Tag Archives: Channing Tatum

MOV103: “They Be Climbin In Yo Windows Slicin’ Yo People Up”

In this reel of COL Movies, the boys head back in time to revive the original “Batman” movie from 1966. After that serving of cheese for starters, they head to the theater for a little murder mystery dinner as John Cusack plays Edgar Allen Poe in “The Raven”. Then, dessert is straight up beefcake as they review the trailer for Channing Tatum’s stripper movie, “Magic Mike”. In movie news, we’ve got some Avengers news, new pics of Spiderman’s Lizard, and some upcoming movie projects in discussion. It’s reel 103 of COL Movies.“They Be Climbin In Yo Windows Slicin’ Yo People Up”

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News:

The Past: Batman: The Movie (1966)
Rotten Tomatoes: 83% Fresh, 51% Audience

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Director: Leslie H. Martinson

Starring: Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee Meriwether, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp

Trivia:

  • ​Originally planned as the pilot film for the Batman TV series, the movie was instead produced between the show’s first and second seasons. The producers took advantage of the larger budget to have a number of new Bat-gadgets constructed, such as the BatBoat.
  • The BatBoat was built especially for the film by the Glastron boat company. In exchange for their cooperation, the producers agreed to hold the film’s world premiere in Austin, Texas, Glastron’s headquarters.
  • The original trailer includes specially-shot footage of the 4 supervillains outlining their plans for the Dynamic Duo. Still frames from these sequences are visible when Batman and Commissioner Gordon watch a closed-circuit TV update on villains at large. The trailer also includes specially-shot footage of Batman and Robin addressing the audience about their first motion picture.
  • Julie Newmar (Catwoman in the TV series) does not appear in this film because she did not know about it and had signed to do another project. By the time she was informed, she could not get out of the other commitment in time to do this movie.
  • The entire second season had already been shot before the movie was, even though it actually came out before the second season.
  • Reginald Denny’s last movie.
  • “Plaisir D’Amour” by Johann Martini, is sung by a chanteuse in the cabaret scene, but neither the song nor the singer are listed in the credits.
  • The supporting character Aunt Harriet (Madge Blake) does not have a single line in the picture.
  • First movie project of Burt Ward.
  • Inside joke: Burgess Meredith’s line, “Run Silent, Run Deep” is the title of a 1958 submarine movie in which Frank Gorshin might have played a role had he been able to make it to the screen test.
  • In the final fight scene, a stuntman playing one of the villains’ henchmen dove into the water and hit his head on a metal stud at the bottom of the pond. He was knocked unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital.
  • At the end of the film one of the delegates is seen banging his shoe on the table while yelling. This is a parody of Nikita Khrushchev’s famous behavior during a debate in the United Nations General Assembly in 1960.
  • The Penguin’s line “We shall hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately” was a humorous phrase spoken by Benjamin Franklin when he was in danger of being accused of high treason by his fellow delegates.
  • Lee Meriwether was Miss America in 1955.
  • During his date with Miss Kitka, Bruce quotes Edgar Allan Poe, the first stanza of “To One in Paradise”.
  • The faking of sea outside a phony yacht window was a clever ruse inspiring a Hogan’s Heroes scene in which a kidnapped general is tricked into thinking he is aboard a plane flying at night to England.
  • Scenes shot in the arch-criminals’ headquarters lair were filmed at an angle. Rumors at the time were that this was intentional and was meant to show that the four (Catwoman, Penguin, Joker, and Riddler) were crooked.
  • As of 2010, this is the only live-action feature-length Batman film in which Alfred is not played by an actor named Michael. Michael Gough played the part in Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. Michael Caine took over for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
  • Bruce Wayne drives a Chrysler Imperial convertible, while the Batmobile is a 1955 Lincoln Futura prototype car customized by George Barris Inc.
  • The opening criminal lair, “Ye Olde Benbow Tavern” is an allusion to name of the tavern in which the the Robert Louis Stevenson novel “Treasure Island” begins, “Admiral Benbow Inn”. Commodore Schmidlapp is abducted by the fiendish foursome. The next novel by R. L. Stevenson is “Kidnapped”.
  • Filming of the movie began before Lee Meriwether was cast for the movie. As a result, Catwoman does not appear with the other villains in the first scene aboard the Penguin’s submarine.
  • The movie was originally intended to be an introduction to the TV series. When the series wound up being produced and aired months ahead of schedule, the movie was made to cash in on the show’s popularity.
  • A follow up film was at one point considered. The film would have been released between seasons two and three, and would have been used to introduce Barbara Gordon/Bat Girl, and make use of a Batplane. Due to waning interest in the series during season two, which resulted in budget cuts, plans for a second film were scratched.
  • Penguin’s line “Everyone of them has a Mother” (said as he and Catwoman swept up and collected the dehydrated pirates) was ad-libbed by Burgess Meredith.
  • Adam West agreed to do the film partly with a stipulation to have more screen time as Bruce Wayne.
  • Dick Grayson appears outside of his Robin persona only twice and very briefly in the film. First, at the very beginning, and later when Bruce returns to Wayne Manor after being kidnapped. Dick’s only spoken lines are in the latter scene.
  • Frank Gorshin’s last appearance as The Riddler for well over a year. Gorshin sat out of the TV series during the show’s entire second season, which preceded the film’s release.
  • Reginald Denny had previously played a separate character on an episode of the TV series. Lee Meriwether, Milton Frome and Maurice Dallimore would later play guest roles on the series.
  • First broadcast on Television in 1971 on the Fourth of July.

Talking Points:

  • ​Originally made to introduce the series…but wound up not being released until the 2nd season
  • Cheesiness…do you think it’s intentional?
  • This, Burton, or Nolan?
  • Critic Notes: Positives: Classic ,clever, campy, colorful, fun Negatives: too campy, unappealing to today’s youth

What We Learned:

  • ​In the 60’s everything was labeled.
  • Don’t get your shark repellent bat spray and your whale repellent bat spray confused.
  • Robin was packin’ some heat!
  • Salt and Corrosion are the enemies of crime fighting.
  • Some days, there’s just nowhere to get rid of a bomb.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I love this movie. Not because it’s good, but because it’s the super cheesy 60s Batman. He’s not my Batman but love this classic.
Ray: Pure cheese.. I know some people love it, but I have a real hard time watching this now. I used to love watching the TV show when I was a kid.. Perhaps if we turned this into some sort of drinking game.
Steve: I have never really cared for much than an episode of Batman at a time – so watching this was like forcing me to watch several episodes in a row, which hurt a little. Cute and campy, but just not how I want to see my superheros.

Add Batman To Flickchart

The Present: The Raven
Rotten Tomatoes: 21% Rotten ; 60% Audience

Director: James McTeigue

Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans

Trivia:

  • ​Ewan McGregor (as Edgar Allan Poe) and Jeremy Renner (as Inspector Emmet Fields) were originally attached to star, but dropped out.
  • Joaquin Phoenix was at one point in negotiations to star in the project together with Jeremy Renner. Phoenix would have played Poe to Renner’s police inspector Fields, but the deal fell through when Renner decided to do Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol instead. The Poe role later went to John Cusack, while Luke Evans was cast as Fields .
  • Noomi Rapace was offered the role of Emily.

Talking Points:

  • ​Was Poe really necessary for the story
  • Was his character like-able?
  • Critic Notes: Positive: Not much…well researched? Negatives: Not compelling enough, gory, formulaic, John Cusack

What We Learned:

  • ​The ways of God in Nature, as in Providence, are not as our ways
  • What Brandy cannot cure, has no cure
  • People love the gory ones
  • God gave Poe the spark of genius and quenched it in misery.
  • Life is so much less satisfying than fiction.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I was a little disappointed in the movie, didn’t feel as murder mysteryish as I would have like. However, it wasn’t half bad. Probably not worth seeing in the theaters though.
Ray: I liked this much more than the Sherlock Holmes movies, however I felt Cusack was the weakest link in the whole thing, and perhaps it would have been more entertaining without his character even in it. I’d drop $5 on it to see it in a matinee.
Steve: Very beginning and 2nd half of the movie were ok. But for a good 30 mins in the middle, I completely checked out. It wasn’t a total disappointment, but not as exciting as I thought it would be. Beginning felt very 1800’s SAW, then turned into a wannabe Sherlock Holmes (complete with some bullet time). Just didn’t get me.

The Future: Magic Mike

Release: June 29, 2012

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn

Summary:

Mike, an experienced stripper, takes a younger performer called The Kid under his wing and schools him in the arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money. Mike also learns about life outside the world of stripping with the help of his protege’s sister. They work at the club Xquisite, which is owned by the former stripper, Dallas.

Talking Points

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: It’s a Channing Tatum movie where he does what he does best, looks like a hunk. . . . . That’s it. I’ll pass.
Ray: McConaughey looks amusing. Thats about it as far as excitement goes.
Steve: Looks cute. I’ll probably see it just because it was filmed in Tampa and so I can see all the places they went. It’s not going to win any awards from what I can tell…but might be a good mental escape. The gays will flock simply because it’s a male stripper movie (and knowing Tampa people…just to see if they’re in it since some parts were filmed in Ybor – one of the gayborhoods here).

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV102: “All Mouth, No Trousers”

In this thriller-based installment of COL Movies, the boys don their creepy masks to stare in on 2008’s “The Strangers”.  From there, they launch into orbit with Guy Pearce as he attempts to save a damsel in distress stuck on a space prison in “Lockout”.  Finally, they try to decipher the reason there are so many damn trailers for the upcoming “GI Joe: Retaliation”.  All this, more about “Prometheus” and cell phone use in theaters, as well as some fun tidbits regarding some sequels you might be looking forward to.  It’s the 102nd reel of COL Movies – “All Mouth, No Trousers”

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News:

  • The “Don’t Talk” Tradition – Tim League

  • Tim League Responds to the Don’t Talk PSA Craziness

The Past: The Strangers (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 45% Rotten, 48% Audience

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Director: Bryan Bertino

Starring: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler and Gemma Ward

Trivia:

  • it is based on “true events” – but not the ones you’d think. It’s based on the director’s memory of a knock at the door and someone asking for someone who wasn’t there. The rest of the film is artistic license, and the director is said to have been impressed with the amount of internet folklore building up about the “truth” of the murders.
  • Originally scheduled for release in summer 2007. After 2 delays, it was released May 30, 2008.
  • In one scene, Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” plays loudly on the record player. His band was “The Strangers.”
  • Mark Romanek was originally slated to direct the film.
  • Many theaters across the United States were sent faulty reels of the movie, containing sound problems, which made a few minutes to several scenes of the movie filled with nothing but static. Most movie-watchers didn’t even realize the sound was a problem, since the dark overtone and loud background music at some areas make the static seem like part of the movie.
  • Liv Tyler suffered from tonsillitis during shooting.
  • The script was originally titled “The Faces.”
  • Arguably based on the 1981 Keddie Resort murders in northern California, although this has not been substantiated by anyone connected with the movie, with the writer claiming it is based on a childhood experience.
  • The film was shot entirely with hand-held cameras or steady cams. Every shot has some camera movement.
  • According to Liv Tyler, the finale had much more interaction and dialog between the victims and the villains in the original script. It was cut to keep the intruders mysterious and eerie.
  • Bryan Bertino said the film was inspired by the infamous Manson murders.
  • According to director Bryan Bertino the film is partially based on an incident he experienced as a child. One evening, a stranger came to his door, asked for someone who wasn’t there, and left. Later, Bertino found out that other homes in his neighborhood had been broken into that night.
  • The song “Mama Tried”, which is heard several times during the film, is a 1968 hit by Merle Haggard and the Strangers.
  • Bryan Bertino said that at the end sequence there was more talking from the three strangers, but it was cut to make them more mysterious.
  • Shot in chronological order.
  • The exterior shots of the house were filmed at an actual farm house. The film makers were surprised to discover the property had a barn, garage, a forest and a long enough road.
  • The film makers tried to design the house as one that “your brother could have lived in, that you could have grown up in” in order to make the audience feel more attached to the film.
  • The movie was not shot inside of an actual house, the interior of the home was built on a sound stage.
  • During filming, in order to get an actual reaction from Liv Tyler, Bryan Bertino would tell her where to expect a loud bang from, but would then have the loud noise come from a completely different direction.
  • Before filming any scene after The Strangers begin terrorizing the couple, Liv Tyler would have to run laps, do jumping jacks, and other physical activities to get her out of breath. This was so she would have the panicky feeling the real life characters would have been experiencing.
  • The car crash sequence was filmed in three takes.
  • To make it look like he had actually been shot at point blank range, ‘Glenn Howarton’ had to ​sit in the makeup chair for three hours.
  • There were two special prosthetic makeups for Glenn Howerton. One of them was for fresh kill, when he was shot in the face by Scott Speedman, and the other was for 1 hour after death prosthetics.

Talking Points:

  • “inspired” by true events
  • “Because you were home”
  • did you watch this a little differently after seeing cabin in the woods?
  • The importance of sound in a “Scary” movie
  • Critic statements to ponder – “just another home invasion movie” and “torture porn”

What We Learned:

  • Always best to have a backup plan just in case she says NO!
  • unexpected knocks on the door at 4am are never good.
  • When arriving on a suspicious scene when someone has thrown an object through your windshield.. immediately call the cops and leave.. don’t go IN THE HOUSE.
  • Dick Cheney says, try not to shoot your friends in the face!

Trailer

Recommendations:
Jeff: This movie is one big horror trope, quiet and dark. Sure stirred up the fear in me like it should but really didn’t have the screaming payoff that I’d want from a horror movie. It’s terrible. Skip it.
Ray:Ok, for the most part, I loved this. Is it perfect? No. It suffers from some of the faults of all scary movies, otherwise rational people making dumb decisions that put them in danger…but because the rest of this movie is so well executed. I do not hesitate to recommend it. I spent the first 40 minutes fighting goosebumps. Watch it! Preferably in the dark, and by yourself or with one good friend to grab on to.
Steve: Love this movie! It’s the kind of “OMG…what is that in the background?”, “Don’t open the curtain!”, “What the hell are you doing?”, kind of movie that makes you want to yell at the screen. Even I have to look through my fingers at times or slightly look away because I’m anticipating what’s going to happen. What I love though…I they throw in some surprises along the way that throw me off. I like! It’s almost like you’re watching a “true crime documentary” versus a feature film…so screw character development, critics!

The Present: Lockout

Rotten Tomatoes: 35% Rotten ; 46% Audience

Director: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger

Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare

Trivia:

  • The main antagonist brothers are named Alex and Hydell. Alek Hidell was an alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald.
  • Snow remarks, “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not actually Houdini”. Guy Pearce played Harry Houdini in Death Defying Acts.
  • WILHELM SCREAM: The inmate who trips and falls right after coming out of stasis.
  • Luc Besson produced the film. Besson also co-wrote the script with James Mather and Stephen St. Leger. Leger directed the film.
  • Much of the filming utilized Green screens, rather than practical sets
  • The intended scenes were storyboarded in Dublin, Ireland to aid the actors in visualizing how the green screen scenes would appear after the completion of the CGI in post-production.
  • Principal photography took place in Belgrade, Serbia.

Talking Points:

  • American prison with lots of Irish people in it? (were the accents Irish though?)
  • Are you happy or pissed at Luc Besson?
  • How many Razzies are we talking for this one?
  • Halo jumping from orbit? Really?
  • Warning: Offensive T-shirt
  • Critics: Overall, entertaining, yet majorly flawed. Especially outlandish, cliche’, unappealing characters – saw no particularly positive or extremely negative reviews. Just “eh”.
  • Anyone notice the “Irish Producer” credit?

What We Learned:

  • When they say no guns in the prison, they mean no guns in the prison – idiot!
  • Creepy Irish convicts are way scarier than other convicts.
  • Be specific when you ask the prisoners to release a wounded female hostage.
  • If you work on a space prison, make sure you can crack the door in less than 2 minutes, or at least be prepared to be honest and witty about it.
  • Cryogenic freezing is not good for the brain. So freezing people who are already wacko is probably not the best method of rehabilitation.
  • The first family is more important than anyone else.
  • Fuck you is actually a proper Asian name.
  • Coffee and Motor oil make for an excellent hair dye
  • If a locked door won’t open, smash the controls. If a open door won’t lock, smash the controls.
  • Blow up the space prison. It would have saved us all some time.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Wow, what an incredibly mediocre movie. It was an okay watch if you want to see it. I’d wait for Netflix streaming though. It’s just a fun, dumb movie. At least it wasn’t bad.
Ray: I felt like it was trying soooo hard, but failing sooo miserably. I felt like I was watching all the full motion cut-scenes for an early 90’s video game on CD-Rom…
Steve: A big ol cheese plate. Tasty, but it will leave you constipated. Almost like wanting to get on a really awesome roller coaster, but you have to settle for one of those 3D rides where you strap in and stay put while the character on the screen leads you through something as the floor moves. The ​action was cool, but dialogue and story were just dumb. Put it on mute and enjoy!

The Future: GI Joe: Retaliation

Release: June 29, 2012

Director: Jon M. Chu

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Adrienne Palicki, Bruce Willis

Summary:

The film will feature the G.I. Joe Team coming into a conflict with Zartan, Storm Shadow and Firefly, all serving under the newly released Cobra Commander. Zartan (who is last seen in disguise as the President of the United States) manipulates the U.S. Government and frames all G.I. Joe operatives as traitors, exterminating most of them and leaving a small group of survivors, the last of the G.I. Joe team, which includes Roadblock, Flint, Lady Jaye and Snake Eyes. Zartan and the Commander now have all the world leaders under Cobra’s control, with warheads aimed at innocent populaces around the world. Badly beaten, outnumbered and outgunned, the Joes make a desperate plan to overthrow Cobra Commander and take back the world, with their secret black operation called the “Second American Revolution”, which involves the original G.I. Joe General Joseph Colton

Talking Points

  • What are you expecting?
  • Tons of trailers out there…even more than we’re sharing. What’s that about?
  • From what you’re seeing, does this seem to entice you more than the first movie?
  • Going with the storylines? (original GI Joe, Renegades, Comics?)

Trailers (3 total):

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

International Trailer:


Excitement:
Jeff: This is going to be some explodey, ninja-y, fighty fun. I’m for it. Is it going to be good. Maybe not.
Ray:Based on trailer alone, I will say that I am somewhat excited to see this. But I’m having a hard time rationalizing that after suffering through the first movie.
Steve: I may have to look at some comics before seeing this because seeing some of the characters from the trailer, I’m not sure where they are going. However, looks like it will be cheeky, but not slapstick like the first one came off. Seems to me like they are putting more into the action – which is what we all want to see out of a GI Joe live action movie!

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV100: ”Hey Korean Jesus”

It’s the 100th…yup, 100th…reel of COL Movies! The boys “celebrate” with an interesting variety of movies. On the pole, they start out with the Tom Cruise classic “Days of Thunder”. After burning some rubber, they head to the pit to check out the Jonah Hill remake of “21 Jump Street”. On the straight away to the checkered flag, the boys review the trailer for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s reimagining of “Dark Shadows”. All of this and movie news about Captain America’s sequel, Hollywood’s need for speed, and Johnny 5’s staying alive! It’s the 100th reel of COL Movies…”Hey Korean Jesus!”

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News:

The Past: Days of Thunder (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 40% Rotten, 59% Audience

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Director: Tony Scott

Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes, Michael Rooker, Fred Dalton Thompson, John C. Reilly

Trivia:

  • Many real-life NASCAR drivers (including Rusty Wallace) appear in the film.
  • NASCAR driver Greg Sacks did most of Tom Cruise’s stunt driving. Cruise wanted to do his own stunt driving, but wasn’t allowed to for insurance reasons. The Chevrolets were prepared by Rick Hendrick’s racing team, which later used some of the movie cars in real races. 35 cars were wrecked during filming.
  • Tom Cruise received a speeding ticket for doing 85 in a 55 mph zone while working on this movie.
  • The scene where Tim approaches Harry on a tractor was filmed on NASCAR legend Junior Johnson’s farm.
  • The scene where Cole and Rowdy race rental cars on the beach shows birds scattering out of the way. The birds were lured onto the beach by birdseed, and in the first take most of them were run over.
  • During the Darlington race in which the two movie cars appeared in, Neil Bonnett, one of the drivers interviewed at Daytona before the race, was nearly killed in a serious accident. Ironically, Bonnett was killed in a practice crash at Daytona in 1994. In the beginning of the film, the announcer introduces driver Aldo Bennedetti from Reading, Pennsylvania. This character is most likely a reference to real-life driver Mario Andretti. Both are of Italian descent, Mario’s brother is named Aldo, and Mario is from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
  • Robin Wright was first suggested for the role of Claire Lewicki but was unavailable.
  • Production began without a finished script; scenes were often written the day of filming. During one driving sequence, Tom Cruise actually had to read his lines off cue cards attached to his windshield, which resulted in a minor car accident. For subsequent driving sequences, Cruise was fitted with a special earpiece to have lines fed to him.
  • Most of the cars used in this film were actually Chevrolets outfitted with special fiberglass bodies made to resemble stock cars. The vehicles routinely broke down from the strain of the racing or had their bodies greatly damaged. At one point, half the fleet was in the repair shop.
  • Producer Don Simpson originally intended to take a supporting role as a fellow driver in this film but his role was reduced to only one line.
  • City Chevrolet, a sponsor for Cole Trickle early in the movie, is a real-life Charlotte area dealership that is owned by Rick Hendrick, who prepared most of the cars in the movie.
  • Tom Cruise and ‘Robert Duvall (I)”s characters are (very) loosely based on former driver Tim Richmond and his crew chief Harry Hyde. Richmond was known as an overnight sensation, and Hyde was the veteran crew chief. The scene where Duvall’s character teaches Cruise about tire management is based on an actual incident between Hyde and Richmond, who died of AIDS complications the year before the film was released.
  • In an effort to give a more realistic atmosphere, professional racing broadcasters were brought in to play the broadcast reporters and track announcers. Key among these were members of ESPN’s racing crew, including booth announcer Bob Jenkins and pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch.
  • After the first days of the editorial crew looking for “Tony”, Director Tony Scott gave Apprentice Editor Tony Ciccone the nickname “TC” to avoid further confusion. He’s still known by it.
  • All cars used in the movie for the races had to pass inspection and qualify. Bobby Hamilton qualified one of the movie cars in the top ten; they removed the cameras and he was allowed to enter the race.
  • The scene where Cole Trickle leaves the pits after a race to hit Russ Wheeler is also based on ,an actual event during the 1987 all-star race at Charlotte, NC between drivers Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt.
  • Some footage for the movie was shot during the 1990 Daytona 500. Two additional cars, driven by Bobby Hamilton and Tommy Ellis, were added to the rear of the field for the express purpose of shooting them for this film. They were not officially scored and left the racetrack after 100 miles (40 laps) were completed. At one point in the race, leader Dale Earnhardt even lapped the movie cars.
  • Cars designed specifically for the movie officially raced at Phoenix and Darlington, with Greg Sacks driving Cole Trickle’s City Chevrolet in both races. Bobby Hamilton drove Rowdy Burns’ Exxon car at Phoenix, while Hut Stricklin drove it at Darlington. None of the cars finished their races, but Hamilton did lead his race for five laps before an engine failure.
  • According to an article in Car and Driver by Bob Zeller, Bobby Hamilton was paid $14,000-$15,000 by Rick Hendrick to drive the camera car. At the time Hamilton was making about $185 a week driving a wrecker (tow truck). He did so well that Hendrick hired him on for the next NASCAR race in Phoenix and the rest of the season.
  • When Cole wins at Darlington, the track announcer says third place goes to Geoffrey Bodine. Tim Daland, Cole’s car owner, is based on owner Rick Hendrick, whose first driver was Bodine.
  • First feature film of Margo Martindale.
  • Harold Faltermeyer turned down scoring duties on the film. FHe recommended fellow German composer Hans Zimmer to the producers. Zimmer was also recommended to director Tony Scott by his brother Ridley Scott and star Tom Cruise.
  • The movie was conceived by Tom Cruise when he and Paul Newman were allowed to test one of Rick Hendrick’s race cars. Tom’s first lap was in excess of 180mph.
  • The man who drove for Harry Hogge before Cole Trickle was called Buddy Bretherton. In the movie they mention he died hitting the wall at Daytona. Harry also mentions that Buddy heard voices while driving. Buddy Bretherton is probably based on the Nascar driver Bobby Isaac. Who drove for crew chief Harry Hyde. Issac claimed to have heard voices telling him to get out of the race car or he would die. So he pulled the car off the track and quit. Isaac died years later from a heart attack while driving in a 1977 Late Model Sportsman race at Hickory Motor Speedway with 25 laps left.
  • Reputedly Tom Cruise handpicked Nicole Kidman to be his love interest in the film after seeing her performance in Dead Calm.
  • When Cole tells Harry “when it comes to the car I’ll take your word,” he is referring to a line from a deleted scene where he states, “I’ll take your word for what a car can do but I’m not taking anybody’s word for what I can do.” The line can still be heard in the trailer.
  • Alison Doody, Sarah Jessica Parker, Molly Ringwald, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Brooke Shields, Sharon Stone, Heather Locklear, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster and Ally Sheedy all turned down the role of Claire Lewicki.
  • In the “Making of…” documentary, Rowdy’s Winston Cup Championship trophy is for 1984. The real-life champion for that year was Terry Labonte.
  • Real-life Hendrick Motorsports pit crew member Mike Slattery served as an extra for Cole’s crew. After hearing what the stuntmen’s pay would be, he asked for the opportunity to do some of the stunts. However, when he saw how close the car came to the stuntmen, he changed his mind saying, “They can have it!”

Talking Points:

  • The Sound.
  • Top Gun in Race Cars?
  • What We Learned:
  • You can never build a driver like you can build a racecar
  • If you’re from California you’re not a Yankee, you’re not really anything
  • Despite what it says in the NASCAR rulebook there is nothing stock about a stockcar
  • The first thing you need to do to win a race, is finish.
  • Tires win a race
  • Drivers don’t go to doctors or funerals
  • Control is an illusion
  • Rubbin’ is racin’

Trailer

Recommendations:
Jeff: I had the radio controlled version of the Superflo car when I was a kid. This just brings back memories. And it’s a good movie to boot. Definitely worth the rental.
Ray: If only every NASCAR race was 5 minutes long, they might be as enjoyable as this movie. Making NASCAR as exciting as only Jerry Bruckhimer and Tom Cruise can it’s definitely worth a rental.
Steve: Top Gun in cars. Never really cared for this movie and it didn’t do much for me this time around. I do like the “new kid” becomes the “old guy” who gets owned by the “new kid” thing though.

The Present: 21 Jump Street
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% Fresh; 90% Audience

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

Trivia:

  • Jennifer Lawrence, Juno Temple, Julianne Hough and Gemma Ward auditioned for a role.
  • Emma Stone was considered for the lead female role but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with her other movie, The Amazing Spider-Man.
  • Channing Tatum’s character is named Jenko after Captain Richard Jenko, played by actor Frederic Forrest, on the original 21 Jump Street TV series. Jenko was the original captain of the squad before being killed off and then replaced by Captain Adam Fuller, played by Steven Williams.
  • Channing Tatum passed on the movie twice before he was convinced by Jonah Hill to take the role.
  • At one point, Dave Franco’s character says that he doesn’t trust Channing Tatum’s character because he looks like he’s 40 years old. In reality, Tatum is only five years older than Franco.
  • Jonah Hill lost over 40 pounds for his role since he and Channing Tatum are required to do a number of physically demanding stunts.
  • In one scene the bad guys are actually watching the TV series 21 Jump Street on TV. While other original cast members show up in cameos in the film, Dustin Nguyen (Officer Harry Truman Ioki) does not. But he is worked into the film here as almost all the shots on the TV are of Ioki.
  • The understudy for Peter Pan is named French Samuels. Samuel French is the name of the publishing company that manages the rights to the musical “Peter Pan”.
  • While undercover, Jonah Hill’s character’s cover is almost blown by someone he knows personally, and he avoids this by pushing her away and saying that she tried to grab his private parts. This same exact thing happened to Johnny Depp’s character in Donnie Brasco while he was undercover.
  • The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
  • Hanson (Johnny Depp) is seen in disguise as a biker eating a jar of peanut butter, based on a suggestion by Depp during his last season on the show. Penhall (Peter DeLuise), was also seen in disguise as a biker based on one of the character’s attires in the original series. The disguised characters were written specifically for Depp and DeLuise by Jonah Hill.
  • Hanson and Penhall are shot multiple times and die in the climactic shootout, marking the deaths of the television series’ original characters.
  • At the end of the film it is revealed that one of the bad guys is actually Tom Hanson, played by Johnny Depp, from the original 21 Jump Street series. He has been undercover for years with the villains using the alias D.B. Following 21 Jump Street Johnny Depp played another cop who was long term undercover with criminals whose name was Donnie Brasco … D.B.
  • Johnny Depp ad-libbed most of his lines as Tom Hanson.
  • Footage of Dustin Nguyen from the original show are shown on television screens during the shootout at the prom. Whenever Nguyen is shown, a TV screen gets shot.
  • Talking Points:
  • Ok…When they made fun of themselves for rehashing old ideas..
  • Was it what you expected?
  • The Cameo’s
  • #2 is already listed with a writer on IMDB

What We Learned:

  • Korean Jesus ain’t got time for your problems, he busy dealing with Korean Shit.
  • Drugs are bad, but they can have their place in the life of a professional actor
  • You never won’t know what you can’t achieve before you don’t achieve it.
  • Artistic does not equal Autistic
  • A extra vagina can be used as a coin purse
  • You cant run in tights or skinny jeans
  • Chickens are highly explosive
  • Everyone is a stranger till you give em a chance

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I saw half this movie and I’m surprised that I actually kinda liked it. I really think this movie was very well done but I just can’t stand embarrassing moments. If you like that humor, you’ll like it all. If not, you’ll like half the movie.
Ray: Well, I almost hate myself for it, but I enjoyed this movie a whole heck of a lot more than I was expecting. I thought it was funny, and I think they did a good Job with the twist on what it’s like to delve back into high school. Run out and see it? Maybe on a date.
Steve: I want to smack Jeff for making me watch this. However, there was some “fun” in it, but I found it extremely difficult to suspend the belief I know about law enforcement. So not 21 Jump Street…really should have been something else.

The Future: Dark Shadows (2012)
Release: May 11, 2012

Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green

Summary:

In 1752, the Collins family sails from Liverpool, England to North America. The son, Barnabas, grows up to be a wealthy playboy in Collinsport, Maine and is the master of Collinwood Manor. He breaks the heart of a witch, Angelique Bouchard, who turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. In 1972, Barnabas is accidentally freed from his coffin and returns to find his once-magnificent mansion in ruin. The manor is currently occupied by Barnabas’ dysfunctional descendants, all of whom are hiding dark and horrifying secrets and need his protection.

Talking Points

  • Turning a melodramatic soap into a comedy?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Okay, so I admit I really don’t know the original source for Dark Shadows but from what I seeing here, I think it’s going to be a complete disaster. If you want to see Johnny Depp, watch 21 Jump Street.
Ray: Now, this one makes me sad. I was never a big fan of the source material, but a lot of my family was. I don’t think any of them would have any interest in seeing this, and I can’t say I do either.
Steve: In the same vein as 21 Jump Street…taking a classic drama to comedy is strange. I don’t understand this trend in Hollywood. Comes off more Munsters or Addams Family than Dark Shadows source material. Not sure what I think at this point.

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV092: “Oh Fiddle-de-de”

It’s the 92nd reel of COL Movies, Join us as we take a realllllllly looooooooooonnnnggg look at the longest movie to ever win a best picture oscar 1939’s movie that put the explatives in epic “Gone With The Wind” Next up on the block we take a look at yet another “Found Footage” film “Chronicle” Are we happy that we found it? Lastly we take a Jump on over to Jump street.. that’s right its another remake and this time they are resurrecting the late 80’s hit TV show of the same name? Will we be Jumping into the theaters to see it? Or Jumping off a cliff? All this plus some movie sequel news and some sneak peaks at some upcoming movie villans. All that and more on this Reel of COL Movies: Oh Fiddle-de-de

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News:

The Past: Gone With The Wind (1939)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% Fresh, 91% Audience

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Director: Geoge Cukor, Sam Wood

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard

Trivia:

  • When Gary Cooper turned down the role for Rhett Butler, he was passionately against it. He is quoted saying both, “Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history,” and, “I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.”
  • In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #6 Greatest Movie of All Time.
  • June 2008 Ranked #4 on the American Film Institute’s list of the 10 greatest films in the genre “Epic”.
  • The movie’s line “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” was voted as the #1 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
  • First color film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
  • Of all the many actresses who tested for the part of Scarlett, only Paulette Goddard and Vivien Leigh were filmed in color.
  • Although he was dismissed from the production, George Cukor continued to privately coach both Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland at their request on weekends.
  • The estimated production costs were $3.9 million. At the time, only Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and Hell’s Angels had cost more.
  • Sidney Howard agreed to write the screenplay, but from his home in Massachusetts, 3000 miles away from studio interference. His first draft would have made a 5 1/2 hour movie. Howard reluctantly agreed to leave his Massachusetts farm and come to Hollywood to work on another draft with Selznick and then-attached director George Cukor. As Selznick was preoccupied with problems on the set of The Prisoner of Zenda, Howard had to wait 5 weeks before he was able to start working on another draft (in the meantime contributing some rewrites for “Zenda”). The second draft turned out to be 15 pages longer than the first.
  • David O. Selznick traveled to Bermuda in September 1938 to finalize the script. He reportedly brought four suitcases full of drafts with him.
  • The Ku Klux Klan was written out of the screenplay as the organization to which Frank Kennedy turns after Scarlett is attacked in Shantytown. Producer David O. Selznick said that he had no desire to remake The Birth of a Nation, telling screenwriter Sidney Howard in 1937, “I do hope you will agree with me on this omission of what might come out as an unintentional advertisement for intolerant societies in these fascist-ridden times. . . .”
  • Half a million feet of film were shot. This was all edited down to 20,000 feet.
  • There are more than 50 speaking roles and 2,400 extras in the film.
  • Contrary to popular belief, this is not the first film to use the word “damn”. The expletive was used in numerous silent intertitles and in several talkies, including Cavalcade and Pygmalion.
  • For the premiere in Atlanta in December 15, 1939, the governor declared a state holiday. Ticket prices for the premiere were 40 times the usual going rate.
  • One of the few remaining scenes directed by George Cukor to survive into the final cut of the film is the birth of Melanie’s baby.
  • At one point, five film units were shooting scenes. Directors involved were Sam Wood, Sidney Franklin and stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt.
  • David O. Selznick bought the rights to the best selling novel for $50,000.
  • In 1939, the Hollywood Production Code dictated what could and could not be shown or said on screen, and Rhett Butler’s memorable last line presented a serious problem. A few of the suggested alternatives were
  • “Frankly my dear… I just don’t care,” “…
  • it makes my gorge rise,” “…
  • my indifference is boundless,” “…
  • I don’t give a hoot,”
  • nothing could interest me less.”
  • Although legend persists that the Hays Office fined Selznick $5,000 for using the word “damn”, in fact the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, to insure that Selznick would be in compliance with the code. Henceforth, the words “hell” and “damn” would be banned except when their use “shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore … or a quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste.” With that amendment, the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett’s closing line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
  • 1,400 actresses were interviewed for the part of Scarlett O’Hara. 400 were asked to do readings.
  • The premiere was held in Atlanta, Georgia on December 15, 1939. It was reportedly the first time that David O. Selznick had been in the South.
  • The 222 minute running time excludes the Overture Music (played before the credits), the Entr’acte Music (played during the intermission) and the Exit Music (played after the film ends). All three were especially recorded for the film soundtrack, and were heard at the film’s original 1939 world premiere. They were seldom played by exhibitors until the 1997 New Line Cinema edition of the film restored them. They are also included on the DVD.
  • For the scene in which Scarlett escapes the burning of the Atlanta Depot, a horse was needed to play woebegone, an old nag on the verge of collapse. A suitable candidate was finally found, but weeks later, when the horse was brought to the set, it had gained weight and its ribs were no longer visible. There was no time to find a replacement, so the makeup department painted dark shadows on its ribs to give the appearance of malnourishment.
  • In the scene where Scarlett searches for Dr. Meade, making her way among 1,600 suffering and dying Confederate soldiers, to cut costs and still comply with a union rule that dictated the use of a certain percentage of extras in the cast, 800 dummies were scattered among 800 extras.
  • In the scene where Rhett pours Mammy a drink after the birth of Bonnie, for a joke during a take, Clark Gable actually poured alcohol instead of the usual tea into the decanter without Hattie McDaniel knowing it until she took a swig.
  • The first rough cut in July 1939 ran four and a half hours – 48 minutes longer than the final release.
  • All seven of Hollywood’s then-existing Technicolor cameras were used to film the Burning of the Atlanta Depot. Flames 500 feet high leaped from a set that covered 40 acres. Ten pieces of fire equipment from the Los Angeles Fire Department, 50 studio firemen and 200 studio helpers stood by throughout the filming of this sequence in case the fire should get out of hand. Three 5,000-gallon water tanks were used to quench the flames after shooting.
  • Vivien Leigh worked for 125 days and received about $25,000. Clark Gable worked for 71 days and received over $120,000.
  • Clark Gable was so distressed over the requirement that he cry on film (during the scene where Melanie is comforting Rhett after Scarlett’s miscarriage) that he almost quit. Olivia de Havilland convinced him to stay.
  • The horse that Thomas Mitchell rode was later Silver of The Lone Ranger fame.
  • Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award.
  • Rhett was not allowed to say, on film, “Maybe you’ll have a miscarriage” right before Scarlett falls down the stairs; the line is changed to “Maybe you’ll have an accident.”
  • If box office receipts for the movie were adjusted for inflation, it would be the top grossing movie of all time; Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope would only be the second most successful movie of all time. According to the Guinness World Records homepage the total gross in 2005 figures would be $3,785,107,801.
  • None of the interior sets had ceilings.
  • At nearly four hours long, this is longest running of all movies to win the Best Picture Academy Award.
  • Was voted the eighth greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
  • In 2004, the movie was completely restored from the original three Technicolor negatives. This time, digital technology was employed to create results impossible to achieve with traditional methods. The negatives were scanned in at 2K resolution and digitally combined to remove all previous alignment problems and achieve perfect registration despite different amounts of shrinkage in the masters. The resulting digital master is of higher quality than any prints available so far – including the original prints from 1939. The 2009 Blu Ray Release comes from a new improved version 8K resolution scan and that is maximum possible limit for 70mm format.
  • The character of Rhett Butler was partially inspired by Mitchell’s husband nicknamed “Red”
  • Hattie McDaniel was cast as Mammy after Louise Beavers, Etta McDaniel, Ruby Dandridge, and Hattie Noel were briefly considered.
  • During filming Vivien Leigh reportedly smoked four packets of cigarettes a day. Clark Gable smoked three packs a day throughout his career.
  • According to Newsreels, there were a handful of Confederate Civil War veterans who, though quite old, attended the premiere in Atlanta.
  • The scene where Scarlett makes a dress out of a curtain later was later spoofed on The Carol Burnett Show
  • Neither Clark Gable or Leslie Howard wanted to be in the film. Howard didn’t even bother to read the original novel.

Talking Points:

  • Ok.. it was pretty damn long! Do you think that a movie of this size will ever see the light of day in modern Hollywood?
  • Peoples reaction to hearing about us doing this movie.
  • The shear scope of the film.. the epic shots
  • anyone else need a decoder ring?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Only the foreman gets to say when it’s quittin time
  • It doesn’t matter who you marry as long as he’s southern and thinks like you
  • A lady eats like a bird, not a hog or a field hand
  • Don’t take a girl on a buggy ride without a chaperon unless you intend to marry her
  • Mourning really cramps your social life
  • With enough courage you can live without a reputation
  • Tomorrow is another day.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Huh? What? *yawn* A Movie played? Hmm, maybe I should try watching it again.
Ray: Ok, I can finally cross this one off my list. I’m a little perplexed. Overall I loved this movie, but it was about 60 minutes too long. The first half of this movie was great and really kept me interested and entertained, the second half was a little slow, but overall an enjoyable experience.
Steve: Way too long for me, but definitely memorable performances. I often don’t mind seeing these types of films because there is so much pop culture and things that other films are based on…it’s neat to see where they came from.

The Present: Chronicle
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% Fresh; 78% Audience

Director: Josh Trank

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russel, Michael B. Jordan

Trivia:

Talking Points:

  • The Found footage phenomenon… although not really “Found” in this movie.
  • Setting up for a sequel
  • Music

What We Learned:

  • Bringing a camera to school with you will not improve your social status
  • There’s no bikinis in Tibet
  • Being good at beer pong will get you laid
  • The Lion does not feel guilty about eating a gazelle

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: This was much better then I thought it would be. However, it was still just okay. Worth a look see but probably as a rental.
Ray:. So.. a found or gathered footage movie. I know I said I was over them when I watched Devil Inside, but I actually found the story and execution of this movie good enough and entertaining enough to forgive its flaws. I’m surprised the audience score is not higher on this one. It’s getting excellent word of mouth!
Steve: This one didn’t do it for me. I liked the premise, especially the “what would you do if you had these powers” and “good vs evil” stuff, but it didn’t all come together for me because of the format.

The Future: 21 Jump Street

Release: March 22, 2012

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

Summary:

A pair of underachieving cops are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.

Trivia:

  • Jennifer Lawrence, Juno Temple, Julianne Hough and Gemma Ward auditioned for a role.
  • Jonah Hill wrote a cameo role specifically for Johnny Depp.
  • Emma Stone was considered for the lead female role but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with her other movie, The Amazing Spider-Man.
  • In May 2008, Columbia Pictures confirmed that a film version of the series was under development.
  • Jonah Hill rewrote an existing script by screenwriter Joe Gazzam and executive produce the film, as well as star in the film.
  • In May 2009, Jonah Hill described the film adaptation as being a “R-rated, insane, Bad Boys-meets-John Hughes-type movie”.

Talking Points

  • TV to Film Adaptation
  • Nostalgic enough to get you to the theater?
  • Who do you think they’re trying to get to see this?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Kill me.
Ray: I was never a fan of the TV show (never seen it) so I was just curious as to how everyone felt about it. I guess there are parts of it that look entertaining, but you can never really trust a trailer.
Steve: Loved the TV show because it was a drama…but not liking the fact they are turning it into a slapstick comedy. 21 Jump Street became a reason I wanted to pursue law enforcement back in the day…but this would not motivate me. I’m kinda mad I saw Holly Robinson-Peete in the trailer – only because it’s not the same, but I’m glad they’re doing at least some cameos to bring it back to the original.

Coming Attractions – “All Nicholas Cage Special!”

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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