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Podcast

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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MOV121: Rule 34

In this reel of COL movies, we head back to the early 90s for the Broadway-inspired play turned movie, “Noises Off!” In theaters, we check out the Great Depression bootlegger drama, “Lawless”. In trailer-world, we review the John C. Reilly animated joint “Wreck-It Ralph”. In news, there’s talk of “A Christmas Story” official sequel, we lose the incredible Michael Clarke Duncan, and Sam Raimi promises that the “Evil Dead” remake will be well worth the wait. It’s the 121st reel of COL movies..Rule 34

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News:

Recent Facebook Likes: Jason Bartello

The Past: Noises Off (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes 57% Rotten; 83% Audience

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Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Staring: Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliott, Julie Hagerty, Marilu Henner, Mark Linn-Baker, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Nicollette Sheridan

Trivia:

  • Two of the characters names are changed from the original stage play: Lloyd Dallas (the director) and Frederick Fellows (the actor). In the movie version they are Lloyd Fellows (the director) and Frederick Dallas (the actor).
  • Denholm Elliott’s last film.
  • The play which the film is based on is done in three acts; act one is the final dress rehearsal; act two is the matinee performance; act three is the evening performance. The bridge scenes, with Michael Caine’s voiceover narration, including the opening scene where he leaves the theatre and the ending scene where he returns, were written for the film and do not appear in the play. In the play, the last line is the frantic call for “Curtain!”
  • Lloyd’s speech/rant to Tim before the matinee about the problems he’s having directing Hamlet was changed from the play. In the play, Lloyd is directing a production of Richard III, and all the characters/references reflect that. It was changed in the movie because it was felt that Hamlet would be better-known to American audiences.
  • The play-within-the-film is entitled “Nothing On”.
  • Audrey Hepburn was offered a major role.
  • Sir John Gielgud was asked to play Mowbray.
  • The movie’s title “Noises Off” is a stage cue used in scripts by a playwright to indicate noises occurring offstage.
  • The original Broadway production of “Noises Off” by Michael Frayn opened on December 11, 1983 at the Brooks Atkinson Theater running for 553 performances with a cast that included Victor Garber and Dorothy Loudon and received a nomination for the 1984 Tony Award for Best Play

Talking Points:

  • Has that shot on video feel to it…
  • Frantic pace gets overly frantic, if not frenetic

What We Learned:

  • Doors and Sardines, that’s what it’s all about.
  • The wellspring of human action is deep and cloudy
  • When you want to avoid paying taxes, stay in Spain.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: I always seem to have a hard time watching comedy of errors, and this was one of them. The movie is great, based on the play, so can’t really say there’s anything wrong with it, I just had a start and stop time watching it. I think the reason why I like it so much is because of the technicality of it. The timing of going in and out of the doors with all that speed. Check it out for sure.
Ray: Something didn’t translate very well for me from stage to screen.. I found parts funny, but overall it was just exhausting. It was cool to see John Ritter and Christopher Reeve back on the screen. I think the expression on my face was exactly the same as the security guard back stage in the film. This isn’t something I would recommend
Steve: I like the first half, during the rehearsal, but once it gets going into the performances I just lose interest. Extremely creative and a great cast, but not really something for everyone.

The Present: Lawless
Rotten Tomatoes 66% Fresh; 81% Audience

Director: John Hillcoat

Starring: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce

Trivia:

  • Ryan Gosling, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Shannon were originally slated to top line the project together with ‘Shia Labeouf’.
  • Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson were originally cast, but the movie was shut down, and Jessica Chastain eventually got the role.
  • Tom Hardy’s character was originally supposed to be slimmer but Hardy had to bulk up for the movie The Dark Knight Rises

Talking Points:

  • Shia
  • Tom
  • Did the digital medium make the film feel less authentic?
  • Reviews regarding violence and gore

Critic Notes:

  • Positives: Does a great job in creating the world and environment of this band of brothers trying to make it; Shia finally lets it all out; Rowdy, crowd-pleasing fun
  • Negatives: The craftsmanship is great, but the story just doesn’t let the entire film sing; Hardy’s performance wasn’t good; You don’t really want to root for anyone because they’re all “bad people”; An ambitious try, but a miss.

What We Learned:

  • Never assume you walked yourself to the hospital.
  • Bondurants don’t lay down for nobody

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: You know, I really don’t know what to say about this movie. It was alright. Maybe worth a wait to DVD. I dunno. Watch the trailer and make your own judgement when to see it. Just can’t think it of priority to watch it. Just didn’t thrill me.
Ray: Much like Tom Hardy’s character in this film.. it is a slow pondering mass of a film, not exactly quick but when it hits it hits hard. Don’t fear the Shia..for once I feel he earned his pay on a film. It’s a hair under 2 hours long, but will feel much longer.
Steve: I actually liked Shia in something. Where’s the lightning? Also, while Tom Hardy may have been wooden in his portrayal of this patriarch – he really gave me a …. um, yeah sorry! I digress. I liked it. Somewhat of a blend of Untouchables and Young Guns with some memorable performances.

The Future: Wreck-It Ralph

Release: November 2, 2012

Director: Rich Moore

Starring: Voices of John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jayne Lynch, Sarah Silverman

Summary:

The bad-guy character in a classic game who longs to be a hero brings trouble to his entire arcade after sneaking into a new first-person shooter game and unleashing a deadly enemy.

Talking Points:

  • The inclusion of the old video game characters

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Good guy plays a bad guy as his job and doesn’t want to be a bad guy anymore. It’s the story of Donkey Kong, yet animated. Totally want to see it.
Ray: Hmm.. Animated, Inclusion of old video games, Rule 34… um.. yeah..
Steve: Initially didn’t think I’d care for the cast, but as with Megamind I seem to be liking their voices in the roles. Seems like a fun story that will combine a blast from the past. I’m looking forward to it!

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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MOV102: “All Mouth, No Trousers”

In this thriller-based installment of COL Movies, the boys don their creepy masks to stare in on 2008’s “The Strangers”.  From there, they launch into orbit with Guy Pearce as he attempts to save a damsel in distress stuck on a space prison in “Lockout”.  Finally, they try to decipher the reason there are so many damn trailers for the upcoming “GI Joe: Retaliation”.  All this, more about “Prometheus” and cell phone use in theaters, as well as some fun tidbits regarding some sequels you might be looking forward to.  It’s the 102nd reel of COL Movies – “All Mouth, No Trousers”

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News:

  • The “Don’t Talk” Tradition – Tim League

  • Tim League Responds to the Don’t Talk PSA Craziness

The Past: The Strangers (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 45% Rotten, 48% Audience

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Director: Bryan Bertino

Starring: Scott Speedman, Liv Tyler and Gemma Ward

Trivia:

  • it is based on “true events” – but not the ones you’d think. It’s based on the director’s memory of a knock at the door and someone asking for someone who wasn’t there. The rest of the film is artistic license, and the director is said to have been impressed with the amount of internet folklore building up about the “truth” of the murders.
  • Originally scheduled for release in summer 2007. After 2 delays, it was released May 30, 2008.
  • In one scene, Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” plays loudly on the record player. His band was “The Strangers.”
  • Mark Romanek was originally slated to direct the film.
  • Many theaters across the United States were sent faulty reels of the movie, containing sound problems, which made a few minutes to several scenes of the movie filled with nothing but static. Most movie-watchers didn’t even realize the sound was a problem, since the dark overtone and loud background music at some areas make the static seem like part of the movie.
  • Liv Tyler suffered from tonsillitis during shooting.
  • The script was originally titled “The Faces.”
  • Arguably based on the 1981 Keddie Resort murders in northern California, although this has not been substantiated by anyone connected with the movie, with the writer claiming it is based on a childhood experience.
  • The film was shot entirely with hand-held cameras or steady cams. Every shot has some camera movement.
  • According to Liv Tyler, the finale had much more interaction and dialog between the victims and the villains in the original script. It was cut to keep the intruders mysterious and eerie.
  • Bryan Bertino said the film was inspired by the infamous Manson murders.
  • According to director Bryan Bertino the film is partially based on an incident he experienced as a child. One evening, a stranger came to his door, asked for someone who wasn’t there, and left. Later, Bertino found out that other homes in his neighborhood had been broken into that night.
  • The song “Mama Tried”, which is heard several times during the film, is a 1968 hit by Merle Haggard and the Strangers.
  • Bryan Bertino said that at the end sequence there was more talking from the three strangers, but it was cut to make them more mysterious.
  • Shot in chronological order.
  • The exterior shots of the house were filmed at an actual farm house. The film makers were surprised to discover the property had a barn, garage, a forest and a long enough road.
  • The film makers tried to design the house as one that “your brother could have lived in, that you could have grown up in” in order to make the audience feel more attached to the film.
  • The movie was not shot inside of an actual house, the interior of the home was built on a sound stage.
  • During filming, in order to get an actual reaction from Liv Tyler, Bryan Bertino would tell her where to expect a loud bang from, but would then have the loud noise come from a completely different direction.
  • Before filming any scene after The Strangers begin terrorizing the couple, Liv Tyler would have to run laps, do jumping jacks, and other physical activities to get her out of breath. This was so she would have the panicky feeling the real life characters would have been experiencing.
  • The car crash sequence was filmed in three takes.
  • To make it look like he had actually been shot at point blank range, ‘Glenn Howarton’ had to ​sit in the makeup chair for three hours.
  • There were two special prosthetic makeups for Glenn Howerton. One of them was for fresh kill, when he was shot in the face by Scott Speedman, and the other was for 1 hour after death prosthetics.

Talking Points:

  • “inspired” by true events
  • “Because you were home”
  • did you watch this a little differently after seeing cabin in the woods?
  • The importance of sound in a “Scary” movie
  • Critic statements to ponder – “just another home invasion movie” and “torture porn”

What We Learned:

  • Always best to have a backup plan just in case she says NO!
  • unexpected knocks on the door at 4am are never good.
  • When arriving on a suspicious scene when someone has thrown an object through your windshield.. immediately call the cops and leave.. don’t go IN THE HOUSE.
  • Dick Cheney says, try not to shoot your friends in the face!

Trailer

Recommendations:
Jeff: This movie is one big horror trope, quiet and dark. Sure stirred up the fear in me like it should but really didn’t have the screaming payoff that I’d want from a horror movie. It’s terrible. Skip it.
Ray:Ok, for the most part, I loved this. Is it perfect? No. It suffers from some of the faults of all scary movies, otherwise rational people making dumb decisions that put them in danger…but because the rest of this movie is so well executed. I do not hesitate to recommend it. I spent the first 40 minutes fighting goosebumps. Watch it! Preferably in the dark, and by yourself or with one good friend to grab on to.
Steve: Love this movie! It’s the kind of “OMG…what is that in the background?”, “Don’t open the curtain!”, “What the hell are you doing?”, kind of movie that makes you want to yell at the screen. Even I have to look through my fingers at times or slightly look away because I’m anticipating what’s going to happen. What I love though…I they throw in some surprises along the way that throw me off. I like! It’s almost like you’re watching a “true crime documentary” versus a feature film…so screw character development, critics!

The Present: Lockout

Rotten Tomatoes: 35% Rotten ; 46% Audience

Director: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger

Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare

Trivia:

  • The main antagonist brothers are named Alex and Hydell. Alek Hidell was an alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald.
  • Snow remarks, “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not actually Houdini”. Guy Pearce played Harry Houdini in Death Defying Acts.
  • WILHELM SCREAM: The inmate who trips and falls right after coming out of stasis.
  • Luc Besson produced the film. Besson also co-wrote the script with James Mather and Stephen St. Leger. Leger directed the film.
  • Much of the filming utilized Green screens, rather than practical sets
  • The intended scenes were storyboarded in Dublin, Ireland to aid the actors in visualizing how the green screen scenes would appear after the completion of the CGI in post-production.
  • Principal photography took place in Belgrade, Serbia.

Talking Points:

  • American prison with lots of Irish people in it? (were the accents Irish though?)
  • Are you happy or pissed at Luc Besson?
  • How many Razzies are we talking for this one?
  • Halo jumping from orbit? Really?
  • Warning: Offensive T-shirt
  • Critics: Overall, entertaining, yet majorly flawed. Especially outlandish, cliche’, unappealing characters – saw no particularly positive or extremely negative reviews. Just “eh”.
  • Anyone notice the “Irish Producer” credit?

What We Learned:

  • When they say no guns in the prison, they mean no guns in the prison – idiot!
  • Creepy Irish convicts are way scarier than other convicts.
  • Be specific when you ask the prisoners to release a wounded female hostage.
  • If you work on a space prison, make sure you can crack the door in less than 2 minutes, or at least be prepared to be honest and witty about it.
  • Cryogenic freezing is not good for the brain. So freezing people who are already wacko is probably not the best method of rehabilitation.
  • The first family is more important than anyone else.
  • Fuck you is actually a proper Asian name.
  • Coffee and Motor oil make for an excellent hair dye
  • If a locked door won’t open, smash the controls. If a open door won’t lock, smash the controls.
  • Blow up the space prison. It would have saved us all some time.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Wow, what an incredibly mediocre movie. It was an okay watch if you want to see it. I’d wait for Netflix streaming though. It’s just a fun, dumb movie. At least it wasn’t bad.
Ray: I felt like it was trying soooo hard, but failing sooo miserably. I felt like I was watching all the full motion cut-scenes for an early 90’s video game on CD-Rom…
Steve: A big ol cheese plate. Tasty, but it will leave you constipated. Almost like wanting to get on a really awesome roller coaster, but you have to settle for one of those 3D rides where you strap in and stay put while the character on the screen leads you through something as the floor moves. The ​action was cool, but dialogue and story were just dumb. Put it on mute and enjoy!

The Future: GI Joe: Retaliation

Release: June 29, 2012

Director: Jon M. Chu

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Adrienne Palicki, Bruce Willis

Summary:

The film will feature the G.I. Joe Team coming into a conflict with Zartan, Storm Shadow and Firefly, all serving under the newly released Cobra Commander. Zartan (who is last seen in disguise as the President of the United States) manipulates the U.S. Government and frames all G.I. Joe operatives as traitors, exterminating most of them and leaving a small group of survivors, the last of the G.I. Joe team, which includes Roadblock, Flint, Lady Jaye and Snake Eyes. Zartan and the Commander now have all the world leaders under Cobra’s control, with warheads aimed at innocent populaces around the world. Badly beaten, outnumbered and outgunned, the Joes make a desperate plan to overthrow Cobra Commander and take back the world, with their secret black operation called the “Second American Revolution”, which involves the original G.I. Joe General Joseph Colton

Talking Points

  • What are you expecting?
  • Tons of trailers out there…even more than we’re sharing. What’s that about?
  • From what you’re seeing, does this seem to entice you more than the first movie?
  • Going with the storylines? (original GI Joe, Renegades, Comics?)

Trailers (3 total):

Trailer #1:

Trailer #2:

International Trailer:

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Excitement:
Jeff: This is going to be some explodey, ninja-y, fighty fun. I’m for it. Is it going to be good. Maybe not.
Ray:Based on trailer alone, I will say that I am somewhat excited to see this. But I’m having a hard time rationalizing that after suffering through the first movie.
Steve: I may have to look at some comics before seeing this because seeing some of the characters from the trailer, I’m not sure where they are going. However, looks like it will be cheeky, but not slapstick like the first one came off. Seems to me like they are putting more into the action – which is what we all want to see out of a GI Joe live action movie!

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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Podcast

MOV093: “Comparative Exponential Religiosity”

Steven is on hiatus and in the meantime he gives us a Nicolas Cage Spectacular. We start back in time with 2006’s “Ghost Rider.” You know that sounds like a movie that’s out. Oh, yeah, there’s the “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence” movie. Does either movie have a ghost of a chance to sway Jeff and Ray, or will they just through it back into the pits of hell where it came from? Lastly we take a look at the Futures Past with “Seeking Justice”, a Nicolas Cage movie already released in Europe. This, news featureing Sacha Baron Cohen, The Weinstiens, and Magneto, and even more super hero talk on this the 93rd Reel of COL Movies, “Comparative Exponential Religiosity”

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News:

The Past: Ghost Rider
Rotten Tomatoes: 27% Rotten , 56% Audience

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Director: Mark Steven Johnson

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bently, Peter Fonda, Sam Elliot

Trivia:

  • Jon Voight was attached to the project at one point, but dropped out.
  • Nicolas Cage had to have his Ghost Rider tattoo covered with make-up to play Johnny Blaze.
  • A large group of on-lookers converged on a bridge in Melbourne to watch scenes being filmed in a nearby location. Over four days of filming at that location, the crowds grew so large they disrupted traffic, and public transport operators reported an unusual jump in passenger traffic to the area.
  • Some scenes were filmed near Flinders St Station, Melbourne’s busiest railway station in. Parts of the station were closed for filming, and some train schedules were changed.
  • Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece required three hours to apply every day.
  • The head-on shot showing Johnny Blaze crashing his motorcycle on landing after jumping a long line of trucks is identical to the famous shot of Evel Knievel’s crash after a spectacular jump at Caesar’s Palace on December 31, 1967.
  • Continuing a trend in Marvel Comics adaptations, this film features foes imported from other series. Blackheart debuted in Daredevil; Mephisto in the Silver Surfer.
  • Nicolas Cage’s computer generated skull was made from a three dimensional x-ray taken of his actual skull.
  • One of the bridges being used in Melbourne was months away from completion, so the studio paid to add tar, lines, and lights to the highway for filming. Afterward the work was ripped up and redone to meet Australian safety standards.
  • The shotgun used in the movie is a Model 1887 Winchester lever-action shotgun.
  • Nicolas Cage wrote sections of the script.
  • When Johnny Blaze and Carter Slade ride together to San Venganza, one shot shows Blaze riding in the foreground with Slade just behind him, and slightly off to the side, so both can be clearly seen. This scene pays homage to “Ghost Rider”, a painting by the late David Mann, that has nothing to do with the Marvel character.
  • After Blackheart absorbs the souls of the damned at San Venganza, he says, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” In the Bible, a man possessed by demons says the same thing before Jesus cures him (Mark 5:9).
  • The Johnny Blaze video game in the movie is actually a game called “Crusty Demons” (2006) developed by UK games company Climax Studios. The plot is somewhat similar to the plot of Ghost Rider. A group of hard-riding extreme bikers are killed while performing an insane stunt. Satan offers to resurrect them and make them immortal if they use their motorcycle skills to do Satan’s work. Climax Studios also developed Ghost Rider.
  • The Caretaker/Carter Slade Ghost Rider character is a tribute to the original Marvel Comics Ghost Rider, now called The Phantom Rider to avoid confusion. However, the character in the comics is a regular human who wears a white costume and rides a white painted horse, both covered with phosphorous for a glowing effect.
  • Director Mark Steven Johnson actually put forward his own money to make an action sequence in which Ghost Rider battles a helicopter.
  • When Johnny and Mack are on the tour bus and Mack is watching TV, the motorcycle rider shown is Travis Pastrana.
  • Originally planned for a summer 2006 release. Director Mark Steven Johnson asked for more time to complete more action shots, including the helicopter battle scene.
  • During the shoot, Nicolas Cage was the guest of Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix race.
  • Sent to theaters under the name “Costly Pact”.
  • To create the Ghost Rider’s voice, sound designer Dane A. Davis recorded all of Nicolas Cage’s lines as the Ghost Rider, and then filtered them through three different kinds of animal growls (played backwards, covering three separate frequencies), then played them through a mechanical volumizer, before finally giving them a fiery crackle. Director Mark Steven Johnson compared it to “a deep, demonic, mechanical lion’s roar” and said “one thing is for sure, his voice will shake the theatre!”
  • Johnny Depp was interested in playing the title role. Eric Bana was also in heavy contention for the title role.
  • Barton Blaze calls Johnny “Hot Shot” in the first sequence. The French subtitle translates this nickname as “tête brûlée” – literally “Burned Head”.
  • One of the few Marvel Comic-based movies that Stan Lee does not appear in. He had absolutely no involvement in the creation of the original Ghost Rider.
  • Nicolas Cage is an avid fan of the Marvel comic, and lobbied furiously to play the part of Ghost Rider.
  • Nicolas Cage is an avid comics fan; he took his stage surname, Cage, from character Luke Cage. His son is named “Kal-El”, Superman’s Kryptonian name. He was previously considered to play Green Gobin in Spider-Man, and Superman in Tim Burton’s aborted film project, but Ghost Rider is Cage’s first role based on a comics character.
  • As the helicopters appear at Johnny Blaze’s stunt, Richard Wagner musical score “Ride of the Valkyries” can be heard playing. This is a reference to the war film Apocalypse Now, which was directed by Nicolas Cage’s uncle Francis Ford Coppola and had a scene with helicopters flying to that music.

The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

  • At the time of filming, the world record distance for a motorcycle jump was 277.5 feet, set by Trigger Gumm in May, 2005. On Dec. 31, 2007, Robbie Madison essentially performed Johnny Blaze’s “Goalpost-to-Goalpost” motorcycle jump in Las Vegas, setting a new world record distance of 322.625 feet.
  • Near the end of the film, Johnny tells Mephistopheles that he will be a “spirit of vengeance.” The plot of the movie centers around a cursed town called San Venganza, which can loosely translate as just that: “Spirit of Vengeance” (literally, Saint Vengeance).

Talking Points:

  • Too Campy?
  • Modern Western

What We’ve Learned:

  • The west was built on legends
  • You Can’t Live in Fear

Trailer
:

Recommendations:
Jeff: This was a fun comic book popcorn movie. It’s also a Nicolas Cage movie so I didn’t expect much from it. I think this is a streamer . . . if it ever gets on Netflix or Amazon Unlimited. Okay to pay the $3 rental from Amazon too, but only if you’re really intending to watch it.
Ray: This movie really inspired me to want to try to light my own head on fire..especially while watching it.

The Present:Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Rotten Tomatoes: 14% Rotten; 41% Audience

Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Violante Placiado, Ciaran Hinds, Idris Elba

Trivia:

  • Eva Mendes turned down the option to reprise her role.
  • The Ghost Rider’s skull has been redesigned for this sequel. The new skull appears to be black and charred, indicating that the skull is actually on fire as opposed to the clean fleshless skull simply cloaked in fire in the previous film.
  • Not screened in advance for critics.
  • The flashing image of the “devil” is Jerry Springer.

Talking Points:

  • The Directors.. Camera Work.. Trailer.
  • What the hell is with this series and picking the WORST looking bad guys EVER.

What We Learned:

  • There are some demons (and movies) you just can’t escape.
  • Jerry Springer is the Devil
  • Wear Your Seatbelt.
  • Twinkies are immune from any form of decay

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: Interesting . . . Okay, more reason to just go ahead and pay to rent the first one. Something to watch instead of this. I didn’t think it was god awful, just not worth my time.
Ray: To steal one of the awful one liners from the movie….. So… That Happened. Even if you LOVED the first one..and god help you if you did.. I would say avoid avoid avoid at all costs.

The Future: Seeking Justice

Release: March 16, 2012

Director: Rodger Donaldson

Starring: Nicholas Cage, January Jones, Guy Pearce

Summary:

After his wife is assaulted, a husband enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score. Then he discovers they want a ‘favor’ from him in return.

Trivia:

  • Formerly called “The Hungry Rabbit Jumps”
  • Released last year overseas.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Hey, it’s another “deal with the devil movie” I think we have more of a theme to this reel. However, nothing in this trailer makes me want to see it.
Ray: This is not a new story, but the trailer at least looks interesting. I’m not jumping into the theater to see it but I’d definitely rent it

Final Thoughts

Coming Attractions

The Past:

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The Present:

The Future:

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