I don’t think I mentioned this last week, but I hosted episode 107 of the Nerd Lunch Podcast which went live LAST Tuesday. I’m still in vacation mode after my month long AWESOME-tober-fest this year.
We were joined by Shawn Robare from Branded in the 80s and we all discussed the idea of movie prequels.
We discuss our thoughts on prequels, which prequels we think worked and which didn’t we even pitch ideas for movie prequels we’d like to see someday. Nerd to Dos include Witches of Eastwick, Funko figures, Bond movies and M Night Shamalayan.
Tomorrow’s new episode won’t feature me or Jeeg at all. We both had to drop out for various reasons, so CT is going it alone with several guest stars. It should be an interesting one.
Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.
We pulled a sneak attack on you guys. Just when you thought CFC was going to miss our June episode, BOOM, here we are with under the wire with Episode 8 in which we talk about our first sequel, Karate Kid Part III.
There is just so much to love in this retardedly bad movie. Terry Silver, the return of Kreese, “Karate’s Bad Boy” Mike Barnes, Daniel-san forgetting everything he’s learned from the first two movies, Snake and extremely valuable grand daddy banzai trees. It’s all there and Jaime, Shawn and I cover ALL of it because we unabashedly love every single moment in this film. If we could, we’d review this movie every week.
So, download the latest CFC episode from iTunes or listen to it online right here.
We have a new assignment for The League this week. The League of Extraordinary Bloggers, that is. This week, Brian asks what 80s kid/teen movie would we want to see a sequel to today, including the original cast members. And what do we envision those characters to be doing now?
Great question Brian, and I really had to think about this one. I’ve talked about my views on movie sequels here. I also talked about them for Episode 20 of the Nerd Lunch podcast. Essentially, I like sequels. If I enjoy the characters then I want to see those characters again. However, Hollywood has totally perverted the idea of a sequel and it makes it hard for good legitimate sequels to get a break.
Anyway, for this week’s assignment, I briefly thought about sequels to Ferris Bueller and The Goonies. But if there were sequels to those, I would have wanted them to be in the 80s or early 90s. Not now. Shawn over at Branded in the 80s pondered a third Teen Wolf movie starring Michael J Fox and Jason Bateman which quite literally blew my mind. How did I not think of that? However, I agree with him, the time for that sequel would have been around 1991 when Fox was still up for it. Doc Hollywood Fox would have been awesome in a Teen Wolf Three. But I digress.
So, I thought about it and I think I would really like to see a modern day sequel to the 1983 hit, War Games starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman and Ally Sheedy.
War Games is one of my favorite movies from the 80s. Broderick is so great as the goofy, funny, computer dork David Lightman. Ally Sheedy was amazingly cute as Jennifer Mack, Lightman’s crush and eventual love interest. I highly identified with Lightman in this movie. I was into computers and a bit of an introvert. Especially many years later in high school. I even got in trouble a few times for saying snarky remarks in the middle of class. However, I did not have the incredible computer setup that Lightman has in his room. That collection of hardware is amazing. For those that don’t know, it was a sort of “kit-bashed” IMSAI 8080 computer. A-mazing.
Also, another reason I love this movie is that the director, John Badham, was raised in my hometown of Birmingham, AL (even though he was born in the UK). There is a scene in the movie in which a tour group at NORAD is identified as being from Birmingham, AL. This is an homage to Badham’s hometown.
So, in my modern day sequel, what are the characters from the movie doing today?
Dr John McKittrick – After the events of the original movie, Dr McKittrick kept in touch with David throughout college. He even supplied him with recommendations to MIT. McKittrick would help David get a job with NORAD after graduation. McKittrick would mentor David for many years within NORAD until he is appointed the director of the National Security Agency (NSA). As Director, McKittrick would bring David over from NORAD as a high level code breaker. At the time of the sequel, McKittrick is only a year or two from retiring as Director.
David Lightman – After high school, David is accepted into MIT with a full ride (obviously helped by some highly placed government recommendations). David graduates with honors and begins working for NORAD as Dr McKittrick’s protege. David would work with McKittrick for many years afterward. After McKittrick is appointed the Director of the NSA, David would accept a high level job with his mentor. He would eventually gain the coveted title of Head Cryptographer. As the HC, David oversees the NSA’s version of WOPR called DECODR. It’s a code breaking super computer used to crack highly encrypted data. Late one evening, the DECODR comes across an encryption it can’t break and David receives an email stating that this “unbreakable code” will be auctioned off to the highest bidder in 24 hours. Lightman calls in McKittrick and they must figure out who wrote the encryption and how they can solve it before the encryption code is released into the wild.
Episode 20 is now available to the legions of Nerd Lunchketeers. This week we are joined again by a fellow Jacksonvillian Robert Zerbe of To The Escape Hatch. This week we discuss the always relevant topic of movie sequels.
I’ve discussed the subject of movie sequels before, but this is a more in depth investigation. A drill down, if you will.
We talk about sequels we feel work, sequels we feel don’t work, sequels we wish had never existed and we even discuss movies that never got sequels but we wish had. It’s a lively discussion that I think you’ll enjoy. So join us, won’t you?
Okay, everyone. We are finally here. We are at the point where I glance up at my 2009 Movie Board and try to figure out what were my favorite movies of 2009. For those scoring at home, here’s the Movie Board for this year:
As you can see, I saw 53 movies that were released in 2009 (and therefore are eligible for the Oscars). Some of those movies were in the theater (the majority of them, actually) and some were at home on Blu-Ray. That’s 4.42 movies per month. Up from last year. Also, I was able to top 50 movies for the first time since 2007. So, I’m excited about that. Last year my total was 49, so I was a bit irked I didn’t make it. This year, I’m back, baby!
For those just joining us this year, or for those that like reliving the past, check out my favorite movie picks in my Movie Board articles for 2007 and 2008. I myself like to look back every year before I write this article, just to get in the movie pickin’ mood.
This was a really good year for movies. I saw a metric TON of good flicks in 2009. I really had a hard time getting this list down to my favorite movies of the year. As usual, I’m just picking my favorite five. My own personal “best” list. You may agree, you may disagree. Regardless, I’m right, so pipe down and prepare to be told what 5 movies rocked my world this year.
Okay, 2009 movies, let’s do this.
Star Trek – Blew my ass away. I’d take a picture of my ass to prove it to you, but you wouldn’t see anything but a blank space, because it was BLOWN AWAY. I saw this movie twice in theaters because I had my ass kicked so incredibly hard the first time, I had to go back to be sure it wasn’t an illusion. And it wasn’t. I laughed and cried (yes, I f’n cried) at all the exact same spots on both viewings. Then, my dad gave me the movie for Xmas and I watched it again on Blu-Ray and was reduced to a blubbering, laughing mess for a THIRD TIME. THIS MOVIE IS FANTASTIC. I can’t place this movie high enough on the list to get across how much I love this movie. JJ Abrams gets it. Orci and Kurtzman get it. The actors get it. This movie was Star Trek, warts and all. I know some people were bitching about the plot holes and time travel, but I invite those haters to SHUT THEIR CHEETOS HOLES. If you have watched any of the original series episodes from the ’60s (which I’ve been doing) then this movie fits right in. I put this movie up there with Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country as my favorite Star Trek movie. I balled when George Kirk died. I laughed and pumped my fist when Kirk beats the Kobayashi-Maru. I marveled at the final battle with Nero. I couldn’t have asked for a better Star Trek movie. PERIOD. Best. Movie. This. Year. Take that to the bank, haters.
District 9 – I read a lot of the press for this movie before it opened. A small sci-fi film from South Africa produced by Peter Jackson and written/directed by a little known but talented guy named Neill Blomkamp. I knew most of the movie is done in a mock documentary style about aliens that have come to Earth. That’s about all I knew, but it looked like a really clever idea and I was excited to see it. I had no idea what I was in for. Fantastic. This movie blends CGI, practical effects and live action in an unbelievably seamless way. The aliens are all CGI, but they are REAL. This is no Jar Jar Binks, my friends. Also, even though it’s only used for the first 2/3 of the movie, the mockumentary structure really works. This is just a wonderful sci-fi movie. Some of the movie review guys on the Internets that I respect even put this in their best of the year. Devin over at CHUD put it #4 in his top 15 of the year and both Massawyrm and Harry Knowles over at Aint It Cool News put it #1 on their lists. I absolutely agree. This movie deserves to be seen. It’s awesome. I can’t recommend it enough. Hopefully we’ll see a nomination for Special Effects as well as Best Screenplay (fingers crossed).
Cavalcade of Awesome 