In this reel of COL Movies, Carlos returns. We head to the past to check out the southern woman drama “Crimes of the Heart”. In the present, we take a look at Disney’s “John Carter”. Is it a Mars Epic or an epic failure. Lastly we take a look at Intruders. Can you tell Steve picked out the movies this week? In the news we discuss reboots, remakes and sequels. It’s the 96th reel of COL Movies “VIRGINIA!”
[display_podcast]
News:
- Remakes Reboots and sequels oh my!
- Tom Cruise to star opposite Beyonce in a Clint Eastwood directed remake of “A Star is Born”
- Sony nails down lots of dates Robocop2, Smurfs2, Cloudy2
- Joss Whedon responds to fan’s confusion with Iron Man’s suit
The Past: Crimes of The Heart (1986)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% Fresh, 54% Audience
[asa]B00030AZDE[/asa]
Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange
Trivia:
- Jessica Lange was pregnant during shooting.
- The original Broadway production of “Crimes of the Heart” opened at the John Golden Theater in New York on 2/4/1981, ran for 535 performances and was nominated for the 1982 Tony Award for the Best Play. Beth Henley wrote the original stage play and the screen play on which this movie was based.
- The play “Crimes of the Heart” won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1981
Talking Points:
- Identifying with the movie
- Peanuts and coke!
- Product Placement! Coke, Golden Griddle, Breyers Ice Cream
What We’ve Learned:
- It’s a human need to talk about our lives
- Having sex with a black teenager apparently makes you a liberal
- Birthday wishes don’t count unless you have a cake
- The more candles on a cake, the stronger the wish
Trailer
I got nothing.
Recommendations:
Jeff: This was a sweet southern chick flick. Not something I’ll probably think about watching again but if it interests you, check it out.
Ray: This is a generally enjoyable movie, although a bit dated.It feels like a lifetime movie of the week. It’s quite possible that I grew a vagina while watching it. It does do a good job of capturing a certain feel of the south, and of sisters interactions with each other which I really Identified with.
Carlos: sigh. This movie makes you sigh; it’s so exactly what it is. Revelations of the past, nosy neighbors, quirks, crying, death, love, odd moments of intimacy. It’s not that these kind of movies are bad it’s just that I’ve seen them so much I really need to be made to care. These actresses kind of made me care.
The Present: John Carter
Rotten Tomatoes: 49% Rotten; 72% Audience
Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Colins, Willem Dafoe
Trivia:
- In 2004 – when the project was still known as “A Princess of Mars” after the book on which it’s based – Robert Rodriguez had originally been signed and announced as director and had begun pre-production early that year (it would have been his largest project to date with starting budget reported at $100 million). Rodriguez’ most notable contribution was to hire fantasy painter Frank Frazetta (whose most acclaimed works have included striking illustrations of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, most notably the “John Carter on Mars” books) as production designer on the film. However, when Rodriguez resigned from the Directors’ Guild of America (DGA) the same year (due to a dispute over his film Sin City), Paramount was forced to replace him. The studio has a long-standing arrangement with the DGA in which only the organization’s members may direct Paramount films. He was replaced with director Kerry Conran, who had just finished Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. In 2005, Conran left the project and was replaced by Jon Favreau just before the release of Favreau’s movie Zathura: A Space Adventure; Favreau was on-board to direct until around August 2006. At this time Paramount chose not to renew the film rights, preferring to focus on Star Trek, and Favreau left to work on Iron Man. In January 2007 Disney regained the rights (they had rights to film the story previously: in the 1980s with director John McTiernan), and enlisted Andrew Stanton from Pixar to direct.
- “A Princess of Mars” was originally published as “Under the Moons of Mars” by Norman Bean (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ pseudonym) in The All-Story (six pulp magazine issues February – July, 1912). Burroughs was originally afraid that he might be ridiculed for writing such a tale, so he decided to use a pen name. The pseudonym was supposed to be a pun “Normal Bean” (as in “I’m a normal being”) to reassure people, but the man who typeset the text thought it was a mistake, so he changed it to “Norman”. However, Burroughs’ fears turned out to be unfounded: the story and its sequels, collectively known as the “Barsoom series”, were almost as popular (and arguably more influential) as those of his most famous creation, Tarzan.
- Jon Hamm and Josh Duhamel were considered for the role of John Carter.
- Probably holds the record for having the longest period of “development hell” for any movie, at 79 years. Preproduction for a film version first started in 1931, when Robert Clampett (director of ‘Looney Tunes’) approached author Edgar Rice Burroughs to make an animated feature out of the first book in the series, “A Princess of Mars” (the same story that this film is an adaptation of). Had plans gone through, ‘John Carter’ could have become the world’s first animated feature, beating Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film finally left development hell in January 2010 when filming officially started in London.
- The music in the first theatrical trailer uses two instrumental arrangements of “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin. The first (starting at 0:53) was performed by Australian/British string quartet Bond, the second (starting at 1:25) was performed by Corner Stone Cues (this arrangement is called “Ten Years Kashmir Mvt II (Orch, Choir & Perc Mix))”.
- This marks the third live-action film under the Disney banner to earn a PG-13 rating in the United States. The first being Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (not counting its sequels as they are of the same film franchise) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
- Taylor Kitsch claimed to have suffered liver problems due to his rigorous diet and physical training for this film, 5losing 30 pounds in the process.
- The Teaser features the song “My Body is a Cage”, originally written by Arcade Fire. The version used in the teaser is by Peter Gabriel, released on his 2011 album of cover versions, “Scratch My Back”.
- The first “John Carter” story by Edgar Rice Burroughs made its debut in 1912 in a magazine serial. Thus, the 2012 feature film marks the centenary (100th anniversary) of the character’s first appearance.
- The film was originally titled and marketed as “John Carter of Mars”, but director Andrew Stanton removed “of Mars” to make it more appealing to a broader audience, stating that the film is an “origin story… It’s about a guy becoming John Carter of Mars.”
- Dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs.
- When Jon Favreau learned that Andrew Stanton had picked up the film, he gave him a call congratulating him and requesting that he could play a Thark. Favreau voices a “Thark Bookie”.
Talking Points:
- Plot Holes??
- Inconsistent physicality (Jumping Fighting Breaking Chains)
- He can suddenly talk and hear martian how again?
- Martians can tell an Earth human from a Martian human (even before the jumping)
- Woola
- The Cost of this film (just because you have the money, does not mean you should use it)
What We Learned:
- Being a fool is a great luxury
- War is a shameful thing unless a noble cause is taken up by those that can make a difference
- Everyone thinks that their cause is virtuous.
Trailer:
Recommendations :
Jeff: I liked this movie. It was a little tough to get into at the beginning but once it got to Mars I was with it. Not that great of a movie so I can understand the critics rating but it still worth seeing. DVD would probably be fine though
Ray: I feel that this should have been named John Carter and the Plot Holes of Mars, a visually interesting film that ultimately and unfortunately fell flat in the plot and action departments for me. It felt a lot longer than it already was. I hear that the source material is wonderful though. I hope this black mark is quickly and quietly erased from Andrew Stantons permanent record. The one bright star for me in this was Woola! I want a Woola!
Carlos: I want more dogs. More dogs. I also want more information. Who was that? Why was this? I normally don’t care about holes…except when all you have is holes. But pretty, decent acting, just needs to be better. It’s makes it to decent, but from decent to good or good to great, it has a lot of work to do.
The Future: Intruders
Release: Limited March 30, 2012
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadilllo
Starring: Clive Owen, Carice van Houten. Izán Corchero
Summary:
Two children living in different countries are visited nightly by a faceless being who wants to take possession of them
Talking Points
- Not sure that the whole two different countries thing is really all that apparent in the trailer.
- Release Date
Trailer:
Excitement:
Jeff: Oh, another scary freak me the “f” out movie. Great.
Ray: Not sure I’d go to the theater on my own to see this (not because it looks scary) but I think I’d be more scared watching this on my own at home.
Carlos: I’m confused. I just can’t decide.
Coming Attractions
The Past:
[asa]B0057RCFQS[/asa]
The Present:
The Future:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
