Take a trip to The Upside Down with the UnPOP crew as they explore the Netflix phenomenon, Stranger Things. The widely loved, Amblin-esque, 80s creature-feature should be a home run for Brock and Curtis, right? Not exactly… Austin rounds out the D&D trio and the guys even find their own Eleven to come in and eat all of their Eggos and melt some brains.
2:05 Eggo Waffles and Intro to our “Eleven”
8:53 Brock and Curtis’ Week in Hollywood – Jerry Lewis and Starship Troopers
12:57 What’s Cookin’ in The Rock’s Kitchen
17:24 Testing Eleven’s psychic powers
21:58 The UnPOP roundtable discussion of Stranger Things and its strengths and weaknesses
52:07 Stranger Things fan theories
1:07:54 Comparisons with Netflix’s The Get Down
Have a topic you’d like to hear UnPOPPED? Send any comments/love/vitriol to unpopentertainment@gmail.com
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EW has released a new image giving fans another (and possibly best) image of Superman from the upcoming second season of CW’s Supergirl.
Supergirl “The Last Children of Krypton” Season 2, Ep 2 Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and Melissa Benoist as Supergirl
Along with this new image comes an interview with Tyler Hoechlin on how he landed the iconic red cape. Hoechlin revealed that he didn’t actually audition for the role saying;
“Honestly, it was the strangest thing — there wasn’t an audition,” Hoechlin tells EW. “I had a great meeting with [executive producers] Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg [in June]. I had been told that the meeting would have something to do with Supergirl, but nothing really specific. Halfway through, they brought up the idea of introducing Superman to the show and asked if I’d be interested. I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely. I’m obviously a fan.’ I believe that was on a Monday. On Friday, we got a call with the offer, so it was very quick. It was very flattering, and I wish every job came about that way.”
Tyler Hoechlin joins a long line of actors who have played the role in the past (and present in the case of Henry Cavill) and will present his version of the Man of Steel when Supergirl returns fir its second season on Monday October 24, 2016.
Gore, Clowns, And A Mexican Nazi? ‘31‘ Has All You Need In A Horror Movie!
When you walk into a Rob Zombie film, you know what you are getting. Making his directorial debut in 2003 with ‘House Of 1000 Corpses‘, Zombie has since created a very distinct brand. From his ‘Halloween‘ reboot to original pieces like ‘Lords Of Salem‘, the man loves his 70’s inspired horror. ‘31‘ is just another example of how much exploitation and grindhouse play a part in Rob Zombie’s work.
‘31‘ follows a group of carnival workers who are kidnapped and must fight for their lives on Halloween night in 1976. Their captors force them to play a dangerous and depraved game called 31, in which they have to try to survive 12 hours while being chased by multiple killers called “The Heads”. The five players are Charly (Sheri Moon Zombie), Panda (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), Roscoe (Jeff Daniel Phillips), Venus (Meg Foster), and Levon (Kevin Jackson). As the group goes through a maze of death rooms, the aristocrat-wig wearing leaders place bets on the players odds of survival.
It’s like a even-more twisted version of the classic short story ‘The Most Dangerous Game‘ published in 1924. A simple tale told through the unique eyes of Rob Zombie.
The film hits all the notes I expect from Zombie but also shows the improvement in his filmmaking. ‘31‘ has some striking cinematography mixed with very stylistic editing. Comparing this to his first film and the man has made leaps and bounds in terms of behind-the-camera work. Take his already amazing classic rock ‘n’ roll soundtracks, add these new film tricks, and Rob Zombie’s work feels complete.
In Hell, everybody loves popcorn.
– Doom-Head
There isn’t much to grasp at story-wise but it does lead to some bigger questions on how long this game has been going on. I don’t mind an easy plot when the real focus is on the violence and characters. Zombie even admits in a Q&A following the Fathom Event screening that the plot was something he pulled out of no-where. ‘31‘ knows exactly what type of film it is and that’s when it really shines. Characters ranging from final-girl Charly to sadistic leader Father Murder (Malcolm McDowell) all excel in their roles. I personally loved seeing all the different killers in the film; every-time a Head was killed, another was there to replace them. And those kills were gruesome but I will say they weren’t as graphic as you’d expect. I am curious to see what the Director’s Cut has in terms of upping the gore.
Just in time for Halloween this year, ‘31‘ is a great modern film to add to a night at home watching scary movies. There is enough 70’s nostalgia to please fans of the decade; check out for references to Wolfman Jack and a great use of a classic Aerosmith song! Just as polarizing as his other films but with a bit more polish, Rob Zombie is finally coming into his own as a filmmaker. I can’t wait to see his long-awaited transition from horror. But for the time being, keep the gory fun hits like this coming!
Fun Fact: The film was mostly crowd-funded. Some of the people who donated to the film even appeared as goons in the movie!
I recommend this highly! You can find ‘31‘ digitally on September 16th and in a limited release September 21st.
Everyone’s seen an Anime where there’s been two girls in love with the same boy or two boys in love with the same girl. Anime is infamous for its Love Triangles and how it can make it the meat of a narrative. But is there a formula that makes a Love Triangle story work so well in some shows and fall flat in others. Of course there is, I wouldn’t have asked if I already didn’t have an answer and an explanation. Love Triangles are inherently a hard subject to talk about because they float on the line of relationship and friendship. Also there are many-many shows that incorporate Love Triangles just “because”. Like most things, a Love Triangle is a trope. But being a recently bastardized trope, much like the characterization “Tsundere”, I felt it was necessary to try to break down what a Love Triangle is and what makes one effective from a story stand point.
Most of the time Love Triangles are between two girls and a boy. That’s just the way Anime is, sorry ladies. Also it’s what I’m most familiar with. I’m sure I could go scavenging for some more “Two guys one girl” stories but that would be a different article entirely. Because surprise, the dynamic that two boys in love and two girls in love bring to a story are different. So I’ll only be focusing on the former. So to break down the term Love triangle I’m gonna do it Barney style and break down the phrase and then bring it all back together and hopefully it will fall into place.
Love is the key to a love triangle; not like, not infatuation, not lust, Love. It’s a very specific emotion when it comes to romance and it has to be present for a Love Triangle to work. We can’t have characters who aren’t in love, especially the main character. I’m gonna blow a lot of Love Triangles out of the water here so get ready. If your main character isn’t in love with both of the girls in the Love Triangle it’s not gonna work. I said before that love needs to be present and it can’t be present unless its being felt by all sides. I’m not saying a character can’t be confused about their love or how strong they feel it but it needs to be either growing or present in all the characters involved.
So what is the purpose of Love exactly? (Shit we’re getting into pretty nebulous territory fast) Love usually is to see something in someone else that you value so much that you want to share. Love doesn’t always begin as soon as you meet someone too. It takes time to figure out what kind of person they are and learning what you like about them as an individual. The reasons are endless so I wont get into that. If you’re in love you want to be with that person and that person alone and you want them to love you back just as much as you love them. But wait how can there be a Love Triangle then if romantic love means you only love one person. Well that’s where we get into the triangle aspect.
A Triangle has three points and three sides (basic but hear me out). In a Love Triangle the points represent each person involved. I made a diagram to represent the parts of a Love triangle and whats going on. I’m also gonna use my favorite Love Triangle to later demonstrate the point of it all and why the term Triangle is used. So the first thing to remember about a Triangle is that all points are connected. There isn’t someone who’s not involved with each person. You don’t have a girl who doesn’t know the other girl exists, or a guy who is unaware of one of the girl’s who has feelings for him. Everyone has a relationship, even the girls involved. The red arrows are the girls love for the guy. They stretch all the way to him and are equal in intensity. The black arrows representing the guys feelings, are shortened however. For he is having the internal conflict on where to direct his love fully. Now his arrows can shift over time leaning more towards one girl or the other but the triangle doesn’t end until his arrow meets the same intensity and length as one of the girls. The rainbow is how the girls are connected. Yes, in a Love Triangle everyone has a connection. The rainbow line is the connection that the girls either develop or destroy along the Triangles progression. No matter who you are when you spend enough time with someone you’re going to form a connection. The rainbow line is all the possible emotions the girl will inevitably form, with each other and have an effect on their love towards the boy.
Bringing it all together we have an ever changing struggle between three people whose emotions are all connected but none are static. Love Triangles are a means to an end, and unsustainable. They exist only as long as the person whose love is unfocused doesn’t point to a single match. But Love Triangles are more complicated than what I can explain on a conceptual level. Since they are often woven into narratives, we as viewers have to buy into the Love Triangle itself. Love Triangles in real life don’t depend on viewers to be interested but in Anime and stories they are.
To delve into things that work lets look at one of the Franchise kings when it comes to Love Triangles, Macross. Every Macross series from Super Dimensional Fortress Macross that aired in 1982 to the currently airing Macross Delta, has a heavy portion of its narrative focus on the Love Triangle of the three main characters. Now all these series execute it to varying degrees of quality and I think the series that does it best is the 2007 series Macross Frontier and to even greater extent the 2009 and 2011 re-adaptation movies The False Songstress and Wings of Goodbye. Which so happens to be one of my favorite shows and favorite films. So to first understand the Love Triangle between Alto Saotome, Sheryl Nome, and Ranka Lee we’ll have to learn about these character individually, Barney style again, and bring it all around. I’ll try to be as simplistic with these characters as possible so I don’t end up writing a novel here.
Alto Saotome never wanted to be a kabuki performer. He went along with it because he was “the best” and it was his family’s legacy. When he discovered flying he realized that it’s not that he didn’t want to perform, but he wanted to find the right stage. A stage that he made for himself, not that he was born into. He joins the private military so he can fly at the cost of putting his life in danger to fight aliens.
Sheryl Nome was literally pulled from the slums of Macross Galaxy to become the hottest singer in the Galaxy. She is a puppet for the antagonists and her singing is causing her to slowly die. She love’s her fans and love singing so much that she will push herself to near death even after discovering that her fans don’t care about her. Her goal is to shake the Galaxy with her songs, and in doing so she’ll turn the place where she had nowhere to belong, into a place where she belongs everywhere.
Ranka Lee is tortured by memories and a family she can’t remember. She discovers her love of singing through one of Sheryl’s concerts and idolizes her every step of the way. When the Vajra aliens come and start attacking the Frontier she discovers her ability to communicate with them. Though the antagonists would use Ranka’s power to destroy the Vajra, she see’s it as an opportunity to connect with them. Her singing takes its own form as to be a voice of togetherness. As well as finding a way to tell the boy she always liked, Alto, that she loves him.
Somehow I think that Macross Frontier was supposed to be the ultimate Love Triangle story. The opening by Maaya Sakamota “Triangular” and all the imagery and connecting character themes makes it seem so evident the more I think about it. So let’s get into why this Love Triangle forms so naturally in the first place. All these characters each share something another character has either experience or can understand.
With Ranka and Sheryl its their love for singing. The progression for Ranka to eventually warrant Sheryl useless creates drama for their friendship and creates both perspectives that each character experiences and can understand. Both characters express their love for Alto in their singing both early in the story and after their position of importance have swapped.
Ranka and Alto have a difference of talent vs training. The narrative is them climbing the ranks together but in different ways. Ranka if fighting her shy nature while Alto is fighting against the powers that are surprising his talents. The connection they have gets stronger as they wish more and more for each other to achieve their goals. Ranks depends on Alto’s support because she is doing something outside her wheelhouse and Alto see’s her perseverance akin to him rebelling against his family’s art.
Sheryl and Alto share a longing for a place that will let them be free. For Alto it means a place where he can go wherever he wants. For Sheryl its a place that will accept her regardless of who she is, and thus be free of her lonesome past and insecurities. They both are cocky but insecure about their past selves so it’s easy to accept each other because they have experienced the same things. They also both understand the pressure that comes from being the best and what that means when you give that up.
As you can see none of that explanation really has to do with their personalities. A good Love Triangle will bring characters together because it means something for them to be together. Something grows as they interact and find things inside each other that they both share and have differences. This is where the Love Triangle is most effective. When characters all share different emotional bonds and eventually one becomes stronger than the others. It’s why we love to watch Love Triangles. We want to see where exactly our main character decides chooses who he loves and why. Or for the rare occasion for the girls to decide that their friendship is more important than them getting their heart broken.
I could go on but this got a little longer than I had anticipated. So for now I’ll just give some recommendation for shows that I feel execute the Love Triangle scenario I described effectively, and that have resolutions to their Love Triangle.
Deadline reports that Georgina Campbell (Murdered by my Boyfriend, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) has been cast as Lyta Zod in Syfy’s upcoming series centering around events that took place on Krypton one decades before the Planet’s destruction.
While the production process has been steeped in development for several months, this news is sure to rekindle excitement for the project among fans. Details on the character were scarce but the trade did offer this tidbit about the character;
“Lyta Zod is a member of Krypton’s military caste and the daughter of a general — that would be Superman’s future nemesis, General Zod, Lyta Zod serves as a cadet — and has also been having a clandestine, forbidden romance with Seg-El.”
The inclusion of this character in the series is a sign that much creative freedom will taken in this series as these events are largely undocumented in DC Comics canon. No release date has yet been announced for the series co created by Man Of Steel writer David S. Goyer.
Georgina Campbell will next be seen in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur:Legend Of The Sword alongside Charlie Hunnam which is set to be released on March 24, 2017
Welcome to September. It’s time once more to see what’s coming and going from Hulu over the next month. Hulu September has a lot of titles coming and going. Here are some of our favorites.
Hulu September In Movies
Movies for Musical Fans
This month sees a few films enter the fray that have musical equivalents. American Psycho, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Hair all join the streaming service on September 1st.
Horror Afficionados
The air is getting chilly and movies are getting scary. On September 1st alone, 21 horror films will be added to Hulu’s movie list. Star-studded genre films like The Others, classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and supernatural thrillers like The Devil Inside are all among the new additions. Others include Deaths of Ian Stone, Dark Ride, Lake Dead, The Messengers, Lake Dead, The Messengers, Mulberry Street, Buried, Nightmare Man, Autopsy, Crazy Eights, Unearthed, Offspring, Borderland, The Broken, Theater of Blood, The Thaw, Dying Breed, From Within, and Slaughter, and you’ll have enough to to stay scared straight through Halloween.
Those with a sense of humor about the genre of gore get 2001 Maniacs, Fido, Scary Movie 2 and Scary Movie 3.
Looking For a Laugh
A Showtime subscription will only earn you two more horror films, but a great selection of comedies. Rat Race is already a bit of a classic, but we’re most looking forward to What We Do In the Shadows. Created by Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, Moana) and Taika Waititi (Flight of the Conchords, Moana), the movie is a comedy about a group of vampires living together in modern day New Zealand. However modern their surroundings, the vampires themselves are confined indoors during daylight hours, and as a result, have not adapted to 21st century life.
Hulu September in Television
As more and more television programs come back from summer hiatus, Hulu will overflow with season and series premieres. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Brooklyn Nine Nine, and Once Upon a Time are just a few of the shows that will hit Hulu the day after they return to their respective networks. Both Robot Chicken and Ridiculousness will add complete seasons to the service this month.
The complete list of what’s coming and going at Hulu this month is below.
Movies on Hulu
September 1st 1984 (1985) 2001 Maniacs (2005) American Psycho (2000) American Psycho 2 (2002) At Close Range (1986) Autopsy (2008) Body of Evidence (1993) Borderland (2007) Breakheart Pass (1976) The Broken (2008) Buried (2010) Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009) Code of Silence (1985) Crazy Eights (2006) Crocodile Dundee (1986) Crocodile Dundee II (1988) Dark Ride (2006) The Deaths of Ian Stone (2007) The Devil Inside (2012) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) Double Jeopardy (1999) Dying Breed (2009) Eight Men Out (1988) Fido (2007) The First Wives Club (1996) Four Feathers (2002) The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) From Dusk till Dawn (1996) From Within (2009) Fun Size (2012) Futureworld (1976) Get Shorty (1995) Hair (1979) Happily N’Ever After (2006) Happily N’Ever After 2 (2009) Heaven’s Gate (1981) The Honkers (1972) The Ides of March (2011) Imagine That (2009) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Jeff Who Lives at Home (2012) Lake Dead (2007) Larger Than Life (1996) Leaving Las Vegas (1995) Like Water (2012) The Mechanic (1972) The Messengers (2007) Mr. Majestyk (1974) Mulberry Street (2007) Night Falls on Manhattan (1997) Nightmare Man (2006) Offspring (2009) The Others (2001) The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Red Corner (1997) Red Dawn (1984) Reincarnation (2007) Roman Holiday (1953) Saved! (2004) Scary Movie 2 (2001) Scary Movie 3 (2003) The Secret Of N.I.M.H. (1982) Slaughter (2009) The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) The Thaw (2009) Theater of Blood (1973) Unearthed (2007) United States of Leland (2004) Voices (2008) The Wood (1999) Young Adult (2011)
September 2 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
September 3 Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
September 9 Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction (2006)
September 10 Knock Knock (2015) Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C): Special W. (2008)
September 12 Drillbit Taylor (2008)
September 15 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) Bridget Jones Diary (2001)
September 16 Stop-Loss (2008)
September 17 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week –The Touring Years (2016) Captive (2015)
September 20 Serena (2016)
September 23 Sicario (2015)
September 24 Heist (2015)
September 30 Wolf (2014)
Movies on Hulu with a Showtime Subscription
September 1st After Dark, My Sweet (1990) All-Stars (2014) The Architect (2006) Beyond the Law (1993) Bless the Child (2000) Breaking Point (2010) Cape Fear (1991) Cas & Dylan (2013) Danger Zone (1996) Deal (2008) The Dramatics (2015) Foresaken (2015) Lucky Town (2000) Man About Town (2006) Martin Lawrence: Doin Time Uncut Only You (1992) The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. (1996) Rat Race (2001) Refuge (2012) Shadow Zone: The Undead Express (1996) Springsteen and I (2013) The Surface (2014) Tapeheads (1988) Tears of the Sun (2003) Ticker (2001) What We Do In the Shadows (2014)
September 3 Forsaken (2015)
September 9 Martin Lawrence: Doin’ Time Uncut: Premiere
September 16 Guns N’ Roses – The Most Dangerous Band in the World: Documentary Premiere
Television on Hulu
September 5 Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood: Season 3 Premiere (VH1)
September 7 Unlocking the Truth: Season 1 Premiere (MTV)
September 11 La Banda: Season 2 Premiere (Univision)
September 12 Son of Zorn: Series Premiere (FOX)
September 13 Dancing with the Stars: Season 23 Premiere (ABC) El Color de la Pasion: Series Premiere (Univision) Ink Master: Season 8 Premiere (Spike)
September 14 Rica Famosa Latina: Season 4 Premiere (Univison) South Park: Season 20 Premiere (Comedy Central)
September 15 Blindspot: Season 2 Premiere (NBC)
September 18 The Challenge: Season 28 Premiere (MTV)
September 20 Gotham: Season 3 Premiere (FOX) Lucifer: Season 2 Premiere(FOX) The Good Place: Series Premiere (NBC) The Voice: Season 11 Premiere (NBC)
September 21 Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 4 Premiere (FOX) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Season 4 Premiere (ABC) New Girl: Season 6 Premiere (FOX) Scream Queens: Season 2 Premiere (FOX) This Is Us: Series Premiere (NBC)
September 22 Black-ish: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) Chicago Med: Season 2 Premiere (NBC) Chicago P.D.: Season 4 Premiere (NBC) Designated Survivor: Series Premiere (ABC) Empire: Season 3 Premiere (FOX) The Goldbergs: Season 4 Premiere (ABC) Law & Order Special Victims Unit: Season 18 premiere (NBC) Lethal Weapon: Series Premiere (FOX) Modern Family: Season 8 Premiere (ABC) Speechless: Series Premiere (ABC)
September 23 Grey’s Anatomy: Season 13 Premiere (ABC) How to Get Away With Murder: Season 3 Premiere (ABC) Notorious: Series Premiere (ABC) Pitch: Series Premiere (FOX) Rosewood: Season 2 Premiere (FOX) Superstore: Season 2 Premiere (NBC)
September 24 Caught on Camera with Nick Cannon: Season 3 Premiere (NBC) The Exorcist: Series Premiere (FOX) Hell’s Kitchen: Season 16 Premiere (FOX) Last Man Standing: Season 6 Premiere (ABC) Shark Tank: Season 8 Premiere (ABC)
September 25 Robot Chicken: Complete Season 8 (Adult Swim)
September 26 Bob’s Burgers: Season 7 Premiere (FOX) Family Guy: Season 15 Premiere (FOX) The Last Man on Earth: Season 3 Premiere (FOX) Loosely Exactly Nicole: Series Premiere (MTV) Mary + Jane: Series Premiere (MTV) Once Upon A Time: Season 6 Premiere (ABC) Ridiculousness: Complete Season 7 (MTV) Secrets and Lies: Season 2 Premiere (ABC) The Simpsons: Season 28 Premiere (FOX)
Television on Hulu with a Showtime Subscription
September 6 Inside the NFL: Season Premiere A Season with Florida State Football: Season Premiere
September 11 The Circus: Season 1 Premiere Masters of Sex: Season 4 Premiere
September 18 Ray Donovan: Season 4 Finale
What’s Leaving Hulu September
September 18 The 100 (CW) Arrow (CW) Beauty and the Beast (CW) Containment (CW) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (CW) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (CW) The Flash (CW) iZombie (CW) Jane the Virgin (CW) The Originals (CW) Reign (CW) Supernatural (CW) Vampire Diaries (CW)
September 30 Disturbing Behavior (1998) Wicker Park (2004) Clerks (1994) Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Thanks to the Hulu blog for a complete list of changes for September.
The CW released the second trailer for ‘DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow’ Season 2 Friday afternoon with our first look at Stargirl.
Season One could have simply been a long movie as you only need to watch the first two episodes and the last two episodes to get the complete story. It will be interesting to see the showrunner, Mark Guggenheim learned a lesson in season one and can create a more compelling reason to watch the show.
The DC TV Universe will be a packed schedule in October. ‘The Flash’ season 3 will premiere Tuesday, October 4 at 8 pm on The CW, Arrow season 5 will premiere in the same timeslot on Wednesday, October 5, Supergirl season 2 on Monday, October 10, and Legends of Tomorrow season 2 on Thursday, October 13.
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in The Light Between Oceans, directed by Derek Cianfrance, a romantic period piece that’s tedious and jejune. Cianfrance, whose best known for his work on Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond The Pines, manages to turn a very predictable and simplistic narrative into an uncomfortable two hours and two minutes that will have audiences crying tears of joy once it limps to its tepid conclusion.
The film centers around post-WWI Australia, and the veteran Tom Sherbourne (Fassbender). Sherbourne is still dealing with the post-traumatic stress of seeing all his friends die in combat and the guilt of being the only one of his pals to survive. In the beginning, he applies to be a lighthouse keeper on the remote but gorgeous island of Janus. The place is so remote that the last person to hold the post went insane. For some, this job might be torture but for Sherbourne, he embraces the isolation.
Predictably, he meets Isabel (Vikander), who just so happens to be the one girl who can see beneath the scars and tell that he’s a good person. The courtship is minimal at best, more of a polite conversation. Isabel wants to visit Tom out at Jannus, but the rules forbid it unless they are married; and with that, they give each other the nod, and we are jarringly transition to their wedding day (an entirely realistic and romantic turn of events).
Isabel and Tom have a baby, but tragedy strikes and they lose the child. We go through an oddly placed montage of Isabel and Tom looking forlorn off into the distance until Isabel tells Tom (once again, jarringly) that she’s ready to try again. Once again, everything seems to be going well and tragedy strikes again and they lose a second child. Unnecessary.
This sends Isabel into a tailspin, but something happens. In the midst of her grief, a boat washes up on shore and in it is a dead man, who looks like he’s been at sea for weeks, and a baby, who looks like something you would see in Gerber ad – a totally realistic look for a child who’s been at sea for weeks. The film now becomes a question of morality: Should Isabel and Tom tell the mainland about this abandoned child or just pretend that the baby is their own?
In Blue Valentine, Cianfrance focused heavily on the beginning of a relationship, and the end, with a family torn apart. His brand of filmmaking is successful at shining a light on the pain and suffering of his characters. If Cianfrance had created this film in the same way he had done his others, the focus would have been about the pain a woman feels when they either lose a baby or can’t have kids. Vikander has shown an ability to tackle dark source material; she did just win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Danish Girl. Here, however, we are force-fed melodramatic scene after melodramatic scene of Fassbender wrestling with this moral dilemma.
How many times must we be subjected to his character staring off into the distance as he wrestles with this decision? How many times must we watch Tom sit in “painful” silence? Even after deciding to allow Isabel to keep the baby, we still are forced to endure even more wistful looks from inside the lighthouse. The movie quickly morphs from a potentially intriguing look at the pain of losing a child to boring, melodramatic hodge-podge.
Speaking of a hodge-podge, this film takes a turn for the worse when Tom and Isabel decide to head to the mainland to get their baby, Lucy, christened. While on the mainland, everything seems to be going well as they head to the church for the ceremony; then Tom notices a grieving women next to a tombstone. Now most everyone in the world would just go about their business, but not Tom. He has to see what this woman is up to and low and behold … it’s Lucy’s real mother, Hanna, played by Rachel Weisz (dramatic sounder).
So instead of shifting the narrative towards Isabel, the film fumbles some more with Tom wrestling even more with this new moral dilemma. Wash, rinse, repeat. He even goes so far as to leave a note to her real mom saying the baby is fine and being loved and not to worry – because that’s gonna make her feel better. Weisz is woefully miscast in this film. She is far from believable in the role of the grieving mother/wife. Her performance exhibited minimal pain and her Crocodile tears were transparent. She views Lucy as more of a possession than an actual child, and she lacks the pain of a person who has been longing for her daughter for four long years. In retrospect, Cianfrance would have been better off casting her in the role Isabel or not casting her at all.
By focusing way too much on the Tom narrative and introducing Hannah, a character with little believability, Cianfrance strips his film of its heart and turns it into a dull collection of melodramtic drivel. If he made strides towards balancing the story, then the film would have had some promise but, alas, this is what we are left with. I can’t say I’m shocked by this as most forgetful films are released towards the end of August. The best is yet to come.
This one hurts. Legendary character actor Jon Polito, known best for his supporting roles in Coen brothers films like Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing, The Man Who Wasn’t There and The Big Lebowski, has passed away. He was 65.
Polito starred in over 100 films and dozens of TV shows and Broadway productions, Vulture reports. His other credits including his role in Homicide: Life on the Street, as well as guest turns on popular shows like Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Modern Family, Bunheads, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Raising the Bar, Monk, Medium, Masters of Horror, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gilmore Girls, The Chronicle, The Drew Carey Show, Roseanne, Mad About You, The Equalizer, Tales From the Crypt, Crime Story and Murder, She Wrote, just to name a handful. He’ll certainly be missed.
Polito’s death was announced by John McNaughton, the director behind Wild Things and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, on his Facebook page. He wrote the following regarding his friend’s passing.
Very sad to learn that my dear friend and collaborator, Jon Polito has passed away. John is probably best known for his work in Coen Brothers films, notably Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing and The Big Lebowski. Jon and I worked together in TV starting with episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, some pilots and Masters of Horror. He appeared in over 100 films, countless TV episodes and on Broadway. Jon was a born actor and will be deeply missed by his legion of friends, fans, family and of course his long time partner, Darryl Armbruster to whom I send my condolences. R.I.P. old pal.
Polito is one of those guys you always see on the screen but sometimes don’t recognize. Hopefully that’ll change in light of his passing. I always found his presence warm and inviting, and every performance was distinctly his own. He was last seen in an episode of Major Crimes. His last performance will be in The Maestro, set for release next year.
The film industry is a massive business, making well over 10 billion dollars annually on cinema sales in the United States alone. Despite its massive haul, the business is not as profitable as it would seem on paper. A lot of movies fail to garner anywhere near as much as a studio would have wanted, and some turn into huge loses for their studios. 2011’s Mars Needs Moms for instance is considered one of the biggest box office bombs in recent memory, as it only grossed 39 million worldwide on a 150 million dollar budget. While a loss of 110 million would be bad enough for any studio, the story of Mars Needs Moms’ box office performance is actually a lot worse than you might think.
In order to understand exactly how poorly the film performed, you need to know two things about box office analysis. The first is that a movie’s reported production budget only represents what it cost to make the film itself. It does not include costs for marketing and distribution. While those costs vary from film to film, it tends to follow that the bigger the budget, the more a studio will spend to market it. If you look at http://ispot.tv, a site dedicated to following TV ad spending, you can see that most films spend a minimum of 15-20 million dollars. This is only for TV ads in America, and does not include ad spending in other countries or online.
The second thing it’s important to keep in mind while watching box office results is that a studio only keeps about 50% of a film’s gross, while the other 50% goes to the cinemas. The exact division of gross does vary a bit from studio to studio, as well as country to country when looking at the international market, but on average it tends to be a 50/50 split between a film’s studio and cinema chains. As such, a simple rule to keep in mind is that a movie needs to make at least double its production budget before it’s considered to have broken even.
If we return to Mars Needs Moms for a second look with those things in mind, we see how disastrous the box office haul of the film really is. It had a reported production budget of 150 million, and a likely marketing budget of at least 50 million worldwide. So the film had a likely cost north of 200 million, yet it only grossed about 40 million at the worldwide box office. Once the cinemas took their share, the film’s studio would only get about 20 million, for a loss of approximately 180 million. While they’re likely to have recouped some of that loss through DVD sales, potential merchandising, and TV screenings, the film did end up costing its studio a lot of money.
It is also important to note that not every movie that loses its studio money is considered a flop or a box office bomb. This depends on how poorly it does overall. While a film like Mars Needs Moms is a definite bomb, a film like Gods of Egypt (145m haul on 140m budget) is a softer loss, though still a big disappointment for its studio. Comparatively, a film like Alice Through the Looking Glass (290m gross on a 170m budget) is considered a small loss, as the studio is likely to close some of that initial box office loss through DVD sales and TV screenings. The closer the film gets to doubling its production cost during its initial box office run, the softer you can consider the loss for the studio.
So the first thing to remember about a Triangle is that all points are connected. There isn’t someone who’s not involved with each person. You don’t have a girl who doesn’t know the other girl exists, or a guy who is unaware of one of the girl’s who has feelings for him. Everyone has a relationship, even the girls involved. The red arrows are the girls love for the guy. They stretch all the way to him and are equal in intensity. The black arrows representing the guys feelings, are shortened however. For he is having the internal conflict on where to direct his love fully. Now his arrows can shift over time leaning more towards one girl or the other but the triangle doesn’t end until his arrow meets the same intensity and length as one of the girls. The rainbow is how the girls are connected. Yes, in a Love Triangle everyone has a connection. The rainbow line is the connection that the girls either develop or destroy along the Triangles progression. No matter who you are when you spend enough time with someone you’re going to form a connection. The rainbow line is all the possible emotions the girl will inevitably form, with each other and have an effect on their love towards the boy.
The air is getting chilly and movies are getting scary. On September 1st alone, 21 horror films will be added to Hulu’s movie list. Star-studded genre films like The Others, classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and supernatural thrillers like The Devil Inside are all among the new additions. Others include Deaths of Ian Stone, Dark Ride, Lake Dead, The Messengers, Lake Dead, The Messengers, Mulberry Street, Buried, Nightmare Man, Autopsy, Crazy Eights, Unearthed, Offspring, Borderland, The Broken, Theater of Blood, The Thaw, Dying Breed, From Within, and Slaughter, and you’ll have enough to to stay scared straight through Halloween.
Isabel and Tom have a baby, but tragedy strikes and they lose the child. We go through an oddly placed montage of Isabel and Tom looking forlorn off into the distance until Isabel tells Tom (once again, jarringly) that she’s ready to try again. Once again, everything seems to be going well and tragedy strikes again and they lose a second child. Unnecessary.