Movies: Jumping with no ‘chute

I assume there is already a list of movies in which someone jumps from a plane without a parachute, but I was unable to find one. If you do, please post a link in comments. Until then, perhaps you can help me compile.

  • Point Break – Keanu Reeves jumps out to arrest PatrickSwayze in free fall
  • Eraser – Arnold Schwarzenegger throws ‘chute out of the plane and jumps after it. (Not sure about this one)
  • Drop Zone – Wesley Snipes drops out of a trap door in an airplane with no parachute. (Ben Krech)

And it seems like one of the James Bond movies did this stunt but I can’t recall which one. And I’m pretty sure there are others. Go!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (movie)

You’re reading a novel with a particularly good character and you think, “They’ll never find an actor who can bring this fictional person to life.” That happens to me frequently and I’m usually right.

But the Swedish producers of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo did a wonderful job of casting Noomi Rapace in the role of Lisbeth Salander.

This is one of the better movies I’ve seen in a long time and watching with sub-titles didn’t detract in the least. After the first few minutes I forgot I was reading the actors words at the bottom of the screen. (I should mention, however, that Barb and I had read Stieg Larsson’s novel, so that probably made it easier to keep up.)

We’re fortunate to have a theater nearby that shows foreign language films. I supose it’s possible the U.S. remake of this film could be a winner but I encourage you to see the original.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (movie)

I don’t watch a lot of subtitled, foreign films but I’m looking forward to the DVD of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s a Swedish film based on a novel by Stieg Larsson. Here’s a excerpt from Roger Ebert’s review:

“This is not a deep psychological study. But it’s a sober, grown-up film. It has action, but not the hyperkinetic activity that passes for action in too many American movies. It has sex, but not eroticism. Its male lead is brave and capable, but not macho. Its female lead is sexy in the abstract, perhaps, but not seductive or alluring. This is a movie about characters who have more important things to do than be characters in an action thriller.”

The main character is Lisbeth Salander (best hacker in Sweden). A U.S. remake is in the works but you can watch the trailer here. Makes me want to learn Swedish.

Green Zone

If you liked the Bourne series, you’ll enjoy Green Zone. [If you did not like the Bourne movies… why are you even reading this blog. There is nothing for you here. Hit the back button now.]

IMDB: “Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.”

I think we can scratch Green Zone from W’s Netflix queue. And if you lost a loved one in that war, you might want to skip this movie, too.

History might vindicate the Bush years but you’ll be damned hard pressed to find any movies that remember them kindly.

The movie is based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s Imperial Life in the Emerald City.

UPDATE: Got some push-back for closing comments on this post. Do I care about the opinions of the people that read this blog. I do. But this is my blog. This is where I express myself.

If you have something to say about one of my posts and the comments are closed, just say your piece on your blog (you know, take ownership for your views, with your name and everything) and send me a link (stevemays at gmail dot com) and I’ll add it to the post.

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker more than lived up to its billing as an “intense” film. Black Hawk Down intense. Only the men and women who have served in Iraq (or who live there) can say how real the movie is. Real enough, I suspect.

I’m not sure the film makers had any sort of political statement to make about our presence in Iraq, but I came away thinking there is no way to win such a war. Unless the last suicide bomber blowing up the last Humvee with the last chunk of siMMtec counts as winning. Not sure what it would look like for our side.

The “can’t go home again” theme reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones’ character in Rolling Thunder. I still don’t know what to make of the brief appearances by David Morse, Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce.

The Book of Eli

They did it. The finally made a Denzel Washington movie that completely sucked. The story is Kwai Chang Caine goes to Deadwood with a good dose of Road Warrior.

I can only assume the studio hopes the reps of Denzel and Gary Oldman will pull enough people in the first week or two to make a little money. The film could not have been expensive to shoot.

As for why two fine actors like Washington and Oldman would sign on for this… no idea.

If you’re the type that makes a mental list of “reality errors” in the movie (where do they get gasoline 30 years after the end of the world?), don’t bother. The Book of Eli has too many.

Avatar

First movie of the new year. I’m pretty good about keeping track of what I read (thanks to Library Thing) but tend to overlook movies. Perhaps because we don’t go that often these days.

Avatar was my first 3-D movie since House of Wax with Vincent Price (1953, Ritz Theater in Kennett, MO). The glasses are more comfortable and the effect as pretty amazing. Rather than things zooming out into the audience, I found myself pulled into the movie.

I very much enjoyed the movie. The helicopter pilot brought back memories of Aliens. I never figured out why Sigourney Weaver’s character always had on hiking boots when she was in the alien avatar.

It will be the height of cool to not like this movie.

Up in the Air

I didn’t see a lot of movies in 2009 (Inglourious Basterds, District 9, Watchmen, Burma VJ, The Informant, Star Trek) so putting Up In the Air at the top of the list belies how good I thought the movie was. Watching the people get fired was disturbing. I know they were actors but, watching them, it was easy to imagine my butt in that chair.

If you do a lot of flying in your job, this movie will speak to you. One way, or the other.

PS: Have not seen Avatar

“Radio Days: the celluloid afterlife of real radio”

“In the movies, radio is a mythic force: local, rebellious, life-changing. This hardly describes the reality at commercial radio stations today, but it does tell us something about how radio was—and about how we want it to be.

The Clear Channel consolidations of the 1990s and the streaming revolutions of the last decade have given us change and innovation, but they haven’t forged the kind of cultural radio that thrilled and united 20th-century audiences. Sure, we’ve got talkers who excel at dividing us. And we’ve got little machines that let us become our own DJs. But we haven’t replicated the “real people” kind of radio that speaks and sings to us better than we can speak and sing to ourselves. Our new broadband-powered landscape hasn’t empowered that level of talent—yet. But don’t worry. It will. Until then, see you at the movies.

I stumbled across this piece by Matthew Lasar on ars technica. It brought back many fond memories from my days at KBOA (’70s). We said pretty much anything within reason and the same went for the music we played (on turn-tables). And I loved movies about DJ’s and radio stations. I’ll be forever grateful I didn’t miss “real radio.”

Casting call for actors and zombies

“Collapse,” a SAG feature film from Iowa-based production companies Iowa Film Production Services/Storybench, will be casting in Coralville Sunday for feature parts, extras and zombies.

Open call with PMS Casting of Pella will be noon to 5 p.m. at production office 805 Second Street, Coralville (the old Scandinavian Design building across from Dairy Queen.)

Principal photography begins Sept. 30 and will run for five weeks in Johnson and Iowa counties. Compensation for speaking parts is equivalent to SAG low-budget scale of $268/day.

Non-agented actors can email a small photo in jpeg format to pmsfilmcasting@aol.com with resume and contact information.

This is Storybench’s third feature, following “The Offering” and “Splatter.” “Collapse” was written by Ottumwa’s Mike Saunders and will be directed by Saunders and fellow Ottumwan Jason Bolinger. Producing is Bruce Heppner-Elgin of Washington.

Characters being cast include:

ROBERT MORGAN – in his 40’s. A care-worn farmer doing his best to take care of his family. Teetering on the edge of losing his farm and dealing with a sick wife, his world is spinning out of control. When the zombies begin to attack the farm, he deals with them brutally and efficiently.

MOLLY MORGAN – Robert’s much-loved wife suffers from spells of pain and exhaustion. She is a loving, dutiful wife and mother but the stress is becoming too much for her.

WILL MORGAN – 13-14 years old and doesn’t quite fit in at school. A quiet child who feels a great deal of responsibility toward his family. Tired from the burden of helping his father and Hank with the farm chores and distracted by his parent’s absence in the stands, he loses his track event.

HANK – Mid-late 20’s, Hank has worked for the Morgans for about 10 years and is more like family than a farm hand. He is a surrogate big brother to Will. Tough and loyal, he is forced to give notice because he has his own bills to pay.

COACH BELL – Female, athletic and fit in her 40’s-50’s, she recognizes that Will is a kid in trouble and needs encouragement. Coach Bell speaks with his parents about her concerns for Will.

Dr. CHARLES MCFARLAND – Small town doctor in his 40’s. A contemporary of Robert’s, he knows that Molly’s illness is not something he can treat and tries to convince Robert to take Molly to a psychiatrist.

NURSE -30’s – She runs Dr. McFarland’s office and is efficient, yet motherly. Fits well into this small farming community and probably knows everything about everybody.

SHERIFF RHODES – Rough and tough local guy who has spent his entire life in this community. Late 40’s -early 50’s, he was probably a high school football hero in his youth. Rhodes is good at keeping his small town running smoothly because he knows everybody and is fair to them all. He wears cowboy boots and an exterior gruffness.

DEPUTY COOPER: An average nice guy in his mid-late 20’s. Single and easy going. Likes the relative peace of working in a small town and never thought he would have to deal with anything like this.

DANA – Just out of high school, Dana is a small town girl who attends community college and works at the local convenience gas mart. Robert rescues her but is later forced to kill her when she is bitten.

MR. LYNN A prosperous neighboring farmer in his 60’s, Mr. Lynn is losing his sight. Molly reads to him on occasion. When he hires Hank away from the Morgan farm, he adds to Robert’s troubles.

EDGAR HENNENLOTTER – A banker in his late 20’s. Because he is a city boy with a business degree, he considers himself to be better than the farmers his bank serves and has an air of arrogance and insincerity about him.

For more information visit PMS Casting’s web site.

New release that came into one of our newsrooms a couple of days ago. Golly, but I’d love to make up to Iowa just two talk with those waiting to audition. I mean, how does “Dana” feel about being “forced to kill her when she is bitten?” Or, how does “Robert” plan to deal with the zombies “brutally and efficiently?”

If you see this movie, leave us a comment.