Tuesdays with Classics - Back to the Future

Welcome back to another addition of Tuesdays with Classics where I'll be bringing back some of the best classics known to cinematic history, they deserve a little extra spotlight I'd say. Last week we went over Space Odyssey and man did that bring back some memories. This week though, I want to do a movie that everyone is sure to have seen or at the very least heard of. I'm talking about Back to the Future. Yeah that's right, I said it. The way this movie was made will blow some minds. The production budget was 19 million, and after being the top grossing release of 1985, box office profit was over 381 million! Back to future offered so many 'easter eggs' and subtleties in the script that new things are still being discovered today. Later I will show you a couple examples.

  

Doc and Marty McFly

High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) doesn't have the most pleasant of lives. Harassed by his principal at school, Marty must also endure the caustic relationship between his father (Crispin Glover) and his mother (Lea Thompson), who in turn suffer the bullying of middle-aged jerk Biff (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty's dad's supervisor. The one balm in Marty's life is his friendship with the abnormal scientist Doc (Christopher Lloyd), who at the time is working on a time machine. After accidentally zapped back into the 1950s, Marty unknowingly interferes with the growing romance of his now-teenaged parents. McFly must now reunite his parents-to-be, or else he will cease to exist in the 1980s. It won't be easy, especially with the loutish Biff, now also a teenager, complicating matters. Beyond its fascinating special effects, the best element of Back to the Future is the performance of Michael J. Fox, who finds himself in the bad predicament of surviving the 1950s with a hip 1980s mindset.

One to the magnificent and brilliant subtleties:

This is one of my favorite subtleties (Left). In the beginning of Back to the Future, it shows this scene where you're at the "Twin Pine Mall". Later on the movie, Marty runs over a single pine tree shown is the picture on the way out while trying to escape. However, Towards the end, we come back to the same mall but notice the name of the mall this time  around. That's correct, "Lone Pine Mall". They even subtracted one pine tree from the mall's logo in response of Marty's incongruous driving charade.

While this may be a scene from Back to the Future II (Right) it is still justified as part of the BTTF franchise, also It's really remarkable how well organized and subtle the production team was and for that, should not go unnoticed. While retrieving money from this suitcase to give to Marty to buy new close in 1955, it shows the contents of what's inside, the scene lasted merely 5 seconds before switching but notice how precise the currency is. Every dollar is 100% legitimate and correct in appearance. They literally took the time and resources to gather every note from specific time eras to calibrate a true sense of actuality. That's the difference from a classic and just another regular movie. Taking the time and effort to do things no one else would even consider. They took a chance at this irrelevant and very subtle scene   but  thankfully people noticed and because of that, this movie is STILL being talked about, almost 17 years later. Bravo Back to the Future, bravo indeed.  

Back to the Future released July 3, 1985. Enjoyed!

Prometheus

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Prometheus is an upcoming science fiction film. Set in the future, 2085 to be exact, when the crew of a spaceship named Prometheus discover a star map within the imagery of Aztec culture, they are sent on a scientific mission amongst the universes vast ocean of void to explore the map as part of a mission to find the origins of humanity. As they come across a more advanced than mankind civilization, they soon realize that the very existence of humanity is in imminent danger by the hostile residents of the alien civilization.

Directed by Ridley Scott and written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. The film's main stars are: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron. 

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Prometheus was originally intended as a prequel to Ridley Scott's Alien, but Scott decided to turn it into an original film with Noomi Rapace (who was already set to star in the prequel) still in the cast as one of five main characters. Some time later however it was confirmed that while the movie will take place in the same universe as Alien, and greatly reference that movie, it will, for the bigger part, be an original movie and not a direct prequel. This move will give an entirely new perspective of what happened before the original Alien premiered. As the puzzle come together, it will become more clear to the audience in this epic battle between man and the unknown.

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According to Ridley Scott, the film's plot was inspired by academic Erich von Däniken's writings about ancient astronauts: "Both NASA and the Vatican agree that it is almost mathematically impossible that we can be where we are today, without there being a little help along the way. That's what we're looking at: we are talking about gods and engineers, engineers of space. Were the Aliens designed as a form of biological warfare, or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?" 

 

Prometheus is set for release on June 8, 2012. Enjoy!

Ice Age: Continental Drift

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In "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Scrat's nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he's been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences -- a continental cataclysm that triggers the greatest adventure of all for Manny, Diego and Sid. In the wake of these earth-shattering upheavals, Sid reunites with his long lost family, and the gang encounters a ragtag menagerie of colorful new characters determined to stop them from returning home. Poor little Scrat, all he ever wanted was a scrumptious acorn treat, instead he causes this hilarious disaster.

The unobtainable acorn and it's seeker, Scrat.

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Directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier, the film features the voices of Ray Romano (as Manny), Queen Latifah (as Ellie), Denis Leary (as Diego), John Leguizamo (as Sid), Seann William Scott (as Crash) Josh Peck (as Eddie), Wanda Sykes (as Granny, Sid's grandmother), Aziz Ansari (as Squint), Keke Palmer (as Peaches), Drake (Ethan), Jennifer Lopez (as Shira), Heather Morris (as Katie), Joy Behar (as Eunice), Nicki Minaj (Hailey), Josh Gad, Alan Tudyk (as Milton), Nick Frost (as Flynn), Kunal Nayyar (as Gupta), Alain Chabat (as Silas) and JB Smoove.

So many big name actors and singers in this one powerhouse movie, this is sure to be good. Or over-hyped, either or, I'm sure I'll watch it.

From left to right: Flynn, Squint, Shira, Scrat, Gutt, Silas, Raz, Dobson

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Pictured above is said to be the accused "pirates" who will do anything in there power to stop the Ice Age gang from returning home. How they could be so mean and inconsiderate? Well, you're just going to have to wait and find out for yourself.

Ice Age: Continental Drift is set for a worldwide release on July 13, 2012. Enjoy!

Battleship

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If you liked Independence Day, Transformers, Avatar, etc, then you're going to love this action-packed science fiction naval war movie. It seems as though this world will never know peace and harmony until our well being is threatened by some other life form than our own. Only then will our human race come together.

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Inspired by the actual child's game, Battleship by Milton Bradley, comes to you Battleship.. The movie. Directed by Perter Berg as well as the same company that made Transformers is a motion picture about war on sea with the unknown. At an international nasal fleet in Pearl Harbor, located in the Hawaiian Islands, naval seamen come across an alien species known as "The Regents". Unfortunately, these aliens aren't friendly, but very hostel and their plan was to visit planet Earth to build a power source in the vast, unexplored ocean. The perfect place to hide, and they know that. However, as their unwelcome visit becomes apparent, naval fleets engage in brisk and intense battle in efforts of saving what seems to be a human extermination portrayed by the Regent alien race.

The movie is set up in such a way that it's viewed in both the alien's perspective as well as humans perspective. This give the audience a confirmed idea of where the opponents ships are at all times as well as giving both their story.

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Though battleships are featured in abundance during this film's naval combat sequences, in reality battleships have been decommissioned from all navies in the world since the early 1990s, as they proved to be too costly and impractical for modern warfare. Still adds a nice touch to the movie though, in my opinion.

Starring Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna (Yes, the singer/rapper, aka Chris Brown's booty call) and Liam Neeson.

Battleship is set for release on May 18, 2012. Enjoy!

Tuesdays with Classics - A Space Odyssey

Welcome to the first edition of Tuesdays with Classics. Every Tuesday I will bring to you a classic movie everyone is sure to know. In today's day and age, with all these new releases to chose from, it's simple to forget about the movies that MADE Hollywood. I'm talking about Back to the Future (1985), Alien (1979), Rocky (1976), Scarface (1983), Godfather (1972), and more. So sit back and relax, because first up is 2001 Space Odyssey (1968)

Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, comes 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is speculated to be somewhat inspired by the shorty story "The Sentine" by Arthuc, C. Clarke (co-writer). 2001 is a story essentially about evolution. Sometime in the past, monoliths were left on the earth by someone or something. As time passed, humans eventually evolved to the point where they were technologically advanced enough to  safety travel to the moon. However, when humankind first reaches our earth's satellite, he makes a startling discovery. Another monolith appears, it symbolizes that humankind has evolved to it's next step in regards to space travel. The race has started as the S.S. Discovery and it's crew; Captain Dave Bowman, Frank Poole, and their on board computer, HAL 9000 set sail for the next monolith placer. What will they achieve by doing this? The next step in evolution.

Click image for full size

But wait... There's more! Here's an epic Space Odyssey themed wallpaper. Put it up anywhere, however I suggest your desktop!

The Avengers

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They’ve made us wait a while but it will be surely worth it. Marvel’s The Avengers is close to hitting a theater near you! Get ready for an action packed, adrenaline filled, roller coaster of epicness. Starring  Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Jeremy Renner.

The Avengers

Picking up from where Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger first left off this is sure to be one hell of a ride. If you've watched just one of these marvel movies, just imagine all of them combined!

The Hulk, in all his glory

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Director of SHIELD, also know as the International Peacekeeping Agency is in major jepordy when an unforeseen enemy drops by for a visit. Distrought and overwhelmed by the potential castraophy brought on by enemy Loki & his various membered army, Fury assembles a team to help stop him. However, no ordinary "team" was chosen, rather, he chose the most unyeilding, unstoppable team known in cinamatic history. The Avengers.

The Avengers is set to release May 4, 2012. Enjoy!

21 Jump Street

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In this sure to be hilarious film, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are tired of living their childish lives. As a result, they go on to join the "Secret Jump Street" and the Police force to track down and investigate the drug leader of an extremely dangerous drug ring, while doing so they prop as young highschoolers to gain trust with students of the a local school associated with the the drug leader in efforts to locate his position. The only problem is, times have changed, and neither expected that they will have to re-live the anxiety and pressure they endured of fitting in with their peers.

21 Jump Street is set to release on March 16, 2012. Enjoy!