TV @ the Movies: "Hoosiers" vs. "The Notebook"

I know that MTV's Teen Wolf is based on an 80s movie but it's not set in the 1980s so what to make of the bizarre opening scene of its latest episode "The Tell" in which Jackson (Colton Haynes) and Lydia (Holland Roden) visit that nostalgia-inducing endangered species, The Video Store, and have the following  ½ "80s" argument... 

Jackson: "Hoosiers" is not only the best basketball movie ever it is the best sports movie ever made. 
Lydia: No.
Jackson: It's got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper!
Lydia: No.
Jackson: Lydia, I swear to God you're going to like it.
Lydia: No.
Jackson: I AM NOT WATCHING "THE NOTEBOOK" AGAIN

[cut to: Jackson, defeated, inside the store]

Jackson: Can somebody help me find "The Notebook"? 

Haha. So, maybe this was intended it as a Men are from Mars / Women are from Venus argument but do today's teenagers (non film-fanatic variety... not you reading, obvs)  even know who Dennis Hopper and Gene Hackman are? It seems like this argument was between a 30something man and a teen girl. Or maybe Hoosiers mania still lives on in high school boys? I'm not a sports person or a high school boy so I cannot speak from authority.

Once inside the store, there are a ton of movies on view but none of them seem intentionally placed there for the camera. Lazy set dressers (kidding!). For instance, there's telltale signs of a dead body (a foot!) peaking out from behind the I Am Love row. But I highly doubt the director's were like "ooh, someone dies in that Tilda Swinton / Italian melodrama that won Best Pic at the Film Bitch Awards, so let's put the body there!".

This one on the other hand is 100% intentional.

Turns out there's an evil werewolf in the store and Jackson ends up hiding right next to a copy of Let The Right One In, the only movie with its own closeup. "The Tell" that it's intentional: It's out of sequence with the other movies sitting next to it, which begin with "S". Video stores may be on the verge of extinction but surely they still alphabetize.

First and Last, Oh Cecilia

first and last - a motion picture guessing game

first line

Cecilia was the first to go.

last image

Can you guess the movie?

give up or check your answer (and see the actual first frame) after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

The titles within this franchise always surprise with the punctuation. This one opts for one colon and a dash. A dash, huh? It must feel the need, the need for speed. This is the first time they've used a dash unless you prefer your Mission: Impossible 2 in its funkier weirdly abbreviated decapitalized M:i-2 format. Anyway.... the point is that Tom Cruise is back as agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol or M:I-GP Vol. 4 if you'd like to complicate it. Let's accept the mission to break down the trailer with our Yes, No, Maybe So protocol.

Tom Cruise Does His Own Stunt Running

YES You wouldn't know it from the trailer which focuses on reminding you of the stunttacular nature of this franchise and the familiar but arguably still special effect of Tom Cruise running-jumping-glaring (say what you will about Tom Cruise -- and we all have -- but there are few movie stars as committed/believable in action sequences) but Brad Bird directed this. BRAD BIRD. If it has the teensiest sliver of The Iron Giant's humanity and if the action scenes are anywhere close to as good as the ones in The Incredibles, it's going to be straight up awesome. The big question is: can Brad Bird work directing wonders with flesh & blood actors the way he can with animators?

NO -Did we really need a fourth picture? My biggest beef with this franchise, continued here with the title card insistence that only Tom Cruise is starring in the picture, is that the Mission: Impossible series would be so much better if it were more team-oriented. Ethan pulls too much focus and the team maneuvering and chemistry is the real spark it needs to generate fireworks.

Mission: Impossible - Team 4: Pegg, Renner, Cruise and Patton

MAYBE SO -On the other hand, even if they aren't given enough to do the cast is exciting: Simon Pegg, the always welcome until he gets too ubiquitous (any second now) Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway, Michael Nykqvist, Paula Patton, Lea Seydoux, and Tom Wilkinson doing what he does best (that distinctive voice: authoritative but always suspect with hints of possible certifiable whack-a-doo pulsating underneath)

The Trailer... 

Do you think Tom Cruise will have the comeback he's looking for over?
Will Brad Bird work well with actors who can talk back?
If you were an action star would you do your own stunts?
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?

Related Post from the Archive:
Directors of the Decade: Brad Bird "Mr Complexity" 

Frog & Pig

June Weddings (reprinted from the TFE archives)

This news clipping, in pristine condition, which originally appeared in the New York Sun (circa 1984), is on loan to The Film Experience from Miss Piggy's vast personal collection of Miss Piggy memorabilia. We are doing our utmost to return it to her with nary a scratch, tear or stain upon it.

In related news, the new Muppet movie, simply titled The Muppets (2011) is only 147 days away. Not that we're counting.

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Crabs, Robots, Divas, Ships, Sing-Alongs... LINKS

Montages top ten robots on film (in norwegian but with pics) Roy Batty of Blade Runner is at number one selvfølgelig. Who else, you know?
Hollywood Reporter in case you've been wondering why there's still talk of a Green Lantern sequel (despite the lame box office for the Ryan Reynolds affair), here's why it might happen.
Ultra Culture "better than the last one but still pretty shit" sharp funny review of Transformers Dark of the Moon. Most of the bile is saved for Shia LaBeouf but Megan Fox's replacement gets this.

It might be a little premature to judge Megan Fox’s replacement, British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, given how little she has to work with here — STICK YOUR BUM OUT, LOOK SCARED, POUT YOUR LIPS IN SUCH A WAY AS TO SUGGEST THAT YOU MIGHT BE PROFICIENT AT ADMINISTERING A BLOWJOB — but even with just a handful of lines she’s a firm lock for worst performance of 2011. I’m not even sure she can do a British accent properly.

"Dr Horrible" vinyl lp by Joe SpiottoAlt Screen suggests you see Choose Me (1984) tonight if you're in NYC. God I loved this movie on VHS in the late 80s. Don't remember much of it though.
Critical Condition Oscar Songs Project 1989. Time for The Little Mermaid.  
Super Punch "Doctor Horribles Sing-a-Long Blog Vinyl Album." By the artist Joe Spiotto. Soooooooo cute I just died. (Must finish this post in Zombie-Nathaniel form.)
Hollywood Reporter James Cameron's 3D conversion of Titanic (1997) generating buzz. I will see it because I love all things Cameron but I worry that it will restore the lustre of 3D just as it's been (rightfully) fading.
Kenneth in the (212) "the greatest 30 seconds in cinema" Shirley Maclaine is. still. here. Actually is she? Where is she? 

Go Fug Yourself is absolutely right about this hideous tacky Newsweek cover. 
Coming Soon Madonna, who has been photographed constantly with her supposed "ex" French dancer Brahim Zaibat this week will soon have a cluttered December calendar. The Weinstein Co has announced they'll open W.E. (recently discussed) on December 9th and expand by January. Mark your Oscar calendars. 
Cinema Blend reports that Scarlett Johansson may be starring in the music-centric film  Can a Song Save Your Life? from Once talent John Carney. This seems like a very good idea since ScarJo doesn't even seem like an actress anymore, right?, just a celebrity.