Recap: Topher Grace's 'Close Encounters' Remix

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When Topher Grace has time on his hands, he likes to tinker with his favorite movies in the editing room and then screens the results with friends. The former That '70s Show star made headlines in 2012 with his clever cut of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, whittled down to one slam-bang 85-minute movie, and on Thursday night he assembled a small group of pals and a few journalists in a private screening room to debut his remix of Steven Spielberg's 1977 masterpiece, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, forone time only. I guess working on Christopher Nolan's Interstellar got those creative juices flowing...

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"There were a bunch of different cuts of Close Encounters, so this is kind of a truncated, kind of slightly faster version with all the stuff in it; it's really cool," an excited Topher told me days before his special screening, which I had the honor of attending (I gave him a vintage Close Encounters trading card for good luck before the projector rolled). "There are three different cuts, and then some outtakes, so we kind of put that stuff back in and it's cool, man. It's gonna be a fun time."

While introducing the film to his intimate audience lounging in comfy sofa chairs overlooking the Sunset Strip, Topher readily admitted that his Close Encounters cut wasn't nearly as "sexy" as the Star Wars cut that caught fire, but part of his intention with the grand experiment was to present a post-Raiders of the Lost Ark-styled edit that moved faster, while still maintaining a solid structure and coherence. His best editorial decision of the night? Removing Spielberg's specially filmed scene for 1980's Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition theatrical release in which Richard Dreyfuss' Roy Neary steps into and observes the alien ship interior at the finale, an unnecessary indulgence that undermines the power of the audience's imagination and was ultimately a conceit by studio execs to get more butts into theaters (while allowing Spielberg the opportunity to re-cut the film the way he wanted to the first time around). In 1998, the Oscar winner re-cut the film for a third time and removed that sequence...

Three footage additions that elevated Topher's Close Encounters Remix:

-an early scene in which Roy Neary is instantly promoted to take on a task when the power grid goes down in Indiana

-a nice moment showing Roy on the roof of his home with a telescope, watching the skies -- before he goes to town on those mashed potatoes

-a scene with Carl Weathers as a suspicious military officer questioning Roy's intentions during the Wyoming evacuation

Three things that were cut to the detriment (in my opinion) of the story:

-Roy's absence from his job gets him fired over the phone, with his boss yelling at his wife, played by Teri Garr, a crucial element to his psychological unraveling

-Roy and Jillian's innocent kiss right before Roy hits the tarmac to take a closer look at the alien spectacle, a tender moment cementing the bond these two experienced to get there

-The UFOs taking the shape of the Big Dipper as they fly over Devil's Tower toward "the Dark Side of the Moon" -- a favorite moment of mine in the film

One missed opportunity:
I half-expected to hear Meco's Theme from Close Encounters integrated into the end credits! Oh well...

Overall, Topher did a seamless job streamlining the film while allowing some great, signature moments to breathe, inventively integrating John Williams music from other projects to cover select scenes without tracks, and maintaining a healthy respect for the source material -- which arguably would have a hard time these days pleasing young, contemporary audiences that are used to the hyper Michael Bay/Transformers school of storytelling momentum.

The trailer for Topher'sClose Encounters of the Third Kind: The Remix is posted on his new site, CerealPrize. While most stars these days post semi-naked selfies on Instagram or wax poetic in 140 characters or less on Twitter, Topher has taken his personal musings to the next level with his brand-new discovery site, geared for anyone who loves movies, music, TV, comedy and pop culture novelties. Topher posts fresh material every weekday, Monday through Friday, on the site, and you could lose track of time simply sifting through the little in-jokes and arcane references buried in the homepage artwork alone, designed exclusively by cartoonist/designer Ramon Perez.

In addition to www.cerealprize.com, you can follow Topher on Twitter @TopherGrace and www.facebook.com/TopherGrace.