Tag Archives: Kate Beckinsale

MOV117: “Two Weeks”

August 10, 2012 boxpuppy

In this reel of COL Movies, Jeff and Ray are all by their lonesomes as Steven takes the week off. They start off in the past trying to remember the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger flick “Total Recall”. The memory implant falls and they only find another 3 breasted woman in the present day Colin Farrell version of “Total Recall”. In the future, they discuss if “Sinister” is sinister at all. This and Bob Hoskins Retires and utterly unsurprising news from the No Shit Sherlock department. It’s the 117th reel of COL Movies “Two Weeks”

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News:

It the No Shit Sherlock department: Joss Whedon signs on to write and direct Avengers 2
Bob Hoskins announces retirement

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The Past: Total Recall (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes 85% Fresh 70% Audience

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Director: Paul Verhoeven

Staring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Ronny Cox, Rachel Ticotin, Dean Norris

Trivia:

As many as seven directors were considered for and even hired to direct the movie, including Richard Rush, Bruce Beresford and David Cronenberg. Cronenberg had even written a few drafts of the script before Paul Verhoeven took over the Total Recall project.
Over 40 drafts of the script were written, some of which depicted Quaid as a mild-mannered accountant (instead of a construction worker). According to Paul Verhoeven, although there were many changes made to each of the scripts, the final draft of the script was very similar to the first draft.
Johnnycab whistles the Norwegian national anthem.
Robert Picardo was voice of and facial model for the “Johnnycab” robot.
When Quaid is dressed up as the fat lady, the passport he hands the guard is the actual passport of Priscilla Allen (who played the fat lady).
The subway scenes were filmed in the Mexico City subway system, specifically, the Insurgentes station of the Line 1: Constituyentes-Pantitlan.
Some of the large ads seen after Quaid gets off the subway were real signs featured above the Insurgentes subway station in Mexico City, most noticeable the Fuji Film and Coca Cola signs, the Coca Cola sign still stands today
The original cut of the movie was given an X-rating by the MPAA for excessive violence. Some violence was trimmed and different camera angles were used in some of the more over the top scenes and the movie was then re-rated R.
On the graph that Quaid is shown at Rekall, it appears that traveling by space shuttle has been getting more and more dangerous as time goes on!
The short story on which it was based was first optioned in 1974, 16 years before the film finally was released.
Patrick Swayze was signed to play Quaid when the movie began preproduction in Australia with Bruce Beresford as the director. However, early in preproduction, Dino De Laurentiis’ company went bankrupt. After Arnold Schwarzenegger heard about this, he persuaded Carolco to buy the script for him.
The concept of Quaid being a physically-buffed construction worker was suggested by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. In the earlier drafts of the script, Quaid (originally named Quail) was originally described as an average-looking accountant-type person. Because of this detail, when the movie was originally going to be produced by Dino De Laurentiis, he was adamant about not letting Schwarzenegger audition for the role of Quaid. It was only after Schwarzenegger convinced Mario Kassar to buy the script rights from De Laurentiis (whose production company went bankrupt) that the later drafts were re-written to change Quaid’s character into one more suitable for Schwarzenegger to play. Schwarzenegger said that he felt this helped the story even more, giving a much stronger contrast to it by turning a character who is otherwise powerful physically into a character that becomes vulnerable after having his mind stolen.
Quaid’s metal briefcase contains the following items: a worker’s ID for the Pyramid Mines on Mars under the name “Steve Leonetti”, a driver’s license under the name “James D. Brubaker”, several other miscellaneous ID cards, a large sum of pink Martian dollar bills, an unusual medical device (later used to extract the bug from inside Quaid’s head), a portable wrist-worn hologram generator, a laptop-like video communication device, various clothes (possibly the fat lady outfit), and a piece of paper with the name “HOFFMAN” written on it, who’s purpose is never revealed (possibly Quaid’s passenger ticket to Mars?).
All of the crew fell ill due to food poisoning during production, with the exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Shusett. Schwarzenegger escaped because he always had his food catered from the US. This was because three years earlier, he had fallen ill due to drinking tap water in Mexico during production of Predator. As for Shusett, he took extreme health precautions, such as only brushing his teeth with boiled or bottled water and insisting on getting a weekly vitamin B12 shot. Shusett was even mocked by the crew until they all got sick themselves.
The miniatures used for shots showing Martian geography were based on Martian photographs.
One of the heavily re-edited scenes to get an R-rating was the escalator shootout where Quaid uses a human body to shield himself from bullets.
Body count: 77
Kurtwood Smith was offered the role of Richter, but he turned it down because he felt the role was too similar to his character in RoboCop.
Christopher Reeve was offered, but turned down, the role of Douglas Quaid.
Both the adaptation of the screenplay (written by Piers Anthony) and early drafts of the script had the main character’s name as Douglas Quail. The original Philip K. Dick story has the name Quail as well. The film was being made during the Bush administration, with Dan Quayle as Vice President and it is presumed that this was the reason for the change.
During Quaid’s Rekall orientation, a monitor momentarily shows an illustration of a green Martian from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian novels.
Richard Rush was initially hired by Dino De Laurentiis to direct the project, but he left when they couldn’t agree on the script. Rush was replaced by Bruce Beresford. Lewis Teague was also under consideration to direct around this time.
The escalator chase scene was filmed in Mexico City’s “Chabacano” Subway Station (Intersection for Lines 2, 9 and 8, though 8 wasn’t operating at the time). The only changes made are direction signs in English, and the station names replaced.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally going to play the title role in RoboCop but problems with the costume caused producers to drop the idea. After Schwarzenegger saw Robocop, he expressed that he loved the movie and wanted to work with director Paul Verhoeven. When he and Verhoeven heard about Total Recall, they decided to work on that.
Originally to be directed by David Cronenberg, who turned down the chance to direct The Fly in order to work on this film. Cronenberg was replaced on The Fly by Robert Bierman, but Bierman later pulled out of that project due to the death of his daughter. Around the same time, Cronenberg left Total Recall when it was placed into turnaround, which left him free to return to direct The Fly.
As it is often done in futuristic movies, this one also uses contemporary design objects to depict future settings – among other things, the small cups with the black plastic ring, used by Quaid while preparing his breakfast smoothie, are Bodum Bistro coffee mugs from Denmark, and a desk lamp at Rekall is the Tolomeo from Italian manufacturer Artemide.
Although never mentioned in the film, the cover of the VHS-edition of the movie mentions that the movie takes place in the year 2084 AD.
The Spanish title for this movie is “Desafío Total”, which translated to English means “Total challenge”. This movie was also released under another Spanish title, “El Vengador del Futuro”, which translates to “Future Avenger”
It took 15 puppeteers to control Kuato, whose name is from the Spanish word: cuate (twin). In Imagining ‘Total Recall’, Director Paul Verhoeven said that special makeup effects designer Rob Bottin had made the Kuato puppet look so real, that he was approached by 2 people on the street asking if he (Marshall Bell) was a “real freak” or possibly a semi-born Siamese twin.
In the featurette Imagining ‘Total Recall’, production designer William Sandell tells about the brutal conditions the cast and crew experienced while shooting in Mexico. Aside from most of the cast and crew suffering from food poisoning, Sandell also talks about the poor air quality in Mexico City, comparing the breathing conditions to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. He also mentions that at one point, the air quality had gotten so bad that associate producer Elliot Schick had to be transported via MEDEVAC copter to a nearby hospital.
Jeff Bridges, Matthew Broderick and Richard Dreyfuss were each considered for the role of Quaid.
The portable locator used by Michael Champion (Helm) was built by Casio
In the featurette Imagining ‘Total Recall’, editor Frank J. Urioste said that most of the external shots of Mars almost didn’t make it into the final cut of the movie, much to his dismay. The producers felt that those shots would be too expensive and would make the movie go over-budget. Urioste then addressed his concerns about those shots with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was able to influence the producers to not cut the external shots from the final film.
Arnold Schwarzenegger suffered several hand-related injuries during the shoot. When filming the scene where Quaid smashes a train window, a tiny explosive in the glass was supposed to shatter the glass a fraction of a second before Schwarzenegger struck it, but it didn’t go off and Schwarzenegger hit the glass for real, badly cutting himself. When filming the fight scene inside Quaid’s Hilton suite (immediately after Quaid shoots Dr. Edgemar), Schwarzenegger broke a finger on his right hand and had to get a cast fitted. As a result, most of his scenes shot afterward kept his injured hand off-screen.
Robert Davi turned down the part of Richter.
When Quaid is going through the items in the silver suitcase, he picks up a stack of fake ID cards. The name on the first ID is Steve Lionetti, who was a production assistant for the movie.
Approximately 3 weeks before the movie’s scheduled theatrical release, it only had 43% public awareness of the movie, which Arnold Schwarzenegger described as being “absolutely disastrous”. Arnold was able to convince Mario Kassar and the rest of Carolco to pump in more money for advertising, and as a result, the movie ended up opening with 99% public awareness.
In the DVD commentary, Paul Verhoeven said that for the love scene after Quaid wakes from his nightmare, he wanted Sharon Stone to show off more skin for the scene, but Stone had refused to do so. He settled for shooting the scene as it is shown, but mentions that he “got her back” while shooting the movie Basic Instinct.
Towards the end of filming in Mexico, Paul Verhoeven got so sick from food poisoning that he would have an ambulance nearby on set at all times, and in between takes, they would administer fluids and medication, so that Verhoeven could keep directing in spite of his illness.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was so impressed by how much dedication Sharon Stone had in training for her character role, that he even referred to her as the “Female Terminator”. Stone was even inducted into the Stunt Woman Association as an honorary member.
Total Recall was one of the last major Hollywood blockbusters to make large-scale use of miniature effects as opposed to CGI, and at the same time, it was also one of the first major Hollywood blockbusters to use CGI (mainly for the scenes involving the X-Ray scanner) and have it look “photo-real”.
Though the location of the city in which Quaid lives and works is not revealed, the phone number featured in the Rekall ad he sees in the subway shows an area code of 915, which suggests the movie is set somewhere in western Texas, possibly El Paso. This is later confirmed if you look carefully at one of Quaid’s fake IDs that he pulls out of the suit case inside the old cement factory, which lists him as “James D. Brubaker” of “El Paso, TX”.
David Cronenberg was set to direct and even wrote a few drafts of the script before Paul Verhoeven took over. Cronenberg stated that he wanted to cast William Hurt as the lead, and was displeased by the producers’ decision to reimagine the lead for an action star such as Schwarzenegger.
When Quaid fights with Harry and his men after visiting Rekall, the sounds of bones being broken are actually celery being twisted and snapped.
To coincide with the movie’s release, Sharon Stone posed nude for ‘Playboy’ magazine, showing off the buff body she developed in preparation for the movie (she pumped iron and learned Tae Kwon Do).
When Ronald Shusett and Dan O’Bannon first started working on the screen play for this movie back in the 1970’s, they realized at the time that the movie would probably be too expensive and difficult to make (by the standards of special effects and budget in the 70’s). So they delayed working on the story and instead worked on an idea O’Bannon had about a space monster terrorizing a spaceship crew. This became the movie Alien.
According to Bob McClane and the display screen, Quaid’s Mars Vacation Package includes the following: Private cabin on the Mars-bound shuttle, Two weeks accommodations at a deluxe suite at the Mars Hilton, three meals a day at a 5-star restaurant, romantic encounters, personal tour guide to Mt. Olympus, Pyramid Mountain, the Grand Canals, and Venusville. Counting the Secret Agent Ego Trip addition, Quaid’s vacation costs a total of 1199 credits (899 for the standard vacation and 300 for the Ego Trip addition), which would later be refunded after Quaid’s schizoid embolism incident.
After seeing Sharon Stone’s performance as Lori in this movie, director Paul Verhoeven got the idea of making an entire movie based on a similar character with many of Lori’s traits (most notably her ability to change from a timid charming sweetheart to a diabolical person and back again at a moment’s notice). This idea would form the basis of the character of Catherine Tramell (who would also be played by Stone) in the movie Basic Instinct.
When filming the fight scene between Lori and Melina, director Paul Verhoeven asked 2nd unit director Vic Armstrong to choreograph the fight not as a “cat fight” but more like a martial arts fight, to give the feel of two “warriors” fighting each other and not simply two women. Verhoeven remarks in the DVD commentary that this is probably the first time in a feature film where we see two women fighting each other normally, as opposed to a cat fight.
Although the specific location of Mars City on the planet’s surface is never mentioned, the fact that many of the habitable structures are built on the sides of a massive canyon could lead one to sufficiently assume that Mars City is located along a section of the Valles Marineris canyon near the Martian equator. Valles Marineris is a massive canyon that stretches over 2500 miles, many times longer than any canyon on Earth. The idea for having the structures built along canyon walls was taken from information gathered by production designer William Sandell when he traveled to various universities to find out how one might go about living on another world (as well as gather ideas for the sets), and a popular idea was to build structures half-inside rocks to protect from solar radiation.
Paul Verhoeven and special effects supervisor Rob Bottin had had constant disagreements during the making of RoboCop, so it seemed unlikely that the two men would ever cooperate again. However, when they saw how good Robocop had turned out, they changed their minds, and Verhoeven gave Bottin full freedom to make his own Martian creature designs.
The software that was intended to be used to fully computer-animate the X-ray sequences didn’t work, so the animators had no choice but to do the animation by hand, using the live-action filmed sequences as reference.
Writer Dan O’Bannon had a falling out with director ‘Paul Verhoeven’ when Verhooven replaced the satirical humor with extreme violence. In the original screenplay, dark humor was much more prevalent.
Composer Jerry Goldsmith had said that he had received some criticism about the movie’s score that “the movie had no theme”, to which he strongly disagreed, stating that the movie did in fact have a theme, but it wasn’t the kind of theme that “people left the theaters whistling after”. Goldsmith had modeled some of the movie’s score after the score from Conan the Barbarian composed by Basil Poledouris.
All of the men portraying guards on Mars are Marines and sailors from San Diego’s 32nd Street Naval Base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot and Miramar Naval/Marine Corps Air Station (except for stunt men).
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.
During filming, Sharon Stone complained to director Paul Verhoeven that she wasn’t sure whether her character really was married to Doug
When Quaid is being shown the monitor in the implant room, some of the drawings scrolling by are concept drawings of the reactor on Mars.
The final scene fading into white is intentionally done by Paul Verhoeven to leave some question marks regarding whether everything was a dream and Quaid got lobotomized in the end.
As director Paul Verhoeven is careful to explain on the DVD commentary, when Dr. Edgemar (Roy Brocksmith) visits Quaid, he outlines the entire third act of the movie. He says that if Quaid kills him: “the walls of reality will come crashing down” (moments after Quaid shoots Edgemar, the walls of the apartment literally crash down); he says that Quaid will believe himself the savior of the resistance only to discover that he is in fact Cohaagen’s “bosom buddy” (which is exactly what happens); and he says that he will have visions of an “alien civilization” (which Quaid experiences during the mind meld with Kuato). Verhoeven points out that if a viewer believes the whole film is a dream, then Edgemar’s prediction that Quaid will end up being lobotomized is fulfilled in the fade to white which ends the movie.
Marshall Bell had a full-body make-up for the Kuato scenes. The head of Kuato was fully animatronic.
CASTLE THUNDER: Can be heard mixed with other sound effects during the scenes where the alien reactor is melting the ice, and the mountain explodes.
The design for the alien reactor which melts the ice and gives Mars air at the end of the movie, was based off of a nuclear reactor. According to Paul Verhoeven, he wanted to “be inside a nuclear reactor” (with poles going into water), but wanted to make it to a much grander scale, with the poles being as big as skyscrapers. Both he and William Sandell found a book with showed pictures of skyscrapers that were built around the turn of the 20th century, which had potential for the reactor design, but initially neither of them were convinced that idea would work, so they threw the book on the ground, but the book landed in a way with the skyscraper pictures upside down, and both Verhoeven and Sandell looked and realized that upside down, the skyscrapers had the right look for the alien reactor.
In the scene where Quaid shoots Lori, afterwards he says “Consider that a divorce.” According to Dan O’Bannon, in the original script, Quaid says “Consider THIS a divorce” and then shoots Lori afterwards. This was ultimately changed to what appears on film because O’Bannon and the others thought it was “a bit too cold-blooded”.
According to Ronald Shusett, back when the movie was originally being produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Shusett said that di Laurentiis had planned to shoot the ending completely different from the original script, because he felt the concept of Mars getting air was just “too difficult to visualize”. This didn’t sit well with Shusett, and the two had many arguments over it, even escalating to the point that Shusett had threatened to cancel the movie altogether, stating that he’d rather not see the movie get made if it’s not in the way he intendeded it to be made. Di Laurentiis eventually saw the error in his judgment when he suggested to director Richard Rush about altering the ending, to which Rush told him that he was “full of shit” and convinced him not to cut or alter the ending. Di Laurentiis even approached Shusett, apologizing for giving him such a hard time and saying “Ron, you so stubborn I kiss you in the mouth! You save me!” Di Laurentiis never did get to produce the movie, because his production company went bankrupt shortly after, and the project ended up being sold to Mario Kassar and Carolco (at the request of Arnold Schwarzenegger).
On three separate occasions, if you pay close attention, various characters give the ending of the movie away: 1) When Bob McClane pitches the Secret Agent Ego Trip to Quaid, he tells him that by the time his trip is over he’ll “get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the entire planet!” 2) When Dr. Lull tosses Ernie a computer chip, he looks at it and says “That’s a new one! ‘Blue Sky on Mars’.” And finally 3) When Quaid threatens to shoot Dr. Edgemar in the Hilton suite, Edgemar describes the events that will happen almost verbatim throughout the rest of the movie.
There are a few references to the fate of Benny the cab driver. Twice Benny is nearly killed by the giant drill machines. When he is exposed as a traitor, Benny tries to kill Quaid with a drill machine. Quaid then kills him by stabbing him with a portable drill.
Director Paul Verhoeven wanted to make the ending of the movie completely ambiguous so as the audiences would still not know even at the end of the movie if it was all a dream or if it did really happen. According to Verhoeven himself, he believed the ending was in fact a dream, but at the same time, he also said that the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead role was also leaning towards reality, as most audiences who go to see a Schwarzenegger movie would be in favor of a ‘reality’ ending as opposed to a ‘dream’ ending.
Regardless of whether people believe the movie as a whole is a dream or reality, according to Paul Verhoeven, the first 20 minutes or so of the movie (from the beginning up until the point where Quaid first undergoes the implantation of his Rekall vacation implant) is all reality.

Talking Points:

The Use of Miniatures
The Violence (especially compared to the new one)

Critic Notes

Positives: Crass, Violent, Gratuitous, but in a good way
Negatives: Mediocre, Pointlessly Violent

What We Learned:

When hiking on mars, best to watch where you are walking.
Guns on mars… also a really bad idea
A man is defined by his actions not his memories
Monologuing will get you nowhere..excepted sucked out into a vacuum

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Classic Schwarzenegger movie. I always enjoyed watching this one but it’s never one on top rewatching movies. Good for a rent here and there.
Ray: Throw Schwarzenegger and Verhoeven in a room together.. and this is what you get, Classic Scwarzenegger one liners and Verehoeven violence I only wish the once X-Rated version was available somewhere. I have seen this movie more times than I’d like to admit.
Steve:

The Present: Total Recall (2012)

Rotten Tomatoes 31% Rotten 50% Audience

Director: Len Wiseman

Starring: Colin Farrell, Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel

Trivia:

Colin Farrell previously appeared in Minority Report, which was also adapted from a Philip K. Dick short story, and had originally been developed as a sequel to the original film version of Total Recall.
Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender were considered for the role of Quaid.
Kate Bosworth and Diane Kruger were considered for the role of Lori, and Eva Green, Rosario Dawson and Paula Patton were considered for the role of Melina. Eva Mendes was considered for both roles.
According to Ethan Hawke, his character has a lengthy monologue that lasts around five pages in the shooting script. However, his scene will not be in the final cut and will be part of the film’s viral marketing.
The first film that married couple Len Wiseman and Kate Beckinsale have worked on together that isn’t Underworld related.
The one shot fight scene was performed by Colin Farrell himself and was shot 22 times before Farrell did it perfectly.
The front desk clerk at Rekall tells Quaid, “We can remember it for you.” The film is loosely based on a short story by ‘Phillip K. Dick’ called, “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.”
Actor Colin Farrell actually spent a night on the set because he wanted “to see what it would be like to wake up in the future”.
While building the set for Total Recall, the builders spent $10,000 a week on wood screws alone.
When Quaid retrieves his safe-deposit box, bills with the picture of president Barack Obama can be seen.
When Quaid attempts to pass through the security check at the entrance to UFB, he is wearing a holographic necklace that produces the image of an Asian man’s face. Moments before, a woman with a chubby face, wearing a yellow coat, can be seen. The woman was the image produced by Quaid’s holographic necklace in the 1990 original.
The bank that Douglas goes to is called the First Bank of New Asia. New Asia was the original title for “The Colony”, but was changed to “The Colony” in order for people to get the impression that it was more of a melting pot.
While riding The Fall, Quaid is reading “Ian Fleming’s 007: The Spy Who Loved Me”.

Talking Points:

Comparisons
Original Film co.

Critic Notes

Positives: Pretty, Production design worthy of blade runner, Enjoyable but brainless.
Negatives: Toned down, dumbed down version of the original, Seen it all before, Shiny but not fun, Too much action not enough mind games

What We Learned:

Dubstep is alive and well in the future
Don’t mess with your mind
It’s each mans quest to discover who he is.
The heart wants to live in the present
Never underestimate the power of one man
remember to have fun

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: In interesting different retelling of the Total Recall story, really shows how the location doesn’t really matter for telling the story. I really liked Colin Farell better than Arnie but Arnies version was still good.
Ray: Pretty to look at, and much more faithful to the source material. I liked it, but I think id have liked it more if I had never seen the 1990’s one. If your a big fan of the old one.. you may want to skip this until you can rent. If you have never seen the old one, then this one will probably be very entertaining.
Steve:

The Future: Sinister

Release: October 5, 2012

Director: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone

Summary:

Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.

Talking Points:

Can we still call it a “found footage” movie?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: You know, I’m really getting tired of these type of movies. It’s another spin on the hold haunting story but it’s really not my thing. I’m sure Steven will still put it on the list though.
Ray: Looks scary, but not sure I’d run out to see it. I enjoy my scary movies much more at home in an intimate setting.
Steve:

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV090: “Two Men Enter, One Man Leave!”

February 3, 2012 boxpuppy

We’re only 10 reels away from the 100th show…who knew? In this reel, the boys head back in time to check out Tina Turner and Mel Gibson in the 1980’s classic “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”. In theaters, they check out the return of Selene in “Underworld Awakening”. Should they just have let her stay asleep? In trailer news, they check out “ParaNorman”, an animated comedic thriller from the makers of “Coraline”. It’s a slow news week, so we’ll just get to the point here… “Two Men Enter, One Man Leave!”

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News:

Nada this week!

The Past: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% Fresh, 50% Audience

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Director: George Miller, George Ogilvie

Starring: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence

Trivia:

The script called for Aunt Entity (Tina Turner) to drive a vehicle. All of the vehicles were built using manual transmissions, which Turner couldn’t drive, so a car equipped with an automatic transmission had to be constructed.
Director/Co-Writer George Miller was given the rights to Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and this one to get him to step aside as the director of Contact.
Two directors were hired so that George Miller could concentrate on the stunts and action scenes, while George Ogilvie handled the performances of the large cast of actors.
Originally, the film was supposed to be about a group of children living without parents in the wild. They were trying to decide what adult character would find them, when someone thought of Max. After that suggestion, it became a “Mad Max” film.
The film references a novel by Russell Hoban called “Riddley Walker” about a hero traveling in post-apocalyptic England.
The possible outcomes on the Wheel are: – Death – Hard Labour – Acquittal – Gulag – Aunty’s Choice – Spin Again – Forfeit Goods – Underworld – Amputation – Life Imprisonment
Max’s eyes are different; the pupil in his left eye is permanently dilated. This is a nod to Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior: When his car is forced off the road by Wez and Max crashes, he suffers a severe injury to, among other body parts, his left eye. The disparity is easier to see in close-ups, and VERY easy to see in HD versions of the film. In the regular version, it’s most prominent when Max first looks down on the Thunderdome.
The poster art for this film was one of the last done by Richard Amsel.
Aunty Entity’s (Tina Turner) steel mail dress weighed more than 55 kilograms.
The sandstorm at the end of the film was real, and a camera plane actually did fly into it for some shots. The storm in its entirety hit the crew in the desert, forcing them to ride it out in their cars and wherever they could find cover.
Max’s shotgun differs in this movie from the one he used in Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which was his duty weapon. This one has exposed hammers and a different grip.
Jedidiah’s airplane is a Transavia PL-12 ‘Airtruk’, a single-engine agricultural biplane designed by Transavia in Australia. First flown in 1965, around 120 had been built by the time this movie was made.
All of the pigs in the film foreshadow George Miller’s involvement with Babe and directing its sequel ten years later.
The first of the series made with American financing. Which explains why American stars like Tina Turner crop up in the film.
The age certificates of each Mad Max picture have gone down from an 18, to a 15 and with Thunderdome a PG. Because the films mostly appeal to a teen demographic, George Miller may have been pushing the series towards a more mainstream audience. Which would explain why half the cast is made up of children.
George Miller lost interest in the project after his friend and producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash while location scouting. That may explain why Miller only handled the action scenes while George Ogilvie handled the rest. The film is dedicated to Byron Kennedy.
The music video for Tupac Shakur’s 1996 hit “California Love” was shot at the Thunderdome set and features vehicles and clothes inspired by the Mad Max series.
Bruce Spence, who played the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior plays Jedediah, a different character who robs Max at the start of the film. Confusingly, both characters use flying machines (in Mad Max 2 it was a ‘Gyrocopter’, in Mad Max 3 a Transavia PL-12 ‘Airtruk’) and little is done to differentiate the two different characters.
Max’s name is only spoken once in the movie. Just after he meets Master Blaster in underworld. Master says “Me Master” and introduces himself, then Max says “Me Max” and does the same.
In interviews about Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (a.k.a. “The Road Warrior”), George Miller said that while Max’s world was after the collapse of the social/political/economic system we know, it was not post-World War III. However, “Beyond Thunderdome” explicitly contradicts this.
This film is considered an “Ozploitation” (Australian exploitation) picture.
Tina Turner’s character is billed as Aunty Entity, but nowhere in the film does anyone call her that. She’s always referred to as just Aunty.

Talking Points:

Seeing old favorites again…
The Tone of the film
Steve’s story about this film… 😉

What We’ve Learned:

Surviving nuclear war gives the nobody’s a chance to be somebody
Death is listening, and apparently taking the first one that screams
Spider monkeys are excellent trackers.
Bust a deal..face the wheel.
Two men enter, one man leave.
We don’t need another hero. We don’t need to know the way home. All we want is life beyond Thunderdome.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: First time viewer . . . I need to see it again. I’m kinda in a mixed bag on this movie. I kinda liked it but my attention wasn’t fully there. I think it might be worth at least a look see once.
Ray: This movie is an example of a film who when you were younger seemed a whole lot better than it actually was.
Steve: Always been one of my favorites, but seemed so much more epic as a child. I LIVED for this movie for a while…and Tina is the BEST!

The Present: Underworld: Awakening
Rotten Tomatoes: 28% Rotten; 74% Audience

Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy, India Eisley

Trivia:

Jalmari Helander was offered a chance to direct.
the first film in the series to be in real-d 3-d and Imax 3-d.
The film’s release date is on the same day as Underworld: Evolution’s, released six years earlier.
The first Underworld film not to feature Bill Nighy or Michael Sheen

Talking Points:

Live up to the other ones?
Do we like a kinder, gentler Selene?
Michael…
The Kid…
Lycans or Vampires?
Soundtrack

What We Learned:

When escaping from your enemies, getting your outfit on is way more important than feasting on fresh blood

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: It’s just another Underworld movie and not as good as the others. I was surprised to see JMS’s name on the screen at the end. I think this could have been pretty good but ended up lacking in . . . something.
Ray: ugh, I was hoping that J.Michael Strazynski was going to make this somewhat interesting. Unfortunately he disappointed me.
Steve: Personally didn’t think it lived up to the previous movies. I didn’t care for the “mystery child” and “let’s shoot ourselves up with werewolf blood” stuff. I was actually bored with the stories, but I did like the visuals.

The Future: ParaNorman

Release: August 17th, 2012

Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Summary:

In this comedy thriller, a small town comes under siege by the undead. Only a misunderstood local boy Norman Babcock, who has the ability to speak with the dead, is able to prevent the destruction of his town from a centuries-old curse. He’ll also have to take on ghosts, witches, zombies and worst of all, the moronic grown-ups. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits

Trivia:

ParaNorman is an upcoming 3D stop-motion animated comedy thriller film produced by Laika, distributed by Focus Features and set for international release on August 17, 2012

Talking Points:

Whatcha think?

Trailer:
Official Teaser:

Trailer 2:

Excitement:
Jeff: Wow, what a teaser. The track used was perfect and the visuals were executed perfectly. Not telling you much of what it’s about but intriguing you to want to find out more. The second trailer gives a little more but not too much. Definitely want to see in 3D.
Ray: The Trailer had me at “From the creators of Coraline”
Steve: I totally enjoyed this trailer!! Totally looks like my kind of” just go and have a good time” kinda fun.

Coming Attractions

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV088: “This is no time to talk about time. We don’t have the time!”

January 22, 2012 boxpuppy

In this reel of COL Movies, the boys go into the future to go back in time to play with the Borg in “Star Trek: First Contact”. Upon returning to the present, they head to the theater to see Mark Wahlberg’s “Contraband”. As for the future, they once again head to the present to go back in time to check out the trailer for “Men In Black III”. In news, they do some Muppet Blu-Ray release talk, and a crowd sourced Star Wars remake? All this and Steven has skype issues on the 88th reel of COL Movies, “Timeline? This is no time to talk about time. We don’t have the time!”

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News:

The Past: Star Trek: First Contact(1996)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Fresh, 83% Audience

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Director: Jonathan Frakes

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LaVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, James Cromwell

Trivia:

For inspiration prior to filming, director Jonathan Frakes says he viewed the films Alien, Aliens, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, and Jaws.
The Borg makeup and suits had to be constantly touched up. Several of the Borg actors lost a considerable amount of weight while in costume due to the heat of the sets and temperature in L.A. during the shooting.
At the end of filming, actor/director Jonathan Frakes got the nickname: “Two takes Frakes” because of the efficiency of his style.
The deflector dish is labeled AE35, the name of a component of a satellite dish in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The USS Defiant introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was built for the sole purpose to fight and defeat the Borg. This movie features the only time the ship fights the Borg.
When Dr. Crusher says “In the 21st century, the Borg are still in the Delta Quadrant”, it was intended as a teaser for upcoming episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, in which The Borg were featured prominently.
The eyepieces of the Borg flash the Morse code of the names of people associated with the production.
Certain USS Enterprise bridge set pieces from previous Star Trek movies were built into parts of the Enterprise-E bridge. These pieces include the turbolift foyers, which are the only surviving parts of the set from the first Star Trek movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the aft master display station, which was a piece of the Enterprise-A bridge set originally built for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
The first Star Trek movie to receive an MPAA rating higher than PG.
In an early draft of the screenplay, the character Lt. Hawk (Neal McDonough) was gay, and therefore was to have been the first openly gay character in any Star Trek series or movie; however, any reference to his sexual orientation was excised from later drafts of the screenplay. Lt. Hawk was later confirmed as having been gay in the Star Trek tie-in novel Section 31: Rogue by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin.
The “first contact” in this movie takes place at a “missile silo in Montana”. Montana’s missile base is Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, Montana, site of many of the more famous “UFO” sightings over the past few decades.
Cochrane asks La Forge, “Don’t you people in the 24th Century ever pee?” This is a reference to the fact that toilets are never shown in the series.
5th April, 2063 – First Contact day – will be a Thursday.
The Borg Queen was created because the writers were having difficulty in writing dialogue for what was intended to be the Borg’s central computer.
The eyepiece of one of the Borg contains the front canopy of a ‘Star Wars TIE Fighter’ toy made by Kenner
The film was released on November 22, 1996, the anniversary of the date that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the characters land on Earth on April 4, 2063, the anniversary of the date that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
In this film, the EMH says “I’m a doctor, not a doorstop”. This is a nod to Dr. McCoy from the original series. Whenever McCoy was given a non-medical task, he would say “I’m a doctor, not a… (bricklayer, moon shuttle conductor, escalator, etc.)”
One of only three Star Trek movies to have any swear words spoken. The others are Star Trek: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek: Generations. In each case, the cursing was a single use of the “s**t” word.
Alice Krige suffered much discomfort throughout the film. Her costume was too tight, causing blisters, and the silver contacts she had to wear were so painful they could only be kept in for four minutes at a time.
Geordi LaForge’s visor is replaced here with “ocular implants.” LeVar Burton lobbied for years to have his visor replaced so people could see his eyes. He always felt it limited his acting ability. His request was finally granted here.
One of the reasons Jonathan Frakes was chosen to direct was because the producers wanted someone who understood Star Trek. Indeed, amongst the cast, he was the show’s most prolific director. Reportedly, Ridley Scott and John McTiernan both turned down the chance to direct.

Talking Points:

Did y’all know that Lt. Hawk was a homo? The Character not the Actor.
Did this feel like a movie or an episode?
Did the Vulcan ship get moved?

What We’ve Learned:

Resistance is not Futile
Touch can change your perception of an object.
If your going to issue in an era of peace, pick something ironic to do it with, like a weapon of mass destruction.
Borg Implants have been known to cause severe skin irritations
Don’t go criticizing Counselor Troi’s Counseling Technique.
The Borg.. are definitely not Swedish.
With the safeties off even a holographic bullet can kill
Believing one self to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind
For an Android, 0.68 seconds is nearly an eternity

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: This is my favorite Trek movie followed closely by Wrath of Kahn. Almost wish there was more of the Enterprise in action but it worked very well for a TNG movie.
Ray: Not my favorite trek movie, but it was the first with the TNG cast that truly felt cinematic in it’s scope. I think this one is pretty accessible to non Trek fans even without knowing the whole Borg/Picard/Locutus back-story in detail.
Steve:

The Present: Contraband
Rotten Tomatoes: 46% Rotten, 75% Audience

Director: Baltasar Kormákur

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi and Kate Beckinsale

Trivia:

Baltasar Kormákur, director of the film, was the lead actor of the original film, Reykjavik-Rotterdam, playing the same role as Mark Wahlberg.
This is Baltasar Kormákur’s first Hollywood movie.

Talking Points:

Giovanni Ribisi’s side burns and voice.
Shaky out of focus camera

What We Learned:

You got a spend a little money to make money
If you wanna make a run, you better pay your fare.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I actually enjoyed the movie. Which was a surprise since it felt a little Gone In 60 Seconds. Giovanni Ribisi’s side burns and voice annoyed me though. Not a waste of money to see in the theater but you can wait for the DVD.
Ray: Somewhat enjoyable, if not predictable. Yes it is the smuggling version of GISS. But nothing in it like Fancy cars to make it really enjoyable for me.
Steve:

The Future: Men In Black III

Release: May 25, 2012

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin

Summary:

Agent J travels in time to MIB’s early years in the 1960s, to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.

Trivia:

Michael Bay expressed interest in directing.
Screenwriter David Koepp, who was originally involved with Men in Black II but left to write Spider-Man, signed on permanently for this film.
Sacha Baron Cohen was considered for the role of Boris.
Betty White was originally rumored to have a role.
This is Will Smith’s first film in 3.5 years, since the release of Seven Pounds in December 2008. This is the longest he has gone without appearing in a movie since his film career started in 1993.
Gemma Arterton was originally cast as young Agent O, but scheduling conflicts prevented Arterton from taking the role.
Josh Brolin plays a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’s character. Brolin’s wife, Diane Lane, appeared with Jones in ‘Lonesome Dove (1989)(TV)’. In the sequel, ‘Streets of Laredo (1995)(TV)’, Lane’s role was taken over by Sissy Spacek, who played Tommy Lee Jones’s wife in Coal Miner’s Daughter, and is the cousin of cast member Rip Torn.
The previous film Men in Black II released the same year as Spider-Man. This film, the sequel, releases ten years later; the same year as the reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.
This is the second threequel Steven Spielberg produced that involves Apollo 11 in its storyline. The first was Transformers: Dark of the Moon which focused on a Transformer ship discovered by Apollo.

Talking Points:

Is this necessary? Did this franchise need a sequel.

Trailers:

Excitement:
Jeff: I’ve always been a fan of the MIB movies. Excited for another one.
Ray: Been a fan, but not sure the series needs another movie. I do like the fact we are getting a glimpse of the old MIB organization, just hope they can pull off the Tommy Lee Jones character and voice through the whole movie.
Steve:

Coming Attractions

The Past

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The Present

The Future

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MOV075: “Holy Jumping Christmas!”

October 20, 2011 boxpuppy

The boys have a virtual horror-fest, as they begin in the past with 1932’s classic “Freaks”. Does Todd Browning’s masterpiece still hold up to horror of today’s standards? They then head to the theater to check out the prequel by the same name “The Thing”. Does it compare to John Carpenter’s 1982 version or should they have just left it frozen in the ice? Finally, they review the trailer for the 4th movie in the Underworld Series: Underworld Awakening. Will Kate Beckensale’s Selene draw them back to the theater in 2012? All this and they chat about John Lassater’s defense of Cars 2 and the possibility of River Phoenix’s posthumous return to the big screen. It’s the 75th reel of COL Movies – “Holy Jumping Christmas!”

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News:
John Lasseter defends Cars 2
River Pheonix to return to screen?

The Past: Freaks (1932)

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Fresh, 87% Audience

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Director: Tod Browning

Starring: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams and Olga Baclanova

Trivia:

The electrical equipment on the set was so badly grounded that crew members were frequently shocked
The film’s original ending showed Hercules singing soprano in Madame Tetralini’s new sideshow because he has been castrated by the freaks. After intensely negative reaction by preview audiences, this scene was cut.
Prince Randian, the man with no arms or legs, developed a habit of lurking in dark corners and frightening passers-by with a blood-curdling yell.
During filming, director Tod Browning was plagued with dreams in which Johnny Eck and a pinhead would keep bringing a cow in backward through a doorway in the middle of shoots.
In the UK this film was banned for 30 years after it was first released.
The original casting had Victor McLaglen as Hercules, Myrna Loy as Cleopatra, and Jean Harlow as Venus. All balked at the prospect of co-starring with “sideshow exhibitions”.
The on-screen romance between Hans and Frieda was very subdued because the roles were being played by real life brother and sister Harry Earles and Daisy Earles.
After the film had been withdrawn and shelved by MGM, the distribution rights were acquired by notorious exploitation roadshow specialist Dwain Esper. Esper traveled the country showing the film under such lurid titles as “Forbidden Love” and “Nature’s Mistakes”.
During the 1920s and 1930s, photographer Edward J. Kelty took a succession of group photographs of members of the Barnum and Bailey freak show. What is interesting is how many cast members can be spotted in them (this film is the only movie credit for most of them). Familiar faces include Harry Earles (Hans), Daisy Earles (Frieda), Peter Robinson (human skeleton), Elvira Snow (pinhead), Jenny Lee Snow (pinhead), Elizabeth Green (bird girl) and Olga Roderick (bearded lady).
Cast member Olga Roderick, the bearded lady, later denounced the film and regretted her involvement in it.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a member of the MGM writing department at the time the movie was in production. He never felt quite at home with all the movie stars and powerful moguls, and so he often dined in the commissary at the table of the sideshow attractions (freaks) during his lunch hour.
When uncredited producer Dwain Esper traveled the country with this film, he used some of the most lurid and suggestive promotions. For some engagements, if he was satisfied that it was safe, the feature would be followed by a square-up reel. This reel was basically nudist camp footage.
In the United States, this film was banned in a number of states and cities. Although no longer enforced, some of the laws were never officially repealed. Therefore, it is still technically illegal for this film to be shown some areas of the USA.
Myrna Loy, originally slated for the Olga Baclanova role, turned down the part because she felt the script was offensive.
During a publicity photo session with Olga Baclanova, midget actor Harry Earles kept making lewd remarks. Many of her surprised and disgusted visual expressions in the photos that the session yielded are authentic rather than posed.
Several variations on the ending are still in existence. However, the footage of Hercules singing soprano was not included in any of the foreign versions and is now regarded as lost.
Was originally banned in Australia.
When MGM production chief Irving Thalberg gave Willis Goldbeck the assignment to write a draft of a screenplay based on Clarence Aaron ‘Tod’ Robbins’s story “Spurs”, the only direction he gave Goldbeck was that the script had to be “horrible”. The writer completed his draft quickly and turned the script over to Thalberg. A few days later, Goldbeck was summoned to Thalberg’s office, where he found the producer slumped forward on his desk with his face buried in his arms, as if overwhelmed. After a moment, Thalberg sat up straight and looked at Goldbeck. “Well,” said Thalberg, “it’s horrible.”
Schlitze, the microcephalic member of the cast who appears to be female, was actually a male. The dress was worn for reasons of personal hygiene.
Premiere voted this movie as one of “The 25 Most Dangerous Movies”.
Dwarf actor Angelo Rossitto, who appeared as Angeleno, would go on to a successful career in TV and films including Little Moe in the Robert Blake TV series Baretta and as one half of the giant Master Blaster opposite Mel Gibson in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
The film was rejected for UK cinema showing in 1932 and again in 1952. It was finally passed for cinema with an uncut X rating in May 1963, making it one of the longest bans in UK film history.
The tune that ‘Angeleno’ plays on his flute during the final confrontation between Cleopatra and the bedridden Hans is the “Mournful Tune” from Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan and Isolde”, played in the opera while the dying Tristan waits for Isolde’s ship to appear on the horizon.
Dwarf John George – for reasons unknown – does not appear in “Freaks”, even though a role was specifically written for him in the screenplay.
One woman, after seeing “Freaks”, wrote a letter to Tod Browning at MGM, exclaiming that “You must have the mental equipment of a freak yourself to devise such a picture.” Another viewer complained, “To put such creatures in a picture and before the public is unthinkable.”
Although production chief Irving Thalberg decided to re-cut the picture immediately after the disastrous test screening, he could not cancel the world premiere on January 28, 1932 at the 3,000-seat Fox Theatre in San Diego. This is the only venue at which the uncut version of “Freaks” is known to have played. Ironically, the unexpurgated “Freaks” was a major box-office success. Crowds lined up around the block to see the picture, which broke the theatre’s house record. By the end of the run, word had spread that “Freaks” was about to be butchered, and the theatre advertised, “Your last opportunity to see ‘Freaks’ in its uncensored form!”
According to one source, director Tod Browning was introduced to the story by Cedric Gibbons, longtime head of MGM’s Art Department. He was supposedly boyhood friends with author Clarence Aaron ‘Tod’ Robbins and convinced the studio to purchase film rights for the sum of $8,000. Another source claims that the diminutive actor Harry Earles gave Browning a copy of the story during the production of The Unholy Three in hopes that he could star in the adaptation.
Samuel Marx, head of MGM’s Story Department, recalled with peculiar pride, “And so, Harry Rapf, who was a great moral figure, got a bunch of us together and we went in and complained to Irving Irving Thalberg about ‘Freaks’. And he laughed at that. He said, ‘You know, we’re making all kinds of movies. Forget it. I’m going to make the picture. Tod Browning’s a fine director. He knows what he’s doing.’ And the picture was made.” But the lunchroom protests didn’t end. As a result, a makeshift table was constructed and the cast of “Freaks” (with the exception of Harry Earles and Daisy Earles, Violet Hilton and Daisy Hilton, and the more “normal” cast-members) were forced to eat their meals outdoors.:
Olga Baclanova, later recalled the day when she was first introduced to the supporting cast, “Tod Browning shows me little by little and I could not look, I wanted to faint. I wanted to cry when I saw them. They have such nice faces… they are so poor, you know… Browning takes me and say, you know, ‘Be brave, and don’t faint like the first time I show you. You have to work with them.’… It was very, very difficult first time. Every night I felt that I am sick. Because I couldn’t look at them. And then I was so sorry for them. That I just couldn’t… it hurt me like a human being.”
Johnny Eck, the half-boy, remembered his screen test was taken by MGM’s scouting unit while he was on tour in Canada, and he shared the screen with the world’s largest rat. He recalled being treated well by the crew, “The technicians, the sound men, the electricians, and the prop department, and everybody… was my friend… We got along beautifully.”
According to the screenplay, the scene in which Madame Tetrallini introduces the wandering land-owner to the performers frolicking in the woods ran quite a bit longer. It included additional dialog that endeavored to humanize the so-called freaks. She tells him they are “always in hot, stuffy tents – strange eyes always staring at them – never allowed to forget what they are.” Duval responds sympathetically (clearly the stand-in for the viewing audience), “When I go to the circus again, Madame, I’ll remember,” to which she adds, “I know, M’sieu – you will remember seeing them playing – playing like children… Among all the thousands who come to stare – to laugh – to shudder – you will be one who understands.”
Numerous other bits of dialog were removed that depicted the “normal” humans as disgusting creatures and the “freaks” as gentle and sympathetic (destroying the social critique of intolerance Tod Browning was attempting to construct). While the circus awaits word on Hans’s declining health, one of the Rollo Brothers coldly remarks, “You’d think the world was coming to an end – just because a mangy freak’s got a hangover.” In another scene, Madame Tetrallini responds to the Rollos’ taunts by defending the humanity of her “children,” “Augh, you cochons – you beasts… They are better than you – all of them – you two dogs!”
Tod Browning’s only onscreen credit is on the title page: “Tod Browning’s Freaks,” which is interpreted as the director credit. He is not in studio records as a producer.
A woman who attended a 1932 test screening for the film claimed later that she suffered a miscarriage resulting from the film’s shocking nature, and threatened to sue MGM.
The reunion of Hans and Frieda, seen at the end of most prints, was not part of Tod Browning’s original cut. It was added during the re-editing to give the film a happier ending.

Talking Points:

The use of real “Freaks”
The sensibilities of a 1932 audience vs today.
Anyone watch the bonus material?

What We’ve Learned:

Don’t piss off the freaks!

Trailer:
.There isn’t a real one out there on YouTube, but this is a very good fan-made one!

Recommendations:
Jeff: A nice little tale of circus freaks. A little disturbing, probably more disturbing to people in the 1930s.
Ray: Feels more like a Soap Opera,but I did actually get into the movie. I like that they used real people instead of actors for this..something I can’t ever see them doing in today’s Hollywood.
Steve: Not a traditional horror movie from today’s standards necessarily, but still thought provoking. Not to mention, none of these characters were CGI – they were the real deal! Exploitive, um yeah…Was the acting amazing, no…but worth seeing if you’re a fan of horror.

The Present: The Thing

Rotten Tomatoes: 33% Rotten 60% Audience

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jørgen Langhelle

Trivia:

Dennis Storhøi was cast as Sander but pulled out of production due to personal reasons. He was replaced by Ulrich Thomsen.
The producers convinced Universal Studios to allow them to create a prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing instead of a remake, as they felt Carpenter’s film was already perfect, so making a remake would be like “painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa”. However, the prequel still has the title of the original film, because they couldn’t think of a subtitle (for example, “The Thing: Begins”) that sounded good.
This is a prequel to a remake of an adaptation of the novella “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell Jr., published in 1938.
The song Kate is listening to on her headphones is “Who Can It Be Now?”, a song by Australian band Men at Work from their 1981 debut album, “Business as Usual”. The lyrics tell of a paranoid man who hears knocking at his house door and wishes to be left in solitude. This foreshadows the paranoia of the scientists later in the film.
In order to not try to compete with Kurt Russell’s portrayal of the 1982 film’s protagonist, R.J. MacReady, the character of Kate Lloyd was designed to have traits in common with the character Ellen Ripley from the Alien film series.
When we first meet Kate Lloyd she is studying something that looks stunningly similar to the 1982 dog monster.
In the opening, one of the Norwegians actually says, “Stop!” in English-rather than their own tongue (as John Carpenter once called, “Schmergzdörf”).
Whenever a flashlight or lantern was flashed toward the camera, they would have the same blue camera flares coming off of them just as in the original John Carpenter version.
The red axe that ‘Joel Edgerton’ uses and eventually sticks into the wall can be seen still stuck in the wall when the Americans visit the Norwegian camp in the original John Carpenter version.

Talking Points:

What purpose did this serve?
CGI.. good or bad?
Did anyone watch the 1982 remake after this? The 1951 original?

What We Learned:

Watch where you park the snowcat!
Apparently the Cavaliers are a basketball team….barely
Lars, he doesn’t speak English, but he will work like a bear!
Never a good idea to shoot the guy with the flammable gas tanks strapped to him.
It is freaking cold in Antarctica.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Not that bad of a movie. Had it’s jumpy moments, but it was alright. Wait for DVD though.
Ray: There are some really stupid plot points (or lack of) in this movie, and if you have seen the 1982 remake… there’s really nothing to learn from this, that being said they did an excellent job tying the two movies together.
Steve: I’ll admit I didn’t realize it was a prequel…my bad. The creature effects were really, really good, although a large portion of it was predictable if you’ve seen the other versions. I enjoyed it just sitting back and watching. Was a fun ride.

The Future: Underworld Awakening

Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy and India Eisley

Summary:

The vampire warrioress Selene escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

Trivia:

Filming began in March 2011 at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Underworld: Awakening is the first movie to be shot using RED EPIC digital cameras in 3D.

Talking Points:

Are we glad to see the 4th installment or has the series jumped the shark?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Still interested in the series. Although only expecting another action movie featuring vampires and werewolves.
Ray: Interest in this series never made it past the first one for me, which I barely remember… I suppose I’d go see this as long as it doesn’t require watching all the others to understand it.
Steve: I’m a fan of of the character of Selene. Not to mention…vampires AND werewolves in the same movie – I’m typically SO there. The 3rd one kind of tarnished me on the series, so I hope this one will bring back back in. It’s a definite see for me.

Coming Attractions:

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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Movies of the Past, Present, and Future