Category: Movies

“Rocky” Franchise Trivia!

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Ben Sherlock and ScreenRant posted Yo, Adrian!: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Rocky Franchise. 

Most regular readers here will know the majority of the trivia posted, but there may be a few that surprise you.  Below are three of my favs and my thoughts on each.  Click over the article for all the facts and the full details.

Thanks To Rocky, Sylvester Stallone Has An Oscars Record Tied With Charlie Chaplin And Orson Welles.  (Sly was the third person to ever receive Academy Award nominations for writing and acting in the same film!  Since Sly earned this honor, Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, Billy Bob Thornton, Matt Damon and Roberto Benigni have joined this elite group. – Craig)

Rocky Balboa Was The First Rocky Film To Use Real Punches As Sound Effects.  (Most folks know Sly and his co-stars traded real punches at times during the fight scenes, but how many knew that the real punch sounds weren’t used until Rocky Balboa? – Craig)

The Original Film’s Script Was Tweaked To Accommodate Production Errors.  (While not technically a production error, the skating scene with Rocky and Adrian originally was supposed to take place with the skating rink full of people.  The budget wouldn’t allow it, and I think the film is better for it! – Craig)

Surprising Cary Grant Trivia!

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Jake Rossen and Mental Floss present 8 Surprising Facts About Cary Grant.  Grant appeared in over 75 films (including two of my favorites, Arsenic and Old Lace and North by Northwest).

Cary Grant lived an interesting life.  Here are my three favorite facts and my comments on each.  Click over to the article to get all the details.

3. CARY GRANT WAS OFFERED THE ROLE OF JAMES BOND.  (While I really like Grant’s acting, I can’t see him as James Bond.  Well, maybe he’d have pulled off a Roger Moore-type Bond if he had been younger.  All in all — good pass.)

8. CARY GRANT RETIRED EARLY.  (Grant did something that many stars talk about doing but don’t.  Most stars retire and then make a comeback.  Grant did it right.  He retired from acting and never came back.)

4. CARY GRANT REALLY LOVED LSD.  (I include this fact not because I like Grant’s drug use, but because it is so surprising.  It goes to show, you never know about people.  Who’d have thought Cary Grant would be into LSD?  Not me.)

“Skywatch” Short featuring Jude Law!

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Check out this really well done short, Skywatch.

SKYWATCH is a sci-fi proof of concept written & directed by Colin Levy.

This short has been six years in the making, funded via Kickstarter, and crafted by volunteering artists across the world.

Starring young up-and-comers Uriah Shelton (13 REASONS WHY, LOOKING FOR ALASKA) and Zach Callison (STEVEN UNIVERSE, THE GOLDBERGS), the short also features an appearance by Jude Law.

When two outcast teens hack into a ubiquitous drone delivery system to pull a prank on their neighbor, they accidentally crash-land a dangerous prototype – and find themselves entangled in a life-and-death conspiracy.

Source: FirstShowing.

“A Quiet Place 2” Trailer is Here! (Updated with the Poster)

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Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

A Quiet Place was a critical and box office success.  I’m on board with the critics and the crowd.  I love that the trailer for A Quiet Place 2 keeps the focus on the Abbott family and gives us a glimpse of how the invasion started as well as the outside world long after.

And here is the poster!

Ranking the Films of Michael Bay

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Kieran Fisher at Film School Rejects ranked the films of Michael Bay.  I decided I’d play along.  I’ve ranked Bay’s films (that I’ve seen) with a comment on each.

09.  Transformers (2007) – I didn’t care for this at all but then again, I wasn’t in the target audience.

08. The Island (2005) – I saw it, but remember thinking it would be better.

07.  Bad Boys (1995) – I can remember sitting in the theater and thinking, ‘This should be better.’

06.  Pain & Gain (2013) – I wasn’t expecting a lot from this one and so the bar wasn’t that high.

05.  6 Underground (2019) – Put your mind in neutral and go along for the ride.

04.  Pearl Harbor (2001) – I liked this better than most folks.  In fact I almost put it in the third spot.

03.  Armageddon (1998) – A great cast and a fun story.

02.  Bad Boys II (2003) – I didn’t care for the first Bad Boys but really dug the second.

01.  The Rock (1996) – Absolutely loved this one!

Max Allan Collins on Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick and The Shining(s)

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Max Allan Collins posted an excellent piece on The Shining – the book, the movie and the differences that Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick had in regard to their versions.  As a bonus Collins looks at Doctor Sleep and the 1997 TV mini-series of Stephen King’s The Shining.

Max Allan Collins’ blog is always worth reading (as are his novels) and his “Shining” post is just an example of the fun to be had.

The Best Movie Posters of 2019

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ComingSoon posted their choices for The 25 Best Movie Posters of 2019.  My favorite of their picks was the Alex Ross poster for Glass shown above.

Although a John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum poster did make the ComingSoon Top 25, the version they selected wasn’t one of my favorite posters of the year (which probably surprises a lot of you).

I would have also included this poster, this poster, this poster and this poster all for Rambo: Last  Blood.  (Which probably surprises nobody.)

12 Surprising Facts about “The Godfather Part II”

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Scott Beggs and Mental Floss present 12 Surprising Facts about The Godfather Part II.  Here are four (I couldn’t pick just 3!) of my favorite facts presented.  Click on the link to read all of the facts and additional details!

3. MARLON BRANDO AND ROBERT DE NIRO ARE THE ONLY ACTORS TO WIN OSCARS FOR PLAYING THE SAME CHARACTER.

6. AN EXTRA HAD THE GUTS TO IMPROVISE AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN THE GODFATHER PART II.

11. JAMES CAGNEY TURNED DOWN A ROLE IN THE GODFATHER PART II.

12. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WANTED MARLON BRANDO TO REPRISE HIS ROLE AS THE YOUNGER VERSION OF HIMSELF IN THE GODFATHER PART II.

“Cut Bank” / Z-View

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Cut Bank (2014)

Director: Matt Shakman

Screenplay: Roberto Patino

Stars:  Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, John Malkovich and Michael Stuhlbarg.

The Pitch: “Do you like movies like Blood Simple and Fargo…”

Tagline: Good Folks. Bad Deeds.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Dwayne McLaren dreams of getting out of  Cut Bank, a small town with little promise.  When McLaren and his girlfriend accidentally video the murder of a postal worker, they may have stumbled on their ticket out.  The $100,000 reward money offered by the postal service would be life-changing money.

But all is not as it seems.

The postal worker was set to deliver a parcel that a man is willing to kill to get and perhaps the postal worker’s killing wasn’t a murder at all.  Who is scamming who?

Cut Bank features great cast and a story with plenty of twists.  I was surprised how good it is. Although I’ve posted the trailer below, I suggest you skip it and go straight to the movie.  (Some of the twists are given away in the trailer.  Go in cold and enjoy!)

Rating:

Arnold Schwarzenegger is “Dirty Harry” in this DeepFake Trailer!

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Check out Arnold Schwarzenegger in this DeepFake trailer to Dirty Harry! The technology is improving so quickly that soon we’ll see dead actors/actresses making a comeback.

Some folks are against putting deceased stars in ads or movies, but I like the idea if the heirs are okay with it.  Who’d have thought we may someday see new movies with Marlon Brando, Bruce Lee, Humphrey Bogart or Lon Chaney?