Tag Archives: Harrison Ford

MOV112: “A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away”

In this reel of COL Movies, the boys head back in time to revisit 1977’s “Star Wars”. After that blast from the past, it’s off to the theater to see Disney/Pixar’s newest princess in “Brave”. In trailer world, they check out the Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix venture, “The Master”. In news, it’s some Spider Man, Mad Max, and more Dark Knight news. It’s the 112th reel of COL Movies “A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away”

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News:

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The Past: Star Wars (1977)
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Fresh; 93% Audience

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Director: George Lucas

Staring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Sir Alec Guinness

Trivia:

Talking Points:

  • CGI added for the “special” editions isn’t holding up
  • The Star Wars Legacy…had George Lucas ruined it?
  • Watching it on Blu-Ray

Critic Notes

  • Positives: A stand alone epic; defined blockbuster; compelling back story; crosses genre lines (sci fi, western, road pic); great fight scenes
  • Negatives: The characters don’t have depth, they’re just fodder and props

What We Learned:

  • Droids are not allowed in escape pods or bars
  • The Jundland wastes are not to be travelled lightly
  • Stormtroopers are apparently only precise when they are firing at Jawas
  • Making a jump to hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops…….boy
  • You must be at least this tall to be a stormtrooper
  • Womp rats are not much bigger than 2 meters
  • Let the Wookie win

Trailer:
Original 1977 Trailer:

1997 Reissue:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Always a favorite and classic sci-fi movie. The special edition of this one to me only really screwed up with Han shooting second. Hence the reason I call the theatrical editions the Han-Shot-First editions and the only true edition. Worth seeing either version but to be true, see the theatrical . . . if you can find it.
Ray: My only recommendation is to try and only watch the original theatrical releases if you can. Messing with the story aside the CGI used in the “special” editions does not really hold up these days. And this should be the first one you watch… not episode 1.
Steve: Hadn’t watched in a while, so I found myself picking apart the spotty editing and expeditious storyline, wishing they’d gone into more detail to set the universe better. I don’t know that it’s held up as well as I remembered. The special edition CGI is just stupid. Regardless, it’s still a classic that should be watched. Also – this is STAR WARS – this “Episode IV: A New Hope” crap annoys me.

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The Present: Brave
Rotten Tomatoes: 76% Fresh; 83% Audience

Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson

Trivia:

  • Reese Witherspoon was originally announced as the voice of Princess Merida, but scheduling conflicts prevented from taking the role. Kelly Macdonald replaced her.
  • This film marks the first time a Pixar produced film has a female protagonist.
  • The original title of the film was “The Bear and the Bow”.
  • Originally 80% of the film took place in snow. When director Brenda Chapman left the project so did much of the white stuff.
  • The Pizza Planet truck, a fixture of nearly every full-length Pixar film can be spotted in the Witch’s Hut.
  • None of the footage shown in the preview trailer is in the finished film.
  • This is the first Pixar film to be a period piece.
  • Princess Merida is the first Pixar character to be included in the Disney Princess line.
  • The misunderstood dialogue that Young MacGuffin (voiced by Kevin McKidd) speaks is actually a form of Scottish dialect called the Doric that comes from Kevin McKidd’s hometown of Elgin, Scotland.
  • The character Lord Macintosh is a reference to the Apple computer. Steve Jobs was a co-founder of Apple and played a big role in Pixar.
  • In fiction, a MacGuffin refers to an object, goal, or desire that the protagonist is willing to do anything in order to achieve. Lord MacGuffin and his offspring are ironically the exact opposite, in that they (and the other suitors) are what Merida will do anything to do in order to avoid.
  • The chess set in Merida’s room is the famous Lewis Chessmen from the 12th century, unearthed in Scotland in 1831.
  • It took six years to make this film. Mark Andrews was initially the consultant, providing the Scottish themes for Brenda Chapman. However, by October 2010, Chapman left after four years of work with Andrews subsequently taking over but still keeping the intended story that Chapman wrote.
  • Brenda Chapman based Merida on her own daughter while Elinor was loosely based on herself.
  • Two additional software were specially developed for this film by Pixar in the period of three years. One of them allows simulation of Merida’s hair curls to move together with her movements.
  • Merida has 1500 strands of hair curls rendered.

Talking Points:

  • To intense for young children?
  • The breakneck pace
  • Some moments of photo realism

Critic Notes

  • Positives: Ultimately, positive reviews – but most were lackluster saying that it just didn’t hit expectations or potential; lots of “looked amazing”
  • Negatives: Slow pacing, patchwork storyline was hard to follow; Just didn’t have the “oomph” of other Disney and Pixar pics – no outstanding songs or characters; definitely for the kids and not the parents this time around.

What We Learned:

  • Legends are lessons that ring with truths
  • Never conjure where you carve
  • Following Will O’ Wisps can get you into trouble
  • Be careful what you wish for…you just might get exactly that.
  • The spell for changing your fate… tastes gamey.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: This was . . . interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie but wasn’t blown away by it. I did like the fact that the trailer didn’t tell you really what was going on but still showed a thread of the true story. Worth seeing, just could wait for the rental if you want to.
Ray: Not my favorite Pixar movie, but I think this still holds up in the Pixar line of films regardless of what some perceive as a disneyfication. It can be a little scary if you have young kids but the story is great (especially inspiring for young girls) and the technical aspects of this movie were amazing and exquisitely animated.
Steve: Not as exciting as I thought it would be. I still like the premise of the strong female lead taking her life in her own hands and all of that. However, it just didn’t grab me as other similar films have. Looked good though!

The Future: The Master

Release: November 9, 2012 (UK)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams

Summary:

A 1950s-set drama centered on the relationship between a charismatic intellectual known as “the Master” whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man.

Talking Points:

  • WTF?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: This was a random movie trailer I saw on Film State and just got intrigued. I’m still on the bench but could be good or not. Joaquin is good at crazy.
Ray: Intrigued, looks to be strong performances from both Phoenix and Hoffman. Definitely one to keep on the lookout for.
Steve: I don’t get it. Phoenix’s teeth creep me out.

The Past: Heavenly Creatures

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV064: “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me. Me Too.”

The boys go back to the future to watch Neo battle Agent Smith in “The Matrix Reloaded”, then head back to the old west to see if those cow pokes can really defend theselves in Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens”. They also review the trailer for “The Adventures of Tintin”, Steven Spielbergs first hack at a full-length animated movie. In movie news, there’s more about “Man of Steel”, Perry White is black?, a possible reboot for “Short Circuit”, and how about Snow White and the Seven Ninjas? Welcome to a brand new reel of COL Movies #64.

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The Past: The Matrix Reloaded
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% Fresh, 74% Audience

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Directors: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss

Trivia:

  • Eva Mendes, Samantha Mumba, Brandy Norwood and Tatyana Ali were all rumored to be possible replacements for the character of Zee, after the initial choice Aaliyah died in a plane crash on 25 August 2001. Nona Gaye (daughter of late Motown legend Marvin Gaye) was eventually cast in the role.
  • There are twelve hoverships in Zion’s fleet, of which ten are shown or mentioned in the films and video game, Enter the Matrix, and whose names and captains are as follows: Osiris – Thadeus; Logos – Niobe; Nebuchadnezzar (Neb) – Morpheus; Mjolnir (Hammer) – Roland; Caduceus – Ballard; Gnosis – Ice; Vigilant – Soren; Icarus – Ajax; Brahma – Kali; Novalis – Tirant. Concept artwork reveals the names of the remaining two ships: the Ganesha and the Vishnu.
  • The Matrix Revolutions, Enter the Matrix, and this film were shot back-to-back.
  • It was reported that Keanu Reeves volunteered to give up a claim to a share of ticket sales amounting to around $38 million when producers feared that the film would never recoup the cost of the special effects.
  • GM donated 300 cars for use in the production of the movie. All 300 were wrecked by the end.
  • There were several injuries on the set: Carrie-Anne Moss broke her leg training for a wire stunt, Laurence Fishburne fractured an arm in another training incident and Hugo Weaving put out a disc in his neck while being pulled back on a wire.
  • The film’s highway chase sequence took almost three months to shoot (longer than many films’ entire shooting schedule).
  • Trinity uses a genuine hack to get into the Matrix. She uses Nmap version 2.54BETA25 (an actual port scanning tool) to find a vulnerable SSH server, and then proceeds to exploit it using the SSH1 CRC32 exploit from 2001.
  • The red chair Morpheus is sitting in when he is expounding his plan to access the source is the same red chair he was sitting in when he offered Neo the red and blue pills in The Matrix and when he explained to Neo what the Matrix was.
  • Only a few of the Smith clones were actually played by Hugo Weaving. Open casting calls for males with similar body shapes and structures took place, and Weaving’s head was superimposed on them later.
  • The tractor-trailer used in the freeway chase scene has Big Endian Eggs written on it’s side. This is a reference to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels: The Lilliputians, being very small, had correspondingly small political problems. The Big-Endian and Little-Endian parties debated over whether soft-boiled eggs should be opened at the big end or the little end, (Big-endian has also been adopted as computer terminology.)
  • According to Oakland city officials who worked with the filmmakers on the downtown Oakland shots, all red and blue colors had to be removed, so sidewalk curbs were painted over. Also, there could be no greenery or other plant life, so filming was done over the winter before tree leaves sprouted in the spring.
  • Lambert Wilson’s French accent as The Merovingian is intentionally exaggerated at the directors’ demand. Wilson speaks English very well and said it was his only deception towards the movie.
  • It took Carrie-Anne Moss six months just to get the Scorpion Kick in the beginning of scene correctly.
  • The fight sequence of Neo versus Smith and his clones (a.k.a. The Burly Brawl) took 27 days to shoot.
  • The Matrix Reloaded promotional material was in such high demand, that distributors were extremely worried about it being stolen. To combat this, standees and banners were sent out with the code names of “Caddyshack 2” and “The Replacements”. Several cinemas thought they had not received the materials due to these names, and as such, did not display them until the last minute.
  • The Matrix Reloaded is a highest grossing film in the series.
  • The Keymaker, while explaining how Neo will reach the Architect, says they will have to knock out 27 blocks of power and they will have exactly 314 seconds before the power begins to reroute. In the Bible, the 27th book of the New Testament (Revelation) chapter 3, verse 14 speaks of being a witness to the source of creation (which in the Matrix is the Architect).
  • Total Film magazine says this film contains “the worst line ever delivered in a mainstream Hollywood film.” The line of dialogue is: “Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of The Matrix.”

Talking Points:

  • Wire work and fight scenes weren’t as crisp – looked fake
  • What was the point of spending 5 minutes on the rave/dance/orgy scene?
  • Was anyone expecting to be flying inside a virtual vagina?
  • The Freeway scene
  • The whole assimilation angle was cool…especially that people who went in the matrix could be.

What We’ve Learned:

  • There’s no point in old men making points
  • You do not truly know someone until you fight them (fight club?)
  • You can never see past the choices we don’t understand
  • Some things never change……and some things do.
  • Swearing in french is like wiping your ass with silk
  • Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without
  • Denial is the most predictable of all human emotions

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Fighting, Euphoric Orgy In A Cave, Bullet time. Love it. Good movie? Not really.
Ray: This was the one before we stepped completely out of wonderland… fortunately the philosophical babble doesn’t get ultra heavy until the last 20 minutes of the film. Contains one of the best car chase scenes ever filmed
Steve: I like the concept of this one. Definitely takes the original to the next level. Exciting and full of twists and turns.

The Present: Cowboys & Aliens
Rotten Tomatoes: 44% Fresh, 60% Audience

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde

Trivia:

  • Robert Downey Jr. was set to play Jake Lonergan, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
  • Daniel Craig was chosen because of his distinct likeness to Yul Brynner, who starred in the cowboy epic The Magnificent Seven.
  • Daniel Craig recommended Eva Green for the role of Ella after working with her in Casino Royale. However, Eva turned the role down and Olivia Wilde was cast.
  • An early draft of the screenplay was written by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer.
  • This is DreamWorks’s third comic-book adaptation, after Road to Perdition and Over the Hedge.
  • The filmmakers cite Alien and Predator as an influence on the look of aliens in the film.
  • Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman described the film as “Unforgiven with aliens landing.”
  • Director Jon Favreau was constantly harassed with demands to shoot/convert the film in 3-D, but he held his ground, claiming Westerns should only be shot on film.
  • Steven Spielberg screened The Searchers and Close Encounters of the Third Kind for Roberto Orci and Jon Favreau so that they could get the atmosphere of the film.
  • Roberto Orci feels that the title, humorous as it may sound, will raise interest and put people off guard about the film, which will surprise them.
  • Harrison Ford wanted to go bareheaded in the film and not wear a hat (he is most famous for his performance in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones films, where Jones wore a fedora), but since it was a Western film he was convinced to wear a hat. In American Graffiti , Harrison Ford was asked to cut his hair (to go bareheaded with a period haircut) for the film. He refused, stating that his role was too short, and offered to wear a hat instead.
  • Once again, with the involvement of Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford is cast opposite a James Bond, in this case, Daniel Craig. The last time was when he worked opposite Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Craig has also appeared in ‘The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert (1999)’.
  • In the final scene of the movie, a “Southland Ice Company” ice wagon is shown. Southland Ice Company is the predecessor company to 7-11 stores.
  • As with most films distributed by Universal Pictures, there is a brief promo after the end credits for Universal Studios. However, the promo used at the end of this movie uses the decidedly 1960s era ad to promote the Universal Studios back lot tour in Hollywood, California. This promo was replaced in 1990 when Universal Studios opened a second location in Orlando, Florida and changed its logo.

Talking Points:

  • Did you buy the combination? True Grit meets Super 8?
  • “Use the Glaive” (Film Sack Krull reference)
  • Continuity error! When Jake was riding across the plain, no cuff…when he comes up the hill on close up, cuff!
  • Point of taking the people? To learn weaknesses?
  • Harrison Ford
  • Olivia Wilde’s character
  • What did you think of Jake?
  • The aliens

What We Learned:

  • Only 2 Kinds of men get shot, Criminals and Victims
  • God Doesn’t care who you were, just who you are.
  • Kissing makes you stop thinking.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I quite enjoyed this movie, but I could easily just watch this movie on DVD at home. See it in the theatres if you want, but okay to wait for the DVD.
Ray: I Liked it. I’m not sure why its getting all the bad word of mouth
Steve: I liked it. Wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it.

The Future: The Adventures of Tin Tin

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and Daniel Craig

Trivia:

  • Thomas Brodie-Sangster was originally set to play the titular character, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Jamie Bell, who had worked with Peter Jackson on King Kong, then came aboard to play Tintin.
  • The first animated film directed by Steven Spielberg.
  • In the early 1980s, Steven Spielberg hired E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial writer Melissa Mathison to write a draft of the script. Her script featured a battle in Africa between Tintin and ivory poachers.
  • After Simon Pegg had completed How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Steven Spielberg invited him to the film’s set and offered him the role of Thomson.
  • Originally, Steven Spielberg was going to do a live-action adaptation of Tintin, and called Peter Jackson to ask if his VFX company Weta Digital would work on the film, in particular creating a CGI Snowy. Jackson, as it turned out, was a longtime fan of Tintin, and convinced Spielberg that live action would not do justice to the comic books, and that motion capture was the best way of representing Hergé’s world of Tintin. However, Snowy would still be CGI.
  • Steven Spielberg has always shot his films traditionally, but since he was going to film what he saw was an animated film he didn’t mind shooting it digitally.
  • Claude Berri and Roman Polanski were interested in directing.
  • Screenwriter Steven Moffat claims he was “love-bombed” by Steven Spielberg into writing the script for this film, with Spielberg promising to shield him from studio interference with his writing.
  • Steven Moffat finished a draft of the script, but could not polish it because of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and afterwards becoming executive producer of Doctor Who. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson amiably allowed him to leave and fulfill his duty to the series (Jackson being a fan of the Doctor), and brought in Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish to rewrite Moffat’s draft.
  • This is Steven Spielberg’s first comic-book adaptation. He had earlier been considered to do Superman.
  • Steven Spielberg has been an avid fan of ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ comic books since 1981, when a review compared Raiders of the Lost Ark to Tintin. His secretary bought him French-language editions of each book, but Spielberg did not have to understand them: he immediately fell in love with its art. Meanwhile, ‘Tintin’ creator Hergé became a fan of Spielberg (reports say he “thought Spielberg was the only person who could ever do Tintin justice.”)
  • When the film was in development in 1984, Steven Spielberg wanted Jack Nicholson to play Captain Haddock.
  • This is Andy Serkis’s third collaboration with Peter Jackson, as well as his third motion-capture role (he had earlier played the creatures Gollum and King Kong in features directed by Jackson). Sometime after being cast, Serkis joked that he was worried Peter Jackson would cast him as Tintin’s dog Snowy.
  • To prepare for his role as Captain Haddock, Andy Serkis read the majority of the “Tintin” comics. He later commented that they had a surreal quality, similar to the Monty Python films.
  • ‘Danny deVito’ was considered for the role of Senor Oliveira de Figueira, but the character was cut from the script.
  • Daniel Craig (Red Rackham) had collaborated with Toby Jones in Infamous and Jamie Bell in Defiance, and appeared in the Steven Spielberg film Munich.
  • According to Steven Spielberg, when shooting he always keeps one eye closed when framing a shot, so that he can visualize the film in 2D (“the way viewers would”). But on this film he had both of his eyes open, as it was 3D and he wanted to treat the film like live-action.
  • During filming, Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Daldry and David Fincher paid a visit to the set.
  • Steven Spielberg’s cinematographer Janusz Kaminski was brought on to act as a lighting consultant for Weta, as Jackson wanted the film to look “film noir-ish, and very atmospheric.”
  • Steven Spielberg shot his portion of the film in 32 days (taking up March 2009). Peter Jackson was present for the first week of filming, and supervised the rest of the shoot via a specially made iChat videoconferencing program. Simon Pegg said Jackson’s voice would “be coming over the Tannoy like God.”
  • Steven Spielberg enjoyed working with the virtual camera so much, he did a lot of his own camera work in the movie.
  • Michael Kahn has collaborated with Steven Spielberg as an editor for over 30 years. He has always cut his movies on a Moviola and KEM when working with Spielberg. This will be his first movie that he will cut digitally with Spielberg using Avid (though he has cut movies digitally before, such as Twister).

Talking Points:

  • Who is this film for?

Summary:

Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock’s ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: The film noir nostalgic aspect of this movie is making me want to see this.
Ray: Animated… Spielberg… Jackson… nuff said for me.
Steve: Looks interesting. I don’t know anything about Tin Tin, so I suppose I would need to in order to really grow interest.

Coming Attractions
The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV041: “More Human than Human”

Do androids dream of electric sheep? Can an identity be stolen completely in just a couple of days? Can you really solve a mystery by jumping back to the last 8 minutes of someone’s life? All this and news on this week’s COL Movies.

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The Past: Blade Runner (1982)

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Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Howard, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

Trivia:

  • While the film is loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”, the title comes from a book by Alan Nourse called “The Bladerunner”. William S. Burroughs wrote a screenplay based on the Nourse book and a novella entitled “Blade Runner: A Movie.”Ridley Scott bought the rights to the title but not the screenplay or the book. The Burroughs composition defines a blade runner as “a person who sells illegal surgical instruments”
  • Although Philip K. Dick saw only the opening 20 minutes of footage prior to his death on March 2, 1982, he was extremely impressed, and has been quoted by Paul Sammon as saying, “It was my own interior world. They caught it perfectly.” However neither Ridley Scott nor screenwriter David Webb Peoples actually read Dick’s novel.
  • Exasperated crews often referred to the film as “Blood Runner”.
  • Titles considered for the film include ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’, ‘Android’, ‘Mechanismo’, ‘Dangerous Days’, and finally ‘Blade Runner’. After the film had changed its name from ‘Dangerous Days’ to ‘Blade Runner’, Ridley Scott decided he didn’t like the new name, and tried to call the film ‘Gotham City’, but Bob Kane (comic book creator of Batman) wouldn’t sell the rights to the name, so it returned to being called ‘Blade Runner’.
  • Originally, the novel (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) was set in 1992, although later editions brought the date forward to 2021. The film makers initially identified the date as 2020, but settled on 2019 because 2020 sounded too much like the common term for perfect vision, 20:20.
  • Ridley Scott cast Rutger Hauer in the role of Roy Batty without actually meeting the actor. He had watched his performances in Turkish Delight (1973), Keetje Tippel (1975) and Soldier of Orange (1977) and was so impressed, he cast him immediately. However, for their first meeting, Hauer decided to play a joke on Scott and he turned up wearing huge green sunglasses, pink satin pants and a white sweater with an image of a fox on the front. According to production executive Katherine Haber, when Scott saw Hauer, he literally turned white.
  • Ridley Scott actually turned down directorial duties on the project as he was about to begin work on another science fiction adaptation, Dune

Talking Points:

  • All the different versions, deleted scenes not withstanding do you feel the studio was right in insisting Ridley Scott put Harrison Ford’s voice over into the movie?
  • Theatrical Release
  • International Release
  • Directors Cut
  • Final Cut
  • Work-print
  • Was this the Inception of its day? (controversy wise, not popularity wise) Is Deckard a replicant or no? Even the cast doesn’t agree…. Scott says yes, Ford and Hauer say no.

What We’ve Learned:

  • In 8 years, Los Angeles will somehow merge into Detroit
  • In 8 years we will have flying cars
  • The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long
  • Nothing is worse than having an itch that you can never scratch
  • “It’s time to die!”
  • It sucks to only have 4 years to live.
  • Adama is good at Origami

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: A sci-fi classic. Must have for any geek.
Ray: A very cerebral sci-fi flick, I don’t think anyone has nailed sci-fi / noir quite as well as this movie. still holding up after almost 30 years!
Steve: Always an amazing movie. However…this particular cut leaves some WTF moments. All depends on which version you cherish.

The Present: Unknown

Director: Juame Collet-Serra

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aiden Quinn

Trivia:

  • Principal photography took place in early 2010 in Berlin, Germany, and in the Studio Babelsberg film studios.
  • The bridge the taxi plunges from is the Oberbaumbrücke.
  • The Friedrichstraße was blocked for several nights for the shooting of a car chase.
  • Some of the shooting was done in the Hotel Adlon. Other locations include the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin Central Station, Berlin Friedrichstraße station, Pariser Platz, Museum Island, the Oranienburger Straße in Berlin, and the Leipzig/Halle Airport.
  • According to Andrew Rona, the budget was $40 million. Dark Castle Entertainment contributed $30 million and German public film funds supported the production with €4,65 million (more than $6 million).
  • The film has received mixed to positive reviews, scoring 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 5.8/10, with the general consensus being “Liam Neeson elevates the proceedings considerably, but Unknown is ultimately too derivative — and implausible — to take advantage of its intriguing premise”.
  • Considerable praise has been placed on Neeson in the lead role and the unique premise of the film, and has comparisons with Neeson’s 2008 film Taken.
    * Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, reflecting “At times, Unknown stretches plausibility to the near breaking point, but it’s so well paced and the performances are so strong and most of the questions are ultimately answered. This is a very solid thriller.”

Talking Points:

  • So.. we figured this one out a long time ago.. but there was still a twist.

What We Learned:

  • Ask enough questions and the man who is lying will change his story
  • Germans are good at forgetting
  • Sentiment is always the first thing to go.
  • Don’t get your cyanide mixed up with your afternoon tea
  • There are obviously no patrol cars anywhere in Berlin

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: It’s a movie with a nice twist and resolution. Just wish it was better written.
Ray: Not Brilliant, Not Horrible, Once I got over the whole Total Recall thing and just relaxed.. it was entertaining. actors do a good job,… there is a twist at the end if you can stay entertained long enough to stay to the end.
Steve: I was a bad, bad movie reviewer. Life got in the way… I repent!

The Future: Source Code (4-1-2011)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farminga

Trivia:

  • Topher Grace was considered for lead

Talking Points:

  • A dark version of groundhog day?

Summary:
An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Interesting, feels like it might be a good movie, but feeling like it might go horribly wrong.
Ray: I think it looks entertaining, enough to go see.. which is why i put it on our list 😀
Steve: Very Groundhog’s Day meets Quantum Leap…but with a higher budget. Looks interesting and seems like something I’d enjoy.

Coming Attractions
The Past

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The Present

The Future

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MOV038: “Fuck Me Your Majesty”

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

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The Past: American Beauty (1999)

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Director: Sam Mendes

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Thora Birc

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

What We’ve Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

Intermission: Top 10 Best Picture

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

The Present: The Rite

Director: Mikael Håfström

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

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

What We Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

The Future: Cowboys & Aliens

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

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

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

Trailer:

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

Coming Attractions
The Past

The Present

The Future

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