Tag Archives: Joan Cusack

MOV007: “Can I do this, Or Do I look Like some sort of Gay Superhero?”

Steve is in studio with Jeff, Tron Legacy and Comiccon, Peter Jackson directing the Hobbit?, A Dark Crystal sequel, Jeffrey, Toy Story 3, and the Smurfs Teaser Trailer.

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News:

The Past: Jeffrey

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Director: Christopher Ashley

Staring: Steven Webber, Michael T Weiss, Patrick Stewart

Trivia:

  • Bryan Batt was in the Broadway musical “Cats”, which is an in-joke during the movie (his character is also in the musical as well.)
  • When the priest (Nathan Lane) goes into the confessional and shows Jeffrey his theatre posters, there is a poster for the 1992 revival of “Guys and Dolls” featured prominently on the wall. Nathan Lane actually starred in that production.
  • Patrick Stewart was reading the script for this film while Star Trek: Generations (1994) was in production. He found it so sad that he used it to produce the appropriate feelings necessary for weeping during the scene where he finds out that his family back on earth has perished in a fire.
  • This movie is based on a play of the same name that was produced off-Broadway in 1993 at the WPA Theater. The film’s director, Christopher Ashley, had also directed the play. The play’s cast was: John Michael Higgins (Jeffrey), Edward Hibbert (Sterling), Bryan Batt (Darius), Tom Hewitt (Steve), Harriet Harris, Patrick Kerr, Richard Poe and Darryl Theirse.
  • The movie features cameos by Olympia Dukakis, Victor Garber, Gregory Jbara, Robert Klein, Nathan Lane, Camryn Manheim, Kathy Najimy, Kevin Nealon, Ethan Phillips, and Sigourney Weaver. Christine Baranski has a small but memorable role as the socialite hostess of a fundraiser that (in Jeffrey’s imagination) turns into a cater-waiter hoedown orgy. It co-stars Patrick Stewart as Sterling, an older gay decorator whose partner (Bryan Batt) dies of AIDS complications.

Talking Points:

  • Hiv Positive men are the hottest? wait..what?
  • This is the third “Play into movie” movie we have seen, did it work?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Neelix has a constant erection, and a 14″ penis
  • Working out can apparently replace sex
  • AIDS is scary
  • Cuddling is safer.
  • The reason to have sex with Yoko Ono is to see the apartment
  • Florescent Lighting is fatel during sex.
  • Mother Teresa on the Piano can gaurantee you a second date.
  • The Refusal of Joy is the only true blasphemy

Trailer:

Recommendations:

Jeff: Seriously, Patrick Stewart as a Flaming Homo Interier Designer. You can’t go Wrong!
Ray: Hated the Comedy. loved the serious parts..

The Present: Toy Story 3

Director: Lee Unkrich

Staring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickels, Michael Keaton, among others

Trivia:

  • Lee Unkrich who edited the previous films and co-directed the second, was selected to take over the position of director from John Lasseter.
  • Blake Clark became the new voice of Slinky Dog, replacing Jim Varney, who died in 2000. Clark was good friends with Varney prior to his death
  • The first Pixar film to be released in IMAX.
  • Originally, a sequel was planned when it seemed that Disney and PIXAR would split over creative differences in 2004-2005. Disney started up an animation division titled ‘Circle 7,’ which would have been in charge of churning out sequels for PIXAR films that would not involve the original creators at PIXAR. Entertainment Weekly published an article that said the original plot for Toy Story 3 was going to be about Buzz Lightyear having a defect. Buzz would then be shipped to Taiwan to be fixed, but the other toys find out that the toy company is just replacing the broken Buzz toys with new ones, so they ship themselves to Taiwan to rescue him. This script had to be canned when PIXAR and Disney made amends. Part of their agreement was not to further develop projects that had been planned during their fallout.
  • The A113 logo thats pops up in most of the Pixar films makes an appearance on a license plate on the back of Andy’s Mom’s car.
  • The Ken doll in Toy Story 3 is modeled after “Animal Lovin” Ken from 1988.
  • Lee Unkrich and the animation team agreed to shave their heads before working on the film.
  • All the returning characters were re-developed from scratch.
  • The plot of the movie is loosely based on the original treatment for Toy Story (1995), which had Tinny (from Tin Toy (1988)) getting lost at a rest stop and being found by a junk man, who throws him into back of his truck. Tinny meets a ventriloquist dummy and they both decide to stick together. But in the end they end up in a preschool where they’ll never get lost or outgrown.
  • In terms of negative reviews, Armond White panned the film in a New York Press review, stating “the Toy Story franchise isn’t for children and adults, it’s for non-thinking children and adults. When a movie is this formulaic, it’s no longer a toy because it does all the work for you. It’s a sap’s story.” This review caused much controversy among fans of both Pixar and Toy Story, particularly for how White’s critique broke the film’s previously held 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Talking Points:

What We’ve Learned:

  • Pixar on a bad day.. is better then most studios achieve, and this one is knocked right out of the park.
  • Teddy bears that smell like strawberries are evil!
  • Mr Potato Head is about the parts, not the potato
  • Mr Cucumber head is more . . . (clears throat) . . . prominent then Mr. Potato Head

Trailer:

Recommendations:

Jeff: I almost cried, almost.
Ray: Awesome, My favorite movie of the year so far! And ill admit it.. i cried!
Steve: Loved it! Be ready to get a tear in your eye

The Future: The Smurfs

Starring: Jayma Mays, Neil Patrick Harris, Katie Perry, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Hank Azaria, Alan Cumming, BJ Novak, Paul Reubens, George Lopez, Jonathan Winters, Fred Armisen, Keenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy – and Tim Gunn (don’t think he’s starring…but sounds like he’s making a cameo)

Trivia:

  • This is the second Raja Gosnell film that is a live-action adaptation of an animated series. The first was Scooby-Doo (2002).
  • This is the second adaptation of a William Hanna-Joseph Barbara animated series to be directed by Raja Gosnell.The first was Scooby-Doo (2002).
  • Quentin Tarantino was approached to voice Brainy Smurf, but turned it down.
  • After pursuing the film rights for half of a decade, producer Jordan Kerner finally secured the rights to The Smurfs property in 2002 and soon began developing the 3-D CGI feature film with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
  • In 2006, Kerner said it was planned to be a trilogy and would explain more of Gargamel’s back-story. He stated, “We’ll learn [more] about Gargamel and Smurf Soup and how all that began and what really goes on in that castle. What his backstory really was. There’s an all-powerful wizard… there’s all sorts of things that get revealed as we go along”

Summary:
When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours — in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

Trailer:

Excitement:

Jeff: I’m going to be seeing it, but sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment.
Ray: I think the smurfs.. look awful.. i would consider this another raping of my childhood. I dont think even NPH could pull this one out for me.
Steve: Eh. Not excited. Glad it will bring the Smurfs to a new generation though.

Coming Attractions: (Ray)

The Past:The Deer Hunter
The Present: The Last Airbender
The Future: The Green Hornet

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