Tag Archives: Jeremy Renner

MOV118: “I Aim To Misbehave”

In this reel of COL Movies, Ray and Jeff lament again for the missing Steven. When, WHEN will he come back. In the meantime they discuss the ever Shiny Firefly movie, Serenity. After a bit of reminiscing on show that never should have ended, they bring themselves to the present for The Bourne Legacy. In the future, they take a peak at Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. This and . . . and . . . well nothing else. It’s the 118th reel of COL Movies “I Aim To Misbehave”

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The Past: Serenity
Rotten Tomatoes 82% Fresh 89% Audience

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Director: Joss Whedon

Staring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, Ron Glass, Summer Glau, Jewel Staite

Trivia:

  • When the Operative reviews Mal’s file, it shows his birth date as 9/20/2468. Firefly premiered 9/20/2002. Writer/producer Ben Edlund’ was born 9/20/1968.
  • According to Adam Baldwin, Jayne’s mini-gun is nicknamed “Lux”, after LuxLucre, devoted fan Kerry Pearson’s message board handle. Pearson, who died of complications of diabetes, was best known for creating fan art featuring characters from Firefly in a South Park cartoon style.
  • In the cargo bay, just after a Reaver is shot, some of the crates behind River have the message “Reusable Container: Do Not Destroy” printed on them. It’s an inside joke. The ship set had to be rebuilt from scratch for the movie because the original, from the show, was destroyed.
  • Universal Studios took the unusual step of allowing early previews of the unfinished film. The first preview was in November 2004 in California’s San Fernando Valley, when the release date was still early 2005. Further previews happened on May 5, 2005 (10 cities), May 26, 2005 (20 cities), and June 23, 2005 (35 cities). On July 22, 2005, a preview was held on Queensland, Australia’s Gold Coast.
  • The first Universal film released on HD-DVD (High Definition DVD).
  • The coffee maker in Serenity’s dining room/kitchen is an F.A. Porsche Design, made by Siemens.
  • EASTER EGG: From the main menu screen, keep clicking “left” until you light up a triangle with a dot in the center on the right side of the screen. The icon will take you to the full Fruity Oaty Bar commercial. In the DVD commentary, Joss Whedon admitted that he wanted the commercial to be as odd as possible. He said it was heavily inspired by the “Mr. Sparkle” advertisement from The Simpsons: In Marge We Trust The uncredited actor in the commercial and the Easter Egg segment is Robert Michael Lee.
  • Malcolm’s Social Control number is 099,836,5,4112.
  • The keyboard Mal uses to transmit the signal from Mr. Universe’s basement is a Micro Innovations Web Office Pro Keyboard.
  • This is the first film for which a digital cinema distribution master was made using the new DCI standards using JPEG2000 compression and a 12 bit 4:4:4 XYZ color space.
  • The cannon the crew mounts to Serenity is a WW2 German 20mm Flak 38.
  • Among the buildings shown in the opening sequence (where voice-over narration describes the “terraforming” process) are the Emirates Towers, key features of the skyline of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. A skyscraper in the foreground of the same shot is based on designs by Sir Norman Foster (Lord Foster), including the Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt and the HSBC building in Hong Kong.
  • Morena Baccarin provides the voice for the security terminal in the records room.
  • To put River to sleep, Dr. Simon Tam says, “Eta Kooram Nah Smech!,” Russian for “This is very ridiculous” (literally “This is for hens to laugh!”).
  • Concept art for the film reveals that many of the weapons are based on paintball markers, with a propellant-tank mount point at the bottom of the rear grip, and an “expansion chamber”-style fore grip.
  • The DVD of Serenity was flown up to the International Space Station by astronaut Steven Swanson on board the shuttle Atlantis during its June 2007 STS-117 mission.
  • Mal’s drink of choice, Ng Ka Py, is a Chinese brandy. it appears in his quarters, and he ordered it in the first scene of Firefly: The Train Job.
  • The cast had a running gag where they would yell Summer Glau’s name whenever any of them flubbed a line or forgot to do something. It originated on Firefly when she forgot her line at the end of a very long and difficult scene. (Nathan Fillion, Morena Baccarin and Sean Maher can be seen doing this on the DVD blooper reel.)
  • Joss Whedon’s feature film directorial debut.
  • In his DVD commentary, Joss Whedon said Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau and Sean Maher performed many of their own stunts. Glau, a trained dancer, used her dancing skills in River’s two fights. For the second fight, the cameraman, who was also a dancer, moved through a gap around the combatants to achieve the movie’s dynamic camera angles.
  • According to the director commentary, Mal’s line “Faster would be better” was ad-libbed by Nathan Fillion when Joss Whedon told him to “say something Mal would say.”
  • Though the Trade Agent (the elderly man in the Trade Station who unlocks the safe) is played by Weston Nathanson, his voice was dubbed by Joss Whedon. According to Whedon, several of the stand-in voices from the early post-production stage remain in the final film, among them this and Morena Baccarin’s voice as the computer at the beginning of the film.
  • The events of the film take place six months after Firefly: Objects in Space, the final episode of the TV series. “Those Left Behind,” a three-issue comic book series written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews, published by Dark Horse comics, and released during summer 2005, bridges that six-month gap.
  • The first nine minutes of Serenity were made available online as a promotion in advance of its theatrical release. Between the online release and the theatrical release, the brief cut to Alliance security personnel was changed from blue to red.
  • Ranked #5 in Rotten Tomatoes “50 Best TV Adaptations of All Time”
  • Though she did say all the lines, the actress that plays young River was dubbed over by Summer Glau to make the connection easier.
  • In addition to Book’s Christianity, which was established during the series, characters also practice Buddhism (Inara lights “incense” in front of a Buddha shrine in her room) and Judaism (Mr. Universe steps on a glass at the end of his wedding). In Firefly: The Message, the Postal Agent was wearing a yarmulke (kippah), which is worn by Orthodox Jews.
  • According to visual effects supervisor Loni Peristere, the Reaver ships are conceived along the lines of “muscle cars that look like Leatherface,” each representing a mask the Reavers wear. [Paste Magazine interview, October 4, 2005]
  • According to commentary, the crew made a mistake when building the mule hovercraft seen during the first chase sequence with the Reavers at the opening of the film. Zoe, Mal, Jayne, and River were all riding in the mule during the chase. In dialogue, when Zoe asks Mal why he didn’t save the man who begged them to take him with them during their escape, Mal responded that “The mule won’t run with five”. The production crew had accidentally built the mule with five seats, an initial oversight.
  • Summer Glau trained intensely with the fight choreographers for three months before principal photography began.
  • Originally, Joss Whedon wanted Greg Edmonson, who had scored the TV series, to score the movie. Edmonson couldn’t, so Whedon brought in composer Carter Burwell. After discussing the movie and submitting some demos, Burwell left the project due to differing opinions. Music executives at Universal insisted that Whedon hire a more familiar composer. Eventually David Newman was brought on to score the movie.
  • During Mal’s conversation with Inara over the wave, four of Mal’s scars are visible. All are from wounds he received during Firefly. The one on his chest was inflicted by Crow in Firefly: The Train Job. The one near his diaphragm is from a gunshot wound inflicted during Firefly: Out of Gas. The one on his side is from his duel with Atherton Wing in Firefly: Shindig. The one on his left shoulder is from the bullet graze in the pilot.
  • The opening credits appear 10 minutes into the film. They are shown in a 4 minute, unbroken take through different decks of Serenity.
  • According to the Official Serenity Companion, Whedon said that there was a “strong possibility” that Wash and Book would return if there was a Serenity sequel, although he acknowledged that it would have to be done in a way the audience would buy.
  • Mal mentions a poem that he has read about an Albatross. This is a reference to “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
  • Spoilers
  • According to a Q&A with Joss Whedon and the cast after the premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, there were at least 20 separate takes of Simon and Kaylee’s final make-out scene in the engine room. Take #20 was used in the final cut.
  • The futuristic-looking handcuffs used on River are Clejuso Number 13s, the second heaviest handcuffs in use at the time.
  • During the funeral scene, Kaylee wears a medallion with the doubled Chinese character for joy/happiness/cheer, a symbol often used in weddings.
  • Summer Glau has said that she pitched the idea of River becoming a pilot during the Firefly television series. In this film, River finally becomes a co-pilot of Serenity.
  • Body count: 74
  • After they find the first body in the white city, a strange kind of stairway with a ramp appears. It’s an exact copy of the stairs in Robson Square in Vancouver, BC, Canada, designed by Arthur Erickson.
  • Several of the Reaver ships in the final battle are Alliance ships with different paint schemes.
  • On Miranda, the crew discovers dead citizens in a sealed room. The body of an old man in a lab coat wearing golden shoes appears just before River starts talking in Chinese. The shoes are Nike Flightposite III basketball shoes designed for Kevin Garnett, introduced around 2001.
  • According to Joss Whedon’s DVD commentary, the most difficult scene for sound was Simon and River’s final scene, after Simon is shot. Sean Maher and Summer Glau developed a strong bond during production of Firefly. Sean’s acting was so good that Summer kept bursting into tears whenever they attempted to shoot the scene.
  • According to his DVD commentary, Joss Whedon said the planet Miranda would’ve been discovered at the end of the second season if the show had been a success.
  • The funeral scene includes several real funeral customs. Zoë wears a white dress, the traditional Chinese color of mourning. Small rocks are placed on the grave markers of Mr. Universe, Book, and Wash, from the Jewish tradition of mourners placing a small stone on the grave at every visit.
  • Shepherd Book’s tombstone reveals his first name, Derrial. Wash’s tombstone shows that his full name is Hoban Washburne.
  • After Mr. Universe betrays the crew to the Alliance, he turns to the Operative and demands his “thirty coin,” a reference to Judas betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
  • Joss Whedon revealed that the reason Wash and Book were killed off in the movie was because Alan Tudyk and Ron Glass could not commit to sequels. Universal Pictures wanted all the main actors who would appear in the sequels to be contractually available, meaning Whedon had to find a way of getting Tudyk and Glass out of the story. (In his original script, before he knew they couldn’t commit, all members of the crew survived, with Zoe and Wash promising to have children together.) Despite this Whedon has also revealed that there was a “strong possibility” that Wash and Book would return if a sequel ever was made — indicating that he had plans to find a way to bring them back.

Talking Points:

  • Did you watch the show?
  • Does this movie appeal to non fans?
  • Favorite Character?

What We Learned:

  • People don’t like to be Meddled with.
  • A hero is someone who gets other people killed
  • Half of writing history, is hiding the truth.
  • If you can’t do something smart, do something right.
  • Can’t stop the signal

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: This was an excellent end to the Series that should not have ended so soon. A little upset about the deaths in the story but otherwise Whedon just can’t do wrong with this universe. Watch the Series, then watch the movie.
Ray: It’s a fun movie, and a nice send off to a very entertaining TV show. If you’ve never seen it then do yourself a favor and take the time to watch the series first.

The Present: The Bourne Legacy
Rotten Tomatoes 54% Rotten, 60% Audience

Director: Tony Gilroy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton

Trivia:

  • Before this movie was seriously considered, director Paul Greengrass jokingly suggested to make a fourth Bourne movie called “The Bourne Redundancy”.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Alex Pettyfer, Joel Edgerton, Taylor Kitsch, Kellan Lutz, Josh Hartnett, Paul Dano, Luke Evans, Michael Pitt, Oscar Isaac, Benjamin Walker and Erryn Arkin were considered to play the lead role.
  • When asked about his most difficult scene, Jeremy Renner revealed that it was the motorcycle ride with Rachel Weisz behind him in Manila, because he was responsible for the two of them. At the press conference of the film, Weisz was asked about this particular stunt, “How was it to ride on a motorcycle through Manila with Jeremy Renner?” and she said that “It was really terrifying! Jeremy never told me when we were in Manila, but that was the scariest stunt for him because he was responsible for my life. He didn’t tell me that in Manila, thank god, because I would have been like, ‘Oh, my god!’ I just had to surrender and hold on. I didn’t have to act. It just was terrifying”.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I think this was a very . . . nice movie. I got bored at points and felt like the movie was dragging a little but it also didn’t feel like a 2 hour movie. Liked the action, story was okay, it was fun. It was alright.
Ray: Very much like good Chinese food, tastes great while your eating it, but your hungry again an hour later. I think Renner did a great Job and can totally hold an action movie on his own, it’s unfortunate that it was this movie.

The Future: Django Unchained
Release: December 25, 2012

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio

Summary:

Django is a slave living in the Deep South after having been separated from his wife Broomhilda. When Django is held for a slave auction, Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter, frees Django from his vicious masters, the Speck brothers and gives him the option of hunting down and killing the Brittle Brothers, a ruthless gang of killers whom only Django has seen. In return, Schultz will free Django from slavery completely and help rescue Broomhilda from the plantation of the charming but ruthless Francophile owner, Calvin Candie.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Quentin Tarantino, revenge movie, alot of killing, sold.
Ray: It’s going to be a very interesting Christmas!

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV113: “Je doutais qu’il vienne”

This week we start off with a little known feature called Heavenly Creatures, a movie by lord of the epic movie quadrillogies, Peter Jackson and staring a then unknown Kate Winslet. Does this true crime biopic surprise us or is it just too bizarre? Next up we swing on over to the present to look at the long awaited reboot of your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler The Amazing Spiderman. Find out if we feel it’s truly amazing, or truly unnecessary. Finally we look to the future to talk about The Bourne Legacy. Does this not quite reboot look to live up to the Bourne Legacy? Or will we be Bourned out of our minds? All this plus news about Skyfall casting, An unexpected split of Mockingjay, and The Great Gary Mitchell controversy on this 113th reel of COL Movies: Je doutais qu’il vienne

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News:

The Past: Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Fresh; 81% Audience

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Director: Peter Jackson

Staring: Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet, Sarah Peirse

Trivia:

  • Based on a true life murder by the movie’s main characters – Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme.
  • Short video version also available on Investigation Discovery’s show “Deadly Women”, Season 3, Episode 8 – “Fatal Obsession”
  • Almost all locations used for filming were the genuine locations where the events occurred. The tea shop where Honora Parker ate her last meal was knocked down a few days after the shoot ended. According to director Peter Jackson, when they got to the location of the murder on the dirt path, it was eerily quiet; the birds stopped singing, and it didn’t seem right. So they moved along a couple of hundred yards.
  • Juliet Hulme was revealed to be mystery writer Anne Perry who came forward and revealed her real identity in 1994 during the making of the film, but all attempts to find Pauline Parker failed. In 1997, Pauline Parker was finally traced to a rundown cottage on a farm near Strood, Kent, England, where she currently runs a children’s riding school. Since assuming the name of Hilary Nathan, she has become a devout Catholic and devoted her life to handicapped children..
  • Orson Welles’ photograph in the stream is a reference to a similar shot in The Third Man.
  • All of the journal voice-overs are direct from real diary entries made by Pauline Parker. The characters in the stories (if not the stories themselves) and make-believe world are also authentic.
  • Kate Winslet was one of 175 girls who auditioned for the role of Juliet Hulme.
  • Melanie Lynskey was cast as Pauline Parker two weeks before filming began. Co-writer Fran Walsh discovered her at the last minute while scouring local high schools for Parker lookalikes.
  • A picture on the wall in Pauline’s bedroom is a photograph of the real Juliet Hulme.
  • The feature film debut for stars Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet.
  • Producer Jim Booth passed away shortly after the production was complete. The film is dedicated to his memory.
  • Co-writer Fran Walsh suggested the idea of making the Parker-Hulme murder into a film to director Peter Jackson. Walsh said she had a fascination with the murder since childhood.
  • Since the Parker-Hulme murder had been an infamous crime that was strongly sensationalized in New Zealand history Jackson decided rather than do a film that would be a historical look back at the crime to instead create a drama about Parker and Hulme’s intense friendship. In addition to reading Pauline Parker’s diary Jackson and company undertook a nation wide search for anyone who had known the girls and interviewed them to get a closer look at their life.
  • Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet were so strongly into their roles that they would interact with each other as their characters off screen.
  • Time listed this film as one of their 10 best films of 1994.
  • Most of the cast was selected because of their physical resemblances to their real-life characters.
  • Both Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet went on to find fame and popularity in roles with the character name of Rose: Lynskey in Two and a Half Men and Winslet in Titanic.
  • Peter Jackson makes a cameo as the homeless man kissed by Juliet outside the theater.
  • The special effects in the film were handled by the then newly-created Weta Digital.
  • The film has garnered critical praise, and was an Academy Award nominee in 1994 for Best Original Screenplay. It featured in a number of international film festivals, and received very favourable reviews worldwide, including making top ten of the year lists in Time, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The New Zealand Herald.

Talking Points:

  • Too bizarre?

Critic Notes

  • Positives: Jackson does an amazing job creating the world worth killing for; Outstanding performances from the leads; Powerful and evocative
  • Negatives: Very few negative comments, but – Jackson can’t decide what kind of movie he’s making, the switching from melodrama to “fantasy land” is abrupt and jarring; tension is high for most of the movie, but it fizzles out by the end

What We Learned:

  • A brick in a pair of nylons can be a murder weapon.
  • Affairs are much more exciting than marriages.
  • All the best people have bad chests and bone diseases.
  • Only the best people fight against all obstacles in pursuit of happiness.
  • Orson Wells is the most hideous man alive (well, was at time the movie was set).
  • Everyone should live by the motto: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may be dead.
  • The Fourth World… it’s sort of like heaven. Only better, because there aren’t any Christians!
  • Peter Jackson excels at making people look creepy
  • Homosexuality can strike at any time and is great for weight loss
  • “Je doutais qu’il vienne” is in fact the spoken subjunctive

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Wow, was this a boring film. I just couldn’t get into it an just wanted to switch to something that was actually interesting. Definitely not a film for me.
Ray:It was really nice to see some of Peter Jackson’s earlier serious work. Having seen what he did with The Lovely Bones helps make this film make a little more sense.. It can be a little bizarre in that Black Swan sort of way..so if your not tolerant or don’t enjoy a bizarre look into the mind of someone who is disturbed… stay away.
Steve: I didn’t think I was going to like it as much as I did. Although I didn’t know it was a true crime, I picked up some hints that it reminded me about something I’d seen in the past and “bam”, I found the info. Once I knew that, I liked it a lot more. Winslet was awesome for this being her first film!

The Present: The Amazing Spider-Man

Rotten Tomatoes: 74% Fresh; 84% Audience

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary

Trivia:

  • In early January 2010, Sony announced that they cancelled their idea of making “Spider-Man 4” with director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire, who started their work together on Spider-Man, and instead decided to re-boot the Spider-Man franchise with a new story and crew.
  • On selecting Andrew Garfield to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man, director Marc Webb said, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”
  • This film marks the first time Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) becomes The Lizard on film. Although Curt Connors appeared in the original Sam Raimi films, played by Dylan Baker, the character never became the Lizard despite some strong hints.
  • This is the first “Spider-Man” film to not feature Spider-Man’s perennial love interest Mary-Jane Watson (in the original three films played by Kirsten Dunst). Instead, Peter Parker’s original girlfriend Gwen Stacy appears (who had been played by Bryce Dallas Howard in the third film).
  • All four Spider-Man films have filmed on the Universal Studios Hollywood back lot. Ironically symbolic of the series itself, portions of the back lot burned down on June 1, 2008, meaning that first three used the old back lot while this reboot uses the new back lot.
  • Originally the Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson had a place in the script and J.K. Simmons was going to reprise the role from the Raimi films; later John Slattery, Sam Elliott and R. Lee Ermey were considered for the role. However, with the shift of the focus to high school, the newspaper angle was removed from the script.
  • Rhys Ifans rejected his stunt doubles, and insisted on performing all his own stunts as the Lizard.
  • For his role as the Lizard, Rhys Ifans wore a special motion-capture suit: “I had a green suit on, and then this cardboard head, and these big claws. It was the most fucking insane thing I’d ever done…”
  • When first wearing the Spider-Man costume Andrew Garfield admitted to shedding tears.
  • In this film Captain George Stacy is strongly opposed to Spider-Man’s activities, and Gwen Stacy is both aware and supportive of Peter Parker’s role as Spider-Man. This is in stark contrast to the comics, where George Stacy was a strong supporter of Spider-Man, and confessed on his death bed that he was aware of Peter’s identity, while Gwen Stacy blamed Spiderman for her father’s death, and as such Peter never informed her of his identity.
  • To prepare for his role as Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield studied the movements of spiders and tried to incorporate them as much as he could: “Parker is a boy/spider in terms of how he moves, and not just in the suit.”
  • In this film Spider-Man uses artificial devices to shoot webs, inspired from the original comics where he possessed similar devices for his webbing (only later would he gain his more famous superhuman ability to shoot webs). Marc Webb explained the web-shooters were a creative decision to showcase Peter’s intellect: “We wanted to emphasize that these are things that Peter Parker made and that he is special himself even if he feels like he’s an outsider.”
  • According to costume designer Kym Barrett, the Spider-Man costume was specially designed to resemble an acrobat costume: “We wanted a design that would make the body longer and more lithe, someone incredibly agile; the legs of the spider-symbol on the chest were used to emphasize that.”
  • Denis Leary’s friend Jeff Garlin, a Spider-Man fan, said to him, “The first time I met you, I thought you were George Stacy!” This inspired Leary to audition for the role of Captain Stacy.
  • It was a creative decision by the filmmakers to have most of the stunts performed practically on rigs by actors/stuntmen, rather than extensively use CGI animation. Marc Webb explained they wanted to make the film more physical and thus more realistic. While filming in New York the crew built a whole rig hundreds of feet long over Riverside Drive in Harlem, and Andy Armstrong built a car rig with a series of wires to help with VFX which required an incredible wealth of acrobatics.
  • Released during the 50th Anniversary of Spider-Man.
  • During one scene in Peter’s bedroom, a photo of actor/comedian Donald Glover, is visible. In 2010, when the movie was first announced and initial casting for the role of Spider-Man was underway, Glover used twitter to somewhat jokingly campaign for an audition.
  • The famous line by Ben Parker “With great power comes great responsibility” is not once uttered in the movie, although it is alluded to when Peter and Uncle Ben argue about Peter forgetting to pick up Aunt May.
  • When Spiderman swings through New York at one point he yells, “Hey, I’m swinging here!”. This is in reference to the famous ad-lib by Dustin Hoffman in New York based “Midnight Cowboy”, “Hey, I’m walking here!”.
  • Kirsten Dunst, a Blonde, played the red headed Mary Jane Watson. Emma Stone, commonly a Redhead (though naturally blonde), played a blonde Gwen Stacy.
  • Just inside Peter Parker’s bedroom, next to his door is a wall decoration of a double helix DNA strand splitting at the bottom. Likely a nod to the earlier ‘Spider-Man (2002)’ trilogy where parts of DNA strands are replaced by spider DNA.
  • Wilhelm Scream: when Peter pushes Flash up against the lockers.
  • The Daily Bugle newspaper office (and all associated characters) do not appear in this film, a first for the Spider-Man feature film franchise. However, the newscast featuring the Lizard’s rampage late in the film has a Daily Bugle logo in the bottom corner of the screen.
  • The first live-action Spider-Man motion picture where the villain goes to jail for his crimes.
  • Marc Webb describes the theme of the movie as “the missing piece within all of us: Peter has no parents, and he fills that void with Spider-Man. Curt is not as strong as Spider-Man on the inside, but he wants to get back his arm and fill that void, and essentially he becomes a big bully.”
  • EASTER EGG: When Peter first enters Gwen’s room, there is a stack of books sitting right inside the window through which Peter enters. The book at the top of the stack is the novel “Seabiscuit.” ‘Tobey McGuire’, who portrayed Peter in the original trilogy, also played the lead character in the film adaptation of Seabiscuit. It is quite possible that this detail was included as a tribute to the original trilogy.
  • The link of the main viral marketing site was first revealed in the second trailer in February 2012. The official Twitter account of the same name of the website revealed a scavenger hunt by posting “Property of Peter Parker… Lost” with the longitude and latitude coordinates of direct markets in major cities in the United States. Discovered in these places was a JanSport backpack modeled as Parker’s backpack which contained many items. One of the clues, hidden in the backpack, was a link to a page on the viral site which unlocked countdown timers for the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona. Once the countdown was up, each of the city-specific Twitter accounts for the marketing campaign would send out five different pick-up locations in each city. The given locations had a particular person stationed there to give the first person who had the password a package and the tag-name “operative”. To show their support of Spider-Man, these operatives painted the Spider-Man logo as a graffiti. They also had a chance to unlock the first scene of the film where Peter goes face to face with an intimidating doorman. The main viral website revealed hints to other websites such as a photo blog that was expressed from Peter Parker’s point of view. In the photo blog website, an unlocked puzzle revealed the words “evolve”, “through” and “engineering” which then put together led to another website with design sketches on how to build a web-shooter.

Talking Points:

  • There were so many “possibilities” for this film – changing from college to high school, not including Daily Bugle, not including Black Cat as originally reported, why do you think they made all these changes? To set up for more films?
  • What’s the deal with the post credits short? Thinking Kingpin? Green Goblin?
  • Did Peter reveal he’s Spiderman to May?
  • Fighting style
  • Does all Peter want to do when he’s around Gwen is kiss her?

Critic Notes

  • Positives: Grittier and more touching than previous visions of the hero; New and refreshing reboot; In the vein of dark reboots like Nolan’s Batman; Visually good, but the story is actually complementary if not better; Garfield’s Peter Parker and Spider-Man are very good – if not better than Toby Maguire’s.
  • Negatives: Nothing new or inventive is brought to the table – same old Spider-Man; Not charming as previous versions; too “slap-sticky”; In a summer of superhero movies, this one is forgettable

What We Learned:

  • If you’re going to steal cars, don’t dress like a car thief.
  • We all have secrets: the ones we keep… and the ones that are kept from us.
  • Cops don’t usually wear skintight red and blue suits.
  • It’s fattening and impractical to live in a chocolate house
  • You can get a great cell signal in the NYC sewers.
  • Doormen can be intimidating.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Oh. wow, this was great version of Spiderman, and the casting was great. Definitely would say this is a must see. Still think it would be better if this was done by Marvel directly.
Ray: Action sequences great.. everything else was pretty much a bore for me.. Cant stand the new “geek chic” emo hipster Peter Parker which you have to suffer through for almost an hour before any superheroing starts. For me this was a wait for Home Video title.. my couch is much more comfortable to fall asleep on. The sequel will probably be much more “Amazing” with all of this crappy Origin story out of the way.
Steve: I can’t say I was a huge fan of the recent Spiderman movies. However, there was something about this one that I really did like. I think it was the humor, although it threw me at times. I liked Andrew Garfield a lot, but not Emma Stone. The effects were cool and I liked the 3D, especially for the long swings and stuff (kind of like 3D rollercoasters). I’d give it a B+ overall.

The Future: The Bourne Legacy

Release: August 10, 2012

Director: Tony Gilroy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton

Summary:

Faced with the public and political fallout from the events of The Bourne Ultimatum, the CIA decides to shut down “Operation Outcome,” the successor to “Operation Treadstone.” Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), an agent of Operation Outcome, and Stephanie Snyder (Rachel Weisz), a doctor who helped create the Outcome agents, must find a way to escape before CIA agent Byer (Edward Norton) can have them assassinated.

Talking Points:

  • How do you make a film without the knowledge of the guy who made the series famous?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Fighty fighty, Jeremy Renner. I’m aboard.
Ray: I’m a big fan of the Bourne series and I think this looks like a really interesting continuation of that universe. Really curious to see how Jeremy Renner does when he’s the sole action star focus.
Steve: Looks pretty cool! I like this type of film and even though I might not run out to see it at the theater, I would definitely see it. I like the subversive world of clandestine operations and secret agent stuff. Legacy definitely looks like it’s going to deliver it.

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV104: “We Have A Hulk”

Join us as we strap ourselves into a Jet Car and get our over-thrusters aimed at 1984 to look at the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai across the 8th dimension. Does this Action adventure, sci-fi romantic comedy get the formula right and hold up, or will we wish it never made it out of the 8th..or in this case 80’s dimension. Next we suit up and assemble for the Comic Book Juggernaut that is Marvels The Avengers, Does this long awaited franchise deliver on all the hype it has generated? Finally we head out over the Pacific on the haunted flight 7500. Does this look like it’s going to scare the bejesus out of us, or going to be another snakes on a plane? We also have news about Kick Ass 2, Django Unchained, and Avatar 2, 3, and 4?? All this and more on the 104th Reel of COL Movies “We Have a Hulk”

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News:

The Past: The Adventures of Buckeroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% Fresh, 68% Audience

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Director: W.D. Richter

Starring: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin

Trivia:

  • ​When it came time to film the end titles sequence, where Buckaroo and pals are walking around a dry L.A. aqueduct in step to the music, the music wasn’t ready. Composer ‘Michael Boddicker’ told the film crew to use “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel as a placeholder because it was the exact same tempo. Those scenes were filmed with “Uptown Girl” blaring from a boom box tied to the back of the camera truck.
  • Overall concept and several names appear to be taken from the Doc Savage pulp magazines of the 30’s and 40’s: both main characters are multi-talented surgeons, adventurers, and musicians; and both have an inner circle of sidekicks with nicknames (Renny, Ham, Monk, Long Tom, and Johnny, compared to Reno, New Jersey, Perfect Tommy, and Rawhide).
  • Jamie Lee Curtis played Buckaroo’s mother in a flashback, but this scene was cut. The scene is available on the recent DVD release as an optional prequel to the theatrical version, and as a special feature. Jamie Lee Curtis is visible in a photo on the dashboard of the jet car in the wide-screen version.
  • The latitude and longitude recited by the technicians during the “alignment” of the Oscillation Overthruster are the coordinates of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  • The “oscillation overthruster” device reappeared as a “spectral analyzer” in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Pen Pals.”
  • The US DVD release includes a caption portion entitled “Pinky Caruthers’ Unknown Facts”, which actually adds to the storyline and character development of the film.
  • The “jet car” shown in the film (reportedly a 1982 Ford F-350 pick-up truck) included an actual Cold War-era General Electric turbo jet engine that was borrowed from Northrop University in Inglewood, California.
  • The end of the movie invites the viewer to watch for the upcoming film “Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League”. This was the real title for a sequel that Sherwood Studios planned to make if this film had been successful. Unfortunately, it was a box-office bomb, and Sherwood Studios went bankrupt. After its release on video and cable, however, BB became a cult favorite, much in the same way as Mad Max (which crawled from obscurity to spawn two sequels). Legal wrangling due to the bankruptcy prevented any other studios from picking up the sequel rights, and even years later MGM had to fight through a pile of red tape simply to get the OK to release it on DVD.
  • Some of the dialogue used in the Jet Car sequence is taken directly from Mission Control chatter heard during a shuttle launch countdown.
  • In the original script, Buckaroo was supposed to have an arch enemy named Hanoi Xan, who was never seen but referenced to by Buckaroo and the other characters. All scenes containing dialogue regarding Xan were deleted from the film’s theatrical release but are now available on DVD. Xan was supposed to be the mysterious head of a crime syndicate called the World Crime League and also the man who murdered Buckaroo’s parents and wife Peggy.
  • During the jetcar test, the computer screen that has the graphics shows three different words: SINED, SEELED, and DELIVERED.
  • Lord John Whorfin’s line, “Character is what you are in the dark,” is a quote from the 19th Century evangelist Dwight L. Moody.
  • Many names and terms were taken from Thomas Pynchon’s book “The Crying of Lot 49”, most notably the company name Yoyodyne. To this day, there is a yoyodyne.com, which serves as a fan site for the film. “Yoyodyne” itself was Pynchon’s thinly veiled reference to Rocketdyne, a major defense industry contractor and manufacturer of rocket engines, founded just after WW II to reverse-engineer German V-2 rockets – thereby also making this a further veiled reference to Pynchon’s novel ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’.
  • When John Whorfin calls collect for John Bigboote, he tells the operator he is calling “Grovers Mill.” Grovers Mill was a real-life community in New Jersey which was used in Orson Welles’ famous radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” and is now a part of West Windsor Township in Mercer county.
  • The kanji lettering on Buckaroo Banzai’s headband as he drives the jet car reads “seikatsu-bi”, which appears to be Japanese, but does not make sense. The first two kanji mean living or lifestyle, but the second character, “bi” (not “bei” as has been reported elsewhere) or beautiful, does not add up to coherent Japanese. It seems to suggest the “beautiful life” but these 3 kanji together do not have a particular meaning in Japanese.
  • Banzai’s mentioned but unseen foe Hanoi Xan seems to homage Hanoi Shan. In the genealogical section of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (1973), Philip Jose Farmer added Hanoi Shan to the Wold Newton Universe. Hanoi Shan is an allegedly real-life criminal mastermind documented in the works of criminologist H. Ashton Wolfe. Farmer’s thesis was to make Hanoi Shan the same individual as Sax Rohmer’s totally fictional Dr. Fu Manchu.
  • President Widmark is clearly intended to look and sound like Orson Welles, who directed and starred in the radio presentation of “War of the Worlds” referenced in the film.
  • Between his escape from the insane asylum and his ransom call, the movie’s main villain, John Worfin, is not seen for more than 42 straight minutes – over 40% of the film’s runtime.
  • On “At the Movies” in 1984 just before the film’s release, Gene Siskel correctly guessed that the movie would attain cult status.
  • Both Peter Weller and John Lithgow went on to appear on the hit TV show Dexter. Lithgow played the Trinity Killer in season 4 and Weller played a corrupt cop in season 5.
  • John Lithgow’s dialect coach, Roberto Terminelli, was actually a tailor on the Fox lot with a heavy Italian accent. John had Roberto speak his lines from the script into a tape recorder, which he then used to practice the accent. John then got him credit in the movie as the dialect coach for his help.

Talking Points:

  • ​What makes a movie a “Cult” movie.

Critic Notes

  • Positives: 24+/10- on Rotten Tomatoes: Oddball in a good way, offbeat way to poke fun at pop culture, pure nutty fun
  • Negatives: Too many characters, non-flowing plot is hard to follow, comes off like being on a receiving end of an inside joke that you’re not an insider on, violates every rule of storytelling

What We Learned:

  • Ford F-350’s make excellent jet cars despite them having the aerodynamic properties of a brick wall.
  • No matter where you go, there you are.
  • A quadrillionth has a lot of zeros
  • Buckaroo Bonzai and the Hong Kong Caviliers sported hipster glasses before they were cool
  • Don’t leave the keys in your helicopter
  • There’s a long form and a short form declaration of war.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Irreverent, weird, random, awesome. A classic 80’s sci fi comedy, I’d definitely recommend a look see.
Ray: Well, this is a movie that I have fond memories of, however it’s not really holding up to my expectations.. it is a quirky strange look into B sci fi movies of the 80’s though. It might be fun to watch with a group of friends who are old enough to remember this one… but not sure I’d recommend it to someone who’s never seen it before unless I know for sure this is their kind of movie.
Steve: Not my thing. Too schizophrenic for me. I find no real plot in this movie and it’s just not my cup of tea. Skip it unless you’re in the cult.

Intermission: Flickchart

The Present: The Avengers
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Fresh ; 96% Audience

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson

Trivia:

  • Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role from The Incredible Hulk but negotiations between him and Marvel Studios broke down. Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo.
  • The first Marvel film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
  • Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as The Hulk, Joaquin Phoenix was rumored for the part.
  • Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Cobie Smulders screen tested for the role of Agent Maria Hill. Smulders was eventually cast.
  • Lou Ferrigno voices the Hulk in this film. He has played the Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978: he played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk and its subsequent three TV specials, and he voiced the Hulk in the big-screen The Incredible Hulk (he was seen in Hulk but it was a cameo role as a security guard, which he repeated in The Incredible Hulk ). He also has voiced the Hulk in various animated productions.
  • Chris Hemsworth had to increase and expand his dietary/food intake in order to maintain the physique he built up for Thor.
  • Mark Ruffalo describes Bruce Banner as “a guy struggling with two sides of himself, the dark and the light; everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control.” He furthermore describes Banner’s alter ego the Hulk as “a loose cannon – he’s the teammate none of them are sure they want, it’s like throwing a grenade into the middle of the group and hoping it turns out well!”
  • Mark Ruffalo personally portrays the Hulk through virtual-camera motion-capture. Previous live-action versions have had Bruce Banner and the Hulk be played by separate people (Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno), or had the Hulk rendered into the film in computer-generated imagery.
  • Director Joss Whedon had earlier been considered to direct X-Men in the 1990s. A big fan of the X-Men, he even wrote a script, from which only two lines made it into the film.
  • Producer Kevin Feige compares the film to Transformers: Dark of the Moon: “It set a standard for that level of ZOMG-awesomeness and scale. We’re working to try to outdo that.”
  • Mark Ruffalo states it was an honour to take over as Bruce Banner from his friend Edward Norton: “Ed has bequeathed this part to me, I look at it as my generation’s Hamlet.”
  • The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided a science consultation for the film.
  • According to Joss Whedon, the film is strongly influenced by the early 1960s Avengers comics, which he was a fan of while growing up: “In those comics these people shouldn’t be in the same room let alone on the same team – and that is the definition of family.”
  • Tom Hiddleston spoke of his role as Loki in an interview by saying, “I can tell you that it’s all of them against me. I am the super villain. So it’s Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury forming a team because I’ve got so bad ass.”
  • After Loki is brought on board the Helicarrier, Tony Stark can be seen wearing a Black Sabbath T-shirt. Black Sabbath is better known for their song “Iron Man.” Although the song was not originally associated with the Marvel Comics character, it has since been referenced in the comics and the end of Iron Man when Tony quotes the lyric, “I am Iron Man.”
  • This film holds an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast/crew for a comic book movie, or most movies for that matter: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, director Joss Whedon, and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, possibly many others. This tops Iron Man 2, and Iron Man which each had four nominees a piece.
  • The cast became good friends while filming so if all the actors happened to be filming scenes together in the same place, they would go out together after.
  • Despite the fact that the studio had no involvement in producing the film, neither in marketing or distributing, the Paramount Pictures logo still appears in advertising. Despite Disney buying the distribution of Marvel films from Paramount (as Marvel is a Disney company), the latter studio will still receive partial box-office royalties for these projects. No reference to Disney is made until the very end of the closing credits, where “Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures” is credited for the film’s distribution.
  • The film was converted to 3D during post-production for the theatrical release.
  • Chris Evans once sent a text message to Clark Gregg simply saying “Assemble”, which is the tagline for the movie. Gregg stated that this was his favorite text message ever sent to him.
  • Tony Stark describes his group as “Earth’s mightiest heroes, that kind of thing.” This refers to the bold label that has appeared on “The Avengers” comic books since its 1963 publication. The phrase has also been used as the subtitle for The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the most recent animated series before the live-action Avengers film.
  • This is the second time that Bruce Banner/Hulk and Thor have appeared together in a movie. They previously appeared together in The Incredible Hulk Returns.
  • According to director Joss Whedon, the original cut of the movie was over 3 hours long. There will be about 30 minutes of the excised footage included in the DVD Release, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers (Captain America). Whedon revealed that one of these scenes involved Rogers struggling to adjust to the modern world in his Brooklyn apartment and another revealed Steve Rogers’ reunion with Peggy Carter, his love interest from Captain America: The First Avenger.
  • Tom Hiddleston revealed in an interview with the Guardian that the code name for the film early in its production was ‘Group Hug’.
  • With Samuel L. Jackson’s role as Nick Fury in this film, he is now the second actor after Hugh Jackman (who has appeared in all X-men movies) to play the same comic book superhero in five different movies.
  • The Chitauri appear in the first story arc of “The Ultimates,” an alternate universe retelling of the origins of the Marvel superheroes. In the comics, their leader claims that they go by many names, including Skrulls. The use of the Chitauri name in this film, over the more popular Skrull designation, stems from complicated legal rights issues resulting from the licensing of the “Fantastic Four” characters (the series in which the Skrulls originated) to Fox Studios. At the time of production, Fox held the rights to all theatrical film versions of the “Fantastic Four” and their related characters; as such, Marvel/Disney had to use the Chitauri name for the aliens, as to not offend the previous agreement with Fox.
  • Thor spends most of this movie in his Asgardian armor but with bare arms, a nod to his early appearances in the comics. During his time on the Helicarrier, he is also seen without his cape, an allusion to his Ultimate Comics appearance.
  • The movie basically holds true to the comic book origins, save that Nick Fury and SHIELD did not create the Avengers. Also, founding members Ant-Man/Goliath (Hank Pym) and Wasp (Janet Pym) were not cast (Ant-Man had not appeared in a previous Marvel film and, therefore, had not been established for movie-goers, and Wasp merely appeared in a small cameo in Thor).
  • Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury is from the Ultimate Marvel Universe created in 2000 to re-imagine and update the Marvel heroes for the 21st century. Fury’s likeness was actually based on Jackson, who gave Marvel permission to do so. Subsequently, based on that likeness and his star power, Jackson was cast as Fury for all Marvel superhero films owned by Marvel/Disney.
  • Though Mark Ruffalo is the only actor not to appear in a previous Marvel Comics film as his character, Lou Ferrigno reprised his role as the voice of The Hulk from Edward Norton’s 2008 film. Ferrigno has voiced the hulk in virtually every incarnation since The Incredible Hulk television show with Bill Bixby in 1977. The exception is Ang Lee’s 2003 film Hulk version where Ferrigno played a security guard.
  • Complex legal issues prevented a number of “Avengers” characters from their inclusion in this film. Most notably, these include Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, the twin children of X-Men) villain Magneto, and frequent adversaries Doctor Doom (nemesis of the Fantastic Four) and Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin (the primary antagonist of Spider-Man). Though all characters are owned by Marvel/Disney, the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” characters had all been licensed to Fox Studios, and those of “Spider-Man” to Sony before work began on an “Avengers” film. Marvel has said that in the future they hope to regain the rights to all licensed properties, that the aforementioned characters might have a role in subsequent “Avengers” films.
  • In the movie, Captain America is a founding member. In the comics, Captain America was unfrozen in Avengers #4 when he was accidentally discovered when the team was looking for Namor the Sub Mariner.
  • To prepare for the role of Agent Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Jeremy Renner was trained by Olympic archers.
  • The crew hired 25 members of the Ohio based 391st Military police force battalion for the attack on New York city scene to add realism for the battle.
  • At the end all thats left of the Stark Tower sign is the letter A which reassembles the Avengers logo. In the comics Stark Tower later becomes the headquarters of the Avengers.
  • The battle cry of the Avengers, “Avengers Assemble” was not spoken throughout the film. However Chris Evans would say it behind the scenes to call out the rest of cast via text message to hang out off the set.
  • The final end credit scene was added after ‘Robert Downey Jr’. encouraged a rewrite of a previous scene. After Thor rips off Iron Man’s mask to reveal an unconscious Tony Stark, who had just fallen back to Earth, Tony originally awakens and asks, “What’s next?”. Robert Downey Jr. thought the line could be more interesting, and the idea of going to a local shawarma restaurant was born. The scene was added two days after the Hollywood premiere.
  • The outdoor scenes which were supposed to take place in Germany, but were filmed in downtown Cleveland, contained numerous Cleveland Historical landmarks including; Tower City, Higbee Building & Casino, Renaissance Building, and the Soldiers & Sailors Monument.
  • When they filmed the extra post credits scene after the premier, ‘Chris Evans (v)’ had to wear a prosthetic face to cover up the facial hair he had on his face that he needed for a film he was filming at the time. They also had him cover his face partially with his hands.
  • The Avengers, while on the Helicarrier, realize that they are being turned against each other via mind manipulation from Loki. This happens when Banner unknowingly picks up the staff that Loki has with him and uses to both shoot and turn humans into his minions.. The tip of the spear has a blue sparkling crystal at the end that many believe is energy from the Cosmic Cube…this is false. It is actually the Blue Infinity Gem that allows the user to control others and enter the thoughts of others. It is part of Marvel’s “Infinity Gauntlet” which involves the Avengers taking on Thanos, the character seen during the credits. After a long war spanning dozens of Marvel comics issues (including a canceled story line) the Gems are dispersed among superheros and mutants after Iron Man and Steve Rogers reclaim them. In fact, one of the Gems makes it into rival DC Comics story lines and is given to Darkseid, who is the DC equivalent to Thanos.
  • The “wishbone” section of the helicarrier where Banner’s lab is located is referred to in naval architecture as a “well deck”; it provides a sheltered docking area typically used for launching small boats or hover craft for carrying troops ashore.
  • All the scenes filmed in Ohio were originally to be filmed in Michigan. Planned production was moved to Ohio when it was revealed that Michigan’s film tax rebates were going to be revoked.
  • The first film to gross $200 million in its first three days in the USA.
  • Loki is described as being a king in the world from which he came. Shortly after this is mentioned he appears in Stuttgart to gain access to the stores of iridium at a laboratory, aided by ‘bad’ Hawkeye. When The Avengers ask for Loki’s location, Loki is said to be at “22 Konigstrasse”. Konig is German for “king”.
  • After Thor and Loki crash down on the mountain side, a large black crow flies by them as they are talking. In Norse mythology, their father, Odin, had two crows, Huginn and Muninn, who would bring Odin information from Midgard (Earth).
  • Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders’s co-star from How I Met Your Mother, suggested to director Joss Whedon that he get Smulders to read for the part of Maria Hill. Hannigan had also worked with Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  • A Shawarma is another name for gyro, correctly pronounced as “hero”.
  • Stan Lee: the old man being interviewed at the end of the New York battle.
  • The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
  • Tom Hiddleston describes Loki in this film as having evolved since Thor: “How pleasant an experience is it to disappear into a wormhole that was created by some super-nuclear explosion of his own making? I think by the time Loki shows up he’s seen a few things and has bigger things in mind than just his brother and Asgard….”
  • Loki brings the Chitauri alien race to Earth to help him invade it, thus requiring the Avengers to be formed to prevent this. This is in keeping with the comics, where Loki was also responsible for manipulating a chain of disasters which brought together the Avengers in the first place (incidentally, in the very first issue of their self-titled comic book series).
  • The Hulk only speaks two words during the battle with the Chitauri when he slams Loki back and forth at Stark Tower and says “Puny god.”
  • The Chitauri, the villainous alien race of this film, were the primary villains of the first volume of The Ultimates, a comic book re-imagining of The Avengers. Subsequently Loki was one of the primary villains of the second volume of The Ultimates, though his appearance had nothing to do with the Chitari.

Talking Points:

  • ​Favorite Fights?
  • Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk
  • Did you not like anything about this? Can someone explain to me whats up with the hulk?
  • Do we want a Hawkeye or Black Widow Movie now?

Critics:

  • Positives: 263+, 18- on Rotten Tomatoes, great spectacle, Whedon knew where to take the characters, Performances by all the actors were solid, well conceived and fashioned toward its audience
  • Negatives: (very few) Visual onslaught of too much computerized action, flat performances, seemed like Whedon was handcuffed too much by marketing execs to have characters and shots do certain things

What We Learned:

  • ​Doors, especially cosmic ones, open from both sides.
  • An ant has no quarrel with a boot.
  • Freedom is life’s great lie
  • War isn’t won by sentiment, it’s won with soldiers.
  • The unspoken truth of humanity is that we all crave subjugation.
  • Loki is a full tilt diva.
  • Dr. Banner is ALWAYS angry.
  • Sometimes to do great things, all you need is a little push.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Holy mother fucking Jesus Christ. This movie has been touted as the best superhero movie of all time and they are not freaking kidding. I actually CHEERED when Hulk Smashed that first flying monster thing and was giggling through most of the battle sequence. This’ll be a repeat viewing I’m sure.
Ray: Wow, Joss Whedon needs to direct more comic book movies, I was skeptical.. how could a movie be getting this good of word of mouth? But it’s true, this is probably one of the best if not THE best comic book movie I have ever seen. It’s going to be interesting to see how The Dark Knight Rises holds up.
Steve: Amazing! Saw it twice…at the drive in and in 3D at the nice theater. It was smart, sassy, and very Joss Whedon. Also very good job at giving each hero about equal screen time so the actors didn’t go all Christian Bale on him.

The Future: 7500

Release: August 31, 2012

Director: Takashi Shimizu

Starring: Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart

Summary:

The film follows a group of passengers who encounter what appears to be a supernatural force while on a transpacific flight.

Talking Points

  • So of course the immediate reaction is.. So instead of snakes, we got ghosts on a plane.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: It’s a ghost horror movie. It’s just taking place on a plane. Yeah, thrilling. (sarcasm)
Ray: I’m a fan of the original Japanese Grudge and not so much the American version.. So I am sort of torn by this, I know ill probably see it at some point even if Steve or myself do not put it on the list for this show.
Steve: “Get these motherfucking ghosts off this motherfucking plane!” I’m so there!! 🙂

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV067: “Scheiße”

In this 67th Reel of COL Movies, the boys head back in time for a little exercise – well, they watch someone else get exercise – in 1998’s German crime thriller, “Run Lola Run”. After working up a sweat, they head to the theater to see if Marcus Nispel’s reboot of “Conan The Barbarian” is it really as bad as all the critics say it is? In the future, they screen the trailer for the 4th installment of the Tom Cruise franchise, “Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol”. Is this a mission they’ll choose to accept? Or will the secretary disavow all knowledge of the review. Guess you’ll have to wait until December when the movie comes out to find out! All of this and movie news about how the earthquakes in Japan are making it tough for “The Wolverine”, and the titles “Toy Story” might have had. It’s an episode you won’t soon forget…or may find yourself reliving over and over…aww…Scheiße!

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News:

The Past: Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run)
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Fresh, 88% Audience

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Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu and Herbert Knaup

Trivia:

  • Tom Tykwer hated the empty space on the wall and asked production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak as she was in Vertigo. But Alexander didn’t remember what she looked like, so Tom suggested he painted her from behind. Alexander completed the picture within fifteen minutes.
  • During shooting, Franka Potente could not wash her hair for seven weeks because the red hair color was very sensitive to water and would have got lighter with every washing.
  • The two sentences at the opening (“The ball is round” and “The game lasts 90 minutes”) are famous quotes by German soccer coaching legend Sepp Herberger.
  • When Manni says Shrimp in Florida he is actually giving credit to the person who wrote the movie. It is a family nickname of this uncredited person.
  • The blind woman that Manni borrows the phone card from is Moritz Bleibtreu’s mother, Monica Bleibtreu.
  • The shot where the roulette ball lands on 20 was not a trick shot – the crew simply filmed the ball dropping into the wheel, and it hit 20 on one of their first takes.
  • Hans Paetsch, who speaks the narration at the beginning, is Germany’s most popular fairy tale narrator. His characteristic voice is easily recognized by anyone who grew up with fairy tale records in Germany.
  • The glass clock in the bank is broken using a small air rifle firing a small stone.
  • It took nearly five weeks to persuade a supermarket in Berlin to allow them to shoot the robbery sequence.
  • This film contains about 1581 transitions (edits, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc) in 71 minutes of action (i.e. excluding the credits, and pre-credits sequence). This equates to an Average Shot Length of about 2.7 seconds. Interestingly, the editing is relatively slower towards the end of the film. For most contemporary films, the opposite is the norm.
  • Lola screams for twenty seconds in the Roulette scene, she also bets to the number twenty, the only bills she had were twenties, the first story lasts twenty minutes and twenty minutes was also the time she had to get the money.
  • The money bag, stolen by a homeless man, has Russian lettering on it – “Malossol Original”. It’s actually a bag for Russian Caspian caviar under the brand “Malossol Original”.
  • In the film, Manni needs 100,000 marks. In 1998, the exchange rate for marks was 1.789 making this sum equivalent to $55,897.15 in the US. At the end, Lola winnings amount to 126,000 marks ($70,430.41).
  • The decoration on the wall of the teller is a bill from Mozambique issued by Banco Nacional Utramarino in the value of 100 Escudos.
  • During the third sequence after the head on car collision a moped rider rear ends the white car and lands on the windshields. Most viewers do not realize that this is the man who stole Lola’s moped, so he gets his comeuppance in the end.

Talking Points:

  • Different types of film used, color, animation, black and white, video.
  • English or German?
  • Flash forwards.
  • The effects of one even can affect lot of other things.
  • What does the blind lady know?
  • Did Lola Remember the previous iterations?
  • Did you have a “favorite” version?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Keep an eye on your Moped
  • Don’t run that much in flat boots. Get some sneaks! (Shin splints!!)
  • Avoid the guy standing in the stairwell with the dog – he’s a jerk.
  • Screaming at the top of your lungs makes everything better.
  • Don’t leave the bag of cash you’re supposed to deliver to criminals on the subway. Nothing good can come of it.
  • German is NOT a sexy language. (Fuzz Disagrees!)
  • Schtop

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: One of the most brilliant films of all time. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could not want this in their movie collection.
Ray: An enjoyable film… but I will say films with a breakneck non-stop pace are not for everyone.
Steve: Super cool movie…hard to decide which version of the story I like the best. Super creative…and Manni’s not hard to look at.

The Present: Conan The Barbarian
Rotten Tomatoes: 24% Rotten 46% Audience

Director: Marcus Nispel

Starring: Jason Momoa, Ron Perlman and Rose McGowan

Trivia:

  • Kellan Lutz and Jared Padalecki were considered for the lead, but the role went to Jason Momoa.
  • Dolph Lundgren, then Mickey Rourke were in talks to play Corin, Conan’s father, but Rourke turned it down to do Immortals before Ron Perlman was cast.
  • Ron Perlman, who plays Conan’s father Corin, previously voiced Conan himself in the video game Conan and the unreleased animated film Conan: Red Nails.
  • The film had spent seven years in development at Warner Bros. before the rights were shifted to Nu Image/Millennium Films in 2007, with a clause wishing for immediate start on production.
  • Lionsgate and Sony Pictures entered negotiations for distribution, with the film seeing many directors, prominently Brett Ratner, before settling on Nispel in 2009 and subsequently bringing together a cast and crew.
  • Filming began on March 15, 2010 and concluded on June 5, 2010. Filming was first hoped to be started in Spring 2008. Nothing was set until Ratner came on board. Filming had a set date for August 24, 2008, in Bulgaria. Ratner however departed in May that year, and the start-date for filming was pushed back, with South Africa being revealed as another filming destination.. Filming finally began, in Bulgaria, on March 15, 2010
  • The film was first released on August 17, 2011 in four countries: France, Belgium, Iceland and the Philippines
  • The film had a 3-D conversion in post production.
  • Early in the pre-production process Conan was a temporary title for the film, until it was changed to Conan 3D. Finally, early on December 2010, the title was definitely changed to Conan the Barbarian, as was titled the John Millius 1982 film

Talking Points:

  • Did it come off very spoofish at times? (baby, eggs, catapulting a prisoner)
  • Only performance worth noting – Rose McGowan (Steve)
  • The sand fighter guys were the coolest part.
  • The most generic bad guy ever… his daughter should have been the main antagonist

What We Learned:

  • If your wife is stabbed in battle, it just takes one quick cut to remove the baby and he comes out clean-ish.
  • Cesarean Sections were BRUTAL back in the day.
  • Before you Wield it, you must learn it.
  • If your mother names you Co-NAN, it’s annoying when everyone else calls you Co-nun.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: It was alright. I really enjoyed myself. Okay to see in a theater, but okay to wait for DVD.
Ray: It’s Conan.. did it need to be remade? no, but I was hoping that maybe it would help get this kinda movie back into theaters
Steve: Boo…hiss. Should have gone straight to DVD. Why didn’t we see “Fright Night” this week?

The Future: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Director: Brad Bird

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton

Summary:

When a terrorist bombing destroys the Kremlin, the United States government initiates a black ops “ghost protocol” and disavows the entire Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt and his team are to be blamed for the attack, but are allowed to escape as part of a plan to enable them to operate in the dark, outside of their agency. However, Hunt is warned that if any member of his team is captured during their mission, they will be charged as terrorists planning to incite global nuclear war. Ethan is then forced to work with ex-IMF agent Brandt, who knows more about Hunt and his past than even Hunt himself.

Trivia:

  • Brad Bird’s live-action directorial debut.
  • Anthony Mackie, Christopher Egan and Kevin Zegers were considered to play Brandt.
  • Kristin Kreuk and Lauren German were considered to play Jane Carter.
  • Jacinda Barrett auditioned for a role and even revealed some information about the project’s reboot direction.
  • Jeremy Renner’s character Brandt, was specifically created as the eventual replacement for Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt for when Cruise decides to step away from the franchise.
  • The film was originally announced with a working name of Mission: Impossible 4, and codenamed “Aries” during early production.
  • Rumors initially mentioned that the film might not even carry the Mission: Impossible name, though this was later discounted.
  • Principal photography began by September 30, 2010. Pictures of the set were leaked to the internet showing Cruise in a Russian officer disguise..
  • Filming took place in Dubai, Prague, Moscow, Mumbai, and Vancouver.
  • The film was partially shot with IMAX cameras.
  • The first full, official trailer was released on June 29, 2011, and attached to Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: *giggles*
Ray: I was never impressed with the MI franchise, but this trailer has me wanting to see this. Hooray for Brad Bird!
Steve: Another “boys and their toys” movie. Slick and high tech looking, but I still haven’t seen 2 & 3.

Coming Attractions:

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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MOV020: “That Man… is a Brownie Hound.”

With a slow news week, we get into an amazing show featuring the 80’s classic “The Breakfast Club,” the Ben Affleck directed “The Town”, and the mind blowing “Sucker Punch” trailer. Slaine . . . is fucking gorgeous.

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News:

The Past: The Breakfast Club

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Director: John Hughes

Starring: Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall

Trivia:

  • Emilio Estevez was originally going to play Bender, but Hughes couldn’t find someone to play Andrew Clark so Emilio agreed to play Clark.
  • The Hallway, interior shots and the famous ending stroll through the football field were shot at Glenbrook North High School, John Hughes Alma mater
  • This like many of John Hughes film’s takes place in ficticious “Shermer, Illinois” But are based on the towns of Glenwood and Northbrook, Illinois where Hughes grew up. Until 1924 Northbrook, IL was called Shermerville Illinois
  • The exterior shots and library set was built inside the gymnasium of then closed school Main North High School, in Des Plains, IL before it was bought by the Illinois state police and turned into a police station
  • John Hughes appears briefly in a cameo as Brian’s father

Talking Points:

  • Who do/did you Identify with?
  • Is the dubbed TV version funnier than the original?
  • Andy calling Bender a “faggot”

What We’ve Learned:

  • Cutting class to go shopping does not make you a defective
  • All monkey business is ill advised
  • Claire is a fat girls name (Really? Have you seen Claire Danes?)
  • Everyone’s home life is unsatisfying
  • We are all pretty Bizarre, some are just better at Hiding it.
  • Emilio Estevez should not dance

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: It’s a classic, there’s no way for me NOT to recommend this.
Ray: If you have not seen this movie, please email me so i can come over and slap you.
Steve: Ultimate teenage angst and strangers become friends movie. Classic.

The Present: The Town

Director: Ben Affleck

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper, Slaine

Trivia:

  • Every Boston Police cruiser shown in the film comes from the fictional district A-8, which also existed in Boston’s Finest (2010)
  • Shipped to theaters under the code name “Criminal Intent”.
  • The movie was shown at the Venice Film Festival and premiered at Boston’s Fenway Park.
  • The former MASSBank branch located in Melrose, Massachusetts was used as the location for the first robbery of the film, taking on the name Cambridge Merchants Bank (the exterior shots, however, are of Cambridge Savings Bank in Harvard Square).
  • Filming also took place at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut for casino scenes and Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Cedar Junction in Walpole, Massachusetts for use of their visiting room.
  • A voice in the trailer of the movie says: “There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year. Most of these professionals live in a 1-square-mile neighborhood called Charlestown.” In fact, there were 23 reported bank robberies in the entire state of Massachusetts in the first quarter of 2010, compared with 49 in Illinois and 136 in California, according to the FBI.

Talking Points:

  • Who did you root for in this movie?
  • Ben Affleck as a director? Voted best new filmmaker in 2007
  • Which is better, The Town or Takers?

What We Learned:

  • Slaine is fucking gorgeous.
  • Always ask a cop to see his ID
  • Masks are creepy
  • Every 6 year old in Charlestown can spot a undercover cop
  • If you see Skeletor come into a bank, get on the ground

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Slaine is fucking gorgeous.
Ray: Great movie.. the way a heist movie should be. Makes takers look even more like crap.
Steve: Really enjoyed it. Even without any “r”s in the entire movie.

The Future: Sucker Punch

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung

Trivia:

  • Zack Snyder’s first film that is not based on another work. Dawn of the Dead (2004) was a remake of a 1978 film by ‘George A. Romero’. Both 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009) were based on graphic novels. And Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010) is based on a children’s fantasy book. However, the film does heavily feature motifs from Lewis Carroll’s book Alice in Wonderland – the movie’s logline while being pitched to studios was even “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.”
  • Zack Snyder told Vanessa Hudgens that this feature would be his first action movie, despite the fact that 300 (2006) is considered an action movie.

Summary:
A young girl, confined to a mental institution by her stepfather who plans to have her lobotomized in five days time, creates an imaginary world to plan her escape.

Trailer:

IGN Rewind Theater Analysis:

Excitement:
Jeff: Stoked
Ray: Steampunk, Katanas, Mobsters, Dragons.. oh my.
Steve: Looks like it will be interesting. Effects look amazing.

Coming Attractions

The Past: The Howling
The Present: Let Me In
The Future: My Soul To Take

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