Tag Archives: Russel Crowe

MOV128: All Bets Are Off!

After 5 weeks the band is finally back together on this the 128th reel of COL Movies. This week the boys get right into the swing of things by jumping to the past and examining Guy Richie’s. Snatch! For our exploration of the present we strap on some Iron Gauntlets to chop away at the RZA and Eli Roth Kung-Fu Extravaganza The Man With The Iron Fists. Finally we all keep the Iron hot by looking to the future to talk about Iron Man 3. On the news front we have some information on Brian Syngers new project, Some Star Wars Episode 7 announcements and last but certainly least we get to talk about some very exciting casting news for the masterpiece that will be Transformers 4! All this and more on the 128th reel of COL Movies: All Bets Are Off!

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News:

The Past: Snatch
Rotten Tomatoes 72% Fresh; 92% Audience

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Director: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Jason Statham, Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro

Trivia:

  • Brad Pitt, who was a big fan of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, approached director Guy Ritchie and asked for a role in this film. When Ritchie found Pitt couldn’t master a London accent, he gave him the role of Mickey the Gypsy.
  • To keep things in order during production, director Guy Ritchie introduced a system of fines on set. There were fines for mobile phones ringing, arriving late, taking naps during shooting, being “cheeky”, being unfunny, and/or moaning and complaining. One staff member was even charged for letting the craft service table run out of coffee cups.
  • When Mickey “wins” a new trailer van for his mother from Turkish, he specifically picks out “periwinkle blue” as the color. In Psycho, we are told that Norman Bates helped to pick out a “periwinkle blue” dress for his dead mother. Mickey, just like Norman, is also responsible (albeit indirectly) for his own mother’s death.
  • When Vinnie Jones is introduced in the movie, he is slamming a man’s head in a car door, It was the head of stunt co-coordinator and action director Tom Delmar, who volunteered for the job.
  • Bullet Tooth Tony’s character is introduced slamming a man’s head between a car door and a car, which the same actor does in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, another Guy Ritchie film.
  • The hardcore band “Cold War from Orange County, California” quotes this movie several times throughout their CD “From Russia With Love.” Some of the lines quoted are: (“Quote” – Character / Song in which quote is used) “From Russia with love, ah?” – Doug The Head / Love Betrays “Heavy’s good, heavy’s reliable.” – Boris the Blade / Painful Delight “Do you know what “nemesis” means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an ‘orrible c*nt… me.” – Brick Top / Retrace My Steps
  • Lennie James actually hit himself in his private parts with the shotgun while blasting a hole in the wall at the bookies, but continued the scene. That footage was used in the film.
  • Boris the Blade pulls a large cleaver from his belt. Soap did the same thing in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, another Guy Ritchie movie.
  • Guy Ritchie reportedly paid US $1 million for the use of Madonna’s song, “Lucky Star”.
  • Every mistake that Sol, Vincent and Tyrone make were inspired by various late-night TV shows about real-life crimes gone horribly wrong.
  • Tim Maurice-Jones, the cinematographer, plays the man who is repeatedly battered over the head at the beginning of the movie by Frankie Four-Fingers (Benicio Del Toro). In Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, for which he was also the cinematographer, he was the man being drowned at the beginning of the film by Barry the Baptist (Lenny McLean).
  • Nearly every death in the movie takes place off-screen.
  • In the final scene, the 86-carat diamond is referred to as an 84-carat diamond.
  • In Guy Ritchie’s previous film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, there is a scene in which Harry, Barry and Chris have a conversation. Barry says the line. “No, Harry, you can’t,” which is shortly repeated by Chris, then by both together. This joke is carried over to this movie when Alex and Susi do the same thing with the line, “Yeah, Dad, you told us.”
  • When Guy Ritchie told Brad Pitt that he would be playing a boxer, Pitt became concerned because he had just finished shooting Fight Club and did not want to play the same type of role again. Pitt book the role anyway because he wanted to work with Ritchie so badly.
  • The U.S. distributors considered changing the title to “Snatched” or “Snatch’d”.
  • The word “fuck” is said 163 times.
  • During the opening credits, the Hasidic-clad diamond thieves are discussing the Virgin Mary. This is a reference to Reservoir Dogs, where during the opening scene the thieves are discussing the Madonna song “Like a Virgin”.
  • Franky Four-Fingers changes into four different outfits during the short telephone conversation to cousin Avi.
  • According to the DVD commentary, Bow, the dog was very difficult to work with. During car scene with Vincent, Sol and Tyrone, the dog was actually attacking Lennie James, and James was actually bitten in the crotch by the dog but didn’t suffer any serious injury. The dog was replaced after that incident.
  • The producers couldn’t afford enough extras for the boxing match sequences. Whenever a camera angle changed, the extras had to move around to create an impression of a crowded house.
  • When Vinny and Sol are sitting outside Brick-Top’s Bookies, about to give him the diamond, the man that approaches the car is not really Bullet-Tooth Tony, it was a look-alike. Vinnie Jones didn’t show up for shooting that day because he was in jail for fighting the night before.
  • Body count: 26
  • Brad Pitt’s character and indecipherable speech was inspired by many critics’ complaints about the accents of the characters in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Guy Ritchie decided to counter the criticisms by creating a character that not only couldn’t be understood by the audience but the also couldn’t be understood by characters in the movie.
  • One of the boxers is called Bomber Harris. “Bomber Harris” was the nickname of Arthur Harris, chief of RAF Bomber Command in World War II. The name later appeared in a German Monty Python special (Monty Python’s Fliegender Zirkus) as the name of a man who wrestles himself – Colin “Bomber” Harris.
  • The role of Brick Top Polford was originally offered to Dave Courtney.
  • Just before Micky and Bomber Harris begin their fight, Bomber Harris head-butts Micky just after the bell rings. Micky recoils checking for blood on his glove and then floors his opponent with one punch. This was a nod towards Lenny “The Guv’nor” McClean when he fought “Mad Gypsy” Bradshaw in an almost identical fight. Lenny McLean worked with Guy Ritchie on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and passed away in 1998.
  • Throughout the movie, Turkish (Jason Statham) makes comments to Tommy (Stephen Graham) about his getting a gun for protection from “Ze Germans”. Graham also played Sgt. Myron ‘Mike’ Ranney in the series Band of Brothers, although Snatch was released a year prior to the series.
  • The car driven by Tyrone is a Rover SD1. It is the Vitesse version which was the fastest version made. It has a 3.5 litre V8 engine which ran on petrol/gasoline. The car was in production from 1976-1986 and in this time there was a “facelift” updated model as used in this film. The car is driven by the rear wheels and was a favorite amongst police and criminals when they were in production; so much so in fact, that the police started buying second hand cars and converting them for use in the police force when they went out of production. There were many different engines available, such as a 2.3 and 2.6 liter in-line 6 cylinder engine and a 2.4 liter turbo diesel engine, which was revolutionary in the 1980s. After the car went out of production, the design was sold to a company in India and it was re-badged and sold again as the Standard 2000.
  • Jason Flemyng joked that the working conditions on this film were so terrible that Brad Pitt’s trailer was picketed by Amnesty International as not being fit for someone to live in.
  • Guy Ritchie: In the back of the bar when we are first introduced to Doug The Head. Ritchie is the man reading the newspaper.
  • The film’s title only appears once throughout the entire movie, where Vinny (Robbie Gee) tells the dog, “Don’t Snatch!” as it takes the squeaky toy. It is said to the dog because it’s the dog who eats the diamond.

Talking Points:

  • Understanding the dialogue

What We Learned:

  • Whenever you reverse, things come at you from behind
  • If all bets are off, there can’t be any money
  • It’s easier to cut a body into 6 pieces then to try and carry it whole
  • It takes 16 pigs 8 minutes to devour a 200 lbs man
  • You can’t find a pikey that doesn’t want to be found.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I have some strange mixed feelings on this movie. I think it’s brilliant like Trainspotting but I think it has to do with some English sensibilities or something. I recommend seeing the movie at least once and hope you all appreciate it as much as I do.
Ray: Just wasn’t my kind of movie, I had a real hard time keeping up with the dialogue and the editing was exhausting. Brad Pitt was pretty amusing in it though.So far Guy Ritchie is 0 for 3 for me.
Steve: I like this one…and I also like LS&2SB, so I’m good with Ritchie. It’s just something kind of Tarantino about it, but also unique. I also enjoy the absurdity and he does a good job telling several intertwining stories without making you feel too lost. It’s hectic, but fun.

The Present: The Man With The Iron Fists
Rotten Tomatoes 53% Rotten; 52% Audience

Director: RZA

Starring: Russel Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu

Trivia:

  • Development of the film that would become The Man with the Iron Fists began as early as 2003 when RZA produced the soundtrack for Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill. RZA set himself a $50,000 budget and flew to the Kill Bill set in Beijing, China, where he spent approximately thirty days taking notes on how Tarantino directed the film.
  • The first cut of the film was 4 hours long and RZA suggested splitting it into two films, but Roth disagreed and it was ultimately cut down to 96 minutes to meet the studios requirements and to excise gorier content that would gain the film a restrictive rating, limiting its audience. RZA admitted to walking away from the editing process for two weeks at one point out of disgust at having to cut the film.
  • RZA and Eli Roth worked on the screenplay together over two years, talking through every aspect of the story, down to the detail of every weapon.
  • RZA then financed and directed a martial-arts short film called Wu-Tang vs. the Golden Phoenix featuring kung-fu trained actors flown in from Hong Kong. When he and Roth finally pitched The Man with the Iron Fists to producers, RZA used the short to prove that the musician could handle the martial arts action and be trusted to take on his first director role.
  • During the development process, Tarantino agreed to lend his name to the film with a “presented by” credit.
  • Approximately 6 weeks into filming, RZA began pushing the crew to work faster to remain on schedule. His assistant director eventually informed RZA that the push was resulting in stunt workers receiving injuries and being sent to the hospital daily. After this, RZA abandoned some of his intended shots and replaced them with Computer Generated Images (CGI).

Talking Points:

  • Silver lion’s hair
  • Lucy Liu’s character & “Black Widows”

Critic Notes:

  • Positives: Refreshingly bad; as an exercise in the genre, it always feels like you’re coming in halfway through the movie; Maybe one of the best bad movies ever; Demonstrated neo-exploitation cinema is not dead; As endearing as a hyperactive puppy, but just as exhausting and exciting; Sufficiently well done for those who like this sort of thing.
  • Negatives: RZA is awful at acting and in incompetent narrator; lavish imitation; lunatic, unnecessarily gorey, and borderline incomprehensible; a bad movie with big names is still a bad movie

What We Learned:

  • When it comes to money things get funny
  • A dog living in a palace is still a dog

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: You know, I thought this would be a bit more exciting of a movie. I did like Russel Crowe and Brass Body. Rawr.
Ray: I wanted to like it, and it really lived up to what it wanted to be which is a bad kung fu movie, but I found it sort of pretentious. RZA should have kept himself out of the movie.
Steve: The opening dialogue from RZA sealed the deal for me. This was just a combination of RZA’s wet dreams rolled into a film. He gets to bang the hot Asian chick, get a super power, and beat up a WWE superstar. BFD! The only things that almost saved this were how it looked, the fight scenes and Lucy Liu, otherwise I would have left it.

The Future: Iron Man 3

Release: May 3, 2012

Director: Shane Black

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley

Summary:

Tony Stark uses his ingenuity to fight those who destroyed his private world and soon goes up against his most powerful enemy yet: the Mandarin.

Talking Points:

  • Ben Kingsly Voice
  • Tie In to the Avengers

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Iron Man? Yes, please.
Ray: Are you kidding me? Yes!
Steve: Looks epic! I don’t know about the Mandarin though. Guess I just thought he might be younger looking.

The Past: For Your Eyes Only

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The Present: Skyfall

The Future: World War Z

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

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

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

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Director: Joel Coen

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

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

Critic Notes

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

What We Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

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

Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell

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

Trivia:

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

Talking Points:

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

Critic Notes

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

What We Learned:

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

Trailer:

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

The Future: The Man With The Iron Fists

Release: November 2, 2012

Director: RZA

Starring: Russel Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu

Summary:

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

Talking Points:

  • Not a whole lot…lol

Trailer:

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

The Past: The Heroic Trio

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The Present: Premium Rush

The Future: Skyfall

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MOV029: “You Can’t Leave. She Won’t Let You.”

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The Past: Event Horizon

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Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Sam Niel, Lawrence Fishburne

Trivia:

  • The space suits worn by the actors weighed 65 pounds (30 kilograms) each. Laurence Fishburne nicknamed his “Doris.”
  • The Event Horizon was modeled on Notre Dame cathedral. Its interior is filled with cruciform shapes.
  • The model of the Event Horizon includes a complete “X-Wing” from Star Wars as part of an antenna array. The model is visible on the lower portion of the Event Horizon during the first flyby by the Lewis & Clark.
  • Director Paul W.S. Anderson was forced to cut over 20 minutes of violent scenes so the film could reach the R-rating.
  • When the Lewis and Clark first docks with the Event Horizon, the number of the main airlock is briefly visible: 13.
  • Cameo: [During the opening dream sequence] a book floats past the camera, featuring a picture of the director and his name.
  • The Event Horizon was named after the theoretical boundary surrounding a black hole, within which gravitational attraction is so great that nothing, not even radiation, can escape because the escape velocity is greater than the speed of light
  • This movie was produced entirely within the UK, even the special effects.
  • Paul W.S. Anderson had originally hired British band Orbital to compose the music for the film because he had wanted to work with them since his directorial debut Mortal Kombat (1995) which had featured their music. Paramount executives balked at the idea of hiring unknowns to write music for a big budget film, Anderson then thought of Michael Kamen and the idea of “marrying” their sounds (orchestral and techno) together resulted in the film’s final soundtrack.
  • Philip Eisner wrote the movie after a family tragedy. He had recently entered a multi-picture writing agreement, and in an effort to force himself to get back to work he pitched the idea of “The Shining in space” to the studio, who were very receptive. Unfortunately he had no detailed treatment yet, and the subject matter blended with his emotional state to inspire a prolonged bout of writer’s block. The studio executive who had originally brought him on board, now a personal friend, helped keep Eisner on track, and the eventual first draft which was enthusiastically received.
  • Post-production was cut from 6 weeks to 4 weeks after Paul W.S. Anderson promised to deliver the film in time for release in August 1997.
  • According to the DVD documentary, the first cut of the film had a longer “Visions from Hell” sequence, more blood, and a different, though similar, ending. The test audience didn’t like it, so it was re-cut with an alternate ending involving what director Paul W.S. Anderson called “The Burning Man Sequence.” The second test audience didn’t like that version, and the film was edited again. The final cut is a less-intense hybrid of both test screenings, with significantly less gore.
  • Production designer Joseph Bennett had to find a crew in Britain that could build and finish the sets in 4 weeks, before shooting began.
  • Andrew Kevin Walker wrote an uncredited draft of the script. Some of it ended up on screen, and one sequence was cut from the theatrical cut. A small sample of it appears on the Special Collector’s Edition, when Laurence Fishburne’s crew is introduced for the first time on another rescue mission. In the DVD commentary, director Paul W.S. Anderson said he regretted deleted the scene, but it didn’t help the film’s pace.
  • Director Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt planned to put together a director’s cut for some time, but most of the footage was lost or destroyed after post-production. A few of those scenes, which appear on the Special Collector’s Edition DVD, survived only in videotape form, sometimes without dialog or sound effects. The DVD also includes storyboards of a space walk sequence that was abandoned for budget reasons, and the alternate ending, with commentary by Paul W.S. Anderson.
  • According to the DVD commentary, sequences deleted from the “Visions of Hell” include orgies and sadomasochism killing the Event Horizon’s original crew.
  • One of the members of the original Event Horizon crew was British director Gary Sinyor, who directed The Bachelor (1999) starring Chris O’Donnell and Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger.
  • Everyone’s space suit has their country’s flag. During production, Australia was considering changing its flag. Sam Neill’s character is Australian, and his spacesuit’s flag has the Aboriginal flag in place of the Union Jack.
  • Dr. Weir shares his name with a historical figure, Johann Weyer, also known as Wier or Wierus. He was a Dutch physician, occultist, and demonologist.
  • The hundreds of apparent metal bolts that line the corridors of the Event Horizon are actually power transistors in a TO-3 or similar package. This can be best seen when Miller rests his head against the wall when hearing Corrick’s voice.
  • The rotational shot of the space station over earth took nearly a third of the film’s budget.
  • The FBFX created costumes of John Mollo’s original space suit designs included many practical features such as an integrated filter blower system in the bottom of the portable life support system (backpack) into the helmet to keep the visor clear and the actor cool, thousands of LEDs that pulsated rhythmically to indicate life support functionality (with a secret ‘panic mode’ switch to quicken the pace when the plot required it!) and industrial magnets embedded in the soles of the boots to add to the realism of scenes featuring active magnetic boots.
  • The working title was “The Stars My Destination”.
  • When Doctor Weir opens the blinds in his room during the opening sequence of the film, a whooshing sound effect can be heard. This sound effect is taken from the video game Doom, heard when the player opens a door.
  • In keeping with the naturalistic science fiction tone of the film, the costumes were based on present day flight suits.
  • Paul W.S. Anderson was offered the movie on the strength of the box office success of his previous film, Mortal Kombat (1995). It meant he had to turn down the opportunity to direct X-Men (2000).
  • Paul W.S. Anderson’s initial cut of the film ran to 130 minutes and was quite graphically violent, so much so that both test audiences and the studio baulked at the finished product. Paramount ordered him to cut the film by 30 minutes and tone down some of the violence, a decision he now regrets.
  • Some of the lost footage includes a great deal more of the Bosch-influenced Hell sequences and of the orgiastic video log that was found in the Event Horizon. This was shot by both director Paul W.S. Anderson and Vadim Jean, mainly on weekends.
  • Paramount eschewed the overused special effects houses ILM and DreamWorks in favor of smaller studios to keep costs down. Instead they opted for Mass Illusion Cinesite (Europe) and the Computer Film Company in London.
  • The first person signed to the film was director of photography Adrian Biddle.
  • For his final scenes, Sam Neill could come to the studio at 3am so that he could spend 7-8 hours in make-up, having a full prosthetic suit fitted.
  • Joely Richardson’s character was originally written for a man.
  • Paramount didn’t officially greenlight the film until 10 weeks before production was due to begin. This meant that the production design was unnecessarily rushed and was the reason why many leading production designers turned the film down.
  • From greenlight to completion, the film took 10 months, an unusually short amount of time for such a complex, special effects driven film.
  • Having just done a PG-13 movie, Mortal Kombat (1995), Paul W.S. Anderson was very keen to do something more adult and gruesome. This was why he turned down the chance to direct X-Men (2000).
  • Writer Philip Eisner visited the set while the space suit sequences were being filmed. The suits were so heavy that the actors risked back injuries, prompting Laurence Fishburne to stop between takes, point at Eisner, and shout mock-angrily: “You! You Eisner! You did this to me!”.
  • The script originally described the Gateway machine as a smooth and featureless black orb suspended in midair between large, rotating mechanical arms. It also was said to contain a stable black hole within it at all times (which the ship used as a power source), as opposed to briefly creating a temporary one.
  • Jeremy Irons and Amy Brenneman were originally set to star in the film.
  • The scene where Laurence Fishburne finds Jason Isaacs hanging in the air with his chest cut open originally ran much longer, with Isaacs’ guts hanging out of him, and some of them laying on the table. Paul W.S. Anderson used a mylar mirror on an operating table to simulate the effect, with Issacs actually hanging on wires. This can be seen in the DVD’s Making of Event Horizon documentary.
  • For Jason Isaacs’ death scene, the plan was originally for his entrails to be still attached to him as he hung over them. Isaacs was then supposed to raise his head, showing that he was still alive, prompting Laurence Fishburne’s character to shoot him in the head, to put him out of his misery.
  • All of the characters who die are the ones who are immediately present in the scene where the crew starts to talk about the hallucinations.

Talking Points:

  • Coolest Ship Interior EVER!
  • Should it have been in 3-D?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Bottled Water doesn’t freeze in deep space.
  • Just because your experiencing 30G’s of acceleration… doesn’t mean your dishes and other items need to be stowed.. they will stay right where they are.
  • Its all math

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Ray: In all reality this movie sucks.. but i still love it. Great Concept, Horrible Execution
Steve: Don’t expect Shakespeare…but the sets are amazing and it has a great cast.
Jeff: I second, Ray

The Present: The Next Three Days

Director: Paul Haggis

Starring: Russel Crowe, Elizabeth Banks

Trivia:

  • The Next Three Days is a remake of the 2007 French film Pour Elle (Anything for Her) by Fred Cavayé
  • Cavayé explained the plot and motivation for making the film, “We wanted to make a real human story about an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing because he’s faced with a miscarriage of justice. The film also talks about courage – saying how you show courage depending on the situation. In France, for example, there were good people who did not go into the Resistance against the Germans.”
  • In October 2009, Haggis and his staff were filming in the principal photography stage of production in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • The Next Three Days has received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 44% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 59 reviews, with an average score of 5.7/10. The critical consensus is: “Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks give it their all, but their solid performances aren’t quite enough to compensate for The Next Three Days’ uneven pace and implausible plot.”

Talking Points:

  • Did anyone root for them to get caught?
  • when is breaking the law for a good cause ok?
  • Brian Dennehy’s almost wordless performance.
  • Pace – was it slow to you or fast?
  • How well do you think you know your spouse?

What We Learned:

  • Regardless what Mythbusters say.. its completely possible to steal a car with a tennis ball.
  • All you need to know about becoming a criminal you can learn from the Internet.
  • If you’re going to flee the country, just get on the plane and you’re scott free.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Bloody Brilliant. While some people might not like the pacing, the emotional journey is incredible.
Ray:To me slow moving and methodical.. but if you can stick with it, I think its worth the ride.
Steve: Boring with a capital B! I think I’m awake now.

The Future: Heartless 5-21-2011

Starring: Jim Sturgess, Noel Clarke

Trivia:

  • Was released in the UK in 2009
  • Shown at Leeds International Film Festival (UK) on Saturday 7th November, 2009 as part of its “Day of the Dead” horror film marathon.
  • When Jamie is walking past a bar to take out the garbage, a rock version of the song Jim Sturgess sings, “Heartless”, is playing.

Talking Points:

  • Jacobs Ladder anyone?

Summary:

Jamie Morgans life has always been blighted by the large, heart-shaped birthmark on his face. He lives in an urban world dominated by a terrifying gang culture, whose random violence has convinced Jamie that the world is meaningless and ugly. But then Jamie meets someone who tells him the truth. The violence is not random. Its far from chaotic. There is a reason for everything. Once Jamie accepts this the world reveals itself as a thing of great beauty And that’s when his real nightmare starts.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Meh.
Ray: Trailer reminds me of Jacobs Ladder.. Looks interesting.
Steve: Looks interesting, but doesn’t come across like a big screen movie…looks like a straight to DVD release.

Coming Attractions

The Past: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Present: Burlesque
The Future: Wrecked

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