Tag Archives: Richard Franklin

MOV027: “I Hate L.A.”

A great producer dies. What the hell is Boylesque?, Avatar 2 Spoiler alert, Cloak and Dagger, Skyline, and Unknown.

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News:

The Past:  Cloak and Dagger (1984)

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Director: Richard Franklin

Starring: Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Christina Nigra, Michael Murphy

Trivia:

  • The video game market crashed in 1983 while this movie was being filmed, so although you see a ton of “Cloak and Dagger” video game cartridges for sale, all of them were fake as the 5200 version of this was never made
  • All the scenes of the game come from the arcade version which was released before the movie was filmed, all of the images displayed were streamed to the television when they were “played”
  • The elderly couple in the film, both had parts in the original psycho (1960) Richard Franklin directed the sequel Psycho II in 1983. The Couple were also married in real life for approximately 56 years until John McIntire’s death in 1991

Talking Points:

  • Was this the original “Giant Video Game Commercial” ?
  • Would a modern version (remake) of this movie work?
  • Did we really call game cartridges tapes?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Ingenuity and Contacts are better than bullets…… sometimes.
  • it’s perfectly ok for 9 year old little girls to ride the bus to the airport at midnight
  • Old women missing fingers are scary!!
  • Yep, we really did call them “tapes”.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Enjoyable movie.  Some might think it’s dated but for me, it didn’t.  I liked it.
Ray: This doesn’t stand the test of time very well…. if you were born after 1983, you MIGHT find this movie silly.
Steve: Absolutely dated, but the concept is cool.  When you’re a kid playing spy, who wouldn’t want to be a real spy?

The Present: Skyline

Director: The Brothers Strause

Starring: Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson, David Zayas

Trivia:

  • Film was completely financed by the directors.
  • Was almost entirely shot at Greg Strause’s condo
  • Shot entirely on new RED Cameras (4K Digital Cinema Camera 4k = 4096×3072 1080p = 1920×1080)
  • There are over 800 VFX shots in this movie…more than most major franchise movies
  • The Directors also happen to own the company that does all the visual FX for this flick (hydraulx)

Talking Points:

  • The Brothers Strause are being sued by Sony Pictures
  • Is it possible that this is just a modern B-Movie?
  • Another schizo movie?  What could have made it better?
  • Ending… W….T…..F…

What We Learned:

  • See those giant naval battleships burning? that probably means its NOT safe to go out into the water…
  • If you discover that you almost DIE every time you go outside.. maybe you shouldn’t go outside.
  • Adding giant vagina mouths to the aliens from ID4 doesn’t make them any better
  • It only takes a few seconds to fill up an enormous penthouse apartment with broken windows with gas fumes
  • An axe cant kill them, a gun cant kill them, hitting them with a car cant kill them, blowing them up with a nuke, cant kill them.. but beating them to death with your fists once you become one of them works like a charm!
  • If you get a tattoo by Kat Von D, make sure you get your money’s worth by constantly showing it in a movie you’re in.
  • Do not walk toward the light

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: They should have shortened this by an hour and just had it as the first part of the story.  Great visuals, but the story sucked.
Ray: Maybe visual effects guys…. should stick to visual effects. I wanted to see the train movie.
Steve: Yeah…overall epic fail.  Had some good ideas, just didn’t succeed in any them.

The Future: Unknown (2-18-2011)

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Frank Langella, Aidan Quinn

Trivia:

  • based on the novel Out of My Head
  • Originally titled Unknown White Male.

Talking Points:

  • Originality?  (Seems like Total Recall in the present day)

Summary: A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: This time his identity was Taken.
Ray: Looks like a interesting mystery action flick with a great cast! Qui Gon and Skeletor FTW !
Steve: Cast is very intriguing.  Might be worth it!

Coming Attractions:

The Past:
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The Present:

The Future:

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