Tag Archives: Daniel Radcliffe

MOV087: “Even The Nazis Think This Guy Is Nuckin’ Futs.”

It’s a horror-filled week in January in this reel of COL Movies, where the boys kinda head back in time to see the uniquely released Kevin Smith film, “Red State”. In theaters, they head out to see if the Catholic church will have a spasm about the exorcism movie, “The Devil Inside”. In trailer-world, they check out Daniel Radcliffe’s post-Harry Potter haunted house remake of 1989’s “The Woman In Black”. In movie news, we talk more news about Kevin Smith, the potential sequel to Avatar, as well as the crappy plot to Resident Evil 5. It’s the 87th reel of COL Movies…”Even the Nazis Think This Guy Is Nuckin’ Futs!”

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News:

The Past: Red State (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes: 58% Rotten, 58% Audience

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Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman

Trivia:

  • The first draft of the script was dated 9/5/07.
  • Kevin Smith wrote the script around the same time he was writing Zack and Miri Make a Porno and presented them both to the Weinstein brothers. They immediately gave the green light to Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but declined on Red State fearing its story was too bleak to attract an audience. Had they green lit, Red State would’ve been shot back to back with Zack and Miri.
  • Kevin Smith wrote the role of Abin Cooper for Michael Parks after seeing his performance in From Dusk Till Dawn. Smith has said that if Parks had not agreed to be in the film, he would have dropped the project entirely.
  • Kevin Smith’s lowest budget film since Chasing Amy.
  • A first for writer/director Kevin Smith, he has stated this film is a strict non-comedy saying, “It’s a nasty-ass $4mil horror flick with few (if any) redeeming characters.”
  • This is the first feature Kevin Smith and his cinematographer David Klein shot using the all-digital Red camera.
  • Shot over a period of 25 days, using the all-digital Red camera system, director and editor Kevin Smith could edit the footage the day he shot it. Because of this between shooting scenes Smith would be editing almost non-stop. As a result, a mere 2 days after the last shot was done, Smith was able to show a fine-cut of the film to the entire cast and crew at the wrap party.
  • Kevin Smith had originally wanted to shoot the film on location in a real Red State around middle America. However, due to budget constraints he ended up shooting it all just outside Los Angeles.
  • The budget for the special effects department was $5000.
  • Samuel L. Jackson was considered for the role that eventually went to John Goodman.
  • The Westboro Baptist Church planned to protest Red State at its premier at the Sundance Film Festival. Kevin Smith in turn planned a counter protest which he and his fans took part in. At the premiere the counter-protesters heavily outweighed the handful of Westboro protesters who showed up. This occurred 12 years after Smith’s first film to tackle religious controversy, Dogma, drew protests from certain sects of the Catholic Church, one of which Smith jokingly took part in himself.
  • Little did Kevin Smith know Michael Parks was actually a country singer early in his career who sang with the likes of Johnny Cash. Many of the country-gospel songs sung in the film were suggested by Parks during filming. Later after the film was completed Parks re-recorded the songs onto an album.
  • There is no score for this film. The entire soundtrack consists of songs sung within the film itself.
  • At the premier of the film at the Sundance film festival, Kevin Smith said he would “pick the distributor ‘auction style'” immediately following the screening. After the screening he then pulled producer John Gordon on stage to conduct the auction. Smith then bid $20 for distribution rights and Gordon immediately sold it to him. Smith revealed it was his plan all along to self-distribute the film himself.
  • Canon 7D’s were used as B-cameras.
  • Released on tour in March 2011, Kevin Smith invited the WBC and specifically Megan Phelps-Roper over Twitter to attend the Kansas City screening and Q&A. Megan and around 15 other members of WBC attended the screening and some brought their young children along. Smith warned the family that the film’s content was for a mature audience and not suitable for children, but was promptly told off by the church members. Less than 20 minutes into the screening, the entire WBC audience attending the event walked out, outraged by the film’s content. Megan called the film “filth” and “a vulgar piece of tacky melodrama.”
  • After a screening of the film in Kansas City, Kevin Smith interviewed two life long Westboro Baptist Church members (Shirley Phelps niece and son) who had defected a few years prior. They both enjoyed the film and even complimented Smith on how realistic certain aspects of religious fanaticism are depicted.
  • The whole film was shot in sequence.
  • Casting director Deborah Aquila was moved to tears whilst listening to Kyle Gallner’s performance during the cage scene.
  • During filming Kyle Gallner suffered a panic attack whilst being tied to a cross, which the crew were unaware of at first, thinking he was still acting.
  • Kevin Smith stated on his podcast Hollywood Babble-On 55 that the name Abin Cooper comes from the Green Lantern character Abin Sur and a character from indie film The Reflecting Skin.
  • Kevin Smith has an quick off-camera cameo at the end of the film, as a prison inmate, yelling the last line in the film.
  • During filming Nicholas Braun suffered a concussion; when the CO2 squib fired, he fell back and the pressure from the squib knocked a box off a shelf and onto his head. According to Kevin Smith, when he showed up at the emergency room escorting Braun, the actor was still wearing a prosthetic gunshot wound on his forehead, sending the E.R. staff into a frenzy.
  • In the sequence outside the compound when Agent Keenan (John Goodman) yells at Sheriff Wynan (Stephen Root) to go back into his car, Root’s subsequent stumble and fall was unscripted. Root admitted that he was genuinely startled by Goodman’s performance, and was happy to have Smith keep the footage in the film.
  • Due to the limited budget, a number of the smaller characters were played by family members and friends of cast and crew. One of the youngest believers was played by Ivy Klein, daughter of the film’s cinematographer David Klein. Ivy was carefully prepped for the scene in which Cheyenne (‘Kerry Bishe’) tells the three young girls to go hide in the attic. However when it came time to shoot the scene, Ivy actually got scared and started screaming, which was not in the script. Smith got her parents’ approval to use the footage in the movie. Smith felt terrible for scaring Ivy, and offered her father some money to take Ivy to a toy store. Her father replied, “Add it to the pile”, as other cast/crew members had felt the same. According to Smith, the next time that Ivy saw Kerry was two days later at the Craft Services area. Ivy got a scared look on her face and said, “You’re not going to act again are you?”
  • Smith originally planned to have the first “prisoner” executed with a goat’s head on top of his own. The special effects director told him that he might be thinking of a ram’s head, because a goat is actually very small. Smith found out shortly thereafter that the ram’s head would cost $5,000 – his entire budget – and scrapped the entire idea. He came up with the plastic wrap and top-down shot because he thought it would contain the most “blood” and therefore not require much cleanup between takes.
  • Smith has said that there are ten “Easter Eggs” (hidden jokes or surprises) in the film. He plans to only discuss each one as they are discovered by fans. The first is that Sheriff Wynan “enters and exits the film with a shot to the face.”

Talking Points:

  • Horror?
  • Does it come across as a Kevin Smith movie?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Love thy neighbor
  • People just do the strangest things when they believe they’re entitled. But they do even stranger things when they just plain believe.
  • Crosses can be bought in dollars or common sense.
  • Be careful meeting someone in a trailer at night.
  • Teenagers can be really stupid.
  • The Feds fabricate things? That’s shocking!
  • Craigslist is Craigslist for people who want to get fucked.
  • When parents block porn sites, they make socially awkward kids

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: The acting was great, the shooting was great, the directing was great, the editing was great, the sound was great. With that being said, this movie was very . . . whelming.
Ray: Ultimately a disappointment for me.. Strong start, awful finish. I had high hopes for this one, that ultimately didn’t pan out. I guess it’s worth a rent, but don’t expect it to do anything unexpected.
Steve: Thoroughly enjoyed! Not exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I definitely thought the acting was amazing and the characters were extremely memorable. Lots of good ol’ shoot’em up action, too!

The Present: The Devil Inside
Rotten Tomatoes: 6% Rotten, 25% Audience

Director: William Brent Bell

Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth

Trivia:

  • The film was shot in 2010 in several different locations, including Bucharest (Romania), Rome (Italy) and Vatican City.
  • It is in the genre of “found footage” and so is a movie of a fictional story that tries to give the impression that it actually occurred
  • Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider brought the movie to Paramount Pictures, and their low-budget branch, Paramount Insurge acquired the film for the first release from that low-budget branch, hoping it would be its next Paranormal Activity.

Talking Points:

  • I want to apologize…I didn’t know it was found footage (Steve)
  • Found footage…has it officially jumped the shark yet?
  • The Ending.

What We Learned:

  • Science can’t explain everything…
  • When it’s a real possession .. you will know.
  • Different accents are like speaking in tongues.
  • The Church isn’t in the business of healing people.
  • Better restraints? yeah that might be a GOOD idea.
  • Stressed out? Drown an infant.
  • Possessed people need to be in the trunk.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Meh, had a couple of nice startling surprises. David was quite nice to look at. A little disappointed he blew his brains out. You know, I’m starting to get annoyed with these movies that have a tragic ending. I was hoping at least Ben would have survived and defeated the Devil.
Ray: I am officially over found footage films.. the Vatican doesn’t endorse film’s about exorcism.. with this one I can see why.
Steve: I am sorry about this one. While I liked the look of it and the scares, even I wasn’t impressed with it. Predictable, found footage, multiple possessions, and a crappy ending. All in a less than a hour and a half movie. I give.

The Future: The Woman In Black

Release: February 3, 2012

Director: James Watkins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciarán Hinds

Summary:

A young lawyer travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.

Trivia:

  • Mark Gatiss was asked to write the screenplay.
  • Adrian Rawlins –who played Daniel Radcliffe’s father in the Harry Potter series– played the same character in the 1989 version as Radcliffe plays in this film.

Talking Points:

  • onnnneeee twoooooo freddieees comming fooor.. oh wait wrong movie!

Trailers:

Excitement:
Jeff: It’s another haunting movie. Would be nice to see Daniel Radcliffe in something non-Harry Potter, but I don’t think this is it.
Ray: Trailer has me somewhat interested..only because I feel there might be an actual story to engage you. I could care less about Daniel, but I’m sure he will be a draw for some.
Steve: The story doesn’t seem new, but the environment set by the trailer really draws me in. I’ll see it!

Coming Attractions

The Past

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The Present

The Future

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MOV062: “I know you are, but what am I?”

Take off those training wheels and go on a whimsical bike ride back to 1985 where we examine the silly campy and sometimes creepy Pee-Wee Herman in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Was this Tim Burton / Danny Elfman debut a match made in heaven? or does it crash and burn in hell like a bad twisted sister video? Next the boys dissapperate to Hogwarts one last time to discuss the spectacle that is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. Does the film live up to expectations and end the franchise in a way fans of the movies and book series were hoping for? Or does the movie cast a killing curse on the future careers of its child actors? Next we bound into the future to take a look at the film Abduction, does twilight start Taylor Lautner have the chops to be an action star or will we be putting this one down with a silver bullet? All this and news about Dwarves, Kryptonians, Eco-Terrorists and Gunslingers on this reel of COL Movies! I know you are, but what am I?

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The Past: Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Fresh; 66% Audience

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Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Paul Rubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger

Trivia:

  • Tim Burton’s Directorial Debut, Danny Elfman’s first film score.
  • Jan hooks improvised her dialogue for the Alamo scenes
  • During the magic shop scene, Mario shows Pee-wee heads of different sizes. The largest head that he shows Pee-wee last is actually Aleister Crowley.
  • The Drive-in sequence was filmed at the Studio Drive In, formerly located in Culver City CA. The Studio was built in the 1930s, and was the first Drive-in Theatre constructed in California. It served as a set for several films, including Grease. It was closed in 1993 and demolished in 1998. No trace of this Drive-in remains.

Talking Points:

  • Who does this appeal to OR was it supposed to appeal to when it came out?
  • Who even knew this was a Tim Burton film back in the day? I can totally see it now…but had no idea then.

What We’ve Learned:

  • Don’t cut the tags off your mattress
  • The Alamo doesn’t have a basement
  • Never let Pee-Wee drive your car
  • Convertibles have built in parachutes
  • You can’t just wish and hope for something to come true you have to make it happen
  • Tell em Large Marge sent ya!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: This was a well put together movie. That being said, this was a complete waste of my time.
Ray: A film that combines the child like zaniness of Pee-Wee and the slight tinge of the bizarre ala Tim Burton and what do you get? A film you can’t go wrong with.
Steve: Pee Wee is Pee Wee. You either love him or hate him. I like the quotables and cameos in the movie, but don’t much care for the movie in is entirety.

The Present: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% Fresh; 93% Audience

Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes,

Trivia:

  • When David Heyman was asked if there were any actors that he wished had been in the series but never were, he answered Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Craig, James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff. He now wished to work with them in future projects. Daniel Radcliffe would have loved to see Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Stephen Fry (the narrator of the UK Harry Potter audio-books.)
  • The last of eight movies based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.
  • This film is the only Harry Potter film to be released in 3D in cinemas in their entirety (only select scenes were available for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and only in IMAX).
  • It had been reported that, due to her commitment to Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Emma Thompson would be unable to appear in this film. However, she was able to return shortly before the end of filming to once again play Professor Trelawney. She joins her real-life sister Sophie Thompson, as well as her Nanny McPhee cast mates Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans and Ralph Fiennes.
  • It was reported that a huge blaze wrecked the Hogwarts set after a battle scene went spectacularly wrong. According to the report, explosives used in action sequences set light to scenery for the wizardry school, and that firefighters battled for 40 minutes to bring the flames under control but the set – centerpiece for the film’s Battle of Hogwarts climax – was left badly damaged. It was later confirmed that the fire was greatly exaggerated, and that the set that had been damaged was going to need be rebuilt anyway for use in another scene. Some actors were still filming at the studio but none of the movie’s biggest stars – Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione) or Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) – were involved. No one was injured.
  • Kate Winslet was first considered for and reportedly offered the role of Helena Ravenclaw. The role was rejected by her agent before she was able to consider it, believing that Winslet would not want to “follow suit with every other actor in Britain by being a part of Harry Potter”. The role subsequently went to Kelly Macdonald.
  • John Hurt and Jim Broadbent previously appeared together in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. George Harris appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • In the two parts of this movie, Hermione impersonates both Mafalda Hopkirk; played by Emma Thompson’s sister Sophie Thompson; and Bellatrix Lestrange; played by Helena Bonham Carter, who played Emma’s sister in Howards End.
  • Most of the events in this film – from the raid of Gringotts to the Battle of Hogwarts – take place over the course of a single day.
  • In the story, Voldemort has created several Horcruxes in an attempt to cheat death. Appropriately, his name is French for “Flight of Death” or it can also mean “Stealer/Cheater of death”.
  • Alan Rickman, Bonnie Wright, Devon Murray, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Geraldine Somerville, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Matthew Lewis, Robbie Coltrane, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Josh Herdman and Warwick Davis (as Prof. Flitwick and/or Griphook the Goblin) are the only actors to have appeared in all eight movies.
  • As with the first half of the film, Warwick Davis’s company, Willow Personnel Management, was called upon to provide little people to portray the goblins at Gringotts.
  • When Harry goes into the Room of Requirement in the bottom left hand corner there is the knight that Ron rides from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
  • In every shot in which Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange appear together, she always moves so that she stands on his right, traditionally the position of the most loyal and trusted follower.

Talking Points:

  • Are we happy its over?
  • Now that it is over, will the actors be able to break out into new things?
  • Lack of exposition..did you like that or not?
  • 3D conversion… any good?
  • Did the Battle of Hogwarts live up to our expectations?
  • David Yates Letter to projectionists

What We Learned:

  • Do not pity the dead, Pity the living.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Amazing ending to the HP saga. Well worth the see. I paid for the 3D and it was well worth it. Not for the 3D, but because I like the movie that much.
Ray: A movie that mostly lived up to my expectations, if I had any complaints is that they should have made each of the last two films a little longer and gotten a little more character development in, I felt a little robbed of some of the more emotional scenes from the book. I thought the 3D was non existent for most of the film.
Steve: I definitely enjoyed it. Took on more of a horror tone and coloring for this film, which got me interested. Definitely not a kids movie. 3D was nice, in my humble opinion.

The Future: Abduction

Director: John Singleton
Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Colins, Alfred Molina

Trivia:

  • Principal photography began on July 12, 2010 in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. Lionsgate returned to the region due to tax benefits from Pennsylvania’s tax credit program, after filming My Bloody Valentine 3D, Warrior, and The Next Three Days there in 2008 and 2009.
  • An open casting call for extras held at Carnegie Mellon University drew over 900 people in June, many of whom were teenage fans of the Twilight film series.
  • Many of the film’s scenes were shot in suburban Mount Lebanon, and some others in Forward Township. Scenes were shot at Hampton High School in Hampton Township, a suburb north of Pittsburgh. The school’s name and mascot, the Talbot, will appear in the film, as well as real students, cheerleaders, and the marching band.

Talking Points:

  • Remind anyone of The Bourne Identity?

Summary:

For as long as he can remember, Nathan Price (Taylor Lautner) has had the uneasiest feeling that he is living someone else’s life. When he stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website, all of Nathan’s darkest fears come true: he realizes his parents are not his own and his life is a lie, carefully fabricated to hide something more mysterious and dangerous than he could have ever imagined. Just as he begins to piece together his true identity, Nathan is targeted by a team of trained killers, forcing him on the run with the only person he can trust, his neighbor, Karen (Lily Collins). Every second counts as Nathan and Karen race to evade an army of assassins and federal operatives. But as his opponents close in, Nathan realizes that the only way he will survive and solve the mystery of his elusive biological father is to stop running and take matters into his own hands

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: This trailer SCREAMS horrible movie. It looks fun, action shiney, but unlike Transformers, still tells me not to go see it.
Ray: This smells too much like a Bourne Franchise rip-off with a Twilight star thrown in to draw in that fan base.
Steve: Doesn’t look awful…but does seem like it’s just an opportunity for Lautner to do a solo project away from the Twilight gang. He has the goods to be an action star…now the question is if he can carry it.

Coming Attractions

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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MOV028: “Fair Warning, It Tastes Like Goblin Piss.”

Harry Potter, need I say more?

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Feedback: Green Lantern Trailer

Joshua (Tyler TX) I still disagree with the casting of Ryan Reynolds for Hal.. he could be a good Kyle but Hal is really more of a stoic character with moments of humor I don’t mind the suit so much but it would have been nice to go with a more classic look to it. I did think Kilowog looked pretty good in the second he was on screen.

John John (Austin TX Via Fuzz’s FB) It’s pretty cool although some dislike the cg suit. Also Hal Jordan is a stoic character while Ryan Reynolds isn’t.

The Past:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

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Director:
1,2 Christopher Columbus
3 Alfonso Curon (Columbus Stayed on to Produce)
4 Mike Newell
5-7 David Yates (Tale of the Three Brothers Sequence Directed by Ben Hibon)

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Dame Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Robbie Coltrane

Trivia:

  • 1- The movie and book are known as the “Philosopher’s” stone everywhere except the USA.. every scene where they said “Philosopher” was shot again with them saying “Sorcerer”
  • 1 – Richard Harris only agreed to play the role of Albus Dumbledore when his then 11 year old granddaughter threatened to never speak to him again if he didn’t take it
  • 2 – Nurses were drafted into the production due to an outbreak of head lice among the younger cast members.
  • 2 – Supposedly Russian Premier Vladimir Putin was deeply disturbed that Dobby the house elf was created in his image (unverified)
  • 3 – Sir Ian Mckellen turned down the role of Dumbledore – Having appeared as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, he said, “I had enough trouble living up to one legend. Two would be too much to hope for.”
  • 3 – Warner Brothers supplied ushers at cinemas with night vision goggles to prevent illegal recording and pirating of the film
  • 3 – In order to acquaint himself with his three lead actors, director Alfonso Cuarón had each of them write an essay about their characters, from a first-person point of view. Emma Watson, in true Hermione fashion, went a little overboard and wrote a 16-page essay. Daniel Radcliffe wrote a simple one-page summary, and Rupert Grint never even turned his in.
  • 4 – over 3000 girls showed up to audition for the part of Cho Chang
  • 4 – was orginially planned to be a 2 part movie released several months apart, but this decided against by Director Mike Newell at the recommendation of Azkaban Director Alfonso Curaon
  • 5- Dumbledore’s line “Don’t fight him, Harry, you can’t win” was featured prominently in just about every trailer and TV-spot, yet it is nowhere in the final version of the film, nor in the DVD’s extended scenes.
  • 5 – The Department of Mysteries set marks the first time that a totally computer-generated set was used throughout the movie
  • 5 – The only Harry Potter film not written by Steve Kloves.
  • 6 – This is the first Harry Potter film that does not feature any aspect of Defense Against the Dark Arts classes on screen, either direct (second through fifth films) or indirect (first film). The only mention of the subject occurs when Dumbledore announces Snape’s appointment to the open teaching position.
  • 6 – At the beginning of the film, the Death Eaters destroy the Millennium Bridge in London. In the Book it is actually the Brockdale Bridge that is destroyed, the Millenium Bridge was not built in the time period the Book is set in 1995-1996
  • 6 -The omission in this movie of the battle at Hogwarts between members of the Order of the Phoenix and Death Eaters was due to the fact that they writers did not want to seek repetition when they film the climactic battle of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Talking Points:

  • Did you read the books?
  • Favorite? Least Favorite?
  • Favorite Book?

What house would you be sorted into?

  • Steve: Ravenclaw: Witty, Intelligent & Capable
  • Fuzz: Gryffindor: Brave, Chivalrous, Courageous
  • Jeff: Hufflepuff: Loyal, Dependable, Hardworking

What is your patronus?

  • Jeff: Your Result: Your Patronus is a Hedgehog! – Bravery is your strong suit, and you are a kind creature to all, though your spiney exterior may make others think otherwise. You are proud of the strange parts of you that make you different!
  • Steve: Your Patronus is a Wolf! You work best in a close support group and are fiercely loyal to those you love. You are unbeatable in a group and incredibly strong even alone due to your cunning at getting the job done.
  • Fuzz: Your Patronus is a Wolf!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: It’s such an enjoyable series. I just hate the Goblet of Fire, it’s just terrible. I still own it though.
Ray: The first two can come off very kid film.. but if you can get past that.. its a fun ride for the most part. Ill always recommend reading the books first though.
Steve: I really started enjoying them as they progressed to more adult adventure, versus kid level entertainment. It started with 3 for me and kept going.

The Present: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Director: David Yates

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter

Trivia:

  • M Night Shyamalan was interested in directing this one!
  • Guilermo Del Toro – Who Turned down Directing 1,2 and 3 because they were “too happy” to interest him expressed interest in directing this one.
  • First time that Brendan Gleeson, Michael Byrne, Peter Mullan, and David O’Hara have appeared in the same movie since Braveheart
  • Over 500 wands were created for the film. They are checked out and checked in before, during, and after the filming day is completed. Many came back broken.
  • First film in the franchise to cite “sensuality” as a concept for its MPAA rating.
  • First of the films to have J.K. Rowling as producer.

Talking Points:
3D version was cancelled?
3 Brothers Animation? Did that seem odd to anyone else?

What We Learned:
Harry Potter has a happy trail.
Hermoine overpacks! But she’s handy if you’re camping!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: What? You didn’t go see this?
Ray: Great! but you will have no clue whats going on if you dont watch 1-6
Steve: Thoroughly enjoyed…must have seen the others to get anything though.

The Future: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt 2 (7-15-2011)

Starring: yah yah yah..

Talking Points:

  • Battle of Hogwarts… nuff said.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: I yield the floor to Fuzz
Ray: is it July Yet? Is it July yet? is it July yet?
Steve: I’ll be looking forward to it, but will be glad it’s all over! 🙂

Coming Attractions

The Past

The Present

The Future

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MOV016: “Bunny, Ball Ball”

This shows recording bandwidth brought to you by Starbucks.  Jeff just turned 30 so he though we should review his favorite movie, Hudson Hawk, but did they all like it?  We also reviewed Takers and the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

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The Past: Hudson Hawk (1991)

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Director: Michael Lehmann

Starring: Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn

Trivia:

  • The tones that the handcuffs make are the same as the tones used in Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967) for the telephones. James Coburn appears in all three movies.
  • Coburn plays “George Kaplan”, which is the name of the fake agent from North by Northwest (1959).
  • Igg and Ook both mutter their own names as their last words.
  • Bruce Willis says, “Directions even your brother can understand,” to co-star Frank Stallone. On the script, this jab is directed at the character of Antony Mario, but it doubles as an off-screen jab at Stallone’s real brother Sylvester Stallone.
  • Nintendo humor abounds in this movie. “New Jersey’s third-largest crime family” is known as the Mario Brothers. Additionally, Hudson Hawk has been in prison so long he does not know what a Nintendo is.
  • Isabella Rossellini was originally cast as Anna Baragli, but when the movie was delayed because of scheduling issues, the part was re-cast with Maruschka Detmers. However, due to back problems, she had to leave after a few days of shooting, and was finally replaced with Andie MacDowell.
  • Michael Ballhaus was the original Cinematographer on the project, but due to delays and overruns in principal photography he left the project and was replaced by Dante Spinotti.
  • In the bar, Bruce Willis talks about “reindeer-goat cheese pizza”, which he also mentions in The Last Boy Scout (1991).
  • The Brooklyn Bridge tollbooth scene was actually filmed at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, as the Brooklyn Bridge had no toll at that time.
  • In this film Danny Aiello plays the Italian ‘criminal’ Tommy Five-Tone . This could be seen as an in-joke at The Godfather: Part II (1974) where Danny Aiello’s character, one of the Rosato brothers, attempts to murder Frankie Pentanglis, a.k.a. Frankie Five-Angels.
  • The film generally received negative critical reviews and was overall a box office bomb. James Brundage of AMC filmcritic said the film was “so implausible and so over the top that it lets inconsistency roll off like water on a duck’s back.”[2] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said of the film, “A movie this unspeakably awful can make an audience a little crazy. You want to throw things, yell at the actors, beg them to stop.”
  • It received Razzie Awards for Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture.
  • Part of the reason for the box office failure is that the film is clearly intended as an absurd comedy and yet was marketed as an action film one year after the success of Die Hard 2. When the film came to home video the tag line “Catch The Adventure, Catch The Excitement, Catch The Hawk” was changed to “Catch The Adventure, Catch The Laughter, Catch The Hawk”.
  • A video game based on the film was released in 1991 for various home computers and game consoles. It is a side-scrolling game where the player, as the Hawk, must steal the Sforza and the Codex from the auction house and the Vatican, respectively. Then Castle Da Vinci has to be infiltrated in order to steal the mirrored crystal needed to power the gold machine. On his journey, Hawk must face many oddball adversaries, including dachshunds that try to throw him off the roof of the auction house, janitors, photographers, killer nuns, and a tennis player (presumably Darwin Mayflower).

Talking Points:

  • Have we become the Bruce Willis Fan Club?
  • Could we put more genres into one film, please?

What We’ve Learned:

  • There are 673 Wong’s in the phone book
  • Swinging On A Star is 5 min 32 seconds
  • You dont have to be quiet to be a cat burglar
  • The Pope Watches Mr Ed.
  • Although we love her, Sandra Bernhardt cannot act
  • Bruce Willis is so cool he can turn a nun!
  • If Divinci Was alive today he’d be eating sushi naked in the back of a Cadillac

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I love this movie and I actually do NOT agree with anyone that it’s a bad movie.
Ray: A bad movie, but I love it.. I can watch this over and over.
Steve: What did I watch? I’m still processing it…

The Present: Takers

Director: John Luessenhop

Starring: Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Michael Ealy, Idris lba, Steve Harris, T.I., Jay Hernandez, Zoe Saldana

Trivia:

  • The first film applicable under futures and option trading based upon box-office returns in the United States. The controversial proposal was approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in June 2010.

Talking Points:

What We Learned:

  • If you’re a Police Officer, don’t follow perps with your kid in the car!
  • T.I. is a bad MF, but could stand some more acting classes
  • If you’re a big-time criminal, be sure to live as extravagantly as possible – no one will notice.
  • Even thieves have things going on in their personal lives

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: It’s meh, See The Italian Job or the Real McCoy instead.
Ray: enjoyable, but an inferior and someone boring copy of previous heist movies.
Steve: As predictable and formulaic as it was, I enjoyed it. Worth seeing at least as a rental if you like the genre.

The Future: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Helen McCrory, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Jason Isaacs

Trivia:

  • The seventh of eight movies based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.
  • M. Night Shyamalan was interested in directing this installment.
  • Guillermo del Toro expressed interest in directing this installment.
  • At first, this was meant to be only one film, but due to the size of the book, and the decision that nothing could be left out to squeeze into one movie, the producers decided to split it into Part I and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011).
  • David Holmes, 25, Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt-double, was seriously injured on the set at Leavesden Studios, near Watford, Hertfordshire. He was performing an aerial sequence when he fell to the ground following an explosion, which was part of the stunt, and sustained a serious back injury.
  • John Williams, who composed the scores to the first three films, has expressed interest in returning to score The Deathly Hallows.
  • Bill Weasley is played by Domhnall Gleeson, son of cast member Brendan Gleeson.
  • The character Griphook was played by Verne Troyer in the first film; making him one of the few Americans cast; but was voiced by Warwick Davis. In this film, Davis plays Griphook in both body and voice. Davis will also be playing Professor Filius Flitwick as he did in the previous six films.
  • Cast members John Hurt and Bill Nighy have both played prominent roles in adaptations of another well-known fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings. Hurt was the voice of Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 film. Nighy was the voice of Sam Gamgee in the BBC Radio broadcast.
  • Composer Nicholas Hooper turned down the opportunity to score the final two films, saying that working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) took a toll on his family’s personal life.
  • Daniel Radcliffe developed a cold from having to be in mud and dirt while filming the movie.
  • This film along with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011) are the only Harry Potter films to be released in 3D in cinemas in their entirety (only select scenes were available for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and only in IMAX).
  • Josh Herdman announced on 9 August 2009 that Jamie Waylett would not be reprising his role as Vincent Crabbe for this film. Waylett’s character will be written out with his role in the plot taken over by Herdman’s character, Gregory Goyle.
  • First time that Brendan Gleeson and David O’Hara have appeared in the same movie since Braveheart (1995).
  • Bruno Delbonnel declined to return for the final two films, saying that “I think I was scared of repeating myself.” Subsequently, the filmmakers hired fellow French-Portuguese cinematographer Eduardo Serra.
  • Despite having stated that she would not be returning as Professor Sybil Trelawney for this film previously, Emma Thompson recently reported that she had just finished two days worth of filming as the character after all.
  • Jason Isaacs originally considered not returning for this film, fearing that his character’s arrest and imprisonment at the end of the fifth book and film would mean very little if any screen time in the finale. Upon meeting J.K. Rowling, he begged to be let out of prison. She told him “You’re out. Chapter one.” This immediately convinced him to sign on for the film.

Summary:
Voldemort’s power is growing stronger. He now has control over the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to finish Dumbledore’s work and find the rest of the Horcruxes to defeat the Dark Lord. But little hope remains for them, so everything they do must go as planned.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: I’m so so excited.
Ray: Cant wait, wish there was less time between both parts
Steve: Looks good, but I’m kinda over HP.

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