MOV037: “Thank you Andre, I’ll have the Veal Picatta”

The boys review a wide variety this week. Does “Hot Shots!” still deliver on the spoof comedy front? Is “The Way Back” just too long to hold their attention? Will “Thor” hammer his way into their hearts or just be eye-candy? It’s also Oscar and Razzie nomination time, so the boys weigh in on their predictions. All this and more in this episode of COL Movies!

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News:

The Past: Hot Shots! (1991)

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Director: Jim Abrahms

Starring: Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino

Trivia:

  • Charlie Sheen (Topper), Jon Cryer (Washout) and Ryan Styles (Mailman) would all go on to work together on the TV show “Two and a half men”
  • Several of the Aircraft Carrier scenes were re-used stock footage from “Flight of The Intruder” and “The Final Countdown”
  • Valeria Golino claims the scene in which she catches an olive popped out of her bellybutton was accomplished without trick photography.
  • Lloyd Bridges replaced George C. Scott
  • The aircraft carrier on which the movie takes place is actually a wooden deck built on the edge of a cliff at a deserted Marineland facility. The film was shot at an angle that made the deck look like a ship at sea.
  • Topper Harley’s name comes from Harley-Davidson’s 1960’s motor scooter, the Harley Topper.

Talking Points:

  • Where would you say this movie rates within the genre?
  • Lloyd Bridges, nuff said.
  • Did you have a favorite character?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Always check your chair for chihuahuas before sitting down
  • Charlie Sheen would have possibly made a good superman
  • Not playing to win is like sleeping with your sister
  • You can’t be an admiral without your cap
  • Movie credits are a good place for recipes

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Now this is the type of comedy I love.
Ray: Took me a while, but it had me laughing at the end of it.
Steve: Spoof classic. Clever from everything from visuals, writing, and delivery of lines. Surprisingly cerebral at times. I like this a ton more than Airplane any day.

The Present: The Way Back

Director: Peter Weir

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell

Trivia:

  • The film is based on a memoir by Slavomir Rawicz depicting his escape from a Siberian gulag and subsequent 4000-mile walk to freedom in India. Incredibly popular, it sold over 500,000 copies and is credited with inspiring many explorers. However, in 2006 the BBC unearthed records (including some written by Rawicz himself) that showed he had been released by the USSR in 1942. In 2009 another former Polish soldier, Witold Glinski, claimed that the book was really an account of his own escape. However this claim too has been seriously challenged

Talking Points:

  • Did anyone find the switching between subtitles and non-subtitles confusing
  • Escape was anticlimactic
  • Was the passage of time adequately conveyed?
  • Was the Prison sequence itself too long? Could this movie been about.. an hour shorter?

What We Learned:

  • In Siberia, kindness can kill you
  • Grateful is for dogs
  • Snake Tastes like Chicken
  • This is a great movie to watch if you need to fall asleep.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Great movie, just suffers from extreme lag.
Ray: “yaaaaaaaawn” I think there was more walking in this movie than The Lord of The Rings movies.
Steve: Although I liked it, I did take about a 15 minute nap in the middle. It did feel very “epic” and the settings/locations were very authentic looking and gorgeous. Definitely made me feel for the characters.

The Future: Thor (5-6-2011)

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman

Trivia:

  • Director Kenneth Branagh conceptualized this film as a Norse/comic-book twist on William Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, which was about a young king who underwent trials and tribulations: fighting a war, courting a girl from another land, and basic character development.
  • The Original Screenplay written in 2006 would have taken approx 300 million dollars to make
  • Sam Raimi had planned to direct this movie after the film “Darkman” (1990)
  • Jim Carrey was a long time favorite to play the Role of Loki
  • Daniel Craig, Brad Pitt, Channing Tatum, Triple H were all considered for the part of Thor
  • Natalie Portman took the role of Jane Foster because she couldn’t resist the opportunity to do a comic book movie with Kenneth Branagh “I was just like Kenneth Branagh doing ‘Thor’ is super-weird, Ive Gotta Do it”
  • Anthony Hopkins signed on as Odin despite never reading a “Thor” comic or knowing anything about the Thor mythology. It was the concept of the father and son relationship that intrigued him about the role
  • Stan Lee claims he’d always wanted to play Odin, but was happy with Anthony Hopkins’s casting and performance in the role.

Talking Points:

  • Costumes? Anyone else think they look like Stargate + Power Rangers?
  • Anyone else thing Tom Hiddleston looks like Johnny Weir?
  • Thor = Dickhead?

Summary:
The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: The trailer is actually making me excited. I’m still concerned for two words, “Kenneth Branagh”
Ray: Not doing it for me.. Can we have the Avengers now?
Steve: I fell for the trailer. I think it looks good and so does Thor himself! Sir Anthony Hopkins can lure me in anytime because he’s not going to be associated with crap.

Coming Attractions:
The Past

The Present

The Future

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