. I was sort of startled and she said it was this person named "Savage" Steve Holland. And I thought it was a bad connection; who has a name like that? But they sent me the script and it just made me laugh. I took to it instantly.

Holland: [Curtis] played Miles in 'Risky Business' and I hadn't seen a character like that in so many years -- a second banana character that stole the movie. I was like, "God, if I could have a cool dude like that playing Charles De Mar, my movie will work."

Diane Franklin: I knew immediately that this was an incredible script. I laughed through the whole thing. I was really hoping I could play Monique.

Holland: What I learned -- which is cool -- is that when you make a movie, you can call in people that you like or think are cool, and they'll actually respond. So when Diane came in, I couldn't believe it. She was as cute as what I had dreamed. You might assume from 'Last American Virgin' that she was evil, but she couldn't have been cuter -- which is why I said she was like "Bambi on acid."

Amanda Wyss: It is hands down for me, one of the funniest scripts I have ever read. I was crying from laughing so hard. Steve's work is like a punk Woody Allen.

Holland: Amanda had that "girl next door" thing -- I had a big crush on her from 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High.' And she came out after that with 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' I thought, 'If I could get that girl, this would be the double-best movie of all time!' And then she walked in the door, and it was amazing."

Aaron Dozier: When I came in, I didn't know who "Savage" Steve was at first. I [looked at one guy and] said, "Who's this chubby kid?" Turns out he's the director.

Holland: I'm watching dailies and drinking beer with Cusack, and all of a sudden this pompous jerk comes in and says, "Hey, who's the fat surfer?" And I'm like, "Wow, who is this?" and they go, "Savage, this is the guy coming in for Roy Stalin." And I'm like, "You have the part! You're perfect."

JOHN CUSACK AS LANE MEYER
Holland: Henry Winkler had hooked us up because John had just done [the Winkler-produced comedy] 'The Sure Thing.' We just hit it off. I said, "This is the coolest guy I've ever met and he'd be perfect for this movie."

Armstrong: He has a quality almost like a silent-film comic, which he almost never uses. In fact, truthfully, the only time I ever think he's used that quality was in the movies with Savage, which is unfortunate. Stan Laurel comes to mind when I think of him -- expressive face, great comic instincts.

Dozier: Cusack and I had never been on skis a day in our life before, so we went up early -- we didn't want to look like spazzes. And we have this big mountain girl teach us how to ski on the bunny slope. [After a few quick lessons] he pays her off for the rest of the day and sends her on her way, and then we take the tram up to 11,000 feet and ski like animals for two days. When the production team got up there, they were so p***ed at us because if one of us breaks a leg, we put everybody out of work. But that was John. Back then, he would go 100 miles an hour with his foot on the gas the entire time.

LIFE ON THE SET
Franklin: The chemistry was just right. Everybody "got" the script, liked each other, and worked as one cohesive group. Part of it was that he allowed us to do some improv in it, and that made the actors really comfortable.

Dozier: I remember the day we shot the big school dance scene. In the script, that whole thing was one thin paragraph. And we all got together and Savage is going, "Okay, what are we going to do? What are we going to say?" I came up with the line "You guys got my vote for cutest couple. You better shave a little closer before you kiss her goodnight." And it was my idea that Curtis starts laughing hysterically like it was the funniest thing he ever heard. To this day, I take a little bit of credit for concocting that scene.

Armstrong: Holland [pictured with Armstrong, at left] brings an enormous amount of joy to the set. His set is unlike any other I've ever been on.

Holland: No one stopped me from making my movie. As long as it made us laugh, no one really stopped me. But if it didn't make you laugh, the producer would stop you and say "Maybe we should rethink this." And I was really glad that he did -- I was just really trying to shove every little creative idea I had in my body into one movie, so that if it failed horribly, which it kind of did, people would say, "Well, at least he can do that."

Wyss: I do remember that the studio had given Steve a list of names that they wanted him to change the title to, and they were so ridiculous. One of them was 'Tennis Shoes and Brie.' [Laughs]

Check out Part 2 to learn how the movie bombed at the box office, why John Cusack doesn't want anything to do with it, and how it became a cult favorite.

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Making 'Footloose': The Movie's Unsung Stars on the Prom Scene and (Gasp) Kevin Bacon's Dance Double

A lot has changed since the 1980s, including how dance movies are made. Back then, you could cast a hot-shot young actor and not worry if he could really dance. Now, the lead role in 'Footloose' -- the upcoming remake starring Kenny Wormald, that is -- requires a bona fide hoofer, but in the 1984 original, they disguised the fact that Kevin Bacon didn't do all his own dancing for his big solo warehouse number with clever cuts and inventive lighting.

Peter Tramm, who played Bacon's double, received a screen credit, but many of the other dancers -- such as the breakdancers in the classic prom scene -- did not, especially since they were brought in for a last-minute reshoot to add some zeitgeisty moves.

Moviefone talked to the original's choreographer, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, as well as uncredited dancer Christopher Harrison and Tramm's late partner, Jay Grimes, to revisit 'Footloose' and learn why they had to shoot that prom scene twice.

So, why did they reshoot the prom scene?

Lynne Taylor-Corbett: They were dropping confetti and it didn't work with the slow-motion. When [director] Herbert Ross got the crushing news that the finale didn't work, he turned around and decided, "We're going to bring in these new people and we'll just film it again." They brought in these really hot kids they found in LA clubs and they just started doing their own thing. There was something new in the air and, in this case, Ross had the good fortune to be able to insert that one special breakdancer.

Tell us about Peter Tramm, the dancer who doubled for Kevin Bacon.

Taylor-Corbett: Kevin hadn't initially wanted a double. He was so terrific, he worked so hard, but the truth is, you can't fake having danced your whole life. It wouldn't have looked as good as it did and I think we made it look as good as possible. I myself was incredulous with the way it cut together. That scene in the warehouse is always used in clips of 'greatest dance scenes.'

And you had gymnast Chuck Gaylord doubling him on the gymnastics moves!

Taylor-Corbett: Yes, and then there was also a stunt man, so at one time, I had a picture of four Kevins on set!

What are your thoughts on the remake?

Taylor-Corbett: I just hope they find a great cast. [Writer] Dean [Pitchford]'s a good friend and I'm sure he's working on it and updating it a little bit. I don't think any of us ever dreamed the movie would become quite as classic -- especially the dance stuff. I feel really good about my place in that whole experience. I wish them all luck. It just has to be the right kid.

They've cast Kenny Wormald, who has a background in dance.

Taylor-Corbett: I'm not familiar with him, but that's great they've cast a dancer. I'm sure he's going to be great. People can spot doubles and so the bar goes up. And that's as it should be. It will probably engage a whole new generation of kids. Did Peter Tramm mind being a double?

Jay Grimes [Tramm's former partner]: No, but he did want screen credit. At the time, Peter was married to Marine Jahan, who'd done all of Jennifer Beals' dancing in 'Flashdance' -- and there was a big scandal when she didn't get any credit. It made Marine a semi-star. When Peter was offered 'Footloose,' he was very excited but he was upset because they didn't want to give him screen credit. I just said, "No, no, no, you don't want screen credit. The screen credit will go by so fast, no one will see it -- but if we can create another big scandal, that's priceless publicity." But then of course they ended up giving him the credit!

What else did he do besides 'Footloose'?

Grimes: He had a wonderful career. He did a lot of commercials and TV. He did Vegas. He did movies and he was always a featured dancer. Peter was in 'Can't Stop the Music,' the fictitious story of how the Village People came into being. He has a lot of featured dancing in that; he's the very clean-cut, all-American-looking boy. And he was in the ZZ Top 'Sharp Dressed Man' video. That's Peter, the blonde guy. That was one of his biggest videos.

It's such a shame that he died so young, only seven years after 'Footloose.'

Grimes: That was a terrible, terrible thing. We lost so many great, great talented people. It was a horrible time, it changed the world of entertainment, certainly changed the gay world. With Peter, he was so vital and so alive and such a brilliant dancer. To think of him not being able to dance, or being hurt or injured... The whole idea of him growing old is almost incomprehensible. He would be 52 now. I can't even imagine. How did you get cast in 'Footloose'?

Christopher Harrison: When Lynne Taylor-Corbett and (assistant choreographer) Spence Henderson came to town to audition, they got all the kids from the University of Utah. I was a dance major there and I was on the cheerleading squad. They were crazy for my tumbling abilities and so I got cast and eight or nine of my friends got cast, too. They took us to the Osmond studios where Lynne paired us with different people and then separated us into two different groups: those that would wind up doing the cowboy number, and the group doing the drive-in. I was part of the drive-in group.

Tell us about shooting that scene at the drive-in.

Harrison: It was all night shoots at this drive-in in Orem or Provo. They asked, "Does anyone have a car they're willing to dance on?" I said yes, and Herbert Ross said, "Hey, are you willing to do a flip off your car?" and I said, "Sure!" So I did this whole thing where I flipped off the car and dove inside the window and kicked my legs up. They said it was the best footage they got. It was a very exciting moment. They ended up liking me a lot and using me for quite a few of the scenes because they said I'd be recognizable because of that footage.

Excellent. What do you remember about shooting the final prom scene?

Harrison: They had buckets and buckets of this very thick confetti. We would dance in this confetti and they'd sweep it up and dump it down on us again. They kept saying, "Please don't look up -- you don't want this in your eye." A few people got the confetti in their eyes and then we'd have to stop and shoot it again. That was a whole night or two of doing that. That was Lynne's choreography and we were very specific about what we were to do, and it was very clearly staged. There wasn't a whole lot of freestyle to it.

How did the reshoot happen?

Harrison: Even though he had all this great footage, Herbert decided it wasn't edgy enough, because they didn't know about the cool new dances in Utah and he wanted to have some of that in there. At the time, 'Flashdance' had just come out and everyone said, "This is going to be the male version of 'Flashdance'!"

They chose maybe four or five of us from Utah who were the more recognizable and flew us to Paramount Studios. They mixed us in with a whole new group of people, but they wanted to have some continuity with the other footage. When we went to do the final scene, some of us were still there, like Peter Tramm, and there were a couple of us from Utah and then all these new kids that they found dancing in the clubs in L.A. with all these cool break dancing moves. At the time, none of us from Utah had ever seen any of these moves. It was such a trip. It was this eye-awakening experience, a kid from Utah going to Hollywood and going out to clubs dancing. I felt bad for my friends in Utah who didn't get to do it.

Watch the 'Footloose' prom scene

Which one are you in the final prom scene?

Harrison: I didn't get one of the features. My best work wound up on the Paramount editing floor.

When did you find out that your big scene was cut from the film?

Harrison: They had a big screening in L.A., and I happened to be in town. I was so excited, even though the scene in the drive-in had gotten cut down. They decided that the story was more important than the dancing, so they cut a lot of the dancing. The thing I get to boast about is that, in the film, I'm the very first person that you see dancing. You're in the drive-in, a chick walks by, I'm jamming for her. I'm that guy.

And there's a big argument whether I'm the guy doing Kevin Bacon's standing back flip in the prom scene [note: see the back flip here, at minute 4:26], or whether it was Peter Tramm. Peter was his official stand-in, but that day his ankle was bothering him, so I put on the jacket and did some flips. So I don't know if it was Peter or me. Our technique was the same, and he was also a former gymnast.

Watch the 'Footloose' drive-in scene

How well did you know Peter?

Harrison: We became friends in L.A. after that and we'd see each other at auditions. I was very, very sad when I heard he had died. He was one of the most successful dancers in L.A. at the time.

Why didn't you get a credit in the film, like he did?

Harrison: Because I was from Utah and didn't have an agent. I never got credit on the film, but I got my SAG card out of it. People say, "Yeah, right, you're in 'Footloose'! We never see your name on it anywhere." But that was back in the day when dancers did not get credit. The only ones who did were the ones who had an agent out of L.A. I'm not on IMDB.com, so it's almost as if I didn't do it.

Do you know what happened to those deleted scenes?

Harrison: I don't. Paramount has it. Herbert Ross himself came up to me and told me, "I just want you to know that that drive-in scene with you flipping off the car is the best dance footage and I'm here to apologize that it got edited down. But it turned into a film about a story and not about the dance." He told me that on the day of the screening. I was a little crushed, but I looked on the bright side: I'm in a movie! I moved to New York and it was literally on the marquees when I got there. It opened the door for me.

What have you done since 'Footloose'?

Harrison: Kevin Bacon gave me the best advice. I asked him, "What do I have to do to make it in New York?" And he said, "You have to go there -- and you have to stay there." And I asked, "How do you know when you've made it?" And he said, "Because The New York Times will write about you. And last year, the Times did.

Now I have this company called Anti-gravity, which is very successful. We perform all over the world. We've provided thousands of jobs to dancers and brought this incredible mix of gymnastics and dance -- and it's all because Kevin gave me that advice and Lynne Taylor-Corbett opened doors for me in New York. It would never have happened had I not done 'Footloose.'

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