MOV040: ”Compliance”

How can outer space, gnomes, and fate all be linked together? They’re all a part of this episode of COL Movies! The boys go back to the 80s…or is it the 70s…to reincarnate “Flight of the Navigator”. Then, it’s the Emily Blunt fan club, since she stars in 2 out of 3 of this episode’s movies. The cubs chime in on Elton John’s animated take on the classic Romeo & Juliet story involving…wait for it…garden gnomes! Expectations seem low for “The Adjustment Bureau”, despite Matt Damon being in it. All of this and movie news in this episode!

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The Past: Flight Of The Navigator (1986)

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Director: Randal Kleiser

Starring: Joey Cramer, Paul Rubens, Veronica Cartwright, Sarah Jessica Parker, Howard Hesseman

Trivia:

  • The First Disney movie to be released with profanities.. the word “Shit” is said twice.
  • The ship used in the movie can be found in a boneyard at the Disney MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World in Florida. It can be seen on the studio tour
  • Not originally a Disney movie, the film was being made independently when midway through production the main production company, Producers Sales Organisation (PSO) collapsed. Walt Disney acquired the production in a liquidation sale, picking up all film rights for this film and several others, and also putting up the finance for its completion.
  • When MAX, the ship computer, is describing the animals he has on board, he said “That is a Feenastarus from the Pixar Elliptic”. This was five years before Pixar, a fledgling special effects computer group at the time, teamed up with Disney, who produced this film
  • MAX, the ship computer speaks in Bulgarian. When David enters the ship and takes the pilot seat MAX says “Vnimanie! Oblegni se! Chui me!” which means “Attention! Sit back! Listen to me!”

Talking Points:

  • Supposedly up for a remake…
  • Pee Wee Herman – annoying?
  • Why wasn’t this movie as successful as other similar ones?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Stripes and Knee Highs.. gotta love the late 70’s
  • In the 70’s it was perfectly acceptable for kids to play with fireworks
  • It was also perfectly ok to let your kid wander alone through the woods in the dark
  • Sometimes those voices in your head.. are real!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Definite must have for any collection. It even holds up over time.
Ray: Another Childhood Classic.. looking at it now, the acting is a little rough.. but a fun movie none the less!
Steve: First time I remember seeing this movie all the way through. Enjoyed it, although could have done without the Pee Wee Herman laughs.

The Present: Gnomeo & Juliet

Director: Kelly Asbury

Starring: James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Michael Cain, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne

Trivia:

  • Ewan McGergor and Kate Winslet was once attached to this film when it was first announced.
  • James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart who both lend their voices to this film both stared in different adaptations of the Dune Saga, and James is taking over the role as Professor X in the new Xmen Movie.

Talking Points:

    • Was anyone hoping for more romance and less comedy?
    • Could tell from jump it was an Elton John joint.
    • Detail in texture and sound of animation.
    • The amount of references to other movies.. and Shakespeare
    • American Beauty
  • Forrest Gump
  • Brokeback Mountain
  • Rosencrantz and Guildenstren on the Moving Truck
  • Flamingo’s were dirty dancing
  • Glue reading “The Taming of the Glue”
  • Set in Stratford-upon-Avon Birthplace of Shakespeare

What We Learned:

  • Doomed love is the best kind
  • Everyone needs a Mankini lawn gnome
  • Who doesn’t love a Dolly Parton cameo??
  • If it’s wrong to think a gnome is hot, then I don’t want to be right!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Very cute movie, Gnomeo was adoreable, I really liked it.
Ray: A new perspective on a very old tale, cute and enjoyable.. especially if you like elton john music.
Steve: Super enjoyable. Gnomeo was hot 🙂 Love the chin strap.

The Future: The Adjustment Bureau

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie

Trivia:

  • The story is loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story “Adjustment Team”, and features a smooth-talking congressman whose political future is thrown in doubt by uncontrollable events and the arrival of a mysterious woman in his life.
  • The action takes place in various places in Manhattan.

Talking Points:

  • Didn’t we get enough of this when it was called “Dark City” ?
  • Looks like some rip offs of “Inception” as well.

Summary:
The affair between a politician and a ballerina is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Interesting, would like to see but not a priority
Ray: Not sure what new ground this is covering.. so im not all that interested.
Steve: Not pulling me to the theater. Not as interesting looking as “Inception”.

Coming Attractions

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV039: “Hello…Pretty, Pretty”

It’s a random week at the movies when the boys hit he wayback machine to groove with the 1968 cult classic, “Barbarella”.  It’s a slow week for new releases, which forces them to see “The Roommate”.  After moving out of the dorm, the boys take on the upcoming “I Am Number Four”.  Will we hope for a quick death for him?  We’ll see!  All this, an intro to Flickchart, and more random movie news.

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The Past: Barbarella (1968)

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Director: Roger Vadim

Starring: Jane Fonda, John Philip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O’Shea, David Hemmings, Marcel Marceau

Trivia:

  • When Virna Lisi was told to play the part of Barbarella, she terminated her contract with United Artists and returned to Italy.
  • SoGo, the evil city Barbarella travels to, is a reference to Biblical cities Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Future Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour was one of the session musicians who performed the film’s original score.
  • The scenes during the opening credits where Barbarella seems to float around her spaceship were filmed by having Jane Fonda lie on a huge piece of plexiglass with a picture of the spaceship underneath her. It was then filmed from above, creating the illusion that she is in zero gravity. (If you look carefully, you can see the reflection in the glass as she removes her gloves.)
  • Anita Pallenberg was dubbed by Joan Greenwood.
  • Dildano’s password, “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch”, is the name of a real village in Wales, United Kingdom (unsurprisingly, it’s the longest place name in the UK).
  • The names “Stomoxys” and “Glossina”, the Great Tyrant’s nieces, are actually the names of flies. Stomoxys calcitrans is the stable fly, and glossina is the African (or tsetse) fly.
  • The film’s missing scientist character famously inspired the band name of 1980s pop stars Duran Duran.
  • Barbarella’s costume was inspired by designer Paco Rabanne
  • Barbarella was the first science fiction hero from the comics to be adapted into a feature film as opposed to a serial (Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, her male predecessors, had only appeared in serials up to this point).
  • This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson’s book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.
  • The original author Jean-Claude Forest based the character of Barbarella on Brigitte Bardot – who ironically was director Roger Vadim’s previous wife.
  • Sixties sex symbol Raquel Welch turned down the title role.
  • When Dildano and Barbarella are speaking to Dr. Ping about the mission and Dildano’s transmission finish, a soprano sings Caro Nome, Rigoletto’s famous aria by Giussepe Verdi.
  • In the original comic, Barbarella was not a secret agent but an outlaw, and the movie omits some of the adventures she had on Lythion, including an encounter with an earlier villainess called the Gorgon, whose face changed into a duplicate of the face of anyone who looked at her. Her spaceship is not repaired, so for the duration of the first comic album she is trapped on Lythion.
  • There was no Duran Duran and no death ray in the original comic; the city was built around a monster that belched gas through a series of ducts, and the Great Tyrant wore an eye patch even in her true identity.
  • Barbarella’s captured mole machine and her encounter with a robot belonging to a deceased rebel that has sexual relations with her are both omitted from the film, although pretty much everything else is very faithful to the comic.
  • Italian actor Antonio Sabato was originally cast as Dildano, and set photos exist of him playing the famous ‘hand sex’ scene with Jane Fonda. However his performance was deemed to be too serious and he was replaced, in more comedic tone, by David Hemmings.
  • Lobby card stills and set photographs survive, showing footage of a seduction scene between Barbarella and the Black Queen on a bed. However this footage has never appeared in any print of the film.
  • Voted “Kinkiest Film of the Year” by Playboy in 1968.

Talking Points:

  • What the heck do you think this was about?
  • Camp done right?
  • As late at February 4, 2011, news about the remake says it is scheduled for a 2012 release, but no director has been announced. Today’s rumors have Anne Hathaway attached for the remake. Also, Jane Fonda has stated she would like to see a sequel rather than a remake, so we’ll see where that goes!

What We’ve Learned:

  • If you’re going to pimp out your spaceship, wall to wall shag carpeting is a must! (stroke the furry walls)
  • Who knew Marcel Marceau could speak
  • Sex is a perfectly acceptable form of payment
  • Gotta get me one of those Orgasmatrons
  • Gotta Love the 60s

FYI!!!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: If they do a remake of this, I’m hoping for the continued Austin Powers feel.
Ray: Barbarella..or “How many times can Jane Fonda get naked” Classic…
Steve: It is what it is. So many iconic comments, but let’s be real…it sucks. But it sucks so much, it’s awesome! Honest to goodness camp-fest!

Intermission: Flickchart

The Present: The Roommate

Director: Christian Christiansen

Starring: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet, Daneel Harris, Alyson Michalka

Trivia:

  • The film was shot on location at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
  • The film was originally planned to be released on September 17, 2010, but was moved to February 4, 2011.
  • The reception for The Roommate was unfavorable. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 7%, with an audience score of 46. (OUCH!)
  • Some of the promotional posters and displays for the film used as its backdrop the Christy Administration Building from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. The college administration voiced concern that permission to use the photograph of the building was not properly obtained and is currently investigating the legality of its use.
  • Primary concerns hinge that the image of the college (particularly the image of the building) could be damaged, while other concerns are that the college’s primary iconic image is being used for promotion of an unrelated business venture.
  • Leighton Meester was originally set to play Sara but was replaced by Minka Kelly, then Meester took the role of Rebecca

Talking Points:

  • Before I get bitched out…what else was released last Friday?
  • Did this film do anything new?
  • Anyone think the end scene was a ripoff of poltergeist?
  • Opportunity for learning!

What We Learned:

  • Always ask your roommate if she’s taking anti-psychotics
  • At a frat party.. the punch is always spiked…duh
  • Kittens are dry-clean only
  • Beauty is in the eye of the designer
  • We’d do what is necessary to get in Billy Zane’s class 😉
  • Fashion fades, but style is eternal

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I hate you, Steven
Ray: to put it simply.. hated it.
Steve: I didn’t hate it, so nah! I liked all the college and student housing references. I may show it to my students to discuss how to handle roommate conflicts appropriately.

The Future: I Am Number Four

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Kevin Durand

Trivia:

  • Will be released in IMAX
  • The film is based on the novel I Am Number Four, written by Jobie Hughes and James Frey, with an adapted screenplay by Al Gough, Miles Millar, and Marti Noxon.
  • Produced by Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg through DreamWorks
  • The rights were purchased with the hope of attracting teenage fans of the Twilight saga films, and the potential of establishing a film franchise, with at least six more installments planned by the book’s publisher.
  • Filming began on May 17, 2010, using 20 locations all within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Additional filming took place in the Florida Keys.
  • A cast tour, in association with American retailer Hot Topic, and cast media appearances are scheduled to lead up to the release of the film.
  • I Am Number Four is being edited by Jim Page, with Industrial Light & Magic developing the visual effects for the alien creatures.

Talking Points:

  • Anything new?
  • Glee crossover? Can it be advertised more during the show?

Summary:
John is an extraordinary teen, masking his true identity and passing as a typical high school student to elude a deadly enemy seeking to destroy him. Three like him have already been killed … he is Number Four.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Interested to see, but not expecting too much.
Ray: Not sure the casting is going to work.. but interested to see it.
Steve: Looks interesting…kiss of death?

Coming Attractions:
The Past

The Present

The Future

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MOV038: “Fuck Me Your Majesty”

How beautiful do the boys think American Beauty is?  Is The Rite the right movie to go see, and do Cowboys and Aliens truely mix?  This, Superman, must see Best Picture Award winners, and more in this Reel of COL Movies.

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The Past: American Beauty (1999)

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Director: Sam Mendes

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Thora Birc

Trivia:

  • Terry Gilliam turned down the chance to direct
  • Jeff Daniels was considered for the lead
  • The Smiley Fast Food Restaurant is Carl’s Jr
  • The Spartanettes routine was choreographed by Paula Abdul
  • The Area Codes in Jane’s Phonebook are all 312, and the Realestate signs all have 847 area codes, both of which are Chicago area codes. The License plates of the cars are not Illinois plates though as the filmmakers made an effort to make the locale more generic the aerial shots over the town were filmed above Sacramento, California
  • The title of the film refers to a breed of roses that while pretty and appealing in appearance, is often prone to rot underneath at the roots and branches of the plant. Thus, the tagline “…look closer” tells the viewer that when they look beyond the “perfect suburban life” they will find something rancid at the root.
  • Executive Producer Steven Spielberg personally recommended Sam Mendes to direct this film
  • Director Sam Mendes personally filmed the pivotal POV shot of Ricky’s camera when he zooms past the figure of Angela to “look closer” at Jane’s smiling reflection in the mirror.
  • The first day-and-a-half of filming – including Carolyn’s open house scene – had to be thrown out after the film turned out too dark, making Annette Bening almost impossible to see; director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Conrad L. Hall concluded the problem had been their overly polite relations, and agreed to be more open with one another.
  • According to his Oscar speech, Alan Ball was sitting at the World Trade Center plaza when he saw a paper bag floating in the wind and was inspired by it to write the film, which was originally conceived as a stage play.

Talking Points:

  • Why do you think this film won they year it was nominated? “The Cider House Rules”, “The Green Mile”, “The Insider”, “The Sixth Sense”
  • Was Lester’s character creepy to you?
  • This movie was originally intended to be a stage play.. do you think it would have worked? or got the same awards as it did as a motion picture?
  • With so many twists and turns, what was the biggest to you?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Never underestimate the power of denial
  • Nothing makes you feel more powerful than firing a gun
  • Its Just a couch!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Might have to watch a couple of times more, I liked it but I didn’t all at the same time
Ray: A modern take on the deconstruction or destruction of the Modern American Family.. I love this film
Steve: I get the point and the performances are great. Just not my kind of sardonic movie. I’m more a “Juno” guy.

Intermission: Top 10 Best Picture

1. Silence of the Lambs
2. Schindler’s List
3. The Godfather Trilogy
4. Braveheart
5. Gone With The Wind
6. The Sound of Music
7. West Side Story
8. Casablanca
9. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
10. Ordinary People

The Present: The Rite

Director: Mikael Håfström

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ciarán Hinds, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga

Trivia:

  • The first trailer for the film features music from Wojciech Kilar’s score of Dracula (1992), which also starred Anthony Hopkins.

Talking Points:

  • Was it what you expected?
  • This Film is getting blasted by critics.. do you think it deserves it?
  • Pacing made the “The Way Back” look like it was in a fast forward

What We Learned:

  • Rome is infested with cats
  • Rome is also infested with frogs.. which is odd considering all the cats
  • Always turn your phone off before beginning an exorcism
  • Bow your head, Keep Praying, and Good Luck!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Maybe a little bit too suspenseful with it’s pacing but a decent movie. Wait for the DVD to rent
Ray: Could have been a great exorcism movie..But it wasn’t.. Pacing was slow. Not sure I can recommend this
Steve: I wanted to enjoy this movie so badly! The exorcism scenes were awesome. However, the pace was waaaaay too slow. So much could have been cut out to make it a better movie.

The Future: Cowboys & Aliens

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell & Olivia Wilde

Trivia:

  • Robert Downey Jr. was set to play Jake Lonergan, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
  • Daniel Craig was chosen because of his distinct likeness to Yul Brynner, who starred in the cowboy epic The Magnificent Seven (1960).
  • Daniel Craig recommended Eva Green for the role of Ella after working with her in Casino Royale (2006). However, Eva turned the role down and Olivia Wilde was cast.
  • An early draft of the screenplay was written by Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus.
  • This is DreamWorks’s third comic-book adaptation, after Road to Perdition (2002) and Over the Hedge (2006).
  • The filmmakers cite Alien (1979) and Predator (1987) as an influence on the look of aliens in the film.
  • Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman described the film as “Unforgiven (1992) with aliens landing.”
  • Director Jon Favreau was constantly harassed with demands to shoot/convert the film in 3-D, but he held his ground, claiming Westerns should only be shot on film.
  • Steven Spielberg screened The Searchers (1956) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) for Roberto Orci and Jon Favreau so that they could get the atmosphere of the film.
  • Roberto Orci feels that the title, humorous as it may sound, will raise interest and put people off guard about the film, which will surprise them.
  • Harrison Ford wanted to go bareheaded in the film and not wear a hat (he is most famous for his performance in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones films, where Jones wore a fedora), but since it was a Western film he was convinced to wear a hat.
  • Once again, with the involvement of Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford is cast opposite a James Bond, in this case, Daniel Craig. The last time with when he worked opposite Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Craig has also appeared in ‘The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert (1999)’.

Talking Points:

  • Does this have potential of being a schizo movie done right?
  • Casting…thoughts?

Summary:
A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys are all that stand in their way.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Really excited for this one, I’m expecting more than what the trailer is showing.
Ray: Excited! Lets hope its as good as the Trailer is hinting at.
Steve: Overall, looks to have promise! I like the idea and hope that it comes together.

Coming Attractions
The Past

The Present

The Future

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