John Conner: We’re not gonna make it are we? People, I mean.
Terminator: It’s in your nature to destroy yourselves.
John Conner: Major drag, huh?
— Terminator II: Judgement Day
We’re not gonna make it are we?
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Tag Archives: movies
Kill Bill: Volume 2
You either like Quintin Tarantino movies or you don’t. I’m a fan. Especially the dialogue. His characters say things that sound perfectly natural within the context of the movie but would never be heard in real life (whatever that is). I thought the same thing when I first saw David Mamet’s House of Games. Tarantino would seem to be a fan of David Carradine but was only 9 years old when Kung Fu was on TV. Same for Michael Parks, who is wonderful in Volume 2. Tarantino would have been six years old in 1969 when Jim Bronson rode his motorcycle across the country in Then Came Bronson. And while I know less than zero about cinematography, there was a wonderful, surreal quality to the second Kill Bill. I won’t even try to describe it. Finally, if for no other reason, see the movie for the yummy Uma Thurman.
Mellon Farmers
I watched Mississippi Burning (for the 5th or 6th time) on A&E last week. The movie has the appropriate amount of profanity for that time and place. As is the custom of network censors, they replaced offending words with “safe” ones. “Fucking” became “freaking,” and so forth. This never works and merely forces the viewer to do an on-the-fly translation and makes the profanity stand out where it would normally flow in context. In Die Hard with A Vengeance, we hear Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis frequently call the bad guys “mellon farmers.” Mellon farmer? Oh, motherfucker! Okay, you know what I’m talking about.
How do they accomplish this? It sure sounds like Gene Hackman, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis saying the sanitized naughty word. At the end of shooting the movie, did they go into a studio with a list of replacement words and phrases. I know they get paid a lot of money but I have a hard time picturing Gene Hackman doing this. Do they find unknown actors to mimic the star voices? Or, do they grab safe words/phrases from other parts of the movie and insert them as needed? That sounds like a tall order. I’m hoping that one of you knows somebody that knows somebody that knows the answer to this mystery. stevemays@hotmail.com
Pick one memory
Jonathon Delacour on the movie After Life.
“The premise of After Life is simple. Every Monday, people who have died walk through an open doorway suffused with pale light into what looks like a derelict boarding school. Each is issued with an ID number and assigned to a counselor who will assist them in preparing for the journey to the other side. Much of the film is taken up with these counseling sessions, which commence with an explanation of the rules:”
You’re going to stay here for a week. Everyone gets a private room. Please feel at home. But while you’re here there’s one thing you must do.
Out of the __ years of your life, we’d like to ask you to choose one memory, the one you remember and cherish most. There is a time limit. You have three days to decide.
After you choose your memory, our staff will recreate it on film as exactly as possible.
On Saturday we’ll show the films to everyone. The moment the memory comes back to you most vividly, you’ll go on to the other side, taking only that memory.
Via Halley’s Comment
Andy Rooney on the Passion Of The Christ
It doesn’t seem right, but religion has been in the news a lot recently.
Pat Robertson says that God has spoken to him and told him that George W. Bush will be re-elected because he deserves to be.
Here’s Pat Robertson’s exact quote: “I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I’m hearing from the Lord that it’s going to be a blowout.”
The movie by Mel Gibson called The Passion of the Christ is the other religious issue in the news. Everyone’s talking about that. The question is whether the Jews killed Jesus Christ – who was Jewish, of course.
I hadn’t wanted to say anything about this, because it seemed like a personal matter, but Pat Robertson isn’t the only one who has heard from God.
I heard from God just the other night. God always seems to call at night. “Andrew,” God said to me. He always calls me “Andrew.” I like that.
“Andrew, you have the eyes and ears of a lot of people. I wish you’d tell your viewers that both Pat Robertson and Mel Gibson strike me as wackos. I believe that’s one of your current words. They’re crazy as bedbugs, another earthly expression. I created bedbugs. I’ll tell you, they’re no crazier than people, said God.
“Let me just say that I think I’d remember if I’d ever talked to Pat Robertson, and I’d remember if I said Bush would get re-elected in a blowout.”
As far as Mel Gibson goes, I haven’t seen his movie, ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ because it hasn’t opened up here yet. But I did catch Gibson being interviewed by Diane Sawyer. I did something right when I came up with her, didn’t I, added God. Anyway, as I was saying, Mel is a real nut case. What in the world was I thinking when I created him? Listen, we all make mistakes.”
That is what God said to me. That’s about all he did say to me because I’m sure God has a lot more important things to do than talk to someone on television.
My own question to Pat Robertson is this: The election looks as though it could be close, certainly not a blowout. If George W. Bush loses the election to a Democrat, will you become an atheist?
My question to Mel Gibson is: “How many million dollars does it look as if you’re going to make off the crucifixion of Christ?”
Instead of a view
“Memory, Agent Starling, is what I have instead of a view.” — Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Silence of the Lambs
How God sees the world
“And if one does what God does enough times, one will become as God is.”
— Hannibal Lecter
Gene Wilder’s first movie.
Do you remember Gene Wilder being in Bonnie and Clyde? Me either. Huh.
Try not to puke
“Try not to puke. You may have to lay in it a long time.”
— Paul Newman to Martin Balsam in Hombre.
Pre-order DVD and get it same day film in theaters?
Mark Cuban thinks he’s ready to turn filmmaking on its ear: “Why can’t I preorder a DVD and receive it the day the film is released in theaters? Or buy it on my way out of the theater if I liked what I saw? One thing I learned from the Mavs is that you can watch the game on TV, but you’ll still go to the game, because it’s a different experience.” [Wired via Boing Boing]