Back Seat Producers – Page 91 – We Don’t Make Movies, But We’ll Let You Know What Is and Isn’t Working in Hollywood.

Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #49: The Future of Marvel Movies

Post author By Tony
Post date June 5, 2012
1 Comment on Back Seat Quickies #49: The Future of Marvel Movies

In the seat:

Scott

Recorded: 05/06/12

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BSP Episode 230: The Avengers

Post author By Tony
Post date June 4, 2012
No Comments on BSP Episode 230: The Avengers

Release date: 5/4/12

Walt Disney Pictures

Directed by

Joss Whedon

Produced by

Kevin Feige

Screenplay by

Joss Whedon

Story by

Zak Penn
Joss Whedon

Based on “The Avengers”

Stan Lee
Jack Kirby

Cast

Robert Downey, Jr.

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Chris Evans

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Mark Ruffalo

Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Chris Hemsworth

Thor

Scarlett Johansson

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Jeremy Renner

Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Tom Hiddleston

Loki

Samuel L. Jackson

Nick Fury

This is also the first BSP to be broadcast through Google Hangout and You Tube.

David kicks the discussion off by asking if The Avengers lived up to the hype. All around, the answer was YES.

Now he turns to the component movies and asks for a quick Yay/Nay on each:

Iron Man I & II – Yay all around, especially Iron Man I.

The Incredible Hulk – David and Sam gave it a Yay, Tony gave it a Yay for the start of the movie and Darrell gave it a Nay.

Thor – David and Sam gave it a Nay, Tony and Darrell gave it a Yay.

Captain America – All-around Yay for this one.

Tony questioned the hosts as to which of the previous movies was the most necessary to watch (if any), leading up to The Avengers?

Dissention creeps in as David, Sam and Darrell all chose Captain American because Captain America was so underpowered, compared to the rest of the team, and therefore needed to be developed into the heart of the team, so his character needed more of a build-up. Tony chose Thor as it established the relationship between Thor and Loki and introduced Loki’s background.

Darrell initially brought up why Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) were part of the Avengers team, but understood that each of them had specific skills that only they could bring to the table. David could not disagree more, as far as Black Widow was concerned. David would only concede that the scene where Black Widow “plays” Loki is her only worthwhile scene. He also added that the movie did a disservice to women, Johansson and Cobie Smulders (Agent Maria Hill) being the examples. Tony countered that Hill was an establishing character, as Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) second-in-command in future movies.

Sam felt that the reason this movie was so successful is that when you usually have a large ensemble of important characters, inevitably certain characters will be lessened or left out. In The Avengers, everyone had something significant or pivotal to do with the story.

Going back to Captain America, David and Sam brought up the fact that he came from a different time and he was a different kind of superhero, which is why David thought that Captain America should be the movie to be watched before The Avengers, to give that backstory to understand where he’s coming from. The other superheroes don’t need that kind of introduction/background.

Discussion turned to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and how Stark was the only person who treated Bruce Banner/Hulk the way he wished to be treated… just as a man, not as someone to be feared. Stark was more interested in Banner’s scientific mind than in The Hulk’s brute strength.

Tony and David felt as if there was something missing with The Hulk between the first and second half of the movie. There was a sense that Stark poked and prodded at Banner in an attempt to find out what triggers his control of The Hulk. It’s as if there was a missing scene in which Stark gave Banner the tools to control himself… and they all hope that perhaps something will show up in the director’s cut.

David’s next topic of discussion: Scarlett Johansson is not as hot as Cobie Smulders.

Tony disagrees with how they look now, adding that Smulders was more attractive a few years ago. She’s lost weight and curves in the past few years. The same was also said about Johansson. Sam agrees with Tony on all counts. They also thought that Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) was sexy, and decided that they would like to see an Avengers B-Team movie with Paltrow, Natalie Portman (Thor) and Jennifer Connelly (Hulk).

All of the hosts were highly impressed with the action sequences in the movie and how each superhero’s powers were put into play. They liked how Captain America took the lead of the group and Hawkeye was used as a sniper and a strategist. They also liked the inside jokes that were funny even if you didn’t know the origin of the joke, as some of them came from the original comic stories.

Sam’s favorite line from the movie was poorly placed, from a cinematic point of view. After Hulk beat down Loki, it was almost impossible to hear him say “Puny god.”

There were a few things from the movie that didn’t pan out at the time, which the hosts appreciated because they could be utilized in future movies: Thor releasing his hammer and The Hulk not being able to pick it up, Thor’s lightning and the Iron Man suit not being used too much in the movie. These things, the hosts agreed, can be used against Thanos in the next movie. And, of course, they all LOVED that Thanos was introduced in the final (not counting the schwarma) scene.

Trivial bits ‘n pieces:

Lou Ferrigno voice The Hulk in this film, and he has played The Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978 (The Incredible Hulk series and three TV-movies, he voiced Hulk in the big-screen version of The Incredible Hulk and had a cameo in Hulk as a security guard).

The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided a science consultation for the film.

The film was converted to 3-D during post-production for the theatrical release.

Although the battle cry of “Avengers Assemble” was never spoken during the film, Chris Evans would use text that to the rest of the cast when they would hang out off of the set.

BONUS: After the music, keep listening for a special Booster Seat Producers review of The Avengers!

Your Producers for this episode were:

Tony
Darrell
David
Sam

This episode was recorded: 5/17/2012

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Back Seat Box Office Shows

Back Seat Box Office #89

The end of an era.

There would be more show notes but we are too choked up over the loss of one of our own… or we were too lazy… one of the two.

A little late but… here they are!

Picks:

Tony, Lena

Snow White and the Huntsman
MIB 3
The Avengers
The Dictator
Battleship

Andrew

Snow White and the Huntsman
MIB 3
The Avengers
Battleship
The Dictator

Jonathan, Scott

MIB 3
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Avengers
The Dictator
Battleship

William

MIB 3
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Avengers
Battleship
The Dictator

There are no other movies in wide release this week.

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Back Seat Box Office BSBO Results Shows

Back Seat Box Office #88 Results and Voice Mail

Post author By Tony
Post date May 30, 2012
No Comments on Back Seat Box Office #88 Results and Voice Mail

Congrats to Uriah for his 24 this week.

Thanks to Tad for his voicemail.

Big Congrats to Tim for eeking out his victory over BD by just over .008 points.

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Back Seat Quickies Shows

Back Seat Quickies #48: Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker

Post author By Tony
Post date May 29, 2012
No Comments on Back Seat Quickies #48: Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker

In the seat:

Scott

Recorded: 05/29/12

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Back Seat Producers Season 07 Shows

BSP Episode 229: The Fall

Post author By Tony
Post date May 28, 2012
No Comments on BSP Episode 229: The Fall

Release date: 5/30/2008

Roadside Attractions

Directed by

Tarsem Singh

Produced by

Tarsem Singh
Ajit Singh
Tommy Turtle

Written by

Tarsem Singh
Dan Gilroy
Nico Soultanakis

Cast

Lee Pace

Roy Walker/Red Bandit

Catinca Untaru

Alexandria/Red Bandit’s daughter

Before discussion of the movie even begins, there is a necessary and sexy discussion regarding David’s beard, it’s transformation and the future of his facial hair.

Initial comments by the hosts:

Darrell thought it was a very strange movie (in a good way!) that sucked you in, in the way that it kept falling into the fantasy and Alexandria’s (Catinca Untaru) imagination of what Walker’s (Lee Pace) story meant to her (how she translated it in her young mind). He also thought that between the sounds and the visual beauty of the film, you kept falling down this rabbit-hole, not knowing where it was going to end. David adored the movie and loved that this film fully explored the visual medium. He was very impressed with the fact that there were no special effects used in the movie. He was less interested in the story in the hospital, but thought it was still fantastic.

The hosts all agreed that the little girl stole every scene she was in. Because most of Untaru’s acting consisted of reacting to what was given to her and not having very much of a scripted dialogue, she gave a very natural performance. Tony said that when he finished the movie, he was still processing it, and it wasn’t until later that he could fully embrace how good the movie was. The hosts all appreciated how the film was less about the story itself and more about the relationship between Walker and Alexandria.

One thing that resonated with Darrell was the way that Walker used and manipulated Alexandria to procure drugs for him (morphine), as an addict does. Tony and David argued that neither of them felt that Walker was an addict, but was only trying to kill himself.

The manner in which Alexandria pulled the characters (the hospital workers in dual roles) into Walker’s story was reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and very well done. The hosts also liked how Walker used his relationship with his Evelyn and Sinclair/Odious to shape his story for the little girl.

Tony and Darrell brought up how the sounds of the outside world would bleed into the story and impact it, as sometimes happens in dreams. They also liked how Walker had to keep adapting the story to keep Alexandria interested, as one would have to do for a child. Another fantastic piece was how Alexandria believed the story was real throughout most of the film, but when Walker began to kill off the characters at the end, she insisted that Walker was making that part of the story up.

The hosts all enthusiastically recommend this film

Trivial bits and pieces:

This movie was inspired by the Bulgarian movie, Yo ho ho.

The film was shot on 26 locations over 18 countries.

Catinca Untaru initially believed that Lee Pace was really a paraplegic, and Tarsem Singh found that this brought an added level of believability to her dialogue, so he decided to keep almost the entire cast and crew under the same impression. It was difficult to keep up the lie, as a makeup artist almost passed out from shock after walking into a room to find Pace standing up.

The hospital scenes with Untaru were shot in chronological order, as the child’s English improved over time; she grew taller and lost her two front baby teeth before filming started.

Alexandria’s misinterpretation of the letter E as the number 3 in the “morphine” note written by Walker was an actual mistake by Untaro. Singh realized he could adapt that into a clever twist in the story.

Your Producers for this episode were:

Tony
Darrell
David

This episode was recorded: 5/9/2012

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Announcement

Theatrical Review: Men In Black III

Post author By Darren Goodhart
Post date May 27, 2012
No Comments on Theatrical Review: Men In Black III

The vicious alien known as Boris The Animal has just escaped imprisonment on the moon and is now hellbent on getting his revenge on the man who put him there: Agent K of the Men In Black. Boris’ plan is to go back in time and stop K before the young K can stop him, and he succeeds wiping out all existence of anything that K has accomplished with one exception; his partner Agent J still remembers everything. Now Agent J plans to go back in time to 1969 and keep Boris from eliminating the young Agent K.

That’s the nutshell premise to Men In Black III, the latest film in the series and it’s also the latest movie from director Barry Sonnenfeld who directed the prior two movies. Sonnenfeld was last seen on the big screen in 2006 with RV and prior to that, 2002 with Men In Black II. He’s been spending the last few years working in television. Now honestly, until a few months ago, I wasn’t even aware that there was a third Men In Black movie even coming and I more or less thought that this series was pretty much through (especially considering that MIBII really wasn’t that good of a film). When I saw the original trailer for Men In Black III I thought it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun and thankfully, it is.

Men In Black III takes a bit of a different turn from the prior two movies providing more of a focus on J and K’s partnership and their origins. It’s got a lot of sentimentality and I think it’s hitting this series at just the right time. Oh, it still has all of the alien wackiness of the first two movies, but it takes a second place to a bigger display of heart. The start-up of the film is a little on the slow side, but once Agent J makes his time jump, the pace of the film picks up considerably. the film’s humor isn’t raucous, but more gentle inducing more smiles than belly laughs.

The film absolutely looks terrific and it’s clear that Sonnenfeld shot this with 3D in mind. It wasn’t shot in 3D, but converted, but it was a planned conversion. It really does look terrific and thanks to Sonnenfeld’s shooting style, it absolutely works with lots of in-your-face 3D effects as well as plenty of scene immersion. The visual effects are beautiful and master make-up effects artist Rick Baker gets a chance to shine here with his alien make-up work. Composer Danny Elfman has also returned to the series and provides the right familiarity with his score.

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones both reprise their roles as J and K respectively, and while Men In Black III won’t be seen as their best work, it’s still good stuff and the two still display the same chemistry that was seen in the prior films, but getting even a little stronger by the end. Josh Brolin plays the young Agent K in 1969 and it’s a pitch-perfect impersonation of Tommy Lee Jones, yet there’s still a little glint of wonder to this character that the older K doesn’t have. Smith and Jones are great, but I tend to think Brolin steals the show.

New to the series, you have Emma Thompson playing Agent O who assumes command of the Men In Black after the passing of Zed (played by Rip Torn in the prior movies). Alice Eve (most recently seen in The Raven) plays O in 1969 and I think both version of this character are welcome additions to this series providing Agent K with way more depth than previously seen. Michael Stuhlbarg plays Griffin, the last survivor of an alien race who can see all of the possibilities of the future at any moment, and he also provides a nice sense of wonder. Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords plays Boris The Animal and he’s pretty good as the vicious villain sort of reminding of what you might get if you crossed Mark Ruffalo with Tim Curry. There’s even a couple of nice cameos with Will Arnett playing Agent AA, who’s K’s partner in the altered future and former X Factor judge and Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger playing Boris’ girlfriend who helps him escape from the moon.

Men In Black III is a fun movie and in my mind, just the right sort of movie to follow in the wake of The Avengers, it’s a smaller sort of blockbuster still filled with terrific visuals, but with a bigger display of heart. It’s comfort food on the big screen with some new spice added thanks to terrific work from Josh Brolin. If you’re like most, you loved the original film and were disappointed by the second, fortunately third time is indeed the charm here and I expect you’ll have a good time with Men In Black III.