Tag Archives: Oscar Isaac

MOV046: “Don’t Wake The Mother!”

The boys go back in time to review the childhood classic, “The Last Starfighter”. Does it hold up to all the shoot ‘em space and video game movies of today? They finally get to check out Zach Snyder’s “Sucker Punch” and see if the hype is worth it. Lastly, they look at the screen adaptation for Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged: Part 1”. Does it really predict the death of the American economy? Guess we’ll have to see! All this and movie news…in this week’s COL Movies!

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News:

The Past: The Last Starfighter (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% Fresh, 65 % Audience

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Director: Nick Castle

Starring: Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Dan O’Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart

Trivia:

  • Robert Preston’s Last Movie
  • Director Nick Castle played “The Shape” in Halloween
  • The Star Car is based on the Delorean
  • The First movie to do all of its special effects inside a computer on a Cray X-MP
  • The game was actually developed by atari and was to be released on home systems, but never made it past the prototype stage
  • The scenes shot with the “Beta Unit” were shot after the main fiming was complete, Lance Guest had to wear a wig for these scenes as he had cut his hair
  • In 2007 a musical based off the screen play was performed as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival
  • In addition to the major “Star Trek universe” roles later played by “Starfighter” cast members Wil Wheaton and Marc Alaimo, several others in the movie’s cast guest starred in various “Star Trek” franchises. They include Dan Mason, Barbara Bosson, Norman Snow and Geoffrey Blake. But notable among them is Meg Wyllie (“Granny Gordon”) who played one of the Talosian “keepers” in the “Star Trek” (1966) pilot, “Star Trek: The Cage (#1.0)” (1966).

Talking Points:

  • Very “Tron”-inspired, don’t you think?
  • Do you think Doc Brown’s car may have bit a little off the car in this movie?

What We’ve Learned:

  • You never know when a video game may be testing you!
  • When your chance comes, you have to grab it by both hands and hold on tight.
  • Who wouldn’t want a Beta unit?
  • Always wait till your at cruising altitude before removing your face.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Total classic, so glad I finally bought it.
Ray: I spent the remainder of my childhood trying to be The Last Starfighter
Steve: Always loved this movie as a kid. First time I’ve watched it in years…still think it holds up.

The Present: Sucker Punch

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Scott Glenn

Trivia:

  • Amanda Seyfried was the first choice for Babydoll, but she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
  • Emma Stone was in early talks to star as Amber, but dropped out to star in Easy A (2010).
  • Evan Rachel Wood was the first choice for Rocket but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and Jena Malone replaced her.
  • Zack Snyder told Vanessa Hudgens that this feature would be his first action movie, despite the fact that 300 (2006) is considered an action movie.
  • Vanessa Hudgens says she’s looking forward to being seen by a whole new audience that might not necessarily be familiar with her work in the “High School Musical” films.
  • Olivia Thirlby was at one stage rumored to replace Amanda Seyfried as Babydoll before Emily Browning replaced her.
  • Eric Dane was one of the choices to play High Roller.
  • Zack Snyder’s first film that is not based on another work. Dawn of the Dead (2004) was a remake of a 1978 film by ‘George A. Romero’. Both 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009) were based on graphic novels. And Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010) is based on a children’s fantasy book. However, the film does heavily feature motifs from Lewis Carroll’s book ‘Alice in Wonderland’ – the movie’s logline while being pitched to studios was even “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.”
  • Tim McGraw was considered for the role of High Roller.
  • Before Jamie Chung replaced Emma Stone as Amber, Freida Pinto was considered to play the role.
  • The two banners beside Scott Glenn’s character as shown in the trailer are a famous couplet from ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu: “Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.” This was later made into a famous battle standard by the Japanese warlord Takeda Shingen.
  • Zack Snyder’s first live action film to not receive an R rating in the U.S.

Talking Points:

  • The new Matrix? Is this title deserved?
  • Did this movie Gel for you?
  • Did some things move very quickly? (Got that the exposition moved quickly to get to the point – then all of the characters started dying so fast!)
  • Supposedly there were 18 minutes cut out of this film along with a musical number
  • Did anyone stay for the credits?
  • Music!

What We Learned:

  • Baby Doll can dance!
  • Men are pigs.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I can see where the bad reviews come from, but it’s a great popcorn movie. Loved it.
Ray: I really don’t understand where all the hate is coming from this movie, I liked it.. I saw it twice already!
Steve: I liked it a lot! I love a good kick-ass girl movie.

The Future: Atlas Shrugged Pt. 1

Starring: Taylor Schilling, Paul Johansson & Annabelle Gurwitch

Trivia:

  • Based on the 1957 novel by Ayn Rand.
  • Rand, a former Hollywood screenwriter herself, began writing her own screenplay, but died in 1982 with only one third of it finished.
  • According to Variety, The Godfather (1972) producer Albert S. Ruddy spent years trying to bring the novel to the big screen, attracting the interest of Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway along the way.
  • In the late 1970s, NBC had plans to bring the novel to television as one of the multi-part mini-series popular at the time. Ayn Rand wanted Farrah Fawcett to star, but the project never materialized.
  • Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Maggie Gyllenhaal were among the actresses considered to play Dagny Taggart, with Brad Pitt being considered to play John Galt.

Talking Points:

  • Who is going to see this movie? Who is it geared toward?
  • Considering the “point”, will this do well or are we too concerned about escapism at this time?

Summary:

It was great to be alive, once, but the world was perishing. Factories were shutting down, transportation was grinding to a halt, graineries were empty–and key people who had once kept it running were disappearing all over the country. As the lights winked out and the cities went cold, nothing was left to anyone but misery. No one knew how to stop it, no one understood why it was happening – except one woman, the operating executive of a once mighty transcontinental railroad, who suspects the answer may rest with a remarkable invention and the man who created it – a man who once said he would stop the motor of the world. Everything now depends on finding him and discovering the answer to the question on the lips of everyone as they whisper it in fear: Who *is* John Galt?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: I’m going to see it just because it’s Ayn Rand
Ray: ??? I don’t know what to make of this trailer.. i feel i should be more interested than I actually am.
Steve: It took me watching a couple documentaries on line to understand this trailer. A little too existential for me.

Coming Attractions

The Past

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The Present

The Future

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