Tag Archives: John Goodman

MOV119: “So, you were havin’ sex with the little fellow, then”

On this next reel of COL Movies we take a trip back to 1987 via the 1996 critically acclaimed “Fargo” Whats our take on what some would call a Coen Brother Masterpiece? Do we think it’s deserving of all it’s praise or better off getting run through the wood chipper? Next up we come back to the present to look at “ParaNorman” a 3D stop motion puppetry extravaganza brought to us by the creators of the much loved 2009 film “Coraline” Has lightning struck twice? or is this movie and it’s viewers cursed to a slow agonizing death? Last but certainly not least we Look ahead to this November’s upcoming Kung-Fu blood-letting of “The Man with the Iron Fists” Is this RZA directed martial arts epic getting us excited to head to the theaters? All that plus updated casting news on Robocop, and Interesting Rumor about John Travolta’s next project and some possible comic book ensemble action in store for the Wachowskies. All this and more on the next COL Movies reel 119, “So, you were havin’ sex with the little fellow, then”

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The Past: Fargo (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes 94% Fresh 91% Audience

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Director: Joel Coen

Staring: Frances McDormand, William H, Macy, Steve Buscemi

Trivia:

  • When working on her Minnesota accent for the film, Frances McDormand worked with Larissa Kokernot, “Hooker #1.” McDormand referred to her accent and mannerisms as “Minnesota Nice.”
  • The region was experiencing its second-warmest winter in 100 years. Filming of outdoor scenes had to be moved all over Minnesota, North Dakota, and Canada.
  • In the kidnappers’ cabin, Bruce Campbell can be seen on the fuzzy TV screen. Bruce Campbell was in the Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy and has been in various films by Coen buddy Sam Raimi. The footage was not shot for this film, but was actually old footage of a regional soap opera in which Campbell appeared.
  • The seal for the Brainerd police department has a silhouette of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.
  • Approaching Brainerd from the south, you see a statue of Paul Bunyan with a sign reading “Welcome to Brainerd.” In reality, Brainerd has no such statue. Paul Bunyan Amusement Park, located just outside Brainerd, had a huge statue of Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. The park is now at ‘This Old Farm,’ between Brainerd and Garrison.
  • In the Lundegaard’s house, the magazine rack by the toilet holds a Playboy magazine. It’s visible when Jerry comes back home and sees the aftermath of the kidnapping.
  • William H. Macy begged the directors for the role of Jerry Lundegaard. He did two readings for the part, and became convinced he was the best man for the role. When the Coens didn’t get back to him, he flew to New York (where they were starting production) and said, “I’m very, very worried that you are going to screw up this movie by giving this role to somebody else. It’s my role, and I’ll shoot your dogs if you don’t give it to me.” He was joking, of course.
  • None of the movie scenes, either exterior or interior, were actually filmed in Fargo. The bar exterior shown at the beginning of the movie is located in Northeast Minneapolis.
  • William H. Macy stated in an interview that, despite evidence to the contrary, he did hardly any ad-libbing at all. Most of his character’s stuttering mannerisms were written in the script exactly the way he does them in the film.
  • Jerry Lundegaard’s last name comes from Bob Lundegaard, movie critic for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune from 1973-1986.
  • The reference to “Midwest Federal… talk to ol’ Bill Diehl” is a nod to film critic Bill Diehl, who wrote for the St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch and interviewed the Coen Brothers shortly after the release of Blood Simple..
  • The airplane seen just before Carl goes to the airport parking lot to steal a license plate, is a Northwest DC-9.
  • The irate customer’s name is Bucky (you can hear his wife say his name under her breath).
  • The role of Carl Showalter was written specifically for Steve Buscemi.
  • The duck paintings briefly shown in the Gunderson home were painted by “those Hautmanns,” who are close friends of the Coen brothers. These three brothers frequently win federal and state wildlife stamp competitions.
  • The snow plow that drives past the motel at the end of the film was not part of the script. Signs in the area warned motorists not to drive through due to filming, but a state employee ignored them.
  • The film is not actually “Based on a true story”. The Coens later admitted that they added that disclaimer so the viewer would be more willing to suspend disbelief in the story. (An urban legend even says that people have gone to search Minnesota for the briefcase of money.) While the specific crimes in the movie didn’t happen, the plot has elements of two well-known Minnesota crimes. In 1962, a St. Paul attorney named Eugene Thompson hired someone to kill his wife, Carol. Unbeknownst to Thompson, his man hired someone else to do the job. The second man fatally wounded Mrs. Thomspon in her house, but she managed to escape him. She went to a neighbor’s house for help while her assailant fled the scene. The sloppiness and brutality of the crime attracted great attention. The murderers were quickly caught and gave up Thompson, who denied knowing anything about the crime for many years afterward. In 1972, Virginia Piper, the wife of a wealthy Orono banker, was kidnapped. A million-dollar ransom was paid, one of the largest in U.S. history. Mrs. Piper was found tied to a tree in a state park. Two men were convicted of the crime, but were acquitted after a re-trial. One of them later went on a shooting spree after his wife left him, killing her, their 5-year-old son, her son from a previous marriage, her new boyfriend, and one of his sons. Only $4,000 of the money was ever recovered.
  • Joel Coen had Frances McDormand and John Carroll Lynch conceive a back-story for their characters to get the feel of them. They decided that Norm and Marge met while working on the police force, and when they were married, they had to choose which one had to quit. Since Marge was a better officer, Norm quit and took up painting.
  • The morning talk show hosts on the TV right before Mrs. Lundegaard are kidnapped were actual Minnesota morning talk show hosts for many years during the 80s and early 90s. They hosted a show called “Good Company”.
  • About thirty minutes into the film when Peter Stormare’s character Gaear Grimsrud chases after the eyewitnesses in the car, he says, “Jävla fitta!” which in Swedish means ‘fucking c*nt!’
  • A Danish band called “Diefenbach” has taken their name from the character Riley Diefenbach in this movie.
  • All of the scenes that show Margie (Frances McDormand) with her husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch), they are either eating or lying in bed.
  • During the interview process at the Blue Ox where Frances McDormand interviews Melissa Peterman “Hooker #2”, she mentioned she’s from Le Sueur (MN) but amplifies her answer to include the high school she attended in White Bear Lake (MN). White Bear Lake Area High School (complete with bear mascot – “Go Bears”), formerly White Bear Lake Mariner High, is approximately 75 miles northeast of Le Sueur but significantly closer to Chaska (MN); the birthplace of Larissa Kokernot “Hooker #1” and the probable rationale behind the erroneous association. Although, Hooker #2 never says that White Bear Lake is near Le Sueur.
  • In the scene where Margie asks about the Blue Ox trucker’s stop she says it’s off I-35. In reality I-35 is over 80 miles to the east of Brainerd.
  • There is an enormous amount of pig statuettes, and little pig adorns scattered around Jerry’s house.
  • Bruce Paltrow and Robert Palm wrote a 1997 pilot for a proposed TV series featuring the characters of Marge Gunderson and Officer Lou. It eventually made it to TV as Fargo.
  • When Jerry meets Wade and Stan to discuss the ransom, the restaurant muzak system is playing “Feels So Good” by Chuck Mangione.
  • ‘Frances Mcdormand’ wore a “pregnancy pillow” filled with birdseed to simulate her pregnant belly. She says that she didn’t deliberately try to move in a “pregnant” way, it simply came as a natural response to keeping the extra weight balanced.
  • Peter Stormare had regretted turning down the Coen Brothers for a role in Miller’s Crossing, and so was glad when they offered him a role in this film.
  • Early in the movie Wade is watching a University of Minnesota hockey game. At one point an announcer can be heard saying “goal by Ranheim” and the TV shows the Gophers playing Wisconsin. The goal scorer would be Paul Ranheim, who scored 88 goals for Wisconsin from 1984 to 1988 and later played in the National Hockey League with Calgary, Hartford/Carolina, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.
  • Director Trademark
  • Joel Coen: [Stanley Kubrick] Carl says he’s in town for “just a little of the ol’ in-and-out,” a reference to A Clockwork Orange. When Carl and Gaear are driving outside Minneapolis, the song ‘These Boots are Made for Walkin’ can be heard on the radio, a reference to Full Metal Jacket, which features the same song.
  • Spoilers
  • The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
  • Fuck” and its derivatives are said 75 times, mostly by Carl Showalter. He says 10 of these during the scene where Steve Buscemi shoots Harve Presnell.
  • Body count- 7 (the state trooper, the 2 passers-by, Wade Gustafson, the parking-lot attendant, Jean Lundegaard, and Carl Showalter)
  • Although Frances McDormand’s character is the film’s central role, she does not appear on the screen until over 33 minutes (or 1/3) into the film.
  • Despite hints to the contrary at the time of the film’s release and in the closing credits, Prince does not play the Victim in the Field; this is J. Todd Anderson, who was actually a storyboard artist on the film. This was yet another Coen Brothers in-joke, since Prince was a famous native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. To further muddle matters, this moment in the film was memorialized in a “Snow-Globe” promotion included with a special edition version of the DVD, subtly hinting that the dead victim in the snow was a famous cameo.
  • The opening scene contains what might be a hint at the coming mayhem. In the bar scene, there are seven open beer bottles on the table and the body count by the end of the movie is seven. Empty beer bottles are often called “dead soldiers”. Also, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) is finishing the last beer, number seven, and he is the seventh one killed in the movie.

Talking Points:

  • What do you think makes this movie resonate so strongly with critics.
  • Favorite Character

Critic Notes

  • Positives: Great characters; interesting plot; fun murder mystery with blundering crooks and cops; unique take on the genre
  • Negatives: too low browed, just poking fun at Minnesotan accents – just do the movie; the characters didn’t have enough punch to love or hate them

What We Learned:

  • Second hand smoke is cancerated
  • Steve Beuscemi is funny lookin in a general kinda way.
  • Woodchippers are not the most discrete way to dispose of a body.
  • Theres more to life than a little money, ya know.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Well, ya know, this is one of those movies with a bunch of start and stopping and hiding and such. The only really character I liked in this movie was Marge. I really would have preferred to seen a version of this movie that was just her story and leaved the rest out of it.
Ray: It’s a quirky dark “comedy” that certainly isn’t for everyone. If you are a fan of the crime drama though you should definitely take a look at this. Some people cant seem to process the way this movie combines some over the top ideas with a matter of fact delivery, I on the other hand love it.
Steve: I love this movie. It has some intellectual moments where you have to look past the strange looking and/or sounding characters. It’s a solid “this could happen anywhere” type movie – which is the whole point.

The Present: ParaNorman
Rotten Tomatoes 87% Fresh, 80% Audience

Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John Goodman

Trivia:

  • The film was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR Camera. To generate the 3D effects, the camera was mounted on a special rig that would take one shot, then slide to a slightly different viewpoint to take another shot.
  • The film company Laika used 3D printers to generate all of the different faces needed for the characters.
  • During the last few weeks leading up to the film’s release, Laika sent 49 packages to 49 people (including Neil Gaiman and Kevin Smith). Each package consisted of a wooden crate from “Blithe Hollow” full of “grave dirt” which recipients had to dig through to unearth a coffin. Inside the coffin was one of the seven cursed zombies, complete with background information and name.
  • Save for Judge Hopkins, the seven cursed zombies are not referred to by name, but they did have names: the aforementioned Judge Hopkins, Eben Hardwick, Thaddeus Blackton, Lemuel Spalding, Amelia Wilcot, Goodie Temper, and Wile London.

Talking Points:

  • The dying art of stop motion?
  • Why was this movie not released at Halloween? Should that matter?
  • “Your gonna love my boyfriend”
  • Bullying message

Critic Notes

  • Positives: Good for them for taking on a scary concept; Good for adults and kids; Visually stunning; Laika has the market cornered on stop motion
  • Negatives: Too slow; too many holes in the plot; relied too much on the look and story wasn’t as interesting

What We Learned:

  • Sometimes people say mean things when they are afraid
  • There is nothing wrong with being scared as long as you don’t let it change who you are.
  • Firing guns at civilians is the Police’s job

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Ooo, this was a delightful fun movie. The plot is not really told at all in the trailer, kinda reminded me of the Brave situation but not quite. The animation was amazing, the voice acting spectacular, the story was . . . okay. I think it’s worth seeing in the theater. 3D not a requirement.
Ray: While I felt the movie was gorgeous to look at I felt somewhat disappointed by this film, although I did like the overall message of the movie. It could just be that I went to see it after only getting a couple hours of sleep, but I had a hard time staying awake. As a warning I think this may be a little too dark and scary for some younger viewers, the PG rating is there for a reason folks! Oh and I would say skip the 3D.. it’s not necessary for this one. I think I need to get a few more hours of sleep and go see it again.
Steve: I really wanted to love it. However, I only liked it. It looked amazing, but I think the story itself lacked somewhere.

The Future: The Man With The Iron Fists

Release: November 2, 2012

Director: RZA

Starring: Russel Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu

Summary:

In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.

Talking Points:

  • Not a whole lot…lol

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Quentin Tarantino involvement, lots of over the top violence, magic-ish armor. I’m sold. Not expecting amazing movie but super fun to watch.
Ray: Possibly one of the most over the top, ridiculous trailers I have seen in a great many years….. I’m so there!
Steve: Clearly, Quentin Tarantino is only making self-indulgent movies these days. I’m not sure about the whole mixing of hip-hop and martial arts, but Batista looks hot! Any Lucy Liu, always awesome!

The Past: The Heroic Trio

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The Present: Premium Rush

The Future: Skyfall

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

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

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

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Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

What We’ve Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

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

Director: William Brent Bell

Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

What We Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

The Future: The Woman In Black

Release: February 3, 2012

Director: James Watkins

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciarán Hinds

Summary:

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

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

Trailers:

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

Coming Attractions

The Past

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The Present

The Future

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MOV050: “The ones with Yodas and shit on ‘em”

The boys go back in time to revisit the Coen Brother’s classic “Raising Arizona”? Does the ensemble still hold up today? Then they spend…um, waste…their money and hour and a half of their lives watching “Your Highness”. Ooops…guess that review is already spoiled, so let’s just move on. They also review the teaser trailer for Kevin Smith’s “Red State”. Is the unique distribution model going to get this movie enough exposure so that we can all see it when it comes out in October? All of this and movie news about the Governator, post-apocolyptic Zorro, the re-release of LOTR at AMC, and ANOTHER Beiber movie?

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News:

The Past: Raising Arizona (1987)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% Fresh / 82% Audience

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Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman, William Forsythe, Sam McMurray, Frances McDormand

Trivia:

  • Fifteen babies played the Arizona quintuplets in the film. One of the babies was fired during production when he learned to walk
  • Kevin Costner turned down the lead role
  • The Coen brothers wrote Holly Hunter’s character specifically for her.
  • Nathan, Jr. doesn’t cry at all throughout the entire movie. But all the other main characters do at some point.

Talking Points:

  • Was the biker H.I’s father?
  • Maricopa County Jail – check out Lock Up on MSNBC

What We’ve Learned:

  • If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass a’hoppin
  • With chairs you got a dinette set. No chairs, you got dick.
  • When preparing crawdads, be sure to add sand
  • When digging yourself out of prison, it’s always a good idea to scream really loud. Nobody will hear you.
  • It’s customary for the Tempe police department to shoot aimlessly into a residential neighborhood, even if their suspect is an unarmed diaper bandit wearing ‘hose over his head.
  • When robbing a bank, make sure to check the bag for exploding canisters of paint
  • Keep your grenades secure to avoid accidental pulling of the pin.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Classic Coen Brother’s movie, so good but not for everyone. Occasional rental for me but may be worth a buy to others.
Ray: Good movie if your into Coen Bro’s type of comedy… sometimes dark, almost always bizzare
Steve: Probably my favorite Coen Brothers movie. I’m a big Holly Hunter fan. Worth a rental!

The Present: Your Highness
Rotten Tomatoes: 24% Rotten / 49% Audience

Director: David Gordon Green

Starring: Danny McBride, James Franco, Rasmus Hardiker, Natalie Portman, Justin Theroux, Toby James, Zooey Deshanel

Trivia:

  • Although the film was written by writer Ben Best and actor Danny McBride, the dialogue is heavily improvised. Director David Gordon Green said there was never a script used on-set. Only the plot outline and written notes were used

Talking Points:

  • Would this have been a better movie if they didn’t try so hard to be funny?
  • Who the hell did Natalie Portman piss off to get stuck in this?
  • Stoner movie?
  • Will the Razzies even consider this one?

What We Learned:

  • You know a movie is going to be high class when it has boob jokes in the opening credits.
  • Beating off in front of a Pegasus is elementary
  • What the potentially worst movie ever made may look like
  • If you can’t take the horns, take the penis.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: While it had it’s funny moments, not a good movie. But that’s Danny McBride for you.
Ray: I don’t think its possible to smoke enough weed to make this movie funny.
Steve: Absolutely hated it. Enough said. Don’t waste your time or money.

The Future: Red State

Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Kevin Pollak, Melissa Leo, Stephen Root

Trivia:

  • The Westborough Baptist Church planned to protest Red State at its premier at the Sundance Film Festival. Kevin Smith in turn planned a counter protest which he and his fans took part in. At the premier the counter-protesters heavily outweighed the handful of Westborough protesters who showed up. This occurred 12 years after Smith’s first film to tackle religious controversy, Dogma (1999), drew protests from certain sects of the Catholic Church. One of which Smith jokingly took part in himself.
  • There is no score for this film. The entire soundtrack consists of songs sung within the film itself.
  • Smith has an quick off-camera cameo at the end of the film, as a prison inmate, yelling the last line in the film.
  • Kevin Smith’s lowest budget film since Chasing Amy (1997).
  • Kevin Smith wrote the role of Abin Cooper for Michael Parks after seeing his performance in From Dusk Till Dawn. Smith has said that if Parks had not agreed to be in the film he would have dropped the project entirely.

Talking Points:

Summary:

Three teenagers come across an online personal advertisement from an older woman looking for kinky group sex. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying fundamentalist force with a fatal agenda.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: I want to see it, but still not sure if I’d like it.
Ray: I’m excited, simply because I want to see how Kevin does a horror flick.
Steve: Looks good to me…even though it’s just a teaser trailer, it packs some awesome images that really draw me in.

Coming Attractions

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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