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Podcast

MOV125: “Heeeere’s Johnny”

The boys kick off their month of scary movies with the King and Kubrick classic “The Shining”. In theaters, they head out to see the time travel action thriller, “Looper”. From there, it’s off to the trailer park for the 2012 remake of “Red Dawn”. In movie news we ask if you’re ready for a “Hungry Hungry Hippos” movie, if you’d care if “The Wizard of Oz” was converted to 3D, and whether or not “Lincoln” has any influence over your Presidential vote. It’s the 125th reel of COL Movies: “Heeeeere’s Johnny!”

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News:

The Past: The Shining (1980)
Rotten Tomatoes 88% Fresh; 91% Audience

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Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd

Trivia:

  • During the making of the movie, Stanley Kubrick would occasionally call Stephen King at 3:00 a.m. and ask him questions like “Do you believe in God?”
  • Stephen King was first approached by Stanley Kubrick about making a film version of ‘The Shining’ via an early morning phone call (England is five hours ahead of Maine in time zones). King, suffering from a hangover, shaving and at first thinking one of his kids was injured, was shocked when his wife told him Kubrick was really on the phone. King recalled that the first thing Kubrick did was to immediately start talking about how optimistic ghost stories are, because they suggest that humans survive death. “What about hell?” King asked. Kubrick paused for several moments before finally replying, “I don’t believe in hell.”
  • The Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon was used for the front exterior, but all the interiors as well as the back of the hotel were specially built at Elstree Studios in London, England. The management of the Timberline requested that Stanley Kubrick not use 217 for a room number (as specified in the book), fearing that nobody would want to stay in that room ever again. Kubrick changed the script to use the nonexistent room number 237.
  • Stanley Kubrick decided that having the hedge animals come alive (as they do in the book) was unworkable due to restrictions in special effects, so he opted for a hedge maze instead.
  • There is a great deal of confusion regarding this film and the number of retakes of certain scenes. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the scene where Wendy is backing up the stairs swinging the baseball bat was shot 127 times, which is a record for the most takes of a single scene. However, both Steadicam operator Garrett Brown and assistant editor Gordon Stainforth say this is inaccurate – the scene was shot about 35-45 times. Brown does say however that the scene where Hallorann explains to Danny what shining is was shot 148 times, which is a world record.
  • Stanley Kubrick considered both Robert De Niro and Robin Williams for the role of Jack Torrance but decided against both of them. Kubrick didn’t think De Niro would suit the part after watching his performance in Taxi Driver, as he deemed De Niro not psychotic enough for the role. He didn’t think Williams would suit the part after watching his performance in Mork & Mindy, as he deemed him too psychotic for the role. According to Stephen King, Kubrick also briefly considered Harrison Ford.
  • Stephen King tried to talk Stanley Kubrick out of casting Jack Nicholson in the lead suggesting, instead, either Michael Moriarty or Jon Voight. King had felt that watching either of these normal-looking men gradually descend into madness, would have immensely improved the dramatic thrust of the storyline.
  • The scrapbook that Jack finds in the novel makes a brief appearance next to his typewriter in the scene when Jack tells Wendy never to bother him while he’s working.
  • Jack Nicholson ad-libbed the “little pigs” dialog towards the end of the film.
  • During the scene where Wendy brings Jack breakfast in bed, it can be seen in the reflection of the mirror that Jack’s T-shirt says “Stovington” on it. While not mentioned in the film, this is the name of the school that Jack used to teach at in the Stephen King novel.
  • Stanley Kubrick, known for his compulsiveness and numerous retakes, got the difficult shot of blood pouring from the elevators in only three takes. This would be remarkable if it weren’t for the fact that the shot took nine days to set up; every time the doors opened and the blood poured out, Kubrick would say, “It doesn’t look like blood.” In the end, the shot took approximately a year to get right.
  • During filming, Stanley Kubrick made the cast watch Eraserhead, Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist to put them in the right frame of mind.
  • All of the interior rooms of The Overlook Hotel were filmed at Elstree Studios in England, including The Colorado Lounge, where Jack does his typing. Because of the intense heat generated from the lighting used to recreate window sunlight (the room took 700,000 watts of light per window to make it look like a snowy day outside), the lounge set caught fire. Fortunately all of the scenes had been completed there, so the set was rebuilt with a higher ceiling, and the same area was eventually used by Steven Spielberg as the snake-filled Well of the Souls tomb in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • The Louisville Slugger baseball bat with which Wendy Torrance bludgeons Jack is signed by Carl Yastrzemski, Hall of Fame Red Sox player. Author Stephen King is a huge Red Sox fan.
  • Every time Jack talks to a “ghost”, there’s a mirror in the scene, except in the food locker scene. This is because in the food locker scene he only talks to Grady through the door. We never see Grady in this scene.
  • According to Stephen King, the title is inspired by the refrain in the Plastic Ono Band’s song, “Instant Karma” (by John Lennon), which features the chorus: “We all shine on.”
  • At the time of release, it was the policy of the MPAA to not allow the portrayal of blood in trailers that would be approved for all audiences. Bizarrely, the trailer for The Shining consists entirely of the shot of blood pouring out of the elevator. Stanley Kubrick had convinced the board the blood flooding out of the elevator was actually rusty water.
  • Because Danny Lloyd was so young and since it was his first acting job, Stanley Kubrick was highly protective of the child. During the shooting of the movie, Lloyd was under the impression that the film he was making was a drama, not a horror movie. He only realized the truth seven years later, when, aged 13, he was shown a heavily edited version of the film. He didn’t see the uncut version of the film until he was 17 – eleven years after he’d made it.
  • The throwing around of the tennis ball inside the overlook hotel was Jack Nicholson’s idea. The script originally only specified that, “Jack is not working”.
  • Outtakes of the shots of the Volkswagen traveling towards the Overlook at the start of the film were plundered by Ridley Scott (with Stanley Kubrick’s permission) when he was forced to add the ‘happy ending’ to the original release of Blade Runner.
  • The “snowy” maze near the conclusion of the movie consisted of 900 tons of salt and crushed Styrofoam.
  • Stanley Kubrick’s first choice to play Danny Torrance was Cary Guffey, the young boy from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Guffey’s parents apparently turned down the offer due to the film’s subject matter.
  • Billie Gibson, the old woman in the tub, has been falsely rumored to be Ann Gibson, Mel Gibson’s late mother.
  • Neither Lia Beldam (young woman in bath) nor Billie Gibson (old woman in bath) appeared in another movie before or after this one.
  • There were so many changes to the script during shooting that Jack Nicholson claimed he stopped reading it. He would read only the new pages that were given to him each day.
  • Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind wrote and performed a full electronic score for the film, but Stanley Kubrick discarded most of it and used a soundtrack of mostly classical music. Only the adaptation of Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” during the opening credits, the music during the family’s drive to the hotel, and a few other brief moments (such as Halloran’s plane trip) survive in the final version. Wendy Carlos once noted that she’d like to see the original score released on CD, but there were too many legal snags at the time. As of 2005, Carlos’ score for the film has been remastered, and is a part of “Rediscovering Lost Scores Volumes 1 and 2”.
  • For the scene in which Jack breaks down the bathroom door, the props department built a door that could be easily broken. However, Jack Nicholson had worked as a volunteer fire marshal and tore it apart far too easily. The props department were then forced to build a stronger door.
  • Anjelica Huston lived with Jack Nicholson during the time of the shooting. She recalled that, due to the long hours on the set and Stanley Kubrick’s trademark style of repetitive takes, Nicholson would often return from a day’s shooting, walk straight to the bed, collapse onto it and would immediately fall asleep.
  • Prior to hiring Diane Johnson as his writing partner, director/producer Stanley Kubrick rejected a screenplay written by Stephen King himself. King’s script was a much more literal adaptation of the novel, a much more traditional horror film than the film Kubrick would ultimately make. He was considering hiring Johnson because he admired her novel “The Shadow Knows,” but when he found out she was a Doctor of Gothic Studies, he became convinced she was the person for the job.
  • The making-of documentary shot by Vivian Kubrick shows that the hedge maze set, while nowhere near as large as the maze in the film (which was mostly a matte painting), was still large and complex enough to require a detailed map. In the commentary for her documentary, she notes that many crew members really got lost in the maze, dryly noting that it now reminds her of the lost-backstage scene in This Is Spinal Tap.
  • There was no air conditioning on the sets, meaning it would often become very hot. The hedge maze set was stifling; actors and crew would often strip off as much of the heavy clothing they were wearing as quickly as they could once a shot was finished.
  • Tony Burton, who had a brief role as Larry Durkin the garage owner, arrived on set one day carrying a chess set in hopes of getting in a game with someone during a break from filming. Stanley Kubrick, an avid chess player who had in his youth played for money, noticed the chess set. Despite production being behind schedule, Kubrick proceeded to call off filming for the day and engage in a set of games with Burton. Burton only managed to win one game, but nevertheless the director thanked him, since it had been some time that he’d played against a challenging opponent.
  • Stanley Kubrick wanted to shoot the film in script order. This meant having all the relevant sets standing by at all times. In order to achieve this, every soundstage at Elstree was used, with all the sets built, pre-lit and ready to go during the entire shoot at the studios.
  • To construct the interiors of the Overlook, Stanley Kubrick and his production designer, Roy Walker purposely set out to make it look like an amalgamation of bits and pieces of real hotels, rather than giving it one single design ethic. Kubrick had sent many photographers around the country photographing hotel rooms and picking his favorite. For example, the red men’s bathroom was modeled on a men’s room in the Biltmore Hotel in Arizona designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Colorado lounge was modeled on the lounge of the Ahwanee Hotel in the Yosemite Valley. Indeed, the chandeliers, windows and fireplace are nearly identical, so much so that people entering the Ahwahnee often ask if it’s “the Shining hotel”.
  • Steadicam operator Garrett Brown accomplished many of the ultra-low tracking corridor sequences from a wheelchair on which his invention was mounted. Grips would either pull backward or push forward the wheelchair, depending on the requirement of the shot
  • In the party scene, Stanley Kubrick told the extras to mouth their words.
  • One of the shots in the part where Jack is bouncing a ball against a wall took several days to film. This was because the shot entailed the ball bouncing from the wall onto the camera lens as it filmed. As Stanley Kubrick was so determined to get this precise shot, the camera kept rolling while the ball was continually hit against the wall in the hope of it bouncing back and hitting the lens. It took everyone on the entire unit having a go at it in between other shots before the shot was finally achieved after several days.
  • The famous opening scene was shot in Glacier National Park in Montana just north of St. Mary’s Lake. The road seen in the scene, Going-to-the-Sun Road, does actually close down during winter and is only negotiable by snowcat. Kubrick initially sent a second unit to the Rockies in Colorado, but they reported back that the area wasn’t very interesting. When Stanley Kubrick saw the footage they had shot, he was furious, and fired the entire unit. He then sent Greg MacGillivray, a noted helicopter cameraman, to Montana and it was McGillivray who shot the scene.
  • This was voted the ninth scariest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
  • The movie’s line “Here’s Johnny!” was voted as the #68 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100), and as the #36 of “The 100 Greatest Movie Lines” by Premiere in 2007.
  • Much like the casting of the “Jack” character, Stephen King also disliked the casting of Shelley Duvall as “Wendy.” King said that he envisioned Wendy as being a blond former cheerleader type who never had to deal with any true problems in her life making her experience in the Overlook all the more terrifying. He felt that Duvall was too emotionally vulnerable and appeared to have gone through a lot in her life, basically the exact opposite of how he pictured the character.
  • The film was released in the United States on star Scatman Crothers’ 70th birthday.
  • The role of Lloyd the Bartender was originally to have been played by Harry Dean Stanton, who was unable to take the part due to his commitment to Alien.
  • Scatman Crothers was a friend of Jack Nicholson’s, and when he heard about the Halloran role, he asked Nicholson to talk to Kubrick about casting him.
  • The two tracked vehicles in the movie are the Activ Fischer VW Powered 4 Speed Snow-Trak (referred to and labeled on the vehicle as a “SnowCat”) and a Thiokol Imp Snow-Cat (this is the vehicle Wendy and Danny escape in).
  • During an interview for the UK’S The 100 Greatest Scary Moments, Shelley Duvall revealed that due to her role requiring her to be in an almost constant state of hysteria, she eventually ran out of tears from crying so hard. To overcome this she kept bottles of water with her at all times on set to remain hydrated.
  • The image of the two girls in the hotel corridor was inspired by the photograph “Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967” by Diane Arbus.
  • First film of Manning Redwood.
  • Approximately 5000 people auditioned for the role of Danny over a six-month period. The interviews were carried out in Chicago, Denver and Cincinnati by Stanley Kubrick’s assistant Leon Vitali and his wife, Kersti. Aspiring actors were asked to send in photographs of themselves, and from the photographs, a list was made of the boys who looked right, who were then called in to interview. Vitali would then have the boys do some minor improvisation on camera, and Kubrick would review the footage, gradually narrowing the list down.
  • According to Variety magazine, the film took almost 200 days to shoot. However, according to assistant editor Gordon Stainforth, it took much more, nearly a year. The film was originally supposed to take 17 weeks, but it ultimately took 51. Because the film ran so long, Warren Beatty’s Reds and Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark were both delayed as they were both waiting to shoot in Elstree Studios.
  • When Steadicam inventor/operator Garrett Brown was hired to work on the picture, he was assured that there was no way the shoot would run over six months, as he had to be back in the US in six months time to shoot Rocky II. Six months into the shoot, less than half the film had been shot, and for several months, Brown worked one week in London on “The Shining,” one week in Philadelphia on “Rocky,” commuting by Concorde every Sunday.
  • To achieve the smoothness of the opening shots, cameraman Greg MacGillivray secured a wide angle Arriflex camera to the front of a helicopter, then balanced the blades to remove any vibrations. Even the shot where the camera comes down behind the car, passes it out, and goes over the edge is done via the helicopter.
  • The idea for Danny Lloyd to move his finger when he was talking as Tony was his own; he did it spontaneously during his very first audition.
  • For the scenes when we can hear Jack typing but we cannot see what he is typing, Kubrick recorded the sound of a typist actually typing the words “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Some people argue that each key on a typewriter sounds slightly different, and Kubrick wanted to ensure authenticity, so he insisted that the actual words be typed.
  • The maze was constructed on an airfield near Elstree studios, by weaving branches to chicken wire mounted on empty plywood boxes. The maze was shot using an extremely short lens (a 9.8mm, which gives a horizontal viewing angle of 90 degrees) which was kept dead level at all times, to make the hedges seem much bigger and more imposing than they were in reality.
  • The only shot in the film not achieved in-camera was the slow zoom in on the model of the maze, with the tiny figures of Danny and Wendy walking around at the center. To achieve this shot, a model of the maze was shot from six feet above. Then the small central section of the maze was built to scale next to an apartment complex. Actors Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd then walked about in the central section whilst the camera crew filmed it from the roof of the apartment building. The two shots were then simply composited together.
  • The shot of the tennis ball rolling into Danny’s toys took 50 takes to get right.
  • The scene of Hallorann approaching the hotel in the snow-cat was shot in real snow approaching the real Timberline hotel in Oregon.
  • The scene towards the end of the film, where Wendy is running up the stairway carrying a knife, was shot 35 times; the equivalent of running up the Empire State Building.
  • The 1921 photograph at the end of the film was a genuine 1920s photo, with Jack Nicholson’s head airbrushed onto the body of another man. Stanley Kubrick originally planned to use extras and shoot the photo himself, but he realized he couldn’t make it look any better than the real thing.
  • Despite receiving generally unfavorable reviews upon its initial release, the film is today regarded as one of the best horror movies ever made. In 2001, it was ranked 29th on AFI’s ‘100 Years…100 Thrills’ list. In 2003, Jack Torrance was named the 25th greatest villain on the AFI’s ‘100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains’ list. The film was named the scariest film of all time by Channel 4 in 2003, and Total Film had it as the 5th greatest horror film in 2004. Bravo TV placed it 6th on their list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments in 2005. In addition, film critics Kim Newman and Jonathan Romney both placed it in their all-time top ten lists for the 2002 Sight and Sound poll.
  • Jack mentions Portland, Maine to Lloyd in the bar. Portland, Maine is where Stephen King grew up.
  • Despite Stanley Kubrick’s fierce demands on everyone, Jack Nicholson admitted to having a good working relationship with him. It was with Shelley Duvall that he was a completely different director. He allegedly picked on her more than anyone else, as seen in the documentaries Making ‘The Shining’ and Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures. He would really lose his temper with her, even going so far as to say that she was wasting the time of everyone on the set. She later reflected that he was probably pushing her to her limits to get the best out of her, and that she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything – but it was not something she ever wished to repeat.
  • James Mason can be seen visiting the set of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in Vivian Kubrick’s TV documentary Making ‘The Shining’. Stanley Kubrick did not usually allow visitors to his set, but made an exception for Mason, who had memorably played Humbert Humbert for him in Lolita.
  • Stephen King didn’t know that ‘redrum’ spelled murder backwards until he actually typed it. He loved the various connotations of the word.
  • Wendy swings the baseball bat 41 times.
  • According to Shelley Duvall the infamous ‘Heere’s Johnny!’ scene took 3 days to film and the use of 60 doors.
  • On the DVD commentary track for Making ‘The Shining’, Vivian Kubrick reveals that Shelley Duvall received “no sympathy at all” from anyone on the set. This was apparently Stanley Kubrick’s tactic in making her feel utterly hopeless. This is most evident in the documentary when he tells Vivian, “Don’t sympathize with Shelley.” Kubrick then goes on to tell Duvall, “It doesn’t help you.”
  • Stanley Kubrick had envisioned Shelley Duvall as his more timid, dependent version of Wendy Torrance from the very beginning. However Jack Nicholson after reading the novel, wanted Jessica Lange for the part of Wendy, and even recommended her to Kubrick, as he felt she fit Stephen King’s version of the character. After explaining the changes he had made, Kubrick convinced him that Duvall was the correct choice, as she best suited the emotionally fragile Wendy he had in mind. Many years later, Nicholson told EMPIRE magazine he thought Duvall was fantastic and called her work in the film, “the toughest job that any actor that I’ve seen had.”
  • This film was shot in the same film studio that was used for Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, much of the same fake snow used for this film was used for the Hoth scenes. Stephen King visited the set of both films, and met director Irvin Kershner. This later became the basis for part of his book “It.” Kirshner had been nicknamed “Kersh,” and was directing the first Star Wars film to feature Yoda. In the book, It, there is a character named Mrs. Kersh, who we are told sounds like Yoda when she talks.
  • The outtakes link between this movie and Blade Runner was not the only element that connected the two. Actor Joe Turkel who plays Lloyd (the bartender who serves Jack), also played Dr. Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner. Outtakes aside, Turkel is the only other common cast/crew link between both films.
  • The two Ray Noble and His Orchestra songs used were not actually from the 1920s: “Midnight, the Stars and You” (played in the ballroom) was recorded Feb 16, 1934, and “It’s All Forgotten Now” (heard faintly when Grady is talking to Jack in the bathroom) was recorded July 11, 1934.
  • Shelley Duvall is the only actor/actress playing a member of the Torrance family whose character name is not the same as his/her real life name – Jack Nicholson plays a character named Jack and Danny Lloyd plays a character named Danny.
  • For a TV commercial in 2010 for “Premier Inn” hotels (UK), British comedian Lenny Henry re-enacted Jack Nicholson’s “Heeere’s Johnny” scene (“Heeere’s Lenny”) in which he demolished a hotel bathroom door with an ax.
  • Despite the critical success of the film, it was nominated for two Golden Raspberry awards: Worst Actress for Shelley Duvall and Worst Director for ‘Stanley Kubrick’. It “lost” both awards.
  • There is a character named Richard Haloran in the film Dementia 13, about an axe murderer. It was produced by Roger Corman, who directed several of Jack Nicholson’s early films.
  • One of ‘Stanley Kubrick”s favorite films was Eraserhead, directed by David Lynch. Kubrick cited the film as a creative influence during the making of The Shining and screened Eraserhead to put the cast and crew in the mood he wanted to achieve for the film.
  • When Jack uses an axe to break through the bathroom door, he shouts “Here’s Johnny”. This is probably a reference to the catchphrase of chat-show host Johnny Carson. However an alternative explanation is that it is a reference to an incident that occurred in the 1960s when Johnny Cash used a fire axe to break a connecting “doorway” between two motel rooms that he and his band members were using while on tour, and then broke through one of the doors from the corridor to make it look as if a thief had broken in and trashed the rooms.
  • Stephen King got the idea for The Shining while his family were staying at the Stanley Hotel. They were the last guests before it shut down for the Winter. He saw a group of nuns leaving the hotel, and it got him thinking that the place had suddenly become godless. The King family stayed in Room 217, the haunted room in the novel but Room 237 in the film; a fire hose also resembled a snake (which doesn’t appear in the film but does in the TV mini-series), and King had already been playing around with a story idea about a boy with ESP, so he combined the two plotlines.
  • Jack tells Lloyd in the bar that Danny once messed around with his work papers. This mirrors an event in Stephen King’s life, when his son once started playing around with his writing notes. He felt like killing him.
  • The first of Stephen King’s books to be banned from school libraries because of the theme of wicked parents.
  • The script was constantly changing on set, sometimes several times a day. The cast got very irritated by this, especially Jack Nicholson. Whenever the production team would give the cast copies of the script to memorize, Jack Nicholson would throw his away without even looking at it, as he knew that it was only going to change again.
  • The book that Jack was writing contained the one sentence (“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”) repeated over and over. Stanley Kubrick had each page individually typed. For the Italian version of the film, Kubrick used the phrase “Il mattino ha l’ oro in bocca” (“He who wakes up early meets a golden day”). For the German version, it was “Was Du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf Morgen” (“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”). For the Spanish version, it was “No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano” (“Rising early will not make dawn sooner.”). For the French version, it was “Un ‘Tiens’ vaut mieux que deux ‘Tu l’auras'” (“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”).
  • Kubrick originally wanted approximately 70 takes of the scene where Halloran (Scatman Crothers) gets killed by Jack Torrance, but Jack Nicholson talked Kubrick into going easy on the 69-year-old Crothers and stopping after 40. At one point during the filming, Crothers became so exasperated with Kubrick’s notorious, compulsive style of excessive retakes that he broke down and cried, asking “What do you want, Mr. Kubrick?”
  • Director Trademark: (Stanley Kubrick):[Bathroom] Wendy hides from Jack in a bathroom during Jack’s ax attack.
  • When first released, the film had an alternate ending: after the shot of Jack’s body, the film dissolves to a scene of policemen outside the hotel. It then cuts to a scene in a hospital, where Wendy is resting in a bed and Danny is playing in a waiting room. Ullman arrives and tells her that they have been unable to locate her husband’s body anywhere on the property. On his way out, Ullman gives Danny a ball – the same one that mysteriously rolled into a hallway earlier in the film, before Danny was attacked in room 237. Ullman laughs and walks away and the film dissolves to the move through the corridors towards the photo. Stanley Kubrick had the scene removed a week after the film was released.
  • Danny croaks “Redrum” 43 times before his mother wakes up and Jack starts to break into the apartment.
  • There is only one on-screen murder in the film.
  • The scene where Jack is chasing Danny through the maze took over a month to shoot. During the shoot, crew-members often found themselves lost and had to walkie-talkie for assistance.
  • Alcohol consumption was a federal crime between 1919 and 1933. The year Jack appears to have photographed for the last scene (1921), and the year President Warren G. Harding (in the book) ordered a case of Coors Beer from the bar (1922) would have occurred during Prohibition.
  • Stephen King was reportedly disappointed in this film. In an interview in the June 1986 issue of American Film he said “It’s like a great big beautiful Cadillac with no motor inside, you can sit in it and you can enjoy the smell of the leather upholstery – the only thing you can’t do is drive it anywhere. So I would do everything different. The real problem is that Kubrick set out to make a horror picture with no apparent understanding of the genre. Everything about it screams that from beginning to end, from plot decisions to the final scene”. In particular, King disliked the casting of Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance. This was because he felt that in the novel, it was pivotal that Jack is initially a good man who is slowly overcome by the forces of evil and who is fighting a losing battle against alcoholism. King was of the opinion that due to the casting of Nicholson, who was well known for playing unstable characters, Jack in the film is very much on the edge when the story begins, and the character does not possess the inner goodness so vital to Jack of the novel. King wanted to cast someone who could play the character as more genial in the early stages; apparently he was very keen on Jon Voight. He was also hugely disappointed that the themes of the evils of alcoholism and the disintegration of the family unit were relatively unimportant in the film due to his own battle with alcoholism and because of this personal investment in that aspect of the novel he was largely disheartened by the film.
  • In the novel, The Shining, Dick Hallorann survives (though Jack attacks him with a croquet mallet, not an axe), and he, Wendy, and Danny escape together.
  • In the novel, Wendy is first attacked by Jack with a croquet mallet; in the movie, she serves the first blow to Jack with a baseball bat. Even more ironically, he never strikes her at all throughout the entire film; he becomes violent and homicidal with only one other character.

Talking Points:

  • Still Scary?
  • The Soundtrack (Done by Wendy Carlos of Tron fame)
  • The horror of it being all in the mind and not a “typical” horror film – more scary?

What We Learned:

  • Some places are like people, some shine and some don’t.
  • All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I’ve always appreciated this movie, and other Stanley Kubrick movies for it’s technical value. The acting was great, the cinematography was great but the problem I have with it is its pacing. I always feel a little bored when watching this movie. It’s a movie for your what you haven’t watched and should see list, but it’s not on my rewatch list.
Carlos: My siblings and I would watch this film every time it was on, which happened always to be on Saturdays right before midnight. It succeeds because it is a slow paced horror film – it is one about atmosphere and tension. The entire film builds to the end when the craziness happens. It is also a masterwork of imagery, not fancy complicated, but powerful images that stop you dead and work into you. Everyone who has ever seen The Shining is affected by it, and that’s impressive even 30+ years later.
Steve: I’ve always liked this movie, but not loved it. It’s probably just that I was waaay to young to understand it as a kid and today it just seems to drag along. However, I love just about anything Stephen King puts out there and when put together with an epic director like Stanley Kubrick I would expect nothing less than a classic. Innovative and truly scary because it’s “all in your mind”.

The Present: Looper
Rotten Tomatoes 94% Fresh; 90% Audience

Director: Rian Johnson

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt

Trivia:

  • This movie marks the third collaboration between director Rian Johnson and lead actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the first being Brick, and the second being a quick cameo in The Brothers Bloom as a bar patron with guitar
  • Emily Blunt revealed that she agreed to star in the movie after reading half of the script. She didn’t even know what her character was.
  • The incredibly large “Gat” pistols are actual production firearms, and not just a prop created for the film. It is a Magnum Research BFR (Big Frame Revolver) chambered in .45-70 Government, a rifle round originally adopted by the U.S. military in 1873. The BFR weighs roughly 4.5 pounds.
  • Bruce Willis fires two modern-looking submachine guns in one scene. These are examples of the FN P90, designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium.
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt had prosthetics to make him look more like Bruce Willis in order to play his younger self. He also watched a lot of Bruce Willis films in preparation for the role so that he could impersonate some of his mannerisms.
  • Numbers are never shown on clocks/watches throughout the movie. Either symbols or no numbers are used on the clock-faces.
  • According to director Rian Johnson, Noah Segan (Kid Blue) took a number of classes to learn how to spin his GAT gun around his finger. Johnson told Entertainment Weekly that he filmed numerous takes of Segan spinning the 8-lb gun, but ended up using the one take where he accidentally flubbed and nearly dropped it, because Johnson thought it was funny.
  • A diner was built in the small town of Thibodaux, LA (about an hour north of New Orleans) where all of the diner interior/exterior scenes were shot. Locals saw the diner set and kept asking the film crew on when the new diner was going to open. Director Rian Johnson was later told that the diner set was still standing after Hurricane Isaac moved through in September 2012.
  • The scene where Young Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls off the fire escape was filmed on the actor’s 30th birthday. Gordon-Levitt was left hanging on the stunt wires while the crew sang “Happy Birthday” and wheeled out birthday cake.

Talking Points:

  • Was it what you thought it would be?
  • There is always something scary about children with powers

Critic Notes:

  • Positives: Original and fresh; Clever dialogue; There is enough left unexplained that the viewer has to contribute his or her own interpretation; Interesting characters
  • Negatives: The time travel aspects were not well defined and just seemed to be affectations; Too many things going on just made it mind-numbing

What We Learned:

  • Time travel will be invented 30 years from now.
  • Time travel fries your brain like an egg.
  • In the future, don’t go to Paris – go to China.
  • Never let your target escape, even if it’s you.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I’m assuming this was awesome and when I do see it, I expect to love it.
Carlos: I was amazed. Having the time travel movie be a shell for an entirely different story was mind-bendingly brave. There were a few images/moments in this movie that made me squeal. The time travel isn’t deeply thought through because 1. it just makes your brain hurt and 2. it’s a way of telling this particular story. Rian Johnson is one of my favorite films, as Brick is like nothing you’ll ever see, but this movie really blew me away in how ballsy and interesting it becomes from about halfway in.
Steve: I didn’t really know what to expect going in, so I found the story and plot twists very interesting and different. Definitely an action and cerebral thriller in one, so it sucked me in. All in all, kudos for an original concept!

The Future: Red Dawn

Release: November 21, 2012

Director: Dan Bradley

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson

Summary:

A town in Washington becomes the initial target of a foreign invasion. Under enemy occupation, the town’s citizens are taken prisoners. A group of young people, calling themselves ‘The Wolverines’ (after their high school mascot), band together in the surrounding woods. There, they train and organize themselves into a group of guerrilla fighters in order to liberate their town

Talking Points:

  • Necessary?
  • Significance of changing to North Koreans? (1984 was Russia, Cuba & Nicaragua)
  • Timing – we were not “at war” when the first came out so it was a gut check

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Good little modern take on a classic movie. In some sense I wish they would have called it something different or not make it a “remake”. Maybe mentioned the inspiration for it, but not really being a remake. Does that make any sense?
Carlos: Lost him!! 🙁
Steve: I always loved the original, so again this will be something from my childhood that’s being redone with a new spin. I’m going to give it the opportunity to be good, but I don’t think I’ll have the same visceral reaction I did when I was younger.

The Past: The Exorcist

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The Present: Pitch Perfect

The Future: The Host (2013 – Saoirse Ronan)

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MOV098: “May the odds be ever in your favor”

On this reel of COL Movies, the boys start off heading back to 1954 and go looking for trouble… On the Waterfront. Do the boys feel that the movie and Brando’s performance live up to expectations? Next it’s a jump to a very dystopian future in “The Hunger Games” Does the screen adaptation of the first novel in this very popular trilogy stand up to the twilight and battle royal comparisons? Finally the boys take a look at the not so distant future release of “The Rift” is there any chance this low budget sci-fi horror flick will get our interest? all this plus news about a “Carrie” remake, Kevin Smith making a Clerks play, and Mr. Bay is still defending his Ninja Turtles.All this and more on the 98th reel of COL Movies “May the odds be ever in your favor”

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The Past: On The Waterfront (1954)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% Fresh, 94% Audience

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Director: Elia Kazan

Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Eva Marie Saint

Trivia:

  • The idea for the film began with an expose series written for The New York Sun by reporter Malcolm Johnson. The 24 articles won him a Pulitzer Prize and were reinforced by the 1948 murder of a New York dock hiring boss which woke America to the killings, graft and extortion that were endemic on the New York waterfront. Budd Schulberg was captivated by the subject matter, devoting years of his life to absorbing everything he could about the milieu. He became a regular fixture on the waterfront, hanging out in West Side Manhattan and Long Island bars, interviewing longshore-union leaders and getting to know the outspoken priests from St Xavier’s in Hell’s Kitchen.
  • On the Waterfront is widely known to be an act of expiation on the part of Elia Kazan for naming names to HUAC during the Joseph McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950s. What is less widely reported is that Kazan intended it as a direct attack at his former close friend Arthur Miller who had been openly critical of Kazan’s actions. Specifically, it was a direct response to Miller’s play The Crucible.
  • Elia Kazan was loath to do business with Darryl F. Zanuck who had insisted on multiple cuts on Man on a Tightrope. Fortunately when Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg met with Zanuck, he started talking about widescreen Technicolor pictures. Zanuck eventually came clean and said he didn’t like a single thing about it, stating “Who’s going to care about a bunch of sweaty longshoremen?” This led Kazan and Schulberg to meet with independent producer Sam Spiegel who set up a deal with Columbia.
  • Sam Spiegel sent the script to Marlon Brando and it came back with a refusal. Spiegel however had inserted small pieces of paper between the pages which were still in place when the script was returned to him, indicating that it hadn’t been read. While Spiegel continued to work on Brando, Frank Sinatra agreed to take on the role.
  • The original title was simply “Waterfront” until Columbia learned that there was a television series by that name.
  • The part of Terry Malloy was originally written for John Garfield who died before the film was made.
  • According to Marlon Brando’s friend, Carlo Fiore, and his reminiscences in his book “Bud: The Brando I Knew”, it was Fiore who helped make some key decisions about the famous taxi cab scene. It wasn’t working to Brando’s satisfaction, and the actor was becoming increasingly frustrated at being unable to find the truth about the scene. Fiore told him that having a gun pulled on him by his brother would hit a bullshit note with Terry, and that shocked disbelief that his brother would do such a thing would be the most appropriate response. Brando then went into a stormy conference with Elia Kazan and Sam Spiegel before nailing the scene. Afterwards Kazan drew Fiore aside and said “Next time you get an idea about a scene, bring it to me, not Marlon, okay?” There is some doubt about the veracity of this story however as one look at the original script reveals that shocked surprise was Terry’s reaction all along.
  • Sam Spiegel forgot to pay for rear-projection equipment, hence the reason why the cab where Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger play out the film’s most famous scene has blinds.
  • As part of his contract, Marlon Brando only worked till 4 every day and then he would leave to go see his analyst. Brando’s mother had recently died and the conflicted young actor was in therapy to resolve his issues with his parents. Interestingly, for the film’s classic scene between Rod Steiger and Brando in the back of the cab, all of Steiger’s close-ups were filmed after Brando had left for the day, so his lines were read by one of the crew members. Steiger remained very bitter about that for many years and often mentioned it in interviews.
  • From a budget of just under $1 million, the film went on to gross ten times its production costs in its initial release.
  • Elia Kazan later remarked that the biggest problem he encountered with his actors was getting them on set on time (the weather was so severely cold, most of the actors didn’t like to hang around the set for long).
  • Arthur Miller was approached by Elia Kazan to write the screenplay, and did so, but later pulled it when the FBI and studio bosses required him to make the gangsters Communists.
  • Film debuts of Johnny Seven, Michael V. Gazzo, Pat Hingle, Martin Balsam, and Eva Marie Saint. The last gave a debut performance that won her the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award.
  • The only film that wasn’t a musical for which Leonard Bernstein wrote the incidental music.
  • Frank Sinatra was originally considered for the role of Terry Malloy. Elia Kazan approached Sinatra about the part but producer Sam Spiegel favored Marlon Brando for his greater pulling power at the box office.
  • According to Arthur Miller in his autobiography “Timebends”, he had written a screenplay dealing with corruption on the New York waterfront called “The Hook”. Elia Kazan had agreed to direct it, and in 1951 they went to see Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures about making the picture. Cohn agreed in principle to make “The Hook”, but his minions were troubled by the portrayal of corrupt union officials. When Cohn asked that the antagonists of the script be changed to Communists, Miller refused. Cohn sent Miller a letter telling him it was interesting that he had resisted Columbia’s desire to make the movie pro-American. This film, which did include corrupt union officials, was based on articles by Malcolm Johnson. Kazan asked Miller to write the script, but he declined due to his disenchantment with Kazan’s friendly testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Budd Schulberg, a fellow HUAC informer, developed the story and wrote the script. The movie was produced by Sam Spiegel and distributed by Columbia, which had turned down “The Hook”.
  • Marlon Brando did not initially want the role of Terry Malloy after producer Sam Spiegel offered it to him because he was disgusted with Elia Kazan’s friendly testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Spiegel, who had originally offered the role to Hoboken native Frank Sinatra, who had enthusiastically accepted, then tried to interest Montgomery Clift in the part. Spiegel wanted a bigger box-office attraction than Sinatra, who eventually filed a lawsuit against Spiegel for breach of contract when Brando did sign for the part.
  • The taxicab scene between Terry and Charlie, one of the most famous scenes in the cinema, was not improvised, as Marlon Brando claimed in his autobiography. When Brando did initially improvise during the shooting of the scene, and Rod Steiger followed his lead, Elia Kazan yelled, “Stop the shit, Buddy!” to Brando, using his nickname. The two actors stuck to Budd Schulberg’s script after that.
  • Marlon Brando objected to certain aspects in the famous taxicab scene. When filming began, Brando began to improvise some dialogue, surprising Rod Steiger. After a while, Elia Kazan told Brando to “knock it off”. The problem Brando had with the scene, as he explained to screenwriter Budd Schulberg and Kazan, was that he felt he (as Terry Malloy) would have difficulty trying to talk reasonably with his brother (played by Steiger) with a gun at his ribs. At this, Kazan agreed and told Brando to improvise. Kazan maintained that he did not direct Brando nor Steiger in this scene, he simply stood back and let the two actors direct themselves.
  • Marlon Brando was paid $100,000, Elia Kazan received $100,000 plus 25% of the box office.
  • The script was originally turned down by Darryl F. Zanuck at Twentieth Century Fox on the grounds that the gritty drama didn’t fit well with the policy at the time of creating lavish productions for the studio’s Cinemascope format.
  • Marlon Brando’s Oscar for Best Actor was either lost or stolen. The award did show up later when Brando was contacted by a London auction house, intending to sell the item.
  • Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello and Abe Simon, who play Johnny Friendly’s heavies, were all former professional boxers and opponents of Joe Louis for the heavyweight world title. Simon fought the Brown Bomber twice and was knocked out in Round 13 in the first fight and Round 6 in the second. Galento and Mauriello fought Louis once apiece and shared similar fates. Galento was kayoed in Round 4 and Mauriello in Round 1.
  • The scene where Eva Marie Saint drops her glove and Marlon Brando picks it up and puts it on his hand was unplanned. Saint dropped her glove accidentally in rehearsal and Brando improvised the rest. Elia Kazan loved the new business and asked them to repeat it for the take.
  • Grace Kelly turned down the role of Edie Doyle, deciding to make Rear Window instead.
  • Many real longshoremen from Hoboken, New Jersey were used as extras.
  • The real-life model for the film’s Johnny Friendly character (played by Lee J. Cobb) was International Longshoremen’s Association boss Michael Clemente (Johnny Friendly also has aspects of former Murder Inc. head Albert Anastasia, who was a top enforcer for the crime family that ran the Hoboken docks, the Luciano – later Genovese – family). In 1979 Clemente and other members of the Genovese family were indicted for corruption and racketeering on the New York waterfront.
  • In 1955, screenwriter Budd Schulberg – who won an Oscar for his screenplay – published his novel “Waterfront”, which focuses on the causes of waterfront corruption and elucidates the involvement of the shipping companies, the mayor’s office, police, and the church.
  • Shortly after the film’s debut in 1954, the AFL-CIO expelled the East Coast longshoremen’s union because it was still run by the mob.
  • In 1955, Anthony “Tony Mike” de Vincenzo filed a lawsuit against Columbia Pictures because Terry Malloy (the character played by Marlon Brando) seemed to have been based on him, who was known as a whistle-blower against the corrupt International Longshoremen’s Association union. He won a small out-of-court settlement.
  • When Elia Kazan and his original screenwriter Arthur Miller originally showed the script to Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, Columbia executives objected to the script as being “atni-union”, as they feared union retaliation. Cohn recommended that union officials be changed to communists.
  • The leading characters were based on real people: Terry Malloy was based on longshoreman and whistle-blower Anthony De Vincenzo; Father Barry was based on waterfront priest John M. Corridan; Johnny Friendly was based on mobster Albert Anastasia.
  • Most of the solo shots of Rod Steiger during the famous taxicab scene were done after Marlon Brando had left for the day. Steiger was deeply hurt and annoyed at Brando’s apparent rudeness, but used these emotions to add to his performance.
  • The shooting schedule occasionally had to be worked around Marlon Brando’s appointments with his psychiatrist in Manhattan.
  • Was one of the first films named to the National Film Preservation Board’s National Film Registry in 1989.
  • Elia Kazan, in his autobiography “A Life”, says that the choice of an actress to play Edie Doyle was narrowed down to Elizabeth Montgomery and Eva Marie Saint. Although Montgomery was fine in her screen test, there was something well-bred about her that Kazan thought would not be becoming for Edie, who was raised on the waterfront in Hoboken, NJ. He gave the part to Saint, and she went on to win cinematic immortality, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, in the part.
  • Although the part of Edie Doyle properly is a lead, producer Sam Spiegel listed Eva Marie Saint as a Supporting Actress in the hopes of getting her a nomination. The ploy worked, and she won the Oscar.
  • The DVD version of the film has a Special Features section which shows some of the original promotional posters which state that the film is about “the redemption of Terry Malone”. Marlon Brando’s character’s name was changed to Terry Malloy by the final draft.
  • The role of Terry’s brother Charley was originally offered to Lawrence Tierney. Tierney asked for too much money so the role went to Rod Steiger who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
  • Selected as number 8 on AFI’s 100 YEARS…100 MOVIES
  • The Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) line, “You don’t understand. I could’ve had class. I could’ve been a contender. I could’ve been somebody instead of a bum, which I am.” was selected at No. 3 on American Film Institute’s (AFI) 100 YEARS..100 QUOTES.
  • In his biography of Elia Kazan, Richard Schickel describes how Kazan used a ploy to entice Marlon Brando to do the movie. He had Karl Malden direct a scene from the film with an up-and-coming fellow actor from the Actors Studio playing the Terry Malloy lead role. They figured the competitive Brando would not be eager to see such a major role handed to some new screen heartthrob. The ploy worked, especially since the competition had come in the form of a guy named Paul Newman.
  • In early drafts of the Budd Schulberg script, the Terry Malloy character was not an ex-pug dockworker but a cynical investigative reporter, as well as an older, divorced man.
  • Marlon Brando’s performance as Terry Malloy is ranked #2 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
  • Roger Donoghue (born 11/20/30 Yonkers, NY – died 8/20/06 Greenport, NY) was the prizefighter who Budd Schulberg credited with partly inspiring the famous line of Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), “I coulda been a contender”. He was Brando’s trainer for the film. He came up with the idea of putting little plastic tubes in Brando’s nose to represent scar tissue.
  • The movie’s line “I coulda been a contender.” was voted as the #7 of “The 100 Greatest Movie Lines” by Premiere in 2007.
  • Debut of Fred Gwynne.
  • Near the movie’s beginning, it’s amusing to see character actor James Westerfield, playing Big Mac, calling out names of men selected to work, and paying tribute to himself by yelling, “Westerfield.”
  • In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #19 Greatest Movie of All Time.
  • While preparing for the role, Marlon Brando became friendly with a young Al Lettieri, who was an acquaintance of real-life Mafiosos. Brando based much of his performance on Lettieri, who became his co-star in The Night of the Following Day and The Godfather.
  • Thomas Handley, (who played Terry Molloy’s teenage friend Tommy, was hired by the production to feed the pigeons on set. His father, a longshoreman, had been blackballed for anti-union activities, and disappeared when Hanley was 4 months old. Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg had him audition for the role, and coaxed an angry response out of him by calling his father a rat. He was paid $500 for his role, but never really acted again. He went on to become a longshoreman, and in 2002 was elected recording secretary of his union after yet another corrupt leadership was ousted.
  • The film was shot by Elia Kazan at the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. It was originally offered to 20th Century Fox by Kazan, but was turned down by Darryl F. Zanuck because the film was shot in black & white and in the academy ratio of 1.37. Fox at the time was big into Cinemascope wide screen pictures. The film may have been exhibited in a few theaters at 1.66 or even 1.85, but was shot, and exhibited, in 1954, at 1.37:1.
  • While filming the scene in the back of the cab Marlon Brando would leave every day for a psychiatrist appointment before Rod Steiger could film his lines with a double standing in for Brando. Steiger was very hurt by Brando’s apparent disregard to a fellow colleague and was not able to forgive him until many years later.
  • Marlon Brando would improvise several different lines while filming the famous “I coulda been a contender” scene such as asking Rod Steiger “How’s mom?” or “Do you think the Yankees are going to win it this year?”. At one point director Elia Kazan said, “Buddy, cut the crap.”

Talking Points:

  • What is it about Brando and his acting (not particularly from this movie) that makes him considered one of if not “The best” actor of all time?
  • What the hell are they talking about?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Keep quiet, don’t ask no questions, don’t give no answers. You’ll live longer
  • Stoolin is when you rat on your friends.
  • Pigeons aren’t peaceful, but they are faithful
  • If your gonna scrap your whole life, might as well get paid for it.

Trailer

Recommendations:
Jeff: This was a pretty good classic movie. It’s still 1950’s style acting but I enjoyed it. I say at least give it a chance.
Ray: Honestly, this was a struggle for me to get through. I found the scenes between Brando and Saint entertaining, and the last 20 or so minutes good, but I really had a hard time getting into this film. In my mind it would have been more interesting to follow Karl Malden’s character around instead of Brando.
Steve: I definitely struggled through this movie. It was interesting, especially because I tend to like “mafia movies”, but it was so stylized and just drug along.

The Present: The Hunger Games
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% Fresh; 87% Audience

Directors: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Trivia:

  • First part of a Trilogy series of young adult books by Suzanne Collins: ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire’, ‘Mockingjay’.
  • Chloë Grace Moretz, Mary Mouser, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Lyndsy Fonseca, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Emily Browning and Shailene Woodley were considered to play Katniss, the lead role. Jennifer Lawrence won the role.
  • Alex Pettyfer, Josh Hutcherson, Lucas Till, Nico Tortorella, Alexander Ludwig, Evan Peters and Hunter Parrish were considered to play Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson was later cast.
  • Liam Hemsworth, Chris Massoglia, David Henrie, Robbie Amell and Drew Roy were considered to play Gale. Hemsworth was ultimately cast.
  • Jennifer Lawrence was initially cast as the lead in Savages, but dropped out to do this film instead.
  • Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for their roles in the film while Josh Hutcherson, naturally dark-haired, dyed his hair blonde for his part.
  • Composer Danny Elfman left the film due to a scheduling conflict and was replaced by James Newton Howard.
  • Despite its high popularity with teenagers and adults, Lionsgate has admitted that the chances of Catching Fire and Mockingjay being converted into films all depend on the money that ‘The Hunger Games’ makes.
  • On February 22nd, four weeks before The Hunger Games’ release, Lionsgate began selling advance tickets. Not only did the ticket sales break the one-day record originally held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, but also accounted for 83% of the ticket sales of the day.
  • The name of the main character, Katniss, is derived from the name of a group of edible plant species, genus “Sagittaria”, commonly known as “arrowhead”. This is a reference to the character’s archery skills.
  • The fictional nation in the film is called Panem. This is derived from “Panem et Circenses,” or “Bread and Circuses,” which comes from the latter days of the Roman Empire, in which the government would keep the masses satisfied not by performing their public services well, but by providing violent and deadly entertainments for the people to watch, which is rather fitting for the subject matter of the film.
  • The director has stated that his decision to go with shaky cam work, “had a lot to do with the urgency of what’s going on and to reflect protagonist Katniss Everdeen’s point of view.”
  • The design for the Cornucopia was inspired by the work of architect Frank Gehry.
  • This is not the first time actors Jennifer Lawrence and Paula Malcomson (Katniss and Mrs Everdeen) have worked together playing mother and daughter. The previous time was in the “Cold Case”(2003)_ episode, ‘A Dollar, A Dream’ in which Malcomson plays a homeless mother struggling to support her two children. Lawrence’s character similarly had a very strained relationship with her mother, a deceased father, and blamed her surviving parent for their hardships.

Talking Points:

  • The Racism following the movie release
  • Twilight and Battle Royal comparisons
  • Books
  • Shaaaakeeycaaaaam
  • Sequel? excitement?
  • The end (last 5 mins or so)

What We Learned:

  • Nothing gets someones attention like shooting at them with an arrow.
  • Be careful what you put in your mouth it might kill you.
  • Hope tis the only thing stronger than fear
  • A spark is fine, as long as it’s contained
  • Fake romance always brings in the ratings!
  • Woody Harrelson is great at playing what we all think Woody Harrelson is like in real life.
  • Effie Trinket = frigid bitch 🙂
  • Look out for the genetically manipulated wasps!!
  • There SHOULD be only one!! (Highlander and Thunderdome got it right!)

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I really liked this movie, despite my sinuses killing me and my need to pee, I was easily able to enjoy the entire thing, Worth seeing in the theatre, will now check out the book.
Ray: A decent film, although I found the book a lot more engaging, with more character development, and no shakeycam! It is entertaining and well done.
Steve: Totally enjoyed 2:15 of it. That last 7 minutes though…grr. Well shot and good story.

The Future: The Rift

Release: 7-7-2012 (limited)

Director: Robert Kouba

Starring: Eileen Grubba, James DiStefano, Ralph Guzzo

Summary:

For decades they have been watching us. Studying us. What are they? Nobody knows. Nobody but Ivan Petrenko Karkarov. The Russian physicist started to study a phenomenon which was occurring for several decades. In 1982 he found an answer to the strange phenomenon but before he could tell anyone he mysteriously vanished. 30 years later, in a suburb of Los Angeles, Dean Hollister seems to be a normal guy until strange radar anomalies appear throughout the world. All of a sudden something starts to happen at the sky, black rifts appear. Something is moving behind those rifts. It’s watching us.

Talking Points

  • Ok.. the budget on this thing is $20k …
  • The difference in the two teaser trailers… wtf? (agreed…Steve)
  • The Director
  • Did you read the comments on youtube? LOL

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Meh, I think I’ll pass, nothing special to me.
Ray: I guess im intrigued mainly because I want to see what a 20 year old can do with 20 grand 😀
Steve: OK…I need to see more than the teasers because I’m just way too confused. I think I have an idea of what’s going on. Looks kind of like a “made for SyFy” original though.

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV074: “It All Sounds Like a Bunch of Supernatural Baloney To Me”

On this whirlwind episode of COL Movies.. Join Steve Jeff and Myself as we throw back….waaaaaay back to 1934’s controversial smash hit “The Black Cat” Do the two Icons of cinema Horror Karloff and Lugosi show us whats up? And whats up with that music? Then we go all topsy turvy! In the present we jump into the not so distant future and check out Hugh Jackman and Evangeline LIlly in the cinema tour de force of “Rockem Sock em..Robo…….errrr “Real Steel” Can our love of Giant Robots pull this one out of the corner? And Finally the Boys get teased about “The Hunger Games” Is the one minute and five second teaser enough to get us ready to jump into the theater next march? All this and More on the next reel steel episode of COL Movies! : It All Sounds Like a Bunch of Supernatural Baloney To Me

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The Past: The Black Cat (1934)

Rotten Tomatoes: 86% Fresh, 74% Audience

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and David Manners

Trivia:

  • The satanic prayer Poelzig chants during the black mass scene consists of phrases in Latin, the most recognizable being “cum grano salis” (with a grain of salt).
  • Edgar G. Ulmer admitted in an interview that Edgar Allan Poe’s story was credited to draw public attention, despite the fact it had nothing to do with the story in the movie.
  • Censors in Italy, Finland and Austria banned the movie outright, while others required cuts of the more gruesome sequences.
  • This was Universal’s biggest hit of 1934.
  • The set of the main room in Poelzig’s house were built for $1,500.
  • The first of eight movies to pair Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
  • Among the unconventional elements of this film was the soundtrack. At a time (early 1930s) when movie music was usually limited to the titles and credits, Edgar G. Ulmer had an almost continuous background score throughout the entire film.
  • Boris Karloff’s character is named after Austrian architect and art director Hans Poelzig. Poelzig worked on Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, on which director Edgar G. Ulmer was set designer.
  • Edgar G. Ulmer dubbed Boris Karloff’s line at the end of the chess match: “You lose, Vitus”.
  • Edgar G. Ulmer dubbed Bela Lugosi’s voice instructing his servant to “wait here” before accompanying Boris Karloff down to be shown his preserved dead wife.
  • The ill-fated bus driver is a direct homage to the doorman in Der letzte Mann, on which Edgar G. Ulmer worked as Production Designer.
  • Director Edgar G. Ulmer, when writing this film, loosely based the villain Hjalmar Poelzig, played by Boris Karloff, on director Fritz Lang. Ulmer knew Lang from the German-Austrian film scene and, though he was a huge admirer of Lang’s films, felt Lang to be a sadist as a director.
  • The only Universal picture until The Wolf Man to introduce the major characters during the opening credits, and the actors playing them, with brief clips from the movie.
  • Part of the original SHOCK THEATER package of 52 Universal titles released to television in 1957, followed a year later with SON OF SHOCK, which added 21 more features.

Talking Points:

  • Lighting in back and white movies
  • Score
  • The Performances of Karloff and Lugosi
  • The “Frank Lloyd Wright” style house in the 1930s

What We’ve Learned:

  • Quality of acting is not needed, as long as you look as creepy as your character is supposed to be!
  • Its better to be Frightened than be crushed!
  • Apparently Ikea was furnishing homes in 1934 Hungary

A good cast is worth repeating

Trailer:
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Recommendations:
Jeff: *looks around* Was this movie suppose to be scary? The acting was typical for the era. Just felt like an plain ordinary film to me. Not bad to watch if you’re doing a Legosi or Karloff marathon or something. Otherwise, skip it.
Ray: Interesting watch… I can see why Lugosi and Karloff played so many “monsters” they both have creepy down to a science.
Steve: Creepy! The black and white worked for this movie, too. Worth seeing from a horror history point of view.

The Present: Real Steel

Rotten Tomatoes: 58% Rotten, 83% Audience

Director: Shawn Levy

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and Dakota Goyo

Trivia:

  • Michigan was chosen to film this movie by director Shawn Levy because he was blown away by the Model T Automobile plant in Highland Park near Detroit. He felt it was the perfect set for the first fight scene called Crash Palace in the film. No other location he visited in New Mexico, Los Angeles, or Georgia came close.
  • The third film of director Shawn Levy to be released in the IMAX format. The other two are Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
  • Much of the robot boxing fights were motion-captured using professional boxers, supervised by Sugar Ray Leonard.
  • In an apparent nod to Rocky, the world champion robot is named “Zeus”, while in ‘Rocky’, the champion is named “Apollo” Creed. In mythology, Apollo is the son of Zeus.
  • In an obvious nod to the iconic game “Rock’em, Sock’em, Robots”, during the Atom/Zeus fight, Mashido assumes manual control of Zeus and grabs two simple joysticks and moves them back and forth operating Zeus exactly as done in the board game.
  • The film is based on “Steel” – a 1956 short story by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson. It was also made into an episode of The Twilight Zone called Steel.
  • The girls who ask to pose for a picture with Ambush are director ‘Shawn Levy”s daughters.
  • Although not specified, director Shawn Levy has said that the film takes place in 2020. He stated in an interview: “The whole reason it’s 2020 and not further in the future is because I knew this movie was going to be an underdog story and I didn’t want the distant futurism of extreme sci-fi. I wanted the world to feel really familiar, so that the characters would feel really relatable. The cell-phone we used five or ten years ago looks different from today, but a diner still looks like a diner.”
  • Each of the robots were built both in real life and CGI. For certain shots with animatronics, they were controlled by more than 20 puppeteers.
  • Midas’ Mohawk hairstyle is a nod to “Clubber” Lang, Mr.T’s character in Rocky III.
  • All video cameras used by the press are Red Epics, most with 3D lens attachments.
  • The opening scene at the fairground features a semi tractor with a cattle-hauling trailer which belongs to “Ron Smith Trucking”, Breckenridge, MI.
  • The climactic fight scene is a virtual punch-for-punch recreation of the Ivan Drago/Rocky Balboa fight from Rocky IV.
  • Among the many parallels to the movie Rocky, the world champion (Zeus) gives an unheralded local club fighter (Atom) a shot at the title and then unexpectedly gets into the fight of his life before winning a controversial split decision to the disdain of the crowd; the fight lasts the full 5 rounds with each fighter suffering many injuries; the match illustrates Atom’s apparently unlimited ability to absorb punishment; and despite losing, Atom is declared “the people’s champion.”

Talking Points:

  • Cliche’ – kid, female mechanic, lost career, etc – too many in one movie?
  • Rocky references
  • Robot fights – worth the rest of the movie?
  • Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemekis

What We Learned:

  • Never allow Hugh Jackman to try and pull off a Midwestern accent again!
  • Japanese Bootlegs are always better
  • Voice recognition still kinda glitchy in 2020
  • The People Mover still works in Detroit in 2020..hell Detroit’s still around in 2020!
  • Ya need Flare!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Very much an adrenalin rush at time, which probably the reason why I liked it so much. I would definitely enjoy seeing this again.
Ray: A father / son boxing movie… with robots! love it! Don’t expect Shakespeare.. but it was entertaining. And I didn’t hate the child actor for once.
Steve: This one gets BOTH a yawn and an eye roll from me. Hugh Jackman’s accent annoyed me the entire movie and the “little boy who speaks like he’s 40” concept is overplayed. From jump the music didn’t seem to fit the movie and the whole metaphor of “Rocky as a robot”, even though the robot is really Hugh Jackman since he’s controlling it, is weak at best. Skip it unless you just want to watch the robot fights.

The Future: The Hunger Games (2012)

Director: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth

Summary:

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Trivia:

  • First part of a Trilogy series of young adult books by Suzanne Collins: ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire’, ‘Mockingjay’.
  • Chloë Grace Moretz, Mary Mouser, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Lyndsy Fonseca, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Emily Browning and Shailene Woodley were considered to play Katniss, the lead role. Jennifer Lawrence won the lead role.
  • Alex Pettyfer, Josh Hutcherson, Lucas Till, Nico Tortorella, Alexander Ludwig, Evan Peters and Hunter Parrish were considered to play Peeta Mellark. Hutcherson was later cast.
  • Liam Hemsworth, Chris Massoglia, David Henrie, Robbie Amell and Drew Roy were considered to play Gale. Hemsworth was ultimately cast.
  • Jennifer Lawrence was initially cast as the lead in Savages, but dropped out to do this film instead.
  • Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for their roles in the film while Josh Hutcherson, naturally dark-haired, dyed his hair blonde for his part.

Talking Points:

  • Is this the next Twilight?
  • Does trailer really give you a sense of what the movie is?
  • What’s the point of a teaser vs a trailer?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: It has my attention. And from everything I’ve heard outside of it, there are fans of the book that are excited. I’m intrigued but can’t wait for the longer trailer.
Ray:I put this trailer on here to test.. whether or not people who have no grasp of the source material are going to be interested in seeing this movie.. I know its only a “Teaser” but the point is to make a good enough first impression .. to get you interested in the film… i don’t think this teaser is doing a very good Job.
Steve: I’ve been seeing press about this, but didn’t know what it was about until I looked up the information about the movie. I like the concept, but don’t know that the trailer does enough to really give a sense that the synopsis we found does.

Coming Attractions:

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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