Heartbreaks and Headshots: The Action Movie Majesty of the ‘John Wick’ Series
John Wick fans will want to check out Jacob Hall’s excellent Heartbreaks and Headshots: The Action Movie Majesty of the ‘John Wick’ Series over at /film.
Category: Celebs
Cinephilia Goes In-Depth with John Carpenter on “They Live”
Fans of John Carpenter’s They Live will want to check out ‘THEY LIVE’: JOHN CARPENTER’S BRILLIANTLY SIMPLE AND HUGELY ENJOYABLE ASSAULT ON REAGAN’S AMERICA at Cinephilia and Beyond.
There you’ll find John Carpenter’s They Live script, an interview with Carpenter and a whole lot more.
“Reservoir Dogs” Trivia from Quentin Tarantino
Matt Hoffman and Film School Rejects present What We Learned While Revisiting Reservoir Dogs with Quentin Tarantino. Here are two of my favorite things…
Tarantino learned a lot about his characters when a producer gave him the advice to search for the subtext.
“Just writing down the obvious opened up different avenues, different thoughts, and so you think you’re writing one line and you write three, or four, and all of a sudden I started realizing, ‘Oh wow, this is kind of a father-son story.’ “Isn’t it interesting that throughout the whole piece Mr. White keeps telling Mr. Orange ‘Wait for Joe, wait for Joe and when Joe gets here he’s going to take care of everything.” Well when Joe gets there he’s come to kill Mr. Orange. And the whole interesting thing at the end, which I hadn’t thought about frankly, which is that Mr. White is kind of almost a de facto son character for Joe, and Mr. Orange has become a de facto son character for Mr. White. At the end, Mr. White has to choose between his father and his son and he chooses his son but he’s wrong, but he’s wrong for all the right reasons. All that kind of started coming to me. So I finished it and I go, ‘Oh wow, that was a really interesting exercise…I never want to do this ever again.’
Working with Lawrence Tierney (Joe) was a nightmare.
“The worst moment on set was the last ten minutes of the last day of the first week we were shooting. Me and Larry got into a fist fight. It was more of a shoving match frankly. Harvey Keitel and Lawrence [Bender] broke it up. I fired Larry in front of everybody, the crew applauded because they’d hated him. Harvey told us to settle down and then he ran out and then Larry ran out. I took a walk around the trucks. I’d done nothing but shoot Lawrence Tierney all week long, so if I wanted to get fired, I’m going to get fired because they’re going to keep Larry. We have a week’s worth of footage. But I wasn’t going to put up with his ****. So I’m literally walking around the trailers thinking, “Well okay, you wanted to know how it’s going to end well it’s going to end this way. I guess it was nice while it lasted but I guess you’re not going to put up with ****, you’re going to go back to the video store but you’re not going to put up with ****. Aren’t you the smart guy?”
34 Things We Learned from the John Sturges’ “Bad Day at Black Rock” Commentary
Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 34 Things We Learned from the John Sturges’ Bad Day at Black Rock Commentary. Here are three of my favorites…
6. He says Spencer Tracy was such a fantastic actor and engrossed viewers so well in a scene that he himself would “get so caught up I’d forget to say ‘cut!’” Other actors would approach Sturges surprised at the impact Tracy’s presence and performance had on their own.
10. He says a strange thing happened on the film in regard to their lack of extras. “A town is supposed to have wanderers,” he says, and they had a group of ten or so available for just such a purpose. And yet the film has none. “Every time the assistant director would put someone in, I didn’t like it.” He didn’t like it when they were up close, and he liked it less when they were just dots in the distant background. “That’s worse. Are those the rescuers coming?!” They distracted him, “and I’m a movie maker, not a documentary maker.”
25. He says the production was free of conflict between talent with one exception “that amused me and absolutely scorched Spence.” Tracy had won three Academy Awards by this time, but Walter Brennan had won four, and before each shared scene Brennan would look at Tracy and hold up four fingers.
John Wick (2014)
John Wick (2014)
Director: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch (uncredited)
Screenplay: Derek Kolstad
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Keith Jardine and Kevin Nash.
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make an action movie that takes it to the next level!”
Tagline: Don’t Set Him Off!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
John Wick [Reeves] is grieving the death of his wife. A chance meeting with Iosef Tarasov, the privileged son of a Russian mobster, leads to Tarasov and some of his thugs breaking into Wick’s house, beating him badly, killing his dog and stealing his prized vintage Mustang.
Tarasov learns way to late that Wick is a legendary retired hit man. And now Wick is coming for revenge.
Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, Derek Kolstad and Keanu Reeves have created a unique world that is just slightly different from the one we live in. It feels real. Each character has a backstory that is told without it feeling like backstory. The action is amazing. I loved this movie and want more!!
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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay: Robert Ardrey and John Gay based on the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
Stars: Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb, Yvette Mimieux and Paul Henreid.
The Pitch: “Hey, adapt the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez!”
Tagline: From Ibanez’ immortal classic, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents an unforgettable motion picture
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
As World War II rages, Julio [Ford] a playboy from Argentina is living in Paris. Although not a fan of the Nazis, like his country, Julio is neutral… until he falls in love with a married woman [Thulin] whose French freedom-fighting husband is a prisoner of war. Julio begs Marguerite to leave Paris before it is overrun by Germans, but she refuses.
The German take over Paris and Julio is not to surprised to learn that his cousin and uncle are high ranking Nazis. When Julio discovers that Marguerite is a member of the French underground he knows that he will have to chose sides.
Vincent Minnelli has created a unique film. I really enjoyed it but bet it won’t be for everyone.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me
Tess Kornfeld and US Magazine.com present Neil deGrasse Tyson: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me. Here are three of my favorites…
2. I have an asteroid named after me called 13123 Tyson. It orbits between Mars and Jupiter.
6. I was captain of my high school wrestling team, and undefeated.
23. When I tweet my observations on science in films, my goal is to enhance enjoyment. Given how many people react negatively, I’m clearly failing in this goal.
13 Things You Didn’t Know About “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
Eddie Deezen and Neatorama present 13 Things You Didn’t Know About The Dick Van Dyke Show. Here are three of my favorites…
4. The show was not successful in its first season and was actually cancelled by CBS. Producer Danny Thomas had to personally go to the network execs and convince (beg) them to leave the show on the air. The show picked up steam during summer reruns that year, remained on the air and became the “classic” series we all know. Ironically, after star Van Dyke decided to end the series after it’s five-year run in 1966, it was the CBS executives who begged him to stay on.
7. Buddy Sorrel, the wise-cracking joke writer played by Morey Amsterdam, was actually based on Mel Brooks, who was originally a comedy writer and worked with the show’s producer Carl Reiner on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows in the 1950s.
9. The show was usually filmed before a studio audience, but was not on at least three occasions. One was on the day of JFK’s assassination- November 22, 1963. On that day, in the middle of rehearsals, the cast heard about the president’s assassination and decided to go ahead and film the episode “Happy Birthday and Too Many More” anyway. However, it was decided that they would do the episode with no studio audience, figuring no one would be in the mood to laugh at such a time.
25 Fascinating Facts About “Breaking Bad”
Jennifer Wood and Mental_Floss present 25 Fascinating Facts About Breaking Bad. Here are three of my favorites…
2. THE NETWORK REALLY WANTED MATTHEW BRODERICK TO STAR.
It’s impossible to imagine Breaking Bad with anyone other than Bryan Cranston in the lead role, but he wasn’t as well known when the series kicked off, and AMC wanted a star. They were particularly interested in casting either Matthew Broderick or John Cusack in the lead.
“We all still had the image of Bryan shaving his body in Malcolm in the Middle,” a former AMC executive told The Hollywood Reporter about their initial reluctance to cast Cranston. “We were like, ‘Really? Isn’t there anybody else?’” But Gilligan had worked with Cranston before, on an episode of The X-Files, and knew he had the chops to navigate the quirks of the part. The network brass watched the episode, and agreed.
“We needed somebody who could be dramatic and scary yet have an underlying humanity so when he dies, you felt sorry for him,” Gilligan said. “Bryan nailed it.”
10. GILLIGAN GOT SOME HELP FROM THE WALKING DEAD CREW FOR FRING’S FINAL EPISODE.
Fring’s final sendoff is one of the most memorable visual images from the entire series—and they were able to enlist the help of some true gore experts. “Indeed we did have great help from the prosthetic effects folks at The Walking Dead,” Gilligan told The New York Times. “And I want to give a shout-out to Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, and KNB EFX, those two gentlemen and their company, because their shop did that effect. And then that was augmented by the visual effects work of a guy named Bill Powloski and his crew, who digitally married a three-dimensional sculpture that KNB EFX created with the reality of the film scene. So you can actually see into and through Gus’s head in that final reveal. It’s a combination of great makeup and great visual effects. And it took months to do.”
15. HEISENBERG’S SIGNATURE HAT WAS A MATTER A PRACTICALITY.
Heisenberg’s porkpie hat came to identify Walter White’s dark side, but it originated from a very practical place. “Bryan kept asking me, after he shaved his head, ‘Can I have a hat?’ because his head was cold,” Kathleen Detoro, the show’s costume designer, explained. “So I would ask Vince and he kept saying no; Jesse wore the hats. Finally, Vince said, ‘I think there’s a place …’ It was Bryan asking for a hat, me asking Vince, and then Vince figuring out where in the story it makes sense: It’s when he really becomes Heisenberg.” (If you want to buy your own Heisenberg hat, it was made by Goorin.)
9 Hardened Facts About Charles Bronson
Jake Rosen and Mental_Floss present 9 Hardened Facts About Charles Bronson. Here are three of my favorites…
2. HE EARNED HIS FIRST ACTING ROLE BY BURPING.
Bronson had always been interested in the arts. After serving in the Army during World War II, he found himself in Atlantic City doing odd jobs. One acting troupe invited him to paint scenery for them; Bronson found he enjoyed performing more. His first film role, in 1951’s You’re in the Navy Now, was landed, he said, because he was the only actor who could burp on demand.
3. COMMUNISM (AND STEVE MCQUEEN) FORCED A NAME CHANGE.
When Bronson (né Buchinsky) was starting out, Senator Joseph McCarthy was preoccupied with rooting out Communists in Hollywood. Fearing his Lithuanian name would provide ammunition for accusations, he took on the name Bronson after driving with friend Steve McQueen, who pointed to a “Bronson” street sign and shouted to him that it would be perfect.
8. HE WAS HUGE IN ITALY.
While Bronson was a bona fide movie star in the States for a portion of his career, he was a megastar in other countries. Italian moviegoers called him “Il Brutto” (The Ugly One) and in France he was one of cinema’s “monstres sacrés” His movies would often earn more in other territories than they would in North America. In Japan, a publicist once said, his name appeared on a sign over a block long.
11 Solid Gold Facts About Bonanza
MeTV presents 11 Solid Gold Facts About Bonanza. Here are three of my favorites…
BLOCKER FOUNDED THE BONANZA RESTAURANTS.
Not only is the popular buffet chain named after the show, it was founded by one of its cast members. Blocker started the chain in 1963, which eventually boasted 600 locations by 1989. Ponderosa restaurants started in Canada in the early 1970s and expanded to the United States in the 1980s. Today, both chains are owned by the same company.
THEY WEAR THE SAME OUTFITS FOR A REASON.
Have you ever noticed how the characters’ clothes don’t change from episode to episode? From the fourth season onwards, the Cartwrights wear the same outfits like cartoon characters. The standardization was made to make it easier to reuse stock footage for action sequences and to make it easier to duplicate the wardrobe for the stunt doubles.
MOST OF THE CAST MEMBERS WORE HAIRPIECES.
During the last few years of the series, Greene, Roberts and Blocker all had to wear hairpieces because their natural hair was thinning. Greene and Roberts started the series wearing hairpieces, while Blocker started wearing a toupee in 1968
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
Director: Joe May
Screenplay: Lester Cole & Curt Siodmak (as Kurt Siodmak)
Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey and Alan Napier.
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make another Invisible Man picture!”
Tagline: More strange thrills… More eerie chills… More awesome suspense
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Sentenced to die for a murder he didn’t commit, Geoffrey Radcliffe (Price) escapes death row by taking the invisible man serum. Will Radcliffe be able to prove his innocence before invisibility drives him mad?
Although Vincent Price is the Invisible Man, you won’t see much of him in this starring role. ; )
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When Ali Was to Fight Wilt Chamberlain
Michael Kronenberg is a man of many interests. Michael is into film noir, art, boxing (although not MMA) and more.
Recently Mike posted the Tweet above. I wasn’t aware that Ali was at one time going to fight Wilt Chamberlain. I have to agree with Ali’s prediction had he fought Chamberlain. “Timber” indeed!
14 Campy Facts About “Ed Wood”
Mark Mancini and the Mental_Floss present 14 Campy Facts About Ed Wood. Here are three of my favorites…
1. IT’S THE BRAINCHILD OF FORMER COLLEGE ROOMMATES.
In 1981, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski—both freshmen at the USC School of Cinema-Television—met each other in a cafeteria line, hit it off immediately, and arranged to become roommates. During their senior year, the duo began joining forces on an assortment of screenwriting projects, kicking off a partnership that continues to this day. Together, they have co-written Problem Child (1990), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Man on the Moon (1999), and Big Eyes (2014). On the small screen, they also developed the hit FX series American Crime Story, which recently completed its first season with The People v. O. J. Simpson.
Before graduating from USC in 1985, Alexander and Karaszewski briefly considered making a documentary on history’s most enigmatic director, Edward D. Wood, Jr. Although this project went unrealized, they eventually returned to the subject. In 1992, author Rudolph Grey published Ed Wood: Nightmare of Ecstasy (The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr.), a thoroughly researched oral biography of Wood and his work. The book inspired Alexander and Karaszewski to pen a 10-page story treatment for a new biopic about the eccentric, cross-dressing auteur.
3. COLUMBIA PICTURES DROPPED THE FILM AFTER BURTON INSISTED ON SHOOTING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE.
One month before production began, Ed Wood hit a snag. Burton was fortunate enough to hire his first choice for the role of Bela Lugosi, actor Martin Landau, and makeup artist Rick Baker made Landau look uncannily similar to the Hungarian movie star. Nevertheless, after watching the first color tests, something felt a bit off. That’s when everyone realized that they’d only ever seen black-and-white photographs of Lugosi. Immediately, Burton decided that Ed Wood couldn’t be filmed in color.
The movie was being developed by Columbia Pictures, whose higher-ups disagreed with Burton’s decision to shoot in black and white. “They were saying, ‘Look, we can’t get our cable money, we can’t get our foreign video money, we won’t be able to exploit the movie in a lot of markets if it’s in black-and-white,” Alexander recalled. Still, Burton held firm. Realizing he wouldn’t budge, Columbia abandoned the picture. Fortunately, Disney was there to pick it up—and allowed Burton to follow his creative instincts.
9. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE’S LEADING MAN IS IN IT.
Although he appeared in more than 30 movies and worked with visionaries like Steven Spielberg and John Ford, Gregory Walcott is chiefly remembered for playing the main character in Plan 9 From Outer Space. “It’s enough to drive a puritan to drink!” Walcott vented in 1998. Regardless, when Tim Burton’s Ed Wood came around, he made a quick cameo as a prospective investor in one scene. The film marked Walcott’s final film appearance; the actor passed away in 2015.
Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 26: Adams, Jones, Nino, Anderson, Cirocco and More!
If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains. Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…
I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!
For Ink Stains 26, Ken took a look at Venture 5 from 1976. Edited and published by Horizon Zero Graphiques/Frank Cirocco.
I owned this issue! I remember being impressed by the Neal Adams cover and interior art by Jeff Jones, Alex Nino, Brent Anderson, Carl Potts, Frank Cirocco, Gary Winnick, Steve Leialoha, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowski. What a gathering of talent.
In Ken’s Ink Stains 26, he talks about his friendship with Brent Anderson and reprints the first piece that Ken ever had published — the Bruce Lee piece inked by Anderson below! [This did not appear in Venture 5.]
Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines. Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!
