Podcast

MOV082: “The Things A Girl Will Do For A Mink Coat!”

In this reel of COL Movies, the guys head into the way back machine to review 1945’s “Christmas In Connecticut”. After spending some time with the old school, they head to the theater to see Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo”. After surviving…I mean sleeping through…I mean getting through that film, they check out the trailer for the highly anticipated…and by highly anticipated we mean spent almost 80 years in development hell…Pixar live-action film, “John Carter”. All this and more info on The Dark Knight Rises, Angelina Jolie and Luc Besson’s potential partnership, Robocop going boldly where no man has gone before, and a spoof trailer for the Angry Birds movie – you know you want to see it! It’s the 82nd reel of COL Movies – the things a girl will do for a mink coat!

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News:

The Past: Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% Fresh, 77 % Audience

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Director:Peter Godfrey

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardiner

Trivia:

  • The Connecticut home is the same set used in Bringing Up Baby,
  • The character of Elizabeth Lane was loosely based on the then popular Family Circle Magazine columnist Gladys Taber, who lived on Stillmeadow Farm in Connecticut.

Talking Points:

  • Man..who WASN’T getting married in this film..
  • Favorite Line? Or Scene?
  • The portrayal of African Americans from this era of film (waiter)

What We’ve Learned:

  • The ol’ MaGoo is different than baloney!
  • Nobody needs a mink coat except a mink!
  • The Sanctity of Marriage was alive and well in 1945
  • Babies like to eat soap
  • Its the woman that leads the man astray

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I couldn’t get through this movie, I kept starting and stopping, muting. It’s not a bad movie in any way shape or form, it’s just not my thing. If you like a movie with constant embarrassing moments and classic movieness, watch it. I just can’t anymore.
Ray: It’s a cute little look at a 1940’s screwball comedy. I liked it even if the whole marriage thing annoyed me. I’d say watch! If only for Uncle Felix definitely not a catastrophe!
Steve: I will admit wholeheartedly that I screwed up.

The Present: Hugo
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Fresh, 84% Audience

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen

Trivia:

  • Martin Scorsese’s first feature film in twelve years not starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His last feature film without DiCaprio was “Bringing Out the Dead”
  • After a screening that James Cameron attended, he called the film a “masterpiece” and told Martin Scorsese it was the best use of 3D he had seen, including his own films.
  • The cam mechanism in the automaton is heavily inspired by the machinery in the Jaquet-Droz automata, built between 1768 and 1774.
  • Martin Scorsese directed the 3D cinematography by wearing clip-on 3D lenses over his prescription glasses
  • The train station depicted is the Gare Montparnasse. The real life Georges Méliès did in fact work as a toymaker at that station after World War I. The derailment scene during Hugo’s dream is a reference to the famous 1895 derailment at the station

Talking Points:

  • The Cinematography “Crazy Long shot at the beginning”
  • 3D? Anyone see it?
  • Will this really appeal to children
  • Was this what you thought it was going to be about?
  • Melodramatic character “Kingsley”
  • Anyone else feel like this was some ham-handed plea for film preservation?
  • Sacha Baron Cohen & all the older actors – pretty much a star cast (all from Harry Potter…lol)

What We Learned:

  • There are a whole lot of English people living in Paris (accents)
  • The secret is in the clockwork
  • The Library is the best place on earth, like Never-land, Oz and Treasure Island all wrapped in one
  • Everything has a purpose, lose it and you’re broken
  • Old Films make wonderful rubber heels
  • Happy Endings only happen in the movies.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: This movie has some serious pacing issues. I thought the story wasn’t so bad and twisting it into something different then what I expected was nice. The cinematography was great, lighting, coloring, but just paced wrong. Maybe a worth see on rental, but seeing it on the big screen for some of those shots were great. Loved the shout out to the beginnings of movie making.
Ray: Ugh, totally bored me. Nodded off a few times. Felt like this was Scorsese just masturbating on film….If I was a kid I would have found this film extremely boring, My one shining star of the film..was only in it for 5 minutes, and for 2 of those he was dead.
Steve: Was snoring by 15 minutes in…and was out for at least 20 minutes. But once I woke up, I didn’t mind the story after it got to the part about filmmaking. However, definitely not my kind of movie and I wouldn’t see it again. I honestly thought it was going to be completely something else.

The Future: John Carter

Director: Andrew Stanton

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Defoe

Summary:

Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.

Trivia:

  • The first live action film that will involve Pixar
  • Probably holds the record for having the longest period of “development hell” for any movie, at 79 years, but would have been the first animated film ever made had it succeeded to be developed in 1931

Talking Points:

  • Trailer Music
  • Development Hell!

Trailers:

Excitement:
Jeff: Damn, this trailer got me excited to see this movie. I was luke warm hearing about it before but definitely changed my mind. I think it was John leaping a couple of stories into the air that helped hook me.
Ray: Man, I’ve been hearing about this film for at LEAST 17 years… yes that long. Hope its worth the wait. I am looking forward to it.
Steve: Looks really cool! I’m looking forward to it. I have no concept of the back story, but the trailer really pulled me in.

Coming Attractions

The Past

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The Present

The Future

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