Movie stuff you only just realised... - Page 57

I was watching Ken Russell's The Devils recently and realized that the "bring out your dead" sequence in Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a homage to a sequence early in the film. Mind = Blown. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I am so glad that I watched it and caught the reference myself watching it rather than reading about it first. Simply incredible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fafhrd 

By that logic Marty should have died in BTTF when he returned to the happily altered 1985 (unless you're implying that Biff died before 2015 in the dystopian timeline, but in that case he should have started to fade a la Marty, instead of stumbling away like he was having a heart attack).

 

Let's face it:  the Back to the Future series is incredibly sloppy, time travel-wise.  They play very fast and loose with the paradoxes.  Technically, Doc should have been all for bringing Clara back to the future with them, because then Shonash Ravine would return to being Clayton Ravine, and the disruption in the timeline he created when he saved her life would have been minimized since she would have been removed from it again.  And the idea that the universe would just realign around Jennifer and Einstein without them being affected when the timeline was repaired is pretty silly.

 

Even as a kid, when I saw Part 3 I always wondered why Marty didn't just turn to Doc, who hadn't been sent to the past yet, and say "Hey... don't stay in the air next to the billboard, and everything will be cool." But then there's no movie I guess.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammerhead 

Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are siblings.

This one really surprised me when I read it a few years ago.

Adding: actress Mariska Hargitay (don't watch whatever Law and Order show she is on, but I am aware of her existence) is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay. Who was her daddy and what did he do? You can find out by watching this stunningly well acted biopic:

I only just realized it's Christoph Waltz, and not Christopher Waltz ::polar bear facepalm::

PS Hat tip to RENN for his VIDEO REVIEW of CARNAGE where he pronounced the name aloud, cluing me in

This guy...

.. is the nephew of this guy:

Crazy.

Adam Scott was in Hellraiser: Bloodline.

Adam Scott was in Hellraiser: Bloodline.

Jeffery Donovan was in The Blair Witch 2

Yeah, that's hard to notice given that Kim Director's breasts were also in BLAIR WITCH 2.

Whatever happened to Kim Director, anyway?

I like to think she married Tim Screenwriter and became Kim Director-Screenwriter.

Movie stuff I only just realized? HULK (2003) is in many ways much better than every other MARVEL film and most other super hero movies that have come afterwards

In 2003 I was a bit underwhelmed, but now upon recently revisiting certain scenes, I realize that it was made with a level of skill and grace that has sadly been lacking from the genre for quite a while. The inventive "comic book frames" work like gangbusters, and Hulks jumping, soaring action scenes get my blood pumping. They manage to capture a true sense of exhilaration at his powers, and honestly wow me. The music is excellent, and the action beats are all fantastic. I love Ang's mocap work as Hulk, the rage is palpable. In the NORTON HULK, HULK was purely the work of animators, and while he often smashes stuff real good, it's just CGI cartoon destruction, with little underlying emotion. In HULK 2003, the scope is epic and the cinematography beautiful and haunting. In INCREDIBLE HULK, everything is flat and small like a TV SHOW. Marvel's films look pretty crummy when stacked up against Ang Lee's ambitious outing

Now, there was far far too much bloat, and alot of the film is just too boring to revisit, but in general Bana's character work was stellar and the story, in broad strokes, was very compelling. I've even come to love the final confrontation with Nolte. When I rewatched it a few days ago, it was positively chilling (no pun intended)

The movie has just shot up quite a bit in my estimation, and sadly, modern blockbusters look all the worse for wear in the comparison

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess Kate 

Movie stuff I only just realized? HULK (2003) is in many ways much better than every other MARVEL film and most other super hero movies that have come afterwards

 

In 2003 I was a bit underwhelmed, but now upon recently revisiting certain scenes, I realize that it was made with a level of skill and grace that has sadly been lacking from the genre for quite a while. The inventive "comic book frames" work like gangbusters, and Hulks jumping, soaring action scenes get my blood pumping. They manage to capture a true sense of exhilaration at his powers, and honestly wow me. The music is excellent, and the action beats are all fantastic. I love Ang's mocap work as Hulk, the rage is palpable. In the NORTON HULK, HULK was purely the work of animators, and while he often smashes stuff real good, it's just CGI cartoon destruction, with little underlying emotion. In HULK 2003, the scope is epic and the cinematography beautiful and haunting. In INCREDIBLE HULK, everything is flat and small like a TV SHOW. Marvel's films look pretty crummy when stacked up against Ang Lee's ambitious outing

 

Now, there was far far too much bloat, and alot of the film is just too boring to revisit, but in general Bana's character work was stellar and the story, in broad strokes, was very compelling. I've even come to love the final confrontation with Nolte. When I rewatched it a few days ago, it was positively chilling (no pun intended)

 

The movie has just shot up quite a bit in my estimation, and sadly, modern blockbusters look all the worse for wear in the comparison

Hail, sister.

Tell that to Ang Lee. Hulk ended the guy's brief tenure with the mainstream studio blockbuster and also caused him to consider retirement from film altogether.

See also: David Lynch with Dune.

Personally, I don't think it deserved the hate a lot of people gave it (showing The Hulk in an unfinished state was a big mistake on Universal's part) but I think it will ultimately exist as a cinematic oddity. I know it has its supporters but I really doubt there's going to be a widespread Blade Runner or The Thing-esque "Hold on, this movie is actually brilliant!" realization.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike J 

Tell that to Ang Lee. Hulk ended the guy's brief tenure with the mainstream studio blockbuster and also caused him to consider retirement from film altogether.

 

See also: David Lynch with Dune.

 

Personally, I don't think it deserved the hate a lot of people gave it (showing The Hulk in an unfinished state was a big mistake on Universal's part) but I think it will ultimately exist as a cinematic oddity. I know it has its supporters but I really doubt there's going to be a widespread Blade Runner or The Thing-esque "Hold on, this movie is actually brilliant!" realization.

I'm not saying its the next BLADERUNNER, or even a particularly good film, but there is alot to like and much of it is exhilarating filmmaking. The action scenes have life and awe to them that virtually no super hero film these days can match. I often posted in recent years about our lowered expectations when it comes to studio fare, and the small, flat TV like state of the current MARVEL universe speaks to that. There is simply nothing in any of those films that really compares to the sense of freedom and power found in certain HULK action scenes 

Much of the movie is boring, and bloated to the extreme, but care was taken crafting the characters and story, and there are moments of real, genuine drama. As stated in my previous post, the final confrontation with Nolte was legitimately moving, I had chills

Always felt the comparison of Lee's Hulk to Lynch's Dune ​was pretty sound. In both cases you have artists swimming around in the shark tank of the Hollywood blockbuster mainstream, studying its habits. The films are almost bound to disappoint fans of the source material, but as movies in and of themselves they're not like anything else, and it's fascinating to watch such stubborn artists working on a huge multi-million-dollar canvas. It's the kind of oddball combo serious film geeks always say they want more of, like that poster of Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Star Wars.

William Fichtner is the voice of the marriage counselor in Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptors661 

William Fichtner is the voice of the marriage counselor in Mr. and Mrs. Smith!

The movie had no clearly defined villain but they had William Fichtner on board and he was just a fucking voice? Madness!

Brad Pitt was one of six producers on Kick Ass.

He was also intially cast as Big Daddy, but dropped out to be a Basterd.

Jean Claude Van Damm was a dancing extra in one of those terrbile Breakin movies from the 80s.

Proof can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POXoJyNcLiI

Every so often I remember Elias Koteas played Casey Jones in the TMNT series and laugh a hearty laugh.

Richard Belzer was the club comedian in Scarface.

The guys who gave us such movies as Re-Animator, Robot Jox, Society, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, respectively) were two of the three guys who wrote the story for Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! Hearing that on a podcast just earlier tonight then going online and seeing it was true... I was quite shocked. 

You know that really explains a lot.

I dispute that. Christenson and Stiles are talented and attractive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelM 

I dispute that. Christenson and Stiles are talented and attractive.

No offense, insert retching sound here.

A bit left field, sorry-

In another thread someone was complaining about a plot point and another chewer chimed in with something like "it would be like Andy with the shoes in Shawshank"...

Is there something I'm missing about that part of the movie?  Is it a monumentally stupid plot point that doesn't make sense with regard to Andy donning the Warden's shoes toward the end or something?

Ambler, the shoes were the tip off that Andy wasn't going to kill himself, as the film seemed to suggest and build toward. Red, our eyes for the film, certainly thought Andy was going to hang himself, and was so consumed with worry he didn't even notice Andy wearing the warden's polished nice shoes.....which he stole as part of his disguise once he escaped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelM 

Ambler, the shoes were the tip off that Andy wasn't going to kill himself, as the film seemed to suggest and build toward. Red, our eyes for the film, certainly thought Andy was going to hang himself, and was so consumed with worry he didn't even notice Andy wearing the warden's polished nice shoes.....which he stole as part of his disguise once he escaped.

Hm, I get that, but the person made it seem like there was something that didn't work about it, like maybe the fact that none of the guards noticed?  Maybe it's nothing.
 

Slap Shot was written by a woman, screenwriter Nancy Dowd. How cool is that?

The third act of Spider-Man takes place around Thanksgiving. The parade when Spidey and the Green Goblin first encounter each other is not only the Macy's Day Parade, but Macy Gray is there. Clever.

I'm onto you, Raimi.

Ty Burrell from Modern Family is in Black Hawk Down.

Jason Segel played Mike in SLC Punk. I just saw the film again (which, interesting enough, had an even bigger emotional impact on me than when I was 20), which I've not seen since at least before Knocked Up sort of broke Segel as an actor.

Michelle Williams played a Young Sil in Species.

And she was way too attractive for her age.

Billy Bob Thornton is cousin to the crazy motherfucker in the stripey tights here.

That many of J.F. Sebastian's "toys" in BLADERUNNER are actually hideous failures of genetic design. Mutants that rasp and struggle to breath, yet he's decked them out in costumes to make them look like vintage wind up toys

It's creepy. Previously I just thought he designed genetic toys to keep him company. Only after watching the FINAL CUT did I realize that many "toys" are just failures from his work with Tyrell, dressed up in ghoulishly playful garb

The pinocchio figure with the giant nose? It's Leon the replicant, or at least a version that drools and sputters as it draws breath

It's extremely disturbing, and makes me view Sebastian's character in a vastly different light

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

Billy Bob Thornton is cousin to the crazy motherfucker in the stripey tights here.

As a big professional wrestling fan, I am shocked I never heard before that BBT is related to the Funk family.

I recently found out that Jenna Elfman is related to the rest of the famous Elfmans. Her husband is the son of Richard and Marie-Pascale Elfman, best known as the director and the lead female in a movie I'm sure is a favorite of many around here, Forbidden Zone.

The soldier from the excellent episode of The Storyteller, "The Soldier and Death,"

is Bob Peck, also known as Muldoon from Jurassic Park.

Michael Keaton was originally cast in The Purple Rose Of Cairo but was dumped for being too 'modern'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Decade 

Michael Keaton was originally cast in The Purple Rose Of Cairo but was dumped for being too 'modern'.

Ha. Did you just watch that PBS "American Masters: Woody Allen"doc? That was the first time I heard the explanation for it.

You know it, dude.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill McNeal 

The soldier from the excellent episode of The Storyteller, "The Soldier and Death,"

 

is Bob Peck, also known as Muldoon from Jurassic Park.

Bob Peck = fuckin' awesome. He was also the lead in Martin Campbell's original Edge of Darkness serial for the BBC. He managed to be utterly badass while giving one of the most truthful portrayals of the grieving process I've seen from any actor. The man was a legend.

Jim Rash, the Dean on Community, co-wrote the script for The Descendants.

Just was reading the new EW on my lunch break, and the cringe worthy Spielberg interview did contain a few interesting bits sandwiched chunks of nonsense straight from beard (HOOK is a bad movie because it used sets and practical effects, apparently. He'd have corrected it's flaws by shooting on green screen, were he to make the film today! Also, he is now all about "escapism" and is seemingly proud of inflicting TRANSFORMERS on the world. He claims TRANSFORMERS 3 is the "best one")

One thing I learned was that Harrison Ford was his first choice for Allen Grant in JP. I like Sam Neil in the role, but I definitely think Ford would have been a big step up. Ford apparently turned down the offer though..

Heh. Reminds me of his other comment that Hook was bad because he "didn't let Robin Williams be funny." I honestly just think he loves that movie, is extremely proud of it, and is just totally confused that other people don't think the same.

What's the exact quote on that escapism thing, though? It's hard to take that seriously with Munich being so recent, Lincoln on the horizon, and War Horse likely being at least somewhat serious in how it deals with war.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMulder 

Heh. Reminds me of his other comment that Hook was bad because he "didn't let Robin Williams be funny." I honestly just think he loves that movie, is extremely proud of it, and is just totally confused that other people don't think the same.

 

What's the exact quote on that escapism thing, though? It's hard to take that seriously with Munich being so recent, Lincoln on the horizon, and War Horse likely being at least somewhat serious in how it deals with war.

I actually like HOOK (I want to see a RUFIO sequel/prequel!), and I'm kind of annoyed he was slagging off the wonderful hand crafted sets. They're my favorite part of the film. Everything has a wonderfully cozy charm, and Neverland feels like a physical place, half way between the real world and the sets of the Broadway Peter Pan musical

And I will go hunt down the article, hang on. I left it in the staff room. However keep in mind he talks about how WAR HORSE is going to be PG13 and he isn't going for realistic combat.. which always has been what enrages me about the project. Taking the horrors of WW1 and using them as fodder for a watered down uplifting story about a horse

Spielberg just annoys me because he's so enormously talented, and but lately he uses that talent (and his famous name) for the most crassly cynical ends. He's our greatest living director, and he's out there pimping the loathsome TRANSFORMERS films? It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and makes me think less of the man

Maybe he just has blinders on in regards to Transformers, since he was involved in the production and whatnot (the extent to which I really have no idea). But he's also quoted as saying he never dislikes a movie, even those that are critically panned -- so perhaps he's just a better director than discerning audience member anyways.

And while I agree Transformers is crassly cynical, I don't get that impression from any of his other recent output, with the exception of Skull (which Lucas notoriously pushed him into doing, of course).

This is total nonsense. If you don't change stuff, can I get my original cliff matte painting back in RAIDERS, Steve?

So no grander ambitions as an artist. Just escapism...

He could make a LINCOLN film that would impact our politics in the here and now, potentially influence the election.. but no, he just wants to offend no one and make a film for 8th grade American history classes, so he delayed it till after the election

TRANSFORMERS? All his idea...

Thank you Steve, for this gift to cinema..

So just no honesty on that front from him

Thanks for writing that up, Kate. I think you're being a little too hard on him in judging his statements there, though, and maybe reading into them a little too much. A statement like "it's all about the escapism" is pretty innocuous, and could've even been meant half-jokingly. I think the movies sort of speak for themselves on that matter.

It's pretty professional to duck away from the Shia question, too, and he changed the Lincoln release date because he didn't want it being brought into the fray of discussion, tarnishing the movie he actually made. Makes sense to me.