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MOV122: Can I please get that hour and 26 minutes of my life back?

This reel of COL movies takes us back into the past to see the very very very very very low budget movie “Blood Guts Bullets and Octane” is this late 90’s take on the Tarantino style of film worth watching, or would we rather get run over by a 64 Pontiac LeMans? Next we jump to the present to watch the again oddly released Horror film “The Possession” Is this modern take on a classic genre a good one or has it left us wondering what possessed them to make it? Next up we jump to the not so distant future to talk about the release of “Cloud Atlas” will this be the film that regains the Wachowski’s the film making crown? Or are we expecting another Speed Racer? All this plus some news about theater ninjas, Jos Whedon writing shakespear? Oh god…another Transformers movie? All this plus some google powered 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with COL Movies 122 “Can I please get that hour and 26 minutes of my life back?”

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News:

The Past: Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane
Rotten Tomatoes 43% Rotten; 37% Audience

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Director: Joe Carnahan

Staring: Joe Carnahan, Mike Maas, Nick Fenske, Mark Priolo

Trivia:

  • The Pontiac LeMans central to the story is a 1964 model, not a 1963.
  • Mr Reich claims to have doused Vernon with propane and roasted him in a motel room but when propane is decompressed and introduced into any atmosphere warmer than -43°C (-45.4°F) it instantly evaporates
  • There are several claims in the movie that the main car in the film was a 1963 Pontiac LeMans convertible. Yet, the car in the Movie was actually a 1964 Pontiac GTO convertible. On top of that, the Car on the Cover is a different generation GTO than the one in the movie. The GTO was not in existence in 1963.
  • As of 1999, the film had been negotiated to be developed by Carnahan and producer Bob Levy as a prime time series on NBC. However, the series has not materialized.

Talking Points:

  • The annoying switch from hand held to not…
  • The horrible dialogue
  • Budget: $7300, Earned: $13,674

What We Learned:

  • The best Car Salesmen in the business are fabulous magicians
  • You have to understand the nature of the sale to in order to understand the sell
  • you cannot sell shit, cuz shit don’t sell.
  • Sometimes in life you have to do things sight unseen
  • Johnny Cash got fucked at Folsom.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Well, the first 24 minutes was weird. I wonder what the rest was like.
Ray: Its like a bad copy of a bad copy….I felt like this was watching the director/writer/lead actor masturbate on screen while he was watching himself masturbate on screen… perhaps for a drunken riff trax? other than that.. kill it with FIRE. Should have had a more accurate title… like “Bad Acting, Horrible Dialogue, and No Production Value” This is what happens when you try and copy Tarantino, but can’t actually write.
Steve: I don’t even know what I just watched. Clearly, it’s a car movie so Ray put it in – but I hate to say it but that just sucked. First – guys like this wouldn’t have dialogue like that, Second – there were too many characters, Third – this movie wishes it was Fargo and Reservoir Dogs. A definite skip-a-roo-ski.

The Present: The Possession
Rotten Tomatoes 37% Fresh; 55% Audience

Director: Ole Bornedal,

Starring: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick

Trivia:

  • Was originally rated R by the MPAA for “violence, terror and disturbing images” but the film was eventually edited to receive a PG-13 rating for “mature thematic material involving violence and disturbing sequences.”
  • While promoting the film on Craig Ferguson [airdate 8/29/12], Jeffrey Dean Morgan reported that strange incidents took place during production that couldn’t be explained. Lights exploded during the filming of key scenes; and just two days after wrapping principal photography, all of the props for the film, stored in case of re-shoots, were destroyed in a fire that mysteriously erupted from within the storage-house.
  • The story is based on the allegedly haunted Dybbuk box. Bornedal cited films like The Exorcist as an inspiration, praising their subtlety.
  • Bornedal stated that he was drawn to the script for The Possession, having seen it as more of an allegory for divorce than as a true horror film.
  • The owner of the Dybbuk box, Jason Haxton, offered to send it to producer Sam Raimi, who was both interested and reluctant. Raimi laughingly told an Entertainment Weekly interviewer, “I didn’t want anything to do with it. I’m scared of the thing.” He also told the interviewer that he was raised in a conservative Jewish home: “You don’t hear about dybbuks when you go to synagogue. I know the demonic lore of The Exorcist. But what does my faith believe about demonic possession? … The stories chilled me to the bone.” Jeffrey Dean Morgan felt similarly: “In the research I did, I started getting creeped out. My girlfriend was like, ‘Let’s just make sure that we don’t actually go near the real Dybbuk Box.'” “We were like, ‘Hell, no,'” recalls screenwriter Juliet Snowden. “‘We don’t want to see it. Don’t send us a picture of it.'”

Talking Points:

Critic Notes:

  • Positives: The first half was very creepy and set a cool atmosphere around the box; If you believe in demons it will scare you to death; it’s eerily enjoyable fodder; One of the better “exorcism-inspired” films of recent years; Interesting twist involving Jewish faith rather than Christianity
  • Negatives: Didn’t really add anything to the genre; formulaic and predictable; relies on cliche’s rather than sucker punches; Raimi did it for the money, Bornedal phoned it in

What We Learned:

  • Pizza doesn’t grow on trees
  • Moths are just butterflies without the pretty color.
  • Don’t touch the box.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: I hated it but I don’t. This is really not my type of movie but really felt it wasn’t too bad, if I liked this type of movie.
Ray: This movie has a strong start, but an awful finish. It made me jump a couple times, which is why we go to scary movies right? I think this would be more of a at home in the dark film than a theater movie.
Steve: Any PG-13 horror movie is already going to have me questioning just how good it is. However, considering that fact, I actually found it interesting. The effects, albeit lame story-wise at times, looked really cool – especially the times they were trying to show something inside someone trying to get out. I’m probably affected by the fact I actually saw the source material and see how they brought it to life – so I encourage others to do the same. I was satisfied.

The Future: Cloud Atlas

Release: October 26th, 2012

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski

Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant

Summary:

An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Talking Points:

  • The structure of the book, will it translate to film?
  • “Extended” trailers – over 5 mins? really?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff:. This looks like a very interesting, multigenerational plot. I’ve always liked the idea of history repeating itself and this kinda sorta goes in this direction. More of soul mates finding each other in each reincarnation, but that’s still an interesting story. I want to see it.
Ray: Looks like a very ambitious project, but from what I know about the book… I’m not sure how well this will translate to the screen, If the Wachowski’s can pull it off it will be an amazing film. Hopefully Ill have read the book by the time it comes out, but I’m excited to see it.
Steve: Wow…this kind of takes me back to our conversation about “The Tree of Life”. So not the kind of movie I seek out. It looks interesting, particularly visually. The concept seems pretty cool…but very heady. I think I just need to learn more about it before I can commit.

The Past: Mean Girls

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The Present: Resident Evil: Retribution

The Future: Oz: The Great and Powerful

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MOV061: “Mellow Greetings – What’s Your Boggle?”

In a COL Movies first…Jeff and Ray run the show alone while Steve sends in his thoughts. The boys give their thoughts on the Sylvester Stallone classic, “Demolition Man”…then head to the theater to check out the Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts flick, “Larry Crowne”. They wrap the show up with a review of the trippy trailer for the Americanized, David Fincher version of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”. All this and news about changes to Netflix, how Harry Potter may be linked to a remake of Stephen King’s “The Stand”, as well as new images from Captain America. It’s the 61st reel of COL Movies…Mellow greetings – what seems to be your boggle?

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News:

The Past: Demolition Man (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% Fresh; 60% Audience

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Director: Marco Brambilla
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock

Trivia:

  • For some non-American releases, references to Taco Bell were changed to Pizza Hut. This includes dubbing, plus changing the logos during post-production. Taco Bell remains in the closing credits. In the Swedish release the subtitles still use Taco Bell while the sound and picture has been altered as above.
  • In the strange attempt to entirely replace the Taco Bell name with Pizza Hut (the name was dubbed over and computer generated images of the logo were pasted over), the editors missed a spot. At the start of the battle outside the restaurant, when everyone is flocking to the window, one pane still holds the logo for Taco Bell and the Taco Bell sign is visible in the first shot of the van (in the background when people are running) on the door.
  • Many of the cars in the movie were prototypes of future models, supplied by General Motors.
  • Sandra Bullock replaced Lori Petty after a few days filming.
  • Sylvester Stallone wanted the Simon Phoenix character to be played by Jackie Chan. Chan refused, since Asian audiences don’t like the idea of actors who have always played heroes suddenly playing evil characters.
  • The “ray gun” used by Wesley Snipes in the Museum Armory sequence is based on the Heckler and Koch G11, a prototype weapon for the German army that would have been the most advanced rifle in the world, firing caseless ammunition (bullets, not death rays).
  • The building used for exterior shots of the SAPD building was the California Headquarters of GTE in Thousand Oaks.
  • The title was taken from The Police’s song of the same name. Hence, the use of Sting to remake the song for the film.
  • In Kuwait the Arabic title of the movie in the cinemas was “Rambo The Destroyer”. The idea is that, seeing the Rambo movies were very popular, associating Sylvester Stallone to Rambo in the title would perhaps sell more tickets.

Talking Points:

  • Would taco bell have won the franchise wars? what FF restaurant would have been featured if this was made today

What We’ve Learned:

  • Don’t trust the thermal scans
  • All restaurants in the future will be Taco Bells
  • Be prepared for the 3 sea shells
  • It takes a maniac to catch a maniac!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: Classic action movie. Some might say it’s a bad movie, they may be right but I can’t help myself but like it.
Ray: This was 90’s action film at its peak, When Joel Silver still produced movies that were entertaining.
Steve: I remember that when I first saw this movie, I thought Wesley Snipes was just a major badass – but today he just looks like a cartoon character. I do like the whole evolution of Huxley (Bullock), where she becomes much more confident in her abilities and training. I still haven’t figured out the whole shell thing…LOL! Definitely a good romp in the genre of the other 80s & 90s action movies like The Running Man, Total Recall, and Judge Dredd.

The Present: Larry Crowne (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% Rotten; 51% Audience

Director: Tom Hanks
Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sarah Mahoney

Trivia:

  • Tom Hanks wrote the film with Nia Vardalos

Talking Points:

  • George Takai – awesome
  • Use of text messages
  • Scooter Gangs

What We Learned:

  • A College Education will help you not only get a better job, but keep your current one.
  • Getting kicked in the butt hurts no matter the language
  • Tai Chi cures Diabetes
  • A deed in Lieu never goes that fast
  • Tucking in your polo shirt makes you look like a cop
  • There are only two things you cant do in college.. smoke in the building, and use YOUR PHONE IN MY CLASS!

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: The first half of the movie was hard for me to get through. The second half well made up for it. Wonderful date movie.
Ray: they lost me at the kiss… movie is cute, somewhat schitzo
Steve: This felt like my every day at work…lol! It felt a little like Tom Hanks was playing Forrest Gump going to College, but I liked the cast of characters around him. Pam Grier was fun in the movie and George Takei was the perfect Economics professor who thinks he’s funny!!

The Future: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Director: David Fincher
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Stellan Skarsgård

Trivia:

  • Remake of swedish film based on the novel.

Talking Points:

  • Remake of swedish film, again.

Summary:

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s teen niece, only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy.

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: The trailer was thrilling and hooked me with the shiny but didn’t really tell me anything about the movie.  Excited to see it though.
Ray: Excited because its a david fincher movie.. but think I should check out the original first
Steve: Holy crap…my eyes hurt after watching that trailer. Felt like I was watching images from a subliminal movie clip or something. Don’t feel that I really learned anything about the movie, but the music did make it seem like something exciting was going on. Clearly, I need to either read the book or watch the Swedish version before deciding if I’m going to see this.

Coming Attractions

The Past
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The Present

The Future

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MOV007: “Can I do this, Or Do I look Like some sort of Gay Superhero?”

Steve is in studio with Jeff, Tron Legacy and Comiccon, Peter Jackson directing the Hobbit?, A Dark Crystal sequel, Jeffrey, Toy Story 3, and the Smurfs Teaser Trailer.

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News:

The Past: Jeffrey

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Director: Christopher Ashley

Staring: Steven Webber, Michael T Weiss, Patrick Stewart

Trivia:

  • Bryan Batt was in the Broadway musical “Cats”, which is an in-joke during the movie (his character is also in the musical as well.)
  • When the priest (Nathan Lane) goes into the confessional and shows Jeffrey his theatre posters, there is a poster for the 1992 revival of “Guys and Dolls” featured prominently on the wall. Nathan Lane actually starred in that production.
  • Patrick Stewart was reading the script for this film while Star Trek: Generations (1994) was in production. He found it so sad that he used it to produce the appropriate feelings necessary for weeping during the scene where he finds out that his family back on earth has perished in a fire.
  • This movie is based on a play of the same name that was produced off-Broadway in 1993 at the WPA Theater. The film’s director, Christopher Ashley, had also directed the play. The play’s cast was: John Michael Higgins (Jeffrey), Edward Hibbert (Sterling), Bryan Batt (Darius), Tom Hewitt (Steve), Harriet Harris, Patrick Kerr, Richard Poe and Darryl Theirse.
  • The movie features cameos by Olympia Dukakis, Victor Garber, Gregory Jbara, Robert Klein, Nathan Lane, Camryn Manheim, Kathy Najimy, Kevin Nealon, Ethan Phillips, and Sigourney Weaver. Christine Baranski has a small but memorable role as the socialite hostess of a fundraiser that (in Jeffrey’s imagination) turns into a cater-waiter hoedown orgy. It co-stars Patrick Stewart as Sterling, an older gay decorator whose partner (Bryan Batt) dies of AIDS complications.

Talking Points:

  • Hiv Positive men are the hottest? wait..what?
  • This is the third “Play into movie” movie we have seen, did it work?

What We’ve Learned:

  • Neelix has a constant erection, and a 14″ penis
  • Working out can apparently replace sex
  • AIDS is scary
  • Cuddling is safer.
  • The reason to have sex with Yoko Ono is to see the apartment
  • Florescent Lighting is fatel during sex.
  • Mother Teresa on the Piano can gaurantee you a second date.
  • The Refusal of Joy is the only true blasphemy

Trailer:

Recommendations:

Jeff: Seriously, Patrick Stewart as a Flaming Homo Interier Designer. You can’t go Wrong!
Ray: Hated the Comedy. loved the serious parts..

The Present: Toy Story 3

Director: Lee Unkrich

Staring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickels, Michael Keaton, among others

Trivia:

  • Lee Unkrich who edited the previous films and co-directed the second, was selected to take over the position of director from John Lasseter.
  • Blake Clark became the new voice of Slinky Dog, replacing Jim Varney, who died in 2000. Clark was good friends with Varney prior to his death
  • The first Pixar film to be released in IMAX.
  • Originally, a sequel was planned when it seemed that Disney and PIXAR would split over creative differences in 2004-2005. Disney started up an animation division titled ‘Circle 7,’ which would have been in charge of churning out sequels for PIXAR films that would not involve the original creators at PIXAR. Entertainment Weekly published an article that said the original plot for Toy Story 3 was going to be about Buzz Lightyear having a defect. Buzz would then be shipped to Taiwan to be fixed, but the other toys find out that the toy company is just replacing the broken Buzz toys with new ones, so they ship themselves to Taiwan to rescue him. This script had to be canned when PIXAR and Disney made amends. Part of their agreement was not to further develop projects that had been planned during their fallout.
  • The A113 logo thats pops up in most of the Pixar films makes an appearance on a license plate on the back of Andy’s Mom’s car.
  • The Ken doll in Toy Story 3 is modeled after “Animal Lovin” Ken from 1988.
  • Lee Unkrich and the animation team agreed to shave their heads before working on the film.
  • All the returning characters were re-developed from scratch.
  • The plot of the movie is loosely based on the original treatment for Toy Story (1995), which had Tinny (from Tin Toy (1988)) getting lost at a rest stop and being found by a junk man, who throws him into back of his truck. Tinny meets a ventriloquist dummy and they both decide to stick together. But in the end they end up in a preschool where they’ll never get lost or outgrown.
  • In terms of negative reviews, Armond White panned the film in a New York Press review, stating “the Toy Story franchise isn’t for children and adults, it’s for non-thinking children and adults. When a movie is this formulaic, it’s no longer a toy because it does all the work for you. It’s a sap’s story.” This review caused much controversy among fans of both Pixar and Toy Story, particularly for how White’s critique broke the film’s previously held 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Talking Points:

What We’ve Learned:

  • Pixar on a bad day.. is better then most studios achieve, and this one is knocked right out of the park.
  • Teddy bears that smell like strawberries are evil!
  • Mr Potato Head is about the parts, not the potato
  • Mr Cucumber head is more . . . (clears throat) . . . prominent then Mr. Potato Head

Trailer:

Recommendations:

Jeff: I almost cried, almost.
Ray: Awesome, My favorite movie of the year so far! And ill admit it.. i cried!
Steve: Loved it! Be ready to get a tear in your eye

The Future: The Smurfs

Starring: Jayma Mays, Neil Patrick Harris, Katie Perry, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Hank Azaria, Alan Cumming, BJ Novak, Paul Reubens, George Lopez, Jonathan Winters, Fred Armisen, Keenan Thompson, Jeff Foxworthy – and Tim Gunn (don’t think he’s starring…but sounds like he’s making a cameo)

Trivia:

  • This is the second Raja Gosnell film that is a live-action adaptation of an animated series. The first was Scooby-Doo (2002).
  • This is the second adaptation of a William Hanna-Joseph Barbara animated series to be directed by Raja Gosnell.The first was Scooby-Doo (2002).
  • Quentin Tarantino was approached to voice Brainy Smurf, but turned it down.
  • After pursuing the film rights for half of a decade, producer Jordan Kerner finally secured the rights to The Smurfs property in 2002 and soon began developing the 3-D CGI feature film with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies
  • In 2006, Kerner said it was planned to be a trilogy and would explain more of Gargamel’s back-story. He stated, “We’ll learn [more] about Gargamel and Smurf Soup and how all that began and what really goes on in that castle. What his backstory really was. There’s an all-powerful wizard… there’s all sorts of things that get revealed as we go along”

Summary:
When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue Smurfs out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours — in fact, smack dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.

Trailer:

Excitement:

Jeff: I’m going to be seeing it, but sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment.
Ray: I think the smurfs.. look awful.. i would consider this another raping of my childhood. I dont think even NPH could pull this one out for me.
Steve: Eh. Not excited. Glad it will bring the Smurfs to a new generation though.

Coming Attractions: (Ray)

The Past:The Deer Hunter
The Present: The Last Airbender
The Future: The Green Hornet

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