tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78363709625312406422024-03-18T05:48:14.935-04:00to the escape hatch!A blog about film, music, and other forms of escapism. Step on through...Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.comBlogger596125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-45722536646494833752020-01-09T13:02:00.000-05:002020-01-09T13:02:35.561-05:00January and February 2020 (or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blogging Again")Hi there. I'm doing a post for TV and films I'm looking forward to / will be watching in Q1 2020 (really just January and February). This is also to finally share a schedule for Fear of Better Films (see below) for the recent future! If you'd like to participate just let me know! By the way, this post was written/edited super quick and sloppy. Just gotta finally get it done! That's kind of my 2020 motto...<br />
<br />
<b><u>January</u></b><br />
<br />
The Outsider - January 12<br />
<br />
Nora from Queens - January 22<br />
<br />
Picard - January 23<br />
<br />
<b><u>February</u></b><br />
<br />
Birds of Prey - February 7<br />
<br />
Hunters - February 21<br />
<br />
The Invisible Man - February 28<br />
<br />
<b><u>Honorable Mentions</u></b><br />
<br />
NOS4A2 (I started this a while back and will finish it soon)<br />
Joker (never saw it in the theater...I'll probably watch it this weekend)<br />
<br />
So on to Fear of Better Films.<br />
<br />
I wrote about this a bit in my post in October but I've started a new system of watching movies (God what's wrong with me) called Fear of Better Films. I watch the first 15 minutes of three different movies and then finish the one (at least) I like best. It probably goes without saying but I started this because of the plethora of good looking films out there (the word DEARTH popped into my head instead of plethora but that's the opposite of what I meant. Really wanted to use DEARTH though...).<br />
<br />
I might start doing a more structured schedule (not sure what I even mean by that) but for now, here are the next few rounds I've randomly selected.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Round 3</li>
<ul>
<li>The Pool</li>
<li>Inside Llewyn Davis</li>
<li>Days of Thunder</li>
</ul>
<li>Round 4</li>
<ul>
<li>Take Shelter</li>
<li>My Week with Marilyn</li>
<li>The Dead Don't Die</li>
</ul>
<li>Round 5 </li>
<ul>
<li>Only God Forgives</li>
<li>The Discovery</li>
<li>Rachel Getting Married</li>
</ul>
<li>Round 6 </li>
<ul>
<li>Guava Island</li>
<li>Late Night</li>
<li>The Last Black Man in San Francisco</li>
</ul>
<li>Round 7</li>
<ul>
<li>mid90s</li>
<li>Major League</li>
<li>P2</li>
</ul>
<li>Round 8</li>
<ul>
<li>In The Shadow of the Moon</li>
<li>Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot</li>
<li>Earthquake Bird</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
By the way, almost all of those are available on streaming services (here in the states, anyway). I started at round 3 above because I did a few official rounds (and many unofficial) before that. And if you'd like to join along for any of these rounds, just let me know. I'm curious to see if others would decide on the same films I do. Happy Watching!</div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-51327072804334903752019-10-07T17:25:00.000-04:002019-10-07T17:25:53.653-04:00October 2019I seem to have an unwritten rule these days: Don't Write Anything on Your Blog.<br />
<br />
But I'm breakin' that rule, baby.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1l1DnOWAriyXnBBlwZidigx7AibgEoVAhUxaigBg7H9JD-hq-kJpXbkuyXtnE5dO4RBB86dt-GoCyMgEn7D9pZ9OQa_scEwzC2mpPtggogC4aQCaZhq_UJPCrU3Kzy6rzFLlS5RERzU/s1600/826663142884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1l1DnOWAriyXnBBlwZidigx7AibgEoVAhUxaigBg7H9JD-hq-kJpXbkuyXtnE5dO4RBB86dt-GoCyMgEn7D9pZ9OQa_scEwzC2mpPtggogC4aQCaZhq_UJPCrU3Kzy6rzFLlS5RERzU/s1600/826663142884.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I've been percolating a watchlist of horror films for this month, October, the best time of the year. Some are new (to me), and some will be rewatches. Check out my list, some of which I've already gotten to:<br />
<br />
<b><u>Full Watch</u></b><br />
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<ul>
<li>Brightburn</li>
<li><strike>Child’s Play (2019)</strike></li>
<li>Crawl</li>
<li>Little Monsters </li>
<li>Pet Sematary ('19)</li>
<li>The Burning</li>
<li>Tigers Are Not Afraid</li>
</ul>
<b><u>TV</u></b><br />
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Castle Rock Season 2 </li>
<li>Creepshow </li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>Fassbender Double Feature</u></b></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Eden Lake (I've heard it's great/underrated)</li>
<li>The Snowman (I've heard it's terrible)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>Rewatch</u></b></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Insidious</li>
<li>The Blair Witch Project Franchise</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b><u>Fear of Better Films</u></b></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div>
So I need to explain this a bit. Lately I've been watching the first 10 minutes of three different films. Whichever one (at least) I like the best gets finished. I'll be approaching a lot of the films on my list like this. I've randomly picked the combatants. And I'm actually upping each chunk to 15 minutes - I feel like that's a better amount of time. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><strike>Psycho II vs. Eye See You vs. The Hills Have Eyes ('77)</strike></li>
<ul>
<li>Winner: Psycho II</li>
</ul>
<li><strike>The Rezort vs. Cooties vs. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse</strike></li>
<ul>
<li>Winner: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse</li>
</ul>
<li>Malevolent vs. The Vault vs. Wolf Creek</li>
<li>Apostle vs. Julia's Eyes vs. The Blackcoat's Daughter</li>
<li>The Endless vs. The Green Inferno vs. You Might Be The Killer</li>
<li>Zombie vs. Black Christmas ('74) vs. Head Count</li>
<li>Hell House LLC vs. In The Tall Grass vs. Mayhem</li>
<li>Slice vs. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House vs. In the Shadow of the Moon</li>
<li>Kill List vs. Revenge vs. The Gallows</li>
<li>The Silence vs. The Babysitter vs. Stage Fright</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
I obviously won't get to all of these but I'll have fun trying...</div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-79232415843211683802019-04-26T12:15:00.000-04:002019-04-26T12:15:35.478-04:00Countdown to Avengers 4: Captain Marvel<i>We've gone and done a fourth installment of Countdown to Avengers! That's right, I teamed up with <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/" target="_blank">CT</a>, <a href="http://blog.paxholley.net/" target="_blank">Pax</a>, and <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/" target="_blank">Jay</a> to tackle <a href="https://lifevsfilm.com/2019/04/22/avengers-infinity-war/" target="_blank">Infinity War</a>, <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/article/2019/04/countdown-to-avengers-3b-ant-man-and-the-wasp/" target="_blank">Ant-Man and the Wasp</a>, and Captain Marvel. Let's finish all this with a look at that last one, with some backup from Pax at Cavalcade of Awesome. You can check out all our other posts <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/articles/countdown-to-avengers/" target="_blank">here</a>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span style="color: red;">SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL AHEAD!</span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIYehASghnO9ofNxzp10G6rjsMHk0ToKZAHSpeAJVhklNpN3eVIB8d1_K-EB2H7BtpMVgO0qos6Yrbtzv7iM-nh3wZSEYo_C_f_hBSE7Nadcle-qK9uxvvh0GIPzhfiFbMS4idA6nxOI/s1600/avengersendgame_lob_crd_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIYehASghnO9ofNxzp10G6rjsMHk0ToKZAHSpeAJVhklNpN3eVIB8d1_K-EB2H7BtpMVgO0qos6Yrbtzv7iM-nh3wZSEYo_C_f_hBSE7Nadcle-qK9uxvvh0GIPzhfiFbMS4idA6nxOI/s1600/avengersendgame_lob_crd_05.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marvel.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><br /></i>
<i>From <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154664/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1" target="_blank">IMDb</a>:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
"Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races."<br />
<br />
I'm not sure where to begin with Captain Marvel, Brie Larson's foray into the MCU and the Infinity Saga's penultimate installment (<a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/avengers-endgame-isnt-the-end-of-marvels-phase-3/1100-6466450/" target="_blank">or is it?</a>). I wanted and want to love it. And I basically do, mostly thanks to Larson as the amnesiac superhero Carol Danvers.<br />
<br />
But there are flaws. The film takes a while to get going and yet at the same time it zips around and fast forwards when it wants to. A - pretty big - negative for me is that I don't particularly remember a great action sequence. The film's by no means boring in that respect but if we're judging it by thrills and chills there's nothing that stands out. The dog fight towards the end - before Carol gets her powers - was fun, but that could be in any movie. The end when she's taking out tons of Kree ships? It's cool, but it's kind of one-sided. But I'm quibbling here and tons of others enjoyed the film's action.<br />
<br />
Sam Jackson was great and it was wonderful to have his Nick Fury back in a big way. I think a big draw of the film was Jackson and the record setting use of Marvel's de-aging tech that's been used to roll back the clock on Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr., Kurt Russell and others. He really connected this film to the others in one of the biggest ways possible. It being a prequel really sets it as part of the universe as well. A young Coulson (Clark Gregg) had a similar effect. We get some other tie-ins to the MCU here, namely an unexpected appearance by the Tesseract.<br />
<br />
I'd heard going in that Ben Mendelsohn as Talos was great. He was both a compelling villain and - spoiler alert - a standout ally when that reveal came. His roles as both alien and shapeshifter breathed a bit of uniqueness into the MCU.<br />
<br />
The story was a little different than what we're used to in the MCU. It was life as usual for "Kree" warrior Danvers until a mission leads her to Earth. We get her piecing her history there back together and the jumbled storyline was fun. A scene where her enemies use tech to scan her memories was particularly unique and memorable. The film both developed some backstory for the MCU and plotted a course for the future and the supporting characters, particularly Jude Law's mentor-to-Carol character, were fun.<br />
<br />
I’m curious to see how Captain Marvel fits into the Avengers. In the comics she and Tony have a civil war so that will be interesting. We see her a bit in trailers and the Infinity War credits scene but it's not much to go on. Much has been made about Captain Marvel vs. Thanos - almost as much as Ant-Man vs. his butt. We'll see how powerful she - and the rest of the remaining Avengers - are.<br />
<br />
As a side note, there's been an extreme amount of hate directed towards Brie Larson. Like, weird mind boggling, purest-sense-of-the-word-troll kind of hate. I thought about taking a deep dive into that here (and how I don't get it), particularly focusing on oddly obsessive YouTube videos, but I'll spare everyone.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8nw4n_smPbarOITtxcaMIiYr5zmrzwfIFCYJdjtVhr7IAgHXkYFtA-TJCp7tOvJ4v0e4kgfgIgdA5k5tcua2XNluj0TSRtg9q61LxvIhGK15D_xxRddkKGvxmlURWzaGqmWrqBz8GA8/s1600/open+hatch+rating.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8nw4n_smPbarOITtxcaMIiYr5zmrzwfIFCYJdjtVhr7IAgHXkYFtA-TJCp7tOvJ4v0e4kgfgIgdA5k5tcua2XNluj0TSRtg9q61LxvIhGK15D_xxRddkKGvxmlURWzaGqmWrqBz8GA8/s1600/open+hatch+rating.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3.5/5</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Extra Thoughts from Pax:</u></b><br />
<br />
This movie is important for what it is and I appreciate that. For my wife and my daughter and for the other adorable girl that was in my theater wearing the Captain Marvel uniform while she watched the movie. For that this movie has my undying support.<br />
<br />
I think the first half of this movie is kind of a jumbled mess. It gains more focus by the end, but that first part is really confusing to sit through. I don’t think the filmmakers they got for this particular movie stuck the landing. Despite that, I'm actually really looking forward to Captain Marvel’s return in Endgame. I’m really looking forward to how the Russo Brothers and Markus/McFeely meld this character into the MCU because I think she could be pretty great. Scratch that, I think she’s *going* to be really great in Endgame. It’s just tough to see it here in her solo movie.<br />
<br />
This movie really leans *hard* on the fact that it takes place in the 90s, and that’s not a criticism. I loved all of that; the Windows 95 references, Blockbuster Video, the pager. It's fun, the effects look great. I loved seeing young Fury and Coulson. Loved the Flurken. I appreciate what this movie has now done, even if I didn’t totally love it. But I very much look forward to the place Captain Marvel will have in the MCU from this point on.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-37519266445197729722018-04-26T09:30:00.001-04:002018-04-26T09:30:14.429-04:00Countdown to Avengers 3: Black Panther<i>Can you believe that we’re doing a third installment of <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/search/label/Countdown%20to%20Avengers">Countdown to Avengers</a>? It seems like it was only yesterday that we teamed up with <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/">Nerd Lunch</a> and <a href="https://blog.paxholley.net/">Cavalcade of Awesome</a> to tackle all the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films (and then some) that lead up to The Avengers. Believe it or not, we’re back, and now we’ve got Jay from <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/">Life Vs. Film</a> along for the ride as well. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfL5NlQxCUcGNN19Dy7C_NiqOu5QcXiLa-g4yDx3x7OkdKeR7cdGayKgr3ow3SUPN62O2UXbB4HbTWMNtM4dEgv5yZwgAPCuJv1DFQPONnXhi962Yn599fO71pQPXr8UMKNxrY2aGU15w/s1600/MLou_Teaser_1-Sht_v1_Lg-960x1422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1422" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfL5NlQxCUcGNN19Dy7C_NiqOu5QcXiLa-g4yDx3x7OkdKeR7cdGayKgr3ow3SUPN62O2UXbB4HbTWMNtM4dEgv5yZwgAPCuJv1DFQPONnXhi962Yn599fO71pQPXr8UMKNxrY2aGU15w/s400/MLou_Teaser_1-Sht_v1_Lg-960x1422.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://news.marvel.com/movies/81265/marvel-studios-debuts-first-avengers-infinity-war-teaser-poster/" target="_blank">Marvel</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><br />And now we've come to the end. We're looking at the last film before Infinity War. That's right, Infinity War is out THIS WEEK so Jay and I are looking at the phenomenal Black Panther. Let's go back to Wakanda! <span style="color: red;">Mandatory spoiler warning!</span></i><br />
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
This is getting pretty ridiculous. The MCU movies are starting to change the fabric of society. I'm sure Marvel would have made four <i>Black Panthers</i> by now if they knew it would have been such a cultural, critical, and financial success. <i>Black Panther</i> serving as the final standalone film before <i>Infinity War</i> is an interesting choice (coincidence?). The isolated Wakanda opening up to the rest of the world is kind of a metaphor for the MCU opening up and connecting its various characters even more than they already have.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQo0aRyZnws9igzuD2NwKv2qLmR84qsb4DqcnHcc1YHOvsUXKjUtdIvCeTMrEYTYMnPZMZsaLBnma9rmoNwXr0oIU_6ocKMwNpeSQIBBHq-2xNzjSz5uc1UxX1nCYoXl7k_M6N1hnn70/s1600/black_panther_ver21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="519" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQo0aRyZnws9igzuD2NwKv2qLmR84qsb4DqcnHcc1YHOvsUXKjUtdIvCeTMrEYTYMnPZMZsaLBnma9rmoNwXr0oIU_6ocKMwNpeSQIBBHq-2xNzjSz5uc1UxX1nCYoXl7k_M6N1hnn70/s640/black_panther_ver21.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">? via <a href="http://www.impawards.com/2018/black_panther_ver21.html" target="_blank">IMP Awards</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Black Panther</i> follows one of the newer recruits of the MCU, King T'Challa, (Chadwick Boseman) as he tries to fill the shoes of his recently departed father. T'Challa's trying to balance everything that's happening in Wakanda and fully take on the mantle of king when his long lost cousin Erik "Killmonger" Stevens (Anthony B. Jordan) comes along with plans to start a worldwide revolution.<br />
<br />
So there's no way I can say <i>Black Panther</i> is a bad film. Simply due to the talent on display and behind the scenes, <i>Black Panther</i> is a very, very good movie. However, it's not my personal favorite MCU film for various reasons. A reason that springs to mind: the whole maglev vibranium train fight at the end sort of seemed taken out of a crummy X-Men movie.<br />
<br />
A broader criticism I have for the film is about its villains. Or rather, how they relate to Black Panther. Kilmonger was killed off - bad move. It'd be like if they killed Loki in the first <i>Thor</i> movie (which I guess they sort of did and brought him back so it's possible Kilmonger could return).<br />
<br />
It's revealed that T'Challa's father essentially killed his own brother and left his son on his own in America. I felt like this was a big controversy but wasn't handled as such. T'Challa didn't really seem to want to fix or even address this injustice. After he had essentially killed Kilmonger he thought about saving him. You would have thought there would have been one instance of T'Challa saying, "Hey, what my dad did was wrong, I want to fix this." I also don't get killing off Klaue (Andy Serkis). You killed both awesome Black Panther villains. Why? Also, I was kind of hoping T'Challa would have a cool scene where he had to prove himself and survive after his initial fight with Kilmonger. But M'Baku's (Winston Duke) people just kind of save him. And we don't even see that! They just reveal that he's alive.<br />
<br />
Like any MCU film there are connections to other Marvel movies. Even though <i>Black Panther</i> is sort of an insulated film (it's literally taking place in a hidden, isolated country) we have some connective tissue. Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) plays a big role in the movie so that's a bit of a connection to <i>Civil War</i>. We also get to see - in a post credits scene - that Bucky (Sebastian Stan) has come out of his self-imposed cryogenic hibernation at the end of <i>Civil War</i> and seems to be doing better...under the care of Shuri (Letitia Wright), no less.<br />
<br />
It's always fun to speculate how a stand alone character will fit in with the rest of the Avengers. In this case, we've already seen Black Panther side by side with a lot of the other Avengers, but it was pretty limited (even though his role was not) and in the context of fighting. I've really tried to avoid trailers for <i>Infinity War</i> but it looks like a large part of the movie is set in Wakanda and Black Panther is taking on a leader role. I'm looking forward to some sort of interaction between Black Panther and Bucky. The last time we saw them together they were trying to kill each other. I think Black Panther has the potential to lead the Avengers in future films. I'm not sure if that's happened before or if it's canon, but that would be cool.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Extra Thoughts from <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/" target="_blank">Jay</a>:</u></b><br />
<br />
Every time I think the title <i>Black Panther</i>, I can't help but flip it in my head to Plaque Bantha, so I keep imagining a film about a giant woolly horned beast from <i>Star Wars</i> desperately needing to see his dentist, but I highly doubt that film would be one of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time internationally, which <i>Black Panther</i> now is. In fact, within the MCU it's only currently being beaten by the two Avengers movies, making it the highest grossing standalone character film, which is pretty damn impressive given I'd never even heard of the eponymous character before <i>Captain America: Civil War</i>.<br />
<br />
It's clear from the <i>Infinity War</i> trailers that the events - or at least, the locations - of <i>Black Panther</i> are integral to the future of the Avengers, with Wakanda presumably being the location of the Soul Stone. This decision must have been made prior to <i>Black Panther's</i> release, so I'm guessing Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel team are all giving themselves pretty smug pats on the back given how successful <i>Black Panther</i> was, and how many guaranteed ticket sales that'll grant them for <i>Infinity War</i>. Those back-pats are entirely deserved though, as BP is an awesome movie. It features many of the best antagonists of the franchise so far in the forms of Andy Serkis' Klaue, Winston Duke's M'Baku and of course Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger, has some awesome action - I cannot wait to see the casino fight and ensuing chase again - incredible production design, supporting characters, music, visuals, dammit, everything is just great. To date it's the only Marvel film that I've only seen once, but that's going to change pretty damn soon, I assure you.</div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-16028115076534804592018-04-10T21:19:00.000-04:002018-04-10T21:19:16.699-04:00Countdown to Avengers 3: Doctor Strange<i>Can you believe that we’re doing a third installment of <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/search/label/Countdown%20to%20Avengers">Countdown to Avengers</a>? It seems like it was only yesterday that we teamed up with <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/">Nerd Lunch</a> and <a href="https://blog.paxholley.net/">Cavalcade of Awesome</a> to tackle all the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films (and then some) that lead up to The Avengers. Believe it or not, we’re back, and now we’ve got Jay from <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/">Life Vs. Film</a> along for the ride as well. <br /><br />Whereas that first series of ours was special, this one will be even more epic. It heralds the end - or, at least, the beginning of the end - of this current manifestation of the MCU. Infinity War releases in a matter of days so, without further adieu...2016’s Doctor Strange. <u>Mandatory spoiler warning!</u></i><br />
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“...Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to Hydra!” - Jasper Sitwell, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.<br />
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With this mention in an excellent installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the MCU's Doctor Strange was born. The character was and is exciting for me because he's among the crop of new Avengers (who doesn't want to see a <i>New Avengers</i> Movie featuring Ant-Man and The Wasp, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and others?). I also was (and am) a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, so I was happy with the casting.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://paulshipperstudio.com/doctor-strange/" target="_blank">Paul Shipper</a> via <a href="http://www.impawards.com/2016/doctor_strange_ver27.html" target="_blank">IMP Awards</a></td></tr>
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Going into <i>Doctor Strange</i>, I thought quite a bit about the 2007 cartoon movie, <i>Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme</i>, which explored the character's origin story. That movie really showed me that a superhero's beginning could still be fun. Interestingly, something the live action film didn't touch on was the death of Strange's sister and how it affected him. Although I'm not sure if that's canon and it may have made the film too sad.<br />
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The plot in a nutshell: Cumberbatch's Strange is an arrogant and talented surgeon who loses his skills after a car accident essentially destroys his hands. He ultimately travels the globe and to Kamar-Taj to try to fix his hands. He winds up embroiled in a war of sorcery, however.<br />
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I do like what they tried to do with Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo vis-à-vis making him more of a heroic character, but ultimately he’s a villain and I think he’ll be the main antagonist in the sequel. Maybe they'll go with a sort of reluctant villain as opposed to a mustache twirling incarnation, but the post credits sequence would not suggest that. Put simply, he loses his mind. He just seems disillusioned and heartbroken the last time we see him in the main film, but then when we see him in the post credits scene he's essentially murderous and maniacal.<br />
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The film mostly delivered on Strange's potential. The movie in general may be a bit of a "style over substance" situation for me. It had a cool look (one of the Crown Jewels in the film has to be the sequence where The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) sends Strange on a trip through space, which is his first glimpse of magic in the film) but generic villains, for instance.<br />
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Like any MCU film, Strange is rife with connections to other Marvel films. There's a theory about the phone call Strange has just before his accident and the fact that the injuries listed might be mentions of other heroes, <a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/doctor-strange-captain-marvel-easter-egg/" target="_blank">particularly Captain Marvel</a> (I have a feeling this isn't the case, however). Wong mentions The Avengers and that's huge, of course. Towards the end Wong also mentions that The Eye of Agamotto is an Infinity Stone, which may be the biggest mention, particularly since Strange later meets Thor, who's been on a journey to find the stones. This scene where Strange meets Thor is great fun and would go on to become part of the immensely successful and popular <i>Thor: Ragnarok</i>. There was some speculation at one point that he would even <a href="https://geektyrant.com/news/doctor-strange-will-reportedly-join-thor-and-hulk-on-their-journey-in-thor-ragnarok" target="_blank">join Thor and Hulk</a> on the main adventure.<br />
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I'm really looking forward to Strange meeting the other Avengers. He wasn't in Civil War and he's only met Thor. We know via the trailers he meets Bruce Banner and Tony Stark and the three of them, along with Wong, gear up to fight someone. We see him interacting with Peter Parker (Spider-Man if you use his made-up name) and Star-Lord. It will be interesting if we get a Sherlock reference between Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch. We see him being tortured a bit in the trailer and I wonder if that leads to a cool rescue mission on his behalf. See my comments below for some very spoilers thoughts on how Doctor Strange and elements from his films might factor into Infinity War and other MCU films.<br />
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<b><u>Extra Thoughts from CT:</u></b><br />
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The first time I saw this movie, I came away not overly impressed. But a second viewing really turned it around for me. Not a character I ever connected much with when reading the comics, but one I still liked when he would guest star in books I read.<br />
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Strange was mentioned in a throwaway reference during Captain America: Winter Solider which in retrospect, now seems a little odd that a surgeon would be mentioned of all people. I mean, there might be famous surgeons out there, but when you list a set of random high profile people, I would guess a surgeon would not be on your list. Still, despite his arrogance, even then, Hydra had pegged him as a threat. They saw something in him that no one else did for a few years.<br />
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As we move closer to Avengers: Infinity War and the conclusion of this phase, we know that the Time stone will certainly play a role. Speculation has suggested we will see some major time travel as a part of the plot for these next Avengers movies. I have not delved into that territory more than what I just mentioned though. Still, it wouldn't surprise me. Time travel is a major plot device that has yet to really be explored in the MCU. Dr. Strange just barely scratched the surface of it.<br />
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Also worth noting that even though we see this movie set up plot points for eventual sequels, there is no confirmation of a Dr. Strange 2 yet. Which is surprising to me, but also puts Strange on the potential chopping block as a character to get killed. Personally, I hope not. I think a nice set of three or so Dr. Strange movies would be good. I would love for him to still be active when the FF characters get grafted in (I'm speaking very hopefully) and we see the Real Defenders in a movie together: Dr. Strange, Hulk and Silver Surfer (Namor being the other prominent member but who knows what's up with him).<br />
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Spoiler Thoughts:<br />
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The Time Stone might come into play in having something to do with Captain America. Also, and I thought this was confirmed, but I think Doctor Strange will wind up being another mentor for Peter in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2.<br />
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Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-56761016823617184992018-02-23T16:33:00.004-05:002018-02-23T16:33:57.682-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Bullitt: Just Keep Driving<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Steve McQueen is the actor-of-the-month over at the LAMB, so I'm taking a moment to celebrate one of the best moments from one of his less good movies. <i>Bullitt</i> isn't terrible, but if it wasn't for the central chase sequence I don't think many people would discuss it today, so you can be damn sure that's the scene in question this week.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-BULLITT/115334/3790942/view"><i>Bullitt</i> painting by Arthur Benjamins</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you're unfamiliar with the plot, I'll take a stab at it: Steve McQueen plays Lt. Frank Bullitt of the San Francisco Police Department. He is tasked with protecting a star witness over the weekend, but events occur that require said witness to be hidden somewhere, with only Frank and his team knowing the location. As such, a couple of men (seen in the clip, known to me as "Stern Face" and "Glasses") are sent to follow Frank to see where he goes, in the hope that it'll lead to the witness' whereabouts. This is what happens next:</span></div>
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I only really want to follow on that first segment as being the best scene, as the entire chase goes on for at least another 7 minutes, but for the sake of not depriving you here's the rest of it too:</div>
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OK, now you've got that out of your system (did you count the hub-caps? Go back and count the hub-caps) let's get back to that first segment. The key moment occurs at 2:14, when Frank, having quite easily slipped his tail, appears in their rear-view mirror, turning the tables and making the hunters the hunted. It's an ingenious and wonderful manoeuvre, and is filmed beautifully, with the camera in the back seat of the villains' car, the mirror nonchalantly positioned in the centre - because that's where it would be anyway, given we're looking out the windscreen with them for Frank's car - and then it just appears in the mirror, popping up and saying "Gotcha!". I think the zoom in goes a little too far to accentuate the reveal, but only a little.<br /><br />The whole chase uses the streets and hills of San Francisco perfectly, weaving in and out of traffic, utilising the sharp right angle corners to crash and screech all over the road, all the while tormenting those roaring, guttural engines and trashing the chassis on the bumps. The entire scene has no dialogue, it's all about the concentrated expressions and wheelmanship on display.<br /><br />I'd argue it amongst the best car chases of all time - <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/2015/02/favorite-scene-friday-french-connection.html">I previously looked at another contender from <i>The French Connection</i></a> - but this might just beat it, at least in terms of longevity. I like the temporary satisfied smirk Glasses gives to Stern Face when he thinks they've gotten away, when Frank stopped to check a crashed motorcyclist was alright. I love the use of the mirror outside of the reveal too, allowing us to see the face of the driver and/or passenger as well as the road ahead, just perfect.</div>
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<i>What's your favorite movie car chase?</i></h3>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371393071401885223noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-58325581638933647462018-02-02T20:40:00.000-05:002018-02-02T20:40:59.278-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Groundhog Day: Déjà vuHaving finally featured <i><a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/2018/01/favorite-scene-friday-rick-and-morty.html" target="_blank">Rick and Morty</a></i> for <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/search/label/Escape-athon%202018" target="_blank">Escape-athon</a> last week, it seems we're going with a "I can't believe this hasn't been featured for FSF before!" trend. It's particularly surprising since we at one point did a series on scenes featuring Bill Murray, star of today's featured film. We actually have a good reason for not featuring <i>Groundhog Day</i> before, however...the last time the holiday fell on a Friday was all the way back in 2007, long before we started this blog.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://worksofmattryan.virb.com/groundhog-day" target="_blank">Matt Ryan</a></td></tr>
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<i>Groundhog Day</i>, the film about Phil Connors (Murray) reliving the titular holiday over and over in <br />
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is many things rolled up into a nice, neat package. It's an amazing Bill Murray showcase. It's a classic romantic high concept comedy. It popularized the time loop subgenre of science fiction that's been utilized in film and even in TV, as recently as <a href="https://youtu.be/x7AwbQrpF_A" target="_blank">Star Trek: Discovery</a>. The film has really aged into a modern classic, going as far as spawning a Broadway play that Bill Murray famously <a href="https://news.avclub.com/bill-murray-repeats-himself-goes-to-see-groundhog-day-1798264898" target="_blank">saw two days in a row</a> (it sadly <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/08/15/groundhog-day-is-the-latest-casualty-on-broadway/" target="_blank">didn't last</a>).<br />
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Our scene this week is the first time Phil relives Groundhog Day. Murray's immediately and effortlessly a smug asshole, but Phil starts to get the sense of something wrong. He quickly goes to the window and sees the day unfolding just as it had the day before. I love that little bit of unsettling music that plays along with that.<br />
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<i>Groundhog Day</i> is pretty much wall-to-wall great actors/characters. "Porkchop" - played by Ken Hudson Campbell - is one such character. Billed as "Man in Hallway" his little scream when Phil pushes him up against the wall is perfect. His terrified expression when Phil finally walks away is great as well. This whole bit's great because Phil and the viewer really start to get a sense of the strangeness happening.<br />
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Even better than Porkchop, however, is Mrs. Lancaster, played by Angela Paton (sad to learn she just passed away in 2016). Her effortlessly charming "No, but I can check with the kitchen," is one of the best things in this scene.<br />
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With all that said, enjoy the scene. Looks like the next Friday Groundhog Day isn't until 2024.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Groundhog Day?</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What day would you love to relive over and over? </span></i></b></div>
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Bonus!<br />
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Here's a little recommendation...I recently watched <i>Happy Death Day</i> - a horror version of <i>Groundhog Day</i>, essentially - and it was amazing. The horror genre works so well with the time loop premise so I wonder why it's not used more often. Check out the trailer below.<br />
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Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-82438484884505263052018-01-31T17:20:00.001-05:002018-01-31T17:20:50.892-05:00Escape-athon 2018 Review: The Lovely Bones<i>The Lovely Bones</i> was a huge blind spot for me. It’s safe to say that I’m a decent Peter Jackson fan. I loved all the <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> films. I trudged through all the <i>The Hobbit </i>films. I’ve even seen <i>Dead Alive</i>. But for some reason the appeal of <i>The Lovely Bones</i> wasn’t enough to get my butt in the seat opening weekend back in 2009. Beyond that, interest dropped off and stayed dropped off. Turns out I wasn't missing much. <span style="color: red;">Spoiler alert! </span><br />
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In the film, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered by George Harvey (Stanley Tucci). Her family has to move on and Susie observes from beyond the grave.<br />
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The main problem with this film for me is that the afterlife scenes - aka, the whole point of the movie - just felt kind of off and disconnected from the rest of the film. They lacked weight and purpose. I actually wrote in my notes that I was somehow more interested in what was happening on Earth. Going in, I expected the heaven scenes would really be the crown jewel of the film. That said, I think it's a testament to how nasty Tucci's character is and how much you want to see him get justice in the end. Tucci makes Harvey absolutely chilling and disgusting.<br />
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Surprisingly, one little detail that nagged at me was the cornfield. If you haven't seen the film, Tucci's character builds a sort of secret pit in the neighborhood cornfield and that's where he murders Susie. The problem was, it kind of seemed to be everywhere. It was right next to the school and not far from the Salmon household. Seeing a map actually helped...because it was actually directly connecting the school and the neighborhood.<br />
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Another thing that bothered me was the photo rolls. First and foremost, wouldn't the cops have taken them? Susie's dad (Mark Wahlberg) slowly develops all the rolls of film that Susie had used before her death, apparently one roll a month. Why would you parse it out like that? I would think you'd want to develop them immediately because the odds of finding the killer would go down the longer you wait. Unless he wasn't doing it to track the killer?<br />
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Another MVP here is Rose McIver playing Susie's sister. She had a bit of a subplot of suspecting the neighbor George Harvey, which leads to a very tense scene finding a secret book Harvey hid in his house that documents his crimes.<br />
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At the end nothing really happens. Harvey gets away and it's years later before he...graphically falls to his death. There's no justice for the family. I guess that's the point the movie was trying to make. That's kind of it. I don't think we really even get a final definitive heaven scene from Susie. So that's it, it's kind of middling for me at the end of the day. Part of me really likes it and I love that I finally crossed it off my list, but it's definitely not, in my opinion, Jackson's best work. <br />
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Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-82146676233654094682018-01-26T22:25:00.000-05:002018-01-26T22:25:16.910-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Rick and Morty: Keep Summer SafeWhere to begin with <i>Rick and Morty?</i> Its quality? Its mass appeal? Szechuan sauce? Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland's pop culture darling is so popular that it's got folks like yours truly starting Facebook groups just to discuss it with friends and like-minded fans. I actually can't believe we haven't written about it for FSF yet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.taylorrosemakesart.com/illustration/the-ricks-must-be-crazy" target="_blank">Taylor Rose</a></td></tr>
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This week's scene - the last in this year's <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/search/label/Escape-athon" target="_blank">Escape-athon</a> series - is the start of the "Keep Summer Safe" bit from Season 2's "The Ricks Must Be Crazy". It starts innocently enough. Rick, Morty, and Summer are in an alternate universe to catch a <i>Ball Fondlers</i> movie and eat some of the multiverse's best ice cream. Their ship is dead however, and it's definitely not the quantum carburetor.<br />
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This scene almost plays like a <i>Rick and Morty</i> greatest hits album. Alternate realities. Rick insulting Morty. Burping. The setup for an insane, sci-fi adventure. And that setup definitely pays off - "The Ricks Must Be Crazy" is one of the show's best episodes. But what this scene really sets up is the amazing B plot. Rick doesn't want to leave Summer unattended (due to the giant, telepathic spiders of course), so he instructs the ship to "Keep Summer safe." It goes to some insane lengths to do so.<br />
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Some of the smaller details of this scene really shine. The mention of "11 9/11s". The fact that flashlights are taped to the ship in lieu of headlights. "That was my daughter's pediatrician!"<br />
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This bit is truly the tip of the iceberg, as the ship's actions to keep Summer "safe" progressively lead to worse scenarios. It <a href="https://youtu.be/Bz1r53WSJCw" target="_blank">gets real dark</a>. Summer becomes a party to murder and mayhem in the name of safety and she probably would have been better off with the spiders.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Rick and Morty?</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Would the best ice cream in the multiverse make up for giant, telepathic spiders? </span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-41289256886222169462018-01-24T10:28:00.000-05:002018-01-24T10:28:12.956-05:00Countdown to Avengers 3: Avengers: Age of Ultron<i>Can you believe that we’re doing a third installment of <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/search/label/Countdown%20to%20Avengers" target="_blank">Countdown to Avengers</a>? It seems like it was only yesterday that we teamed up with <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/" target="_blank">Nerd Lunch</a> and <a href="https://blog.paxholley.net/" target="_blank">Cavalcade of Awesome</a> to tackle all the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films (and then some) that lead up to The Avengers. Believe it or not, we’re back, and now we’ve got Jay from <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/" target="_blank">Life Vs. Film</a> along for the ride as well. </i><br />
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<i>Whereas that first series of ours was special, this one will be even more epic. It heralds the end - or, at least, the beginning of the end - of this current manifestation of the MCU. So we’ll be looking at at least one MCU film a month until Infinity War releases in May. First up...2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. <span style="color: red;">Mandatory spoiler warning!</span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://news.marvel.com/movies/81265/marvel-studios-debuts-first-avengers-infinity-war-teaser-poster/" target="_blank">Marvel</a></td></tr>
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Looking back on <i>Avengers: Age of Ultron</i>, maybe it deserved the mixed reviews it received from critics. Let's see...it definitely suffered from sequel bloat. The plot was basically the same as the first Avengers. You could argue that the film yet again suffers from that "Marvel has a villain problem" situation. Others have definitely pointed these problems out, but the fact remains. Personally, I particularly remember some hate about how Black Widow was handled and I’m pretty sure returning director Joss Whedon quit Twitter over this whole movie. All that said, this film could have been a lot worse, and there was a lot to live up to. Considering all that, Whedon more or less pulled it off.<br />
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Basically, post <i>The Winter Soldier</i>, The Avengers have reunited to take down Hydra and the film opens on the team attacking Baron Von Strucker’s (Thomas Kretschmann) base in Sokovia to steal back Loki’s scepter from the first Avengers movie. This all, believe it or not, leads to the birth of the titular villain, the devious A.I. Ultron.<br />
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There was definitely a lot going on in this movie...almost too much. Consider for example that Thor goes off on his own at one point on a fact finding mission to learn more about the Infinity Stones. At the end he even actually leaves to go find the Stones. It explains why he wasn't around for Civil War. Maybe it's something that could have been emphasized a bit more, but I probably just wasn't paying attention/didn't appreciate it.<br />
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Some of the film's highlights for me were the Black Widow/Hulk stuff. It was nice to see their relationship develop past their meeting in India and their shenanigans in the first film. Speaking of the Hulk, I also enjoyed his fight with Iron Man's Hulk Buster, but I do think they could have maybe injected a little seriousness into that fight. It never really felt like Tony was in danger at any point. It would have been cool if maybe Hulk pried the suit open a little bit. The lack of danger and consequence is a bit too much.<br />
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There’s a ton of connections to the other films littered throughout this movie. Almost too many to mention (and dozens of other folks have already done it). It opens with the team trying to retrieve the scepter from the first film, which went missing after Shield fell in <i>Captain America: The</i> <i>Winter Soldier</i>. Thor hits Captain America's shield to produce a shockwave like in <i>The Avengers</i>, but here it's like a combo attack move. Falcon shows up in this so it's another nice throwback to <i>The Winter Soldier</i>.<br />
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We get some action from the Iron Legion at the beginning, which are more or less an extension of all of Iron Man’s suits from <i>Iron Man 3</i>. Although he did blow all of those up, but I guess it was just sort of foreshadowing an Iron Man suit army. Despite their destruction, it leads to the Legion and ultimately Ultron.<br />
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This flick was not only setting up <i>Civil War</i> - Cap and Tony’s wood chopping scene - it also laid a lot of ground work for <i>Infinity War</i>. Tony has a premonition of the aftermath of the team fighting Thanos, and there’s obviously a lot of talk about the Infinity Stones - and we SEE an Infinity Stone in the form of Vision’s forehead stone.<br />
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The team now inhabits Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower. We basically saw this foreshadowed at the end of <i>The Avengers</i>, with all the letters of "Stark" - except for the "A" - having fallen off the building.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://www.traffikcone.info/#/avengers-age-of-ultron/" target="_blank">Traffik Cone</a> via <a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/mad-max-fury-road-by-mark-levy-2/" target="_blank">AMP</a></span></td></tr>
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Now in this series of ours, we'd normally talk about how the main character from the film in question will fit into the upcoming Avengers movie. But not only is this not a stand alone film, there’s a subsequent film - <i>Civil War</i> - that features most of the team, so you can’t even say how the whole team will behave once they’re reunited.<br />
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But I'll speculate a little anyway. Will there be two teams in <i>Infinity War</i>? Iron Man's team and Cap's team from Civil War and they all have to come together? Not to mention The Revengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. They've all been scattered so it'll be interesting to see them all join up together. Although I have to wonder if there will even be a unified team in <i>Infinity War</i>. It may just be these different factions doing their own missions. An Avengers Army (what else can you call it if this is a war?) would truly be awesome, however. But we might have to wait for that.<br />
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There was no way <i>Avengers: Age of Ultron</i> was going to live up to <i>The Avengers</i> and the sheer joy of seeing all the characters meet up for the first time. At the end of the day, <i>Age of Ultron</i> is just a good MCU film, not a great one. There were better films before it, and there have been better films since. But it had a lot to accomplish, so maybe we’re unfair to the film.</div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-63902965006531682882018-01-19T19:09:00.002-05:002018-01-19T19:09:28.295-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Inception: Spinning Around<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">It's January here on To The Escape Hatch (and everywhere else too, I guess) so we are of course holding our annual celebration of fantasy and science fiction, the Escape-athon. For my submission I'm also involving the <a href="http://www.largeassmovieblogs.com/2018/01/acting-school-101-february-introduction-joseph-gordon-levitt.html">LAMB's Acting School</a>, who are currently focusing on Joseph Gordon Levitt. The Venn diagram of JGL and fantasy doesn't feature too many movies in the intersection (it's pretty much this and <i>Looper</i>), but fortunately one that does appear is one of my favourite movies of the past decade, <i>Inception</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/inception-chris-skinner/"><i>Inception</i> by Chris Skinner</a></td></tr>
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To date <i>Inception</i> is my favourite of Christopher Nolan's films. It's that rarest of creatures - a hugely successful summer tentpole that's also wholly original and incredibly complex, whilst remaining vastly entertaining. If you're unfamiliar, it follows a team of "extractors" - people who enter dreams to extract information - who are hired to perform the first successful inception, wherein they plant an idea that the target will believe to be their own. In order to accomplish such a task the team - led by Leonardo DiCaprio, and comprised of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao and Ken Watanabe - must enter deep into the subconscious of their target (Cillian Murphy), meaning once inside the first dream they must then enter a second and third level of dream to really make the idea stick. Unfortunately for the team, any events that occur within the dream above will take effect on the dream below. This is best shown in today's clip. Here, Yusuf (Rao) is charged with protecting the team in the first dream, but has hit a spot of bother with their target's in-dream security, and is having to evade them in a car chase, with the rest of the team asleep in his van. This impacts upon Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), who is undertaking a similar task in the second level of dream, where he is protecting the sleeping team in a hotel room unaccustomed to taking place in the mind of someone in a fast, often not upright vehicle. In the video, the fight sequence starts at about 0:45. Let's take a look:<br />
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I like how the dream effects build up in intensity. Arthur first suspects something is up when a light tremor occurs as Yusuf begins to drive the van erratically. Colliding with a motorcyclist causes the hallway to lurch to one side, at this point to Arthur's benefit as one attacker begins to gain the upper hand whilst a second aims a shot. The real danger is shown when a sharp turn causes the first goon to be launched the length - now height - of a hallway, presumably to severe injury if not worse, whilst Arthur is fortunate enough to merely be thrown into a wall. Then comes the money shot, the long corridor scuffle that sees JGL and the stunt man (apologies, I don't know his name) to traverse all four walls/floors/ceilings in a sequence that is frankly a little nauseating to think about. Having them fall into a room full of general hotel paraphernalia is a nice touch, with all the objects flying around adding to the chaotic nature of the fight. And then it ends, with a single shot and Arthur, ever the level-headed professional, checking the gun and discarding it immediately.<br /><br />As fight sequences go, that's a pretty unique and ambitious one, even more so when you take into account that it was all shot practically, with Gordon-Levitt and various stunt men roaming around a giant rotating centrifuge with the camera locked to it, so although it appears like the fighters are the ones constantly spinning it's actually the corridor itself. If you remove the fantastical elements it becomes a fairly straightforward scene - our hero fights off nameless goons in a hotel hallway, crashing into a room before they all try to reach a gun first - but the ingenuity and innovation required elevate this scene to greatness. I'm not saying it wouldn't be impressive and noteworthy had everything on screen been created digitally, but credit must be given for the hundreds of people involved in overcoming a seemingly endless amount of obstacles to achieve what is ultimately a very short scene that doesn't even involve many major characters. Apparently it took 2 weeks to rehearse and another 3 weeks to actually shoot, but it is absolutely worth it.<br /></div>
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<i>What's your favorite Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie moment?</i></h3>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371393071401885223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-84880090812963611482018-01-12T14:54:00.000-05:002018-01-12T14:54:18.385-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Godzilla: Let Them Fight<i>Our FSF this week - which kicks off Escape-athon 2018 - comes from Nick from <a href="http://frenchtoastsunday.com/" target="_blank">French Toast Sunday</a>!</i><br />
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I’m a big Godzilla fan. I had a VHS boxset back in the '90s and early '00s with all the classics. As a child, I watched Godzilla battle it out with Rodan and Mothra (before they became allies) and his greatest foes King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla. Hell, I even have a soft spot for when he battled Biollante, who was essentially a giant plant. Godzilla still kicked its ass up and down Osaka, but I digress. I was beyond excited for 2014’s <i>Godzilla</i> as it was a return to form for the franchise. A slow build where we catch glimpses of the monster, a meandering plot that really doesn’t matter, and a culmination of a massive fight. Sign. Me. Up. Every. Time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.godzillamovie.com/" target="_blank">Godzilla Official Movie Site</a></td></tr>
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Gareth Edwards' take on Godzilla took me back to my childhood with one single scene. As the military attempts to simultaneously remove a warhead and bomb the MUTO's nest, Godzilla appears on the streets of San Francisco ready for battle. He approaches and delivers his signature roar and just starts throwing his weight around. The King of the Monsters just manhandles the MUTO for several city blocks, taking it to task. This puny creature is no match, but it’s really never that easy. WHAM! A second MUTO appears, catching Godzilla off guard. The two MUTOs begin ganging up on him and it looks like it’s game over for our antihero. Another curveball! The MUTOs' nest explodes, diverting their attention to the now burning eggs of what could have been their young.<br />
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Suddenly, the greatest thing happens. I had waited for this moment (for all my life) since the film was announced and nearly jumped out of my seat in excitement. As the MUTO inspects its nest, we get the slightest grumble and a pool of blue light. We see the light increase and form a spiky trail. It’s climbing up the back of Godzilla, winding up, whirring up, grinding up. At its apex, Godzilla draws his breath and unleashes his atomic breath. A blast of blue nuclear energy burns the MUTO, weakening it, and leaving it defenseless for Godzilla’s final blows. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the win just yet, but he just might. SPOILERS, Godzilla unleashes the atomic breath again in the film and I was filled with just as much joy if not more. But that’s another favorite scene for another Friday. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>What's your favorite scene from 2014's Godzilla?</i></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Are you excited for Godzilla to take on King Kong in 2020's appropriately named Godzilla vs. Kong?</i></span></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-75634766250414925532017-12-29T18:15:00.000-05:002017-12-29T18:15:27.673-05:00 Favorite Scene Friday! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Orinoco FlowBeware Spoilers!<br />
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Welcome to the final Favorite Scene Friday of 2017! We're really starting to get into some colder weather, so what better way to celebrate than with a scene from a film where cold, bleak weather is practically a character in the film? Hell, one of the taglines is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/taglines?ref_=tt_stry_tg" target="_blank">"What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw."</a>. It's from a fairly recent thriller - 2011's <i>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i>.<br />
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The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_(novel_series)" target="_blank">Millennium series</a> - first a Swedish book series, then a Swedish film series and then a stalled American film series, is soon to be rebooted yet again in the form of anther American film, <i>The Girl in the Spider's Web</i>. Director Fede Alvarez is at the helm with <i>The Crown's</i> Claire Foy playing the part of computer hacker and general bad ass Lisbeth Salander, the titular girl (I kind of thought Alvarez should reteam with Jane Levy, his star from the <i>Evil Dead</i> reboot and <i>Don't Breathe</i>). Quite excited for this film, actually - it's due October of next year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-by-yannis-ger/" target="_blank">Yannis Ger/AMP</a></td></tr>
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But we're not here to talk about that film - it's TGWTDT we're worried about. My God, this thing really came out all the way back in 2011? It seems like yesterday. <a href="http://www.totheescapehatch.com/2011/12/escape-by-tattooing-your-enemies-girl.html" target="_blank">We reviewed it</a>, actually - back when we did that sort of thing.<br />
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The film follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as he investigates a missing person's case. During the course of the investigation he teams up with Salander (the underappreciated Rooney Mara). Our scene takes place towards the end of the film, after Blomkvist has been abducted by Stellan Skarsgård's Martin Vanger, who, it's been revealed, is the film's villain. One of the highlights of this scene is surely Skarsgård. He's sort of detached but chillingly intense at the same time.<br />
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It's really an interesting back and forth between Craig and Skarsgård. Fear. Boredom. Aggression. More boredom. The scene really kicks into gear when Vanger puts a bag over Blomkvist's head. The bag over the head is so simple but so chilling. Just look at that screen grab below for Pete's sake. It's intense for two reasons - seeing Daniel Craig (or anyone) like that is very disturbing, but then director David Fincher also lets us see through his character's eyes. I'm not sure which is worse.<br />
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Vanger is sort of going through the motions when he realizes - while opening Blomkvist's fly - that he's never had a man down in his torture chamber before. But then it's back to business until Lisbeth shows up. And it's so cathartic when she whacks him with that golf club.<br />
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Lastly, if you happened to read that review, you may have noticed that even back then we were particularly affected by the choice of <i>Orinoco Flow, </i>which, by the way, Daniel Craig <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/trivia?item=tr1630502" target="_blank">randomly picked from his iPod</a> behind the scenes. I'll probably never be able to listen to this song the same way again.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>What's your favorite scene from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>What's your favorite installment in The Millennium Series, be it the books, the original films, or the American remake?</i></b></span></div>
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Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-20202191676615953322017-12-22T12:49:00.000-05:002017-12-22T12:49:51.201-05:00 Favorite Scene Friday! The Dark Knight Rises: Victory Has Defeated YouThis week's scene is by Nick from <a href="http://frenchtoastsunday.com/" target="_blank">French Toast Sunday</a>!<div>
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While <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i> may not be my favorite Batman film, it does feature my favorite Batman scene. When Batman meets Bane for the first time, I get chills. Even re-watching this scene for this post, the chills were still there. The fear was still there, the worry was still there. There’s no other way to put it, Batman gets his ass handed to him in every possible way. It’s not just his spirit that gets broken, but his back too. The Scarecrow tested his drive and motivations in <i>Batman Begins</i> while the Joker tested his morals and dedication in <i>The Dark Knight</i>. But in <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i>, Bane breaks him down mentally and physically in ways we’ve never seen nor imagined.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://studiokxx.com/The-Dark-Knight-Trilogy" target="_blank">StudioKxx</a> via <a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/dark-knight-rises-studiokxx/" target="_blank">AMP</a></td></tr>
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As soon as Catwoman lures Batman into a trap and the cage closes behind him, he’s already lost. The film’s score is gone, there is no ambient music. Instead, we’re frozen as Bane’s voice echoes throughout the chamber. Immediately, Batman’s identity is compromised. Then his suit and abilities are compromised with Bane taunting him that his suit has cost him strength, and that his victories have made him weak. As many hits as Batman can land, he just can’t stop Bane. Bane takes hit after hit but continues to bombard Batman with powerful blows. The Caped Crusader is no match for Bane. We can tell Batman is growing weak, crying out in anger; something he didn’t do before in his previous fights. Batman was in control, but now he has none. He’s signaling the end, he just doesn’t realize it yet.</div>
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<br />But the end does come when Bane has beaten him down and broken down all of his tricks. No smoke bombs and fear of the dark can stop Bane. Can anything at this point stop Bane? Cold and calculated, Bane shows Batman why he’s there: to take away Batman’s toys. Batman watches, in pain through a broken cowl, as Bane’s henchmen plunder through his armory. Now usually at this point in a movie, the villain explains his dastardly plans but miraculously, the hero saves the day via Chekhov’s gun and/or great dramatic irony that ruins said dastardly plans. But that doesn’t happen here. Instead we get a defeated Batman get pushed even further into this well of pain by having his back broken. (As someone who read the Knightfall series, this is something I never thought I’d see in theatres on the big screen.) Batman’s back breaks, cue the score, cut to Bane carrying the broken mask of Batman tossing it away like a candy bar wrapper.<br /><br />Our hero has suffered the greatest possible defeat and is left with nothing. It’s here that he must rebuild himself and take back his beloved city on his own. There is a moment where it feels like Batman is not coming back. Bane is our savior now, and nothing or no one can save us. We all know what happens from here, but upon first viewing, and sometimes subsequent viewings, there is a feeling of true loss. A feeling that the bad guy might actually win… again.<br /><br /><center>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from The Dark Knight Rises?</span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-10595238635773324082017-12-15T18:08:00.000-05:002017-12-15T18:08:23.601-05:00Festive Scene Friday! Arthur Christmas: The Elf Battalion<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">I often here people bemoan, especially at this time of year, that there are no modern classic Christmas films, with <i>Elf</i> and <i>Love, Actually</i>, both released in 2003, being the ones brought up as the last "good" ones. Whenever this occurs, <i>Arthur Christmas</i> is my go-to response. If you're not familiar, it's Aardman's 2011 computer-animated release centring on the family lineage of the Santas and how they function in a modern world. Jim Broadbent voices the current Santa, Imelda Staunton is his wife, Bill Nighy is his retired father Grand-Santa and his two sons are ambitious, career-hungry Steve (Hugh Laurie) and clumsy yet enthusiastic and endearing Arthur (James McAvoy). When Steve's military-style technology loses track of one present at the end of Christmas Eve, Arthur takes it upon himself - with the help of Grand-Santa, a single reindeer and an elf from the wrapping division (Ashley Jenson) - to return the gift before its intended recipient wakes up.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://fanart.tv/movie/51052/arthur-christmas/"><i>Arthur Christmas</i> artwork from fanart.tv, uploaded by AndyForman001</a></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">There are many scenes I could highlight here - the African exploits, the family board game, the climactic Cornwall-set chase - but instead I'm picking the film's opening scene, which really introduces us to the world and exactly how Santa and his team of elves manage to pull off the seemingly-impossible mission of delivering so many presents to so many children in such a short amount of time. Take a look:</span></div>
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To date this is Aardman's only fully computer-generated animation, whereas previously they worked within the stop-motion realm, painstakingly modelling endless figures and scenes, and imbuing them with life through the arduous animation process. Trying out this more digital approach does definitely lose something - the style is a little less charming, feels a little more processed - but it also allows for far greater scope and scale, and that's no more evident than in this opening, with hundreds of elves descending from Santa's mile-wide ship to deliver thousands of presents simultaneously. There's so much going on so quickly in every frame here that I honestly don't blame them for eschewing the more limited stop-motion format.<br />
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The intro answers a lot of questions as to how Santa might work in the modern world, tackling such issues as children in hospitals, sleeping in vans, apartment blocks and houses that don't have traditional fireplaces. Of course there's a lot of nonsense here with regards to the wrapped presents - for some reason the fully-functioning yet entirely encased slinky bothers me more than the inflating bouncy castle - and I love the homage to possibly the greatest scene from the greatest feature Aardman released, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrmZIgVoQw4">the train chase in <i>The Wrong Trousers</i></a>. Oh and for some reason the sleeping dog being left a gift-wrapped bone warms my heart to no end.</div>
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<i>What's your favorite modern Christmas movie moment?</i></h3>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371393071401885223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-65422222875163994102017-11-24T19:01:00.002-05:002017-11-24T19:01:41.213-05:00Favorite Scene Friday! Deep Blue Sea: Enough is Enough<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">I've made no secret of my belief in the fact that <i>Jurassic Park</i> is the greatest movie of all time, so it should be no surprise to learn that I also love some other films that have taken more than a little inspiration from it. <i>Deep Blue Sea</i> follows an almost identical template - a skeleton crew of scientists, trainers and visitors are trapped in a remote, water-surrounded facility when, during a storm, a combination of human error and digestion-based natural instincts cause the crew to rapidly diminish in number whilst trying to safely find a way home - oh, and they both feature Samuel L. Jackson. The main difference between <i>Deep Blue Sea</i> and <i>Jurassic Park</i> - other than the abundance of giant brainy sharks instead of lysene-deficient dinosaurs - is that <i>Deep Blue Sea</i> is more often ridiculous, and potentially the pinnacle of this nonsense is the subject of today's FSF.<br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=114581">Deep Blue Sea wallpaper available on AlphaCoders from darkness</a></td></tr>
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<br />It's easily the most famous scene from the film. In fact, it's a scene I'd seen before I'd even <i>heard</i> of the film itself. It's the kind of film where someone will show it to you by skipping just to this scene, and ending it right afterwards. And yes, that's exactly what happened to me. It took me a few years to actually watch the rest of the film and, whilst I highly enjoy the various scenes of shark-spearing, helicopter-exploding and bird-eating, it's still this scene that stands out from all the rest. Prior to this point the pressure in an underwater shark research laboratory has potentially been compromised and the few remaining survivors - shark wrangler Carter (Thomas Jane), scientist Susan (Saffron Burrows), terrified marine biologist Janice (Jacqueline McKenzie), skittish engineer Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) and corporate executive/avalanche survivor Russell (Samuel L. Jackson) - are coming to blows over their best course of action. There are deadly sharks on the loose and their submersible is damaged, so the best means of escape seems to be climbing up an elevator shaft, but opening the door to the shaft could drown them all. Anyway, here's the scene:<br /><br /></div>
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<br />Most of this is Russell's monologue. Sam Jackson has had a fair few phenomenal monologues in his time - <i>Pulp Fiction</i> of course springs to the forefront of my mind - so there really is no-one better to deliver these lines. Granted I could have done with the occasional "motherf*cker" thrown in here and there for good measure, but I'll take what I can get. What I really love about this scene though, and what makes it genuinely annoying that so many people see or hear about it before seeing the film as a whole, is that the end of it comes as a surprise. The scene itself is a cliche - the characters are panicking and heading in different directions, so one member, generally the most senior, makes a rousing speech to bond everyone together to face the climax as a team - but what breaks it from the mould is as Russell comes to the end of his speech and begins laying out his plan of action he is violently taken out by an appalling CGI shark emerging from the very pool Russell is suggesting they seal up. His body is dragged back into the pool which, after a little churning, becomes a bloody hot tub of commotion. We witness the reactions of the other characters and, unusually for this sort of film, we're as surprised as they are. Not only is it a shock that someone got taken out mid-motivational speech, but that person was Samuel L. Jackson, the biggest name in the film and one of the first character we met. As the outsider to the facility he has essentially been the audience surrogate so far, the character we've clung to during his tour and introductions to the rest of the characters, and now he's nothing but chum.<br /><br /><i>Deep Blue Sea</i> is a film full of decent character deaths - very few characters actually survive the film - but Russell's demise is easily the most memorable and iconic, despite chronologically falling in the middle of them all. It almost feels as if the entire film has been created around this moment, and if it means getting to witness a scene like this then as far as I'm concerned that's a pretty great reason to make a movie.<br /></div>
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<i>What's your favorite Samuel L. Jackson movie moment?</i></h3>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371393071401885223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-10585451608888770072017-11-03T20:29:00.000-04:002017-11-03T20:29:16.689-04:00Favorite Trailer Friday! NightcrawlerWhile this might be the shortest clip we've ever featured, I think it's more than worthy. In <i>Nightcrawler</i>, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a thief who develops a taste for late night freelance photojournalism.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://danielnorris.tumblr.com/image/101571937916" target="_blank">Dan Norris</a> via <a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/star-wars-episode-vi-return-of-the-jedi-by-daniel-norris-2/" target="_blank">AMP</a></td></tr>
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In this teaser alone, Gyllenhaal is fantastic. He manages to be charming, creepy, and frighteningly intense in less than a minute. If his character seems like a "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/trivia?item=tr2053358" target="_blank">hungry coyote</a>", that's exactly what he was going for.<br />
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Obviously central to this teaser is his speech. Gyllenhaal apparently <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/trivia?item=tr2305477" target="_blank">memorized the entire film</a> like a play, which, I guess you'd have to if you've gotta say this particular spiel over and over again. The teaser itself is special - it's got footage of his speeches from the movie, but it also has some stuff shot just for the teaser. He never sits behind the news desk like that or talks directly into the camera. After seeing this teaser, you just have to wonder what the hell this movie is. It does a great job of hinting at the kind of demented tone but doesn't tell you too much. Gyllenhaal would go on to win awards and nominations for his role and director and writer Dan Gilroy nabbed an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Nightcrawler?</span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-73022280867568781072017-10-27T17:07:00.000-04:002017-10-31T09:59:27.865-04:00Favorite (Horror) Scene Friday! Drag Me To Hell: The Button <i>Drag Me To Hell</i> holds a special place in my heart. I'm a pretty big fan of director Sam Raimi's body of work, including <i>The Evil Dead</i> and <i>Spider-Man</i> franchises, along with random stuff like <i>Darkman</i>. So <i>Drag Me To Hell</i> was a treat for me. I even remember seeing this and <i>Up</i> the same night. The film - which followed our heroine Christine (Alison Lohman) as she tried to fight off a gypsy curse - had solid scares and atmosphere and Raimi of course nailed it.<br />
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The scene below - which is literally the end of the film, so, spoilers - finds Christine having supposedly dealt with the gypsy curse that's plagued her throughout the film. She reunites with her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) and it's here we see the bond between these two characters really shine through. Christine admits to Clay that her troubles throughout the film were maybe a little bit her fault, but Clay tells Christine that she's a good person. I should note here that I don't care much for Alison Lohman in this role. I think Christine maybe needed to be a little meaner to make what inevitably happens to her make sense. Justin Long, however, is fantastic as Clay. Long has a charm and an earnestness and genuineness. I had an idea for a sequel starring his character - <i>Save Me From Hell</i>. Pretty self explanatory: Clay figures out what happened to Christine and somehow goes down to hell to save her. Admit it - it would be pretty amazing to see Raimi's depiction of hell.<br />
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Anyway, with the fake happy ending over, Clay pulls out the cursed button (Christine was supposed to return it to the gypsy's grave to avoid hell but she accidentally left her with Clay's coin instead) and Christine, shocked, falls on the tracks. Not only is a train speeding towards her, but a hole appears under her and demons reach out, pulling her down to hell ("Holy shit, it's actually happening!" everyone watching the movie for the first time thought) as her body begins to decay and burn. Clay tries to save Christine, selflessly reaching down for her, but the train rolls over her. Justin Long completely nails the reaction of a man who just had to watch the love of his life get pulled down to hell. Tears streaming down his face, he glances one last time at what's got to be the most ominous button of all time. One can only hope he started planning his rescue mission right then and there.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Drag Me To Hell?</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Would you like to see a sequel?</span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-91307326775536073822017-10-13T22:06:00.000-04:002017-10-13T22:06:10.046-04:00Favorite Scene Friday! 28 Days Later: Flat TireHappy October! A recent rewatch of <i>28 Days Later</i> confirms it's still a great film. It holds up. Even the sequel (<i>28 Weeks Later</i>) is pretty great. The cast of that one in particular is kind of a who's who of folks that made it big (Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Idris Elba). Anyway, <i>Days </i>came out around that zombie resurgence a few years ago, along with <i>Dawn of the Dead</i> and <i>Shaun of the Dead</i>. In fact, now that I look, it appears that <i>Days </i>kicked this craze off, or at least lead the pack in the '00s (maybe <i>Resident Evil </i>helped?).<br />
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There's still talk of another film that would make the series a trilogy. And why not? Zombies are still popular, based off <i>The Walking Dead</i> alone.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://janaheidersdorf.com/" target="_blank">Jana Heidersdorf</a> via <a href="https://alternativemovieposters.com/amp/28-days-later-jana-heidersdorf/" target="_blank">Alternative Movie Posters</a></td></tr>
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Our scene this week might be the film's scariest. Our group of heroes (played by Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Megan Burns) must drive through a tunnel on their way to a supposed safe zone they've heard about in messages over the radio. After driving up and over a blockage in the tunnel they of course get a flat tire. While stopping to change it, a mysterious sound gives way to a flood of rats which are, you guessed it, fleeing from the infected.<br />
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I love the immediate dreadful atmosphere and tension after they stop to fix the car, along with the mysterious sound and then the awful image of rats crawling all over Hannah (Burns). But the best part is the nail-biting tension of the group changing the tire while zombies bear down on them. Car repair has never been so terrifying.<br />
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<b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from 28 Days Later?</span></u></i></b></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="font-size: large;">Would you like to see a third "28" film? What would the plot be? </span></u></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-41138013588716045022017-09-01T11:16:00.000-04:002017-09-01T11:16:55.466-04:00Favorite Scene Friday! The A-Team: "They're trying to fly that tank."<i>This week's scene is by CT from <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/" target="_blank">Nerd Lunch</a>!</i><br />
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I love The A-Team. Perhaps more than any man should. I was the right age when the TV series launched. It was on from 1982-1987 which put me at about 6 to 10. Everything about it was over the top and schlocky fun.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Source, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_team_poster_10.jpg" title="Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of The A-Team (film)">Fair use</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26613338">Link</a></td></tr>
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A show like that though, you expect to watch it through adult eyes and not have the same fondness. Surprisingly, the opposite happened. I received the TV series on DVD for Christmas a few years ago and watched through them all again. I loved it more. And Hannibal Smith cemented himself as one of my favorite characters in pop culture. The first two seasons of the show are solid, 80s action fun. Hannibal is a wise-cracking Vietnam vet who has assembled a group of guys who are misfits when apart, but a force of nature when together.<br />
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Peppard is know for some unfortunate issues on the set. Reportedly he drove off the two female leads and was known to have a feud (seemingly one-sided) with Mr. T. That aside, Peppard played the role of Hannibal perfectly. And the characters were rich in backstory and personality that was infused into the scripts by creators Lupo and Cannell.<br />
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With such love and passion for this show, I both wanted a reboot and didn't want one at the same time. There were reports of a reboot movie for years before one actually came out in 2010. Early rumors indicated script treatments not very faithful to the original story including Faceman being the villain of the story. Although this same early script apparently had a scene that completely seemed like what a big budget A-Team movie should have—The A-Team flying a tank.<br />
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Years passed by and directors changed. Then a cast was lined up. Then a promo photo was released. And it looked like it was finally going to happen. Nervous, I still went and watched it. And I loved it.<br />
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I have some minor quibbles in regards to the portrayal of Hannibal, but I can easily look past those noting this movie takes place earlier in their career than the series does and the aspects of Hannibal that I would like to have seen would have developed in sequels. What they got right about Hannibal was his planning. Hannibal has an almost supernatural gift of seeing the world in such a way that he can plan multiple steps in advance and pull off anything he wants.<br />
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Anything. That includes what if you found yourself in a tank in the middle of the air that was now plummeting to the ground? Well, Hannibal finds a way to land it. So unrealistic, but so fun.<br />
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There are many great scenes in this film and if you haven't watched it, you can rent it for cheap and almost always find it for sale for the same price. It deserves a sequel that we'll never get. The plan for this film finally came together and I love that it did.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-5629040394000197182017-08-25T23:14:00.001-04:002017-08-25T23:14:54.102-04:00Favorite Scene Friday! Game of Thrones: Dracarys<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">SPOILERS!!!</span></div>
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This weekend is a big one for Game of Thrones - Sunday marks the season 7 finale. What will happen with Dany and Jon? Will everyone come together to fight the White Walkers, or will Cersei blindside everyone? I personally can't wait to find out, but let's jump back a bit for this week's scene.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mattrobot.com/#/game-of-thrones-character-portraits/" target="_blank">Matt Talbot</a></td></tr>
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Back in season five, Dany was ruling over Meereen. In the scene below, a rebellion by the Sons of the Harpy interrupts a match in the fighting pits, in which Dany's once and future advisor Jorah Mormont was a combatant. Dany and co. will try to get away, but they get forced into the middle of the arena. All will seem lost, with Dany seemingly resigning herself to her fate, until a dragon's screech silences the attack.<br />
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Drogon's screech coming out of nowhere, his sudden appearance and his attack on the Sons of the Harpy never fail to give me chills. But this scene is chock full of great moments. It goes so quickly from Jorah prevailing in the pit to saving Dany from the SotH (man those masks are creepy) and then the Drogon attack, it's enough to make your head spin.<br />
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Drogon. Rips. And. Burns. So. Many. Bad guys. And then Dany herself finally gets in on the action after her dragon takes a few spears to the neck. The fact that she pulls a spear out of Drogon and he doesn't burn her alive is a testament to her control over the animal. His roar in her face and the subsequent tender moment is great.<br />
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Of course, after this, Dany goes on to conquer her enemies in Meereen and elsewhere. Hopefully she'll continue to do so on Sunday.</div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-41116164579447763372017-05-26T21:49:00.000-04:002017-05-26T21:49:04.998-04:00(Our 200th) Favorite Scene Friday! Alien: The ChestbursterIt's our 200th Favorite Scene Friday! To mark the occasion, we recorded a very special audio commentary FSF! Jay and I were joined by Lindsay Street and Nick Rehak from <a href="http://frenchtoastsunday.com/" target="_blank">French Toast Sunday</a>, two veteran FSFers. We checked out the Chestburster scene from <i>Alien</i>, surely one of the most classic bits from any horror/sci-fi film. And <i>Alien: Covenant</i> is so hot right now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mondotees.com/collections/archive/products/alien-variant-nc-winter-poster" target="_blank">Mondo</a></td></tr>
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I surely didn't get to 200 FSFs alone, and I've gotta thank a lot of folks. Tiffany, Nick, and Pat, of course. Our guests have been Ruth from <a href="http://splendidandlovely.blogspot.com/">"...let's be splendid about this..."</a>, Alex from <a href="http://andsoitbeginsfilms.com/">And So It Begins...</a>, Pete from <a href="http://ilovethatfilm.blogspot.com/">I Love That Film</a>, CT from <a href="http://nerdlunch.net/">Nerd Lunch</a>, Pax from <a href="http://cavalcadeofawesome.net/">Cavalcade of Awesome</a>, Lindsay, Jess, and Nick from <a href="http://frenchtoastsunday.com/">French Toast Sunday</a>, Daniel Lackey from <a href="https://lackeyonfilm.com/" target="_blank">Lackey Writes About Film</a>, Sara from <a href="https://redheadatthemovies.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">A Redhead at the Movies</a>, Will from <a href="http://www.explodinghelicopter.com/" target="_blank">Exploding Helicopter</a>, Tony Cogan from <a href="https://coogsreviews.wordpress.com/">Coogs Reviews</a>, Jacob Lusk of <a href="http://pannedreview.com/" target="_blank">Panned Review</a>, Bubbawheat from <a href="https://flightstightsandmovienights.com/">Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights</a>, and, of course, Jay from <a href="http://lifevsfilm.com/" target="_blank">Life Vs. Film</a>. Thanks, guys! If I missed anyone I truly apologize. Thanks to EVERYONE who visits this blog and checks out this feature. Without further ado, enjoy some <i>Alien</i> nastiness and our commentary!<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Alien?</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://youtu.be/SEEwAvlJOcI" target="_blank">Check, please!</a></span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-74530173231315550302017-05-26T17:49:00.000-04:002017-05-26T17:49:12.418-04:00Favorite Scene Friday! Alien: Covenant: What's your favorite scene?<i><span style="color: red;">Spoiler alert for Alien: Covenant!</span></i><br />
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<i>Alien: Covenant</i> recently hugged the collective faces of the world. What was your favorite scene? I guess for me it was the David and Walter stuff? And, less interesting, the David and Walter fight? Other than that, nothing really stands out to me as a "favorite". That's obviously not a good sign. I'll tell you what was not my favorite scene (or rather, not my favorite part of an otherwise awesome scene) the Engineers that David wipes out. They really didn't look like the Engineer(s) from <i>Prometheus</i>. And why the f*ck were they all just standing around like idiots? Aren't they geniuses? I did like the Xenomorph stuff, of course. Or is it <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comments/5xsr3p/alien_covenant_the_protomorph_not_xenomorph/" target="_blank">Protomorph?</a> <br />
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I enjoyed the Neomorph infections when they were first starting to happen. I like when two or more separate groups of people are on walkie talkies together in a film. I think there's a term for that. Something about establishing the reality/geography of a film? Anyway, here's the trailer to refresh your memory.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Alien: Covenant?</span></i></b></div>
Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-21039259405552735632017-05-26T10:37:00.000-04:002017-05-26T10:37:18.675-04:00Favorite Scene Friday! Clerks II: Pillow Pants<div>
<i>This FSF is brought to you by Nick Rehak at <a href="http://frenchtoastsunday.com/" target="_blank">French Toast Sunday</a>! What a guy!</i></div>
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I like Kevin Smith. I dig some of his podcasts and I enjoy most of his movies. He’s dipped his hand in different genres over the years, but he’s at his best when making comedies. Not fantasy/horror/sci-fi/gonzo comedies. Just regular old comedies. Two people talking. Straight man, funny man. Sometimes you can tell who's who and sometimes they change hats so often you just give up and hold onto your sides. I really like <i>Clerks II</i>. I probably like it more than the original. But maybe that’s because I’ve seen the second more than the first. Regardless, today I’m gabbing on about my favorite scene from <i>Clerks II</i>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks_II#/media/File:Clerks_II_(2006)_poster.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
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At this point in the film, Dante has decided he’s leaving Mooby’s for greener pastures in Florida and will most likely never return. Disappointed, Randall realizes he’ll be alone until he creates new friends and focuses those efforts on Elias. So, after a conversation about which is the “True Trilogy” <i>Star Wars</i> or <i>Lord of the Rings</i> (I’m Team <i>Star Wars</i>), Randall pulls Elias aside and starts to dig deeper into who Elias is and what he’s about. He starts by prodding at Elias' virginity. From there, the conversation takes a dark turn into the realm of pussy trolls. Yeah, pussy trolls.<br />
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I’ve always liked this scene because of its absurdity and Elias. Elias, played by Trevor Ferhman, is never not funny. (Shame, Trevor hasn’t done anything since this film. Had he snuck into an Apatow film or two, dude would be a household name.). Everything from his look to his facial expressions to his expertly timed comedic beats kill me. But this exchange between he and Randall takes top prize by two furlongs. The confidence with which Elias delivers this moment is immeasurable and is truly something that can’t be taught. It wasn’t until I watched this film with headphones on that the humor was elevated. <br />
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When Elias explains who Pillow Pants is, we cut to Randall and his expression immediately changes. He goes from this cocky gum chewing dick to a man paralyzed by abject terror. At this exact moment, the opening theme to the <i>The Shining</i> begins to play. I never heard that before and it absolutely killed me when I heard it. The ominous wailing and unsettling synth tones that play under the exchange adds to an already hilarious scene. Never in a million years would I have thought of something like that. Any other film would play that scene straight with just two dudes talking it out. But Kevin Smith is able to take a goofy moment and launch it into the comedic stratosphere. I really hope a continuation of the <i>Clerks</i> story happens at some point. I’d like to see more Elias. Though if I’m being honest, I’m really just curious if he ever got past Listerfiend. <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">What's your favorite scene from Clerks II?</span></i></b></div>
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Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7836370962531240642.post-17493426003321427432017-04-03T15:43:00.000-04:002017-04-05T09:43:24.569-04:00Obsessive Cinematic Disorder: We Need an "Alien: Isolation" Movie<b><span style="color: red;">Spoilers for the <i>Alien</i> franchise to follow.</span></b><br />
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Ridley Scott seems hell bent on <a href="http://geektyrant.com/news/ridley-scott-says-hes-ready-to-crank-out-another-six-alien-films-and-that-the-next-one-is-already-written" target="_blank">making <i>Alien</i> films</a> until he dies. But instead of producing the endless <i>Prometheus/Covenant</i> sequels that are apparently in the pipeline, why not adapt the phenomenal <i>Alien: Isolation</i>, a video game that follows Amanda Ripley*, daughter of original <i>Alien</i> protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). That's right, <i>Alien: Isolation</i> insists Ripley's daughter got into some xenomorph shenanigans of her own.<br />
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You see, when we meet Amanda at the beginning of <i>Isolation</i>, she's already been looking for her long-missing mother, working for the Weyland-Yutani company on the edges of fringe space. The company approaches Amanda with an offer: they've found the black box from the Nostromo, Ripley's ship from <i>Alien</i>, and they want Amanda on the mission. Amanda sets off to recover the flight recorder and winds up on Sevastopol, a sprawling space station. It's there that she finds trouble worthy of the <i>Alien</i> franchise.<br />
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And with that, here are some specific reasons a hypothetical <i>Alien: Isolation</i> movie is great.<br />
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<b><u>It's <i>Alien </i>on Steroids</u></b><br />
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<i>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</i> was essentially a bigger, "better" remake of <i>A New Hope</i>, and that's okay. In fact, <i>Alien: Isolation</i> could do the same thing for <i>Alien</i>. The game is a jacked up version of <i>Alien</i> in that it has a plot similar to the original film (a Ripley vs. an alien), but it's on a giant space station with a larger cast of characters. There's even an android threat to deal with, but it's cranked up to 11. And speaking of androids...<br />
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<b><u>Possible Michael Fassbender Connection</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>A member of Amanda's crew is an android named Samuels. Anthony Howell portrays the 'droid in the game - and he does a fine job - but how cool would it be to feature Michael Fassbender in the role? That would connect this film not just to <i>Alien</i>, but to Fassbender's <i>Prometheus</i> and <i>Alien: Covenant</i> as well. This would even continue the trend of Fassbender's android characters having different names in each film.<br />
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<b><u>It's Scary</u></b><br />
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The game is terrifying. One thing that connects <i>Isolation</i> with its <i>Alien</i> roots is that no one really knows about the alien. There's a terrifying quality in <i>Alien</i> because the creature just comes out of nowhere. Same here. All of the subsequent <i>Alien</i> films featured Ripley dealing with a creature she - and the audience - already knew about. This would reset that.<br />
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Another scary part of the game is hiding from the alien. Amanda has some weapons and tools, but, just like in <i>Alien</i>, the creature is basically unstoppable, so cowering in a locker until it goes away is a requirement. The movie can't be all hiding, so maybe include one or two hiding scenes. Perhaps even make those scenes first person, which would be sort of found-footage-ish in a cool way.<br />
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There's even the aforementioned android element. In fact, there's a ton of them, and they're more like a basic model, with creepy, featureless faces and they're not the friendliest.<br />
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<b><u>Franchise Potential</u></b><br />
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Alien: Isolation </i>definitely leaves room for more Amanda Ripley adventures. Not to bring up that other sci-fi saga again, but the <i>Alien</i> franchise could be Fox's new <i>Star Wars</i>. In fact, forget franchise, this could kick off a shared universe.** Fassbender could serve as the Sam Jackson of the series. This film would even have a <i>Rogue One</i> vibe going on...sort of an "inbetweenquel" about a character only briefly mentioned in another film.***<br />
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I'm really hoping Fox is already working on all this. Alien Day is coming up again on April 26, so maybe an announcement is incoming.<br />
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*<a href="https://twitter.com/Andrea_Deck" target="_blank">Andrea Deck</a> voices Amanda in the game. It would be awesome if she reprised the role in this film.<br />
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**<a href="http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/neil-blomkamp-might-not-direct-alien-5-after-all-458" target="_blank">Let Neill Blomkamp make his <i>Alien 5</i></a> film with Sigourney Weaver. The film obviously wouldn't make sense considering the events of <i>Alien 3</i>, but this year's <i>Logan</i> proved you can do alternate timeline films.<br />
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***So, you're right, Amanda is only <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPItoMfPHLQ&t=18s" target="_blank">mentioned in the director's cut of <i>Aliens</i></a>. But while we're on that topic, it's interesting to note that that film would have you believe that Amanda lived a humdrum life on Earth while her mom drifted in space between <i>Alien</i> and <i>Aliens</i>. Or, at least, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) chose not to mention Amanda's adventures. In reality, the folks behind <i>Isolation</i> were probably just taking some liberties with the character. When Amanda's information was mentioned in <i>Aliens </i>in 1986, that was probably true at the time. It makes Ripley's story that more tragic and sets up her mother/daughter relationship with Newt. On the other hand, we could now take it to mean that Weyland-Yutani was totally lying to Ripley's face about Amanda. It wouldn't have been the first time they did something sinister. Ret-conning Weyland-Yutani into covering up the Amanda/Sevastopol disaster makes perfect sense, and makes the franchise even more interesting.Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394045103473759585noreply@blogger.com1