Posts by Christian Taylor3

🤔 How much longer are we going to keep running these polls and lists—are we really stuck doing this until the first decade of the 21st century is over? 😲

briskhound2 said:So, here's a question for the group: do you actually consider James Ellroy to be an author worth paying attention to, or are his novels and movies just relics of a bygone era?

Are you kidding me? Of course we value him—honestly, some of his best stuff hasn't even hit the big screen yet, and the absolute heavy hitters already have. 🙂

By the way, this topic/poll is basically a national debate in the US! 👋

My vote goes to L.A. Confidential, which is hands down one of the most “ fucking good movie”s Hollywood has ever produced.



🙂

James Ellroy ALERT

p.s. The Black Dahlia is one I haven't seen; is it actually possible that palmin adaptation is really that bad? 🤷

briskbison41 said:So, what happened to this latest installment, Die Hard 4.0? 🤔

Live Free or Die Hard, (released as Die Hard 4.0 outside of North America).

Probably just the release date.

Quote: The film's North American release date was June 27, 2007.

🤷

briskhound2, briskhound2, you're seriously blocking me from voting again? 🙂 So, I’m basically stuck in this endless loop of indecision, unable to actually make up my mind between... Die Hard It looks like you might have hit send a little early there. I'm standing by whenever you're ready to actually say something. Die Hard with a VengeanceBoth of them are just perfect. 😍

Die Hard

When it first hit theaters, I honestly felt like it was one of the absolute best action flicks of its era. People always point out how it basically breathed new life into the whole action-thriller genre, paving the way for movies like Under Siege, Passenger 57, and Speed. It’s pretty much responsible for creating that specific "action hero" archetype we've seen everywhere since—you know, the flawed anti-hero who looks like he's been through a blender, barely says more than a single word at a time, and maintains a permanent scowl on his face. In terms of the box office, the film pulled in $80,707,729 here in the States.

Critics absolutely loved it, and they ended up churning out three sequels to follow it up. In the June 22, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly, it was actually crowned the greatest action film of all time.

In the last scene, where Karl suddenly resurfaces just to try and take out McClane, you can actually hear the score from the movie Aliens by James Horner playing in the background.
In the German version of the film, they actually swapped out the names of the German theorists for English ones—mostly switching them to British equivalents. For instance, Hans became Jack, Karl turned into Charlie, and Heinrich Henry was changed too. They even reframed the German terrorists as Irish radicals who were more interested in a payday than any actual ideology, which caused a bit of confusion. It turns out they translated the names because terrorism was such a sensitive subject in Germany at the time.
The Nakatomi Tower is actually the headquarters for 20th Century Fox. The company basically rented out its own building just to make their own production possible.

Die Hard with a Vengeance

The film actually started out as a script by Jonathan Hensleigh, originally titled Simon Says, which was initially meant to serve as a blueprint for an action flick starring Brandon Lee. After that fell through, it was being looked at as a potential fourth entry in the Lethal Weapon series. The first half...

Die Hard with a Vengeance is basically just a recycled script, where they tacked on a heist element just to make it feel more like the earlier movies. The original pitch actually involved the robbers breaking into the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That idea didn't fly with the studio, but you can see its fingerprints all over that other John McTiernan flick, The Thomas Crown Affair.

Die Hard with a Vengeance was actually the first entry in the series where we weren't stuck in the middle of the Christmas holidays—even if they did throw in a few nods to Santa Claus and Christmas just to keep us on our toes. It was also the first time we saw McClane operating as an active cop with an actual badge. Beyond that, it’s pretty interesting that for almost the entire runtime, he finally has a legitimate partner in Zeus Carver. In the original Die Hard, Sergeant Powell tried to lend McClane a hand, but they barely even crossed paths until the very end. Then in Die Hard 2, his "partner" for the first half is just some air traffic controller, only to be replaced by a security guard later on. The third installment basically follows that same pattern, where the partner only gets pulled into the chaos because of the mess McClane's already made following the terrorist threat.

Just a few interesting tidbits for you guys:

On a DVD commentary, screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh mentioned that the whole concept actually popped into his head while he was thinking about what might happen if one of his childhood friends—whom he’d accidentally hit with a rock—decided to come back for revenge once they grew up.
In the original version of the screenplay for Simon Says written by Jonathan Hensleigh, the lead character was actually an NYPD cop named Alex Bradshaw, while the role that eventually became Zeus Carver was originally written as a woman. Apparently, the studio stepped in and pressured Hensleigh to swap Zeus's race from Black to either White or Asian.
The film was actually shot under the working title Die Hard: New York.
- To avoid any mess during filming in Harlem, the sign McClane carries actually just said "I Hate Everything." That extra racial slur was added later in post-production, though you'll still occasionally catch the uncensored version on certain TV broadcasts or even in some airplane movies.
- In one of his commentaries, director John McTiernan mentioned that the future Vice President, Dick Cheney, actually makes a cameo appearance.
- Most of the movie was shot over in Charleston, South Carolina, which includes those subway scenes (filmed on a set) and the bridge sequences shot on the actual Cooper Bridge.
- There’s that one moment where John McClane quips, "I smoke cigarettes and watch Captain Kangaroo" when Zeus asks him a question. It’s a nod to "Flowers on the Wall" by The Statler Brothers. Fun enough fact, Bruce Willis hums that same tune in Inglourious Basterds, where he and Samuel L. Jackson both had pretty massive roles.
- The whole "Simon Says" game, where McClane and Zeus have to race through the city to hit specific payphones or deal with whatever Simon wants them to pick up, feels very similar to the setup in Lethal Weapon, where Detective Callahan hunts down Scorpion through San Francisco. You know, the whole "get to the phone in time or the hostage dies" vibe.
- In that final scene, while Simon and his crew are getting ready to bail out of the USA with all that gold, someone mentions the trucks will be ready in "...zwanzig Minuten"—which is German for twenty minutes. Interestingly, the English subtitles say "ten minutes," which would only make sense if they had actually said "zehn Minuten."

Alright, fine, out of respect for the poll, I guess I'll vote for the guy, With a Vengeance 😁 There are really two big reasons why: Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus Carver, Willis's unlikely partner, and Jeremy Irons playing the heavy, Peter Krieg. Both were such stellar, unforgettable performances. It's no exaggeration to say I absolutely love Jeremy Irons in this one. 🙏

Die Hard with a Vengeance - Ants Go Marching (COMPLETE)



🙂

A little extra stuff for you guys:

DIE HARD FRANCHISE SCREENPLAYS

Everything is in a formatted .pdf. Just click the images or posters to download the scripts:

driftingeagle27 said:I don't know, I just get this vibe that she just shows up in movies and, like, whatever, now she's all cool, but to me it feels like some pretentious girl just sitting around and walking around. I don't think I've actually seen Boys Don't Cry; I feel like I saw it somewhere, it was cool, but I can't quite place it... Let me check... Oh yeah, Zodiac. (I didn't even recognize her when I watched that movie).

😕

What do you mean by just sitting and walking around? 🤷 Wasn't her performance as Dot in Gummo actually pretty great?



Or what about in Julien Pearl?



Where exactly is she sitting or walking? 🤷 Okay, maybe in Julien she did more sitting and walking, and honestly, I have no clue if she was being pretentious—that’s just how the role is written (though she still manages to pull off a whole spectrum of repressed emotions through it). That doesn't prove Chloe is a bad actress by any means.

driftingeagle27 said:Anyway, I know she enjoys the fame—hanging out with Korine, being tight with Sonic Youth, whatever.

She looks good in this Wiki photo from Boys Don't Cry, though.

She's young, attractive, and an established actress (an Oscar nominee, man), she's got her whole life ahead of her—so she probably isn't just going to sit at home😁

You can see her right here at the Gummo premiere (that's Vincent on the right, looking like a total thug, I almost reached out to fix his styling myself 😬)



😍

p.s. have you even actually seen Gummo? 🤔

driftingeagle27 said:Honestly, the biggest headache we’re dealing with is Chloe Sevigny.I can't even remember if it's spelled Chloe or chloë, but honestly, I’m struggling to shake this feeling that she’s just a pretty face with zero substance. It feels like she’s one of those people who lacks any real, standout qualities that would actually justify being a public figure, unless you count her uncanny ability to show up exactly where the cameras are pointing at just the right moment. 🤷

🤔 What exactly is your problem with Chloe Sevigny? 😁 (By the way, there are actually two dots over the "e," it’s not quite the same thing). If my memory serves me right, in... Julian She really nailed that role—it was honestly such a poised and mature performance, a total standout. Pearl was just something else. ES had been watching... Boys Don't CrySo, what? Now everything there isn't good enough for you either? ☕

Gummo! 😍 Check out that video above; there's just no arguing with it. It's absolute, undeniable proof, and honestly, everyone loves it—from the kids and teenagers all the way up to the local nuns. Even Simon Cowell Gummo is probably a fan. Gummo Honestly, it’s easily the best movie out there.

🙂

goldenhound32 said:Like I mentioned before, Nicolas Cage just isn't convincing to me.

When you weigh everything together, the Werner Herzog film feels more positive than the one by Abel Ferrara.

Keitel's lieutenant actually has a purpose—not right from the jump, but once he decides to track down those guys who attacked the honorable officer. Nicolas Cage's character, on the other hand, just talks about his goal. His true objective remains murky to the viewer; at least, it certainly wasn't clear to me.

Nicolas Cage's officer is crazy in a "wacky" sense, whereas Keitel's character feels more "demented."

Both characters have scenes where they harass ordinary people. In the Werner Herzog film, that scene falls flat, largely due to Nicolas Cage. Roger Ebert brings up rape, but if the girl is acting like she wants it, without any actual coercion, then there isn't even a hint of rape happening.

Oh, and in the Werner Herzog film, the lead's mistress is played by Eva Mendes... she doesn't belong there. She's far too beautiful for the role. It reminds me of when Jeanne Moreau plays a maid in a Buñuel film; you simply can't believe she's a maid.

The character played by Val Kilmer, the lieutenant's partner, is absolutely nothing. It's like he isn't even there. He’s just like Melvin Purvis in Public Enemies, only with much less screen time.

As for Ebert... I just finished reading his review, and I see exactly what I always see when he writes about Werner Herzog films. Pure admiration. Personally, I don't care for Herzog.

Thanks, goldenhound32. 🙂 Those "accusations" against the movie are pretty convincing; honestly, I doubt my own viewing experience will be able to debunk them—we'll see. By the way, that Ebert-Herzog connection definitely exists, largely thanks to Errol Morris. It’s a whole long story, but probably not worth getting into right now. 🙂

edit:

Do you find Herzog's documentaries to be any good, or are they also lacking for you? 🤷

Lovely Jubbly 😁 man, you killed it—honestly, I wouldn't expect anything less from you 🙏 I put my vote in for Top Secret! (mostly because it was the very first parody I ever saw when I was just a kid), plus those unforgettable Mel Brooks classics History of the World: Part I and The Producers, The Naked Gun and pretty much everything by the Python fans 😍

briskhound2 said:Thanks for digging up the script. I just downloaded it and I'll definitely give it a read once I actually find a free moment.

No worries at all. Anyway, that top link should have the PDF for the fourth one, but here's the one for the second installment:

Lethal Weapon 2.pdf

I can't seem to track down the script for the third one anywhere online, but I'm pretty sure it's sitting on my hard drive somewhere—I'll dig it up later. 🙂

Good grief, am I actually seeing this right? Lethal Weapon So, I guess we're starting a poll...

🙂

Not even one of the best—for me, it’s hands down the greatest film franchise ever made. How am I supposed to vote? briskhound2, are you out of your mind? You're seriously asking me to renounce my own three children here. The first one, obviously. No, actually, let's go with the fourth... El, look at what you're doing to people. Why specifically the fourth one? Honestly, I don't know; maybe it's because that cemetery scene with Leo Getz had me reaching for the tissues, or maybe it was that phenomenal Jet Li sequence, or that final montage during the credits that had even my grandmother—who is basically a human crocodile when she cries—sobbing her eyes out. Or perhaps it's just this massive weight in my heart knowing we'll never get them back. 😢 Anyway, I think I already covered all my bases on this topic in one of my more "intellectual" posts:

Christian Taylor3 said:I can't help myself, but for me, this is THE definitive film series. I always seem to find something so wonderfully ridiculous, naive, and just plain good about it.



Jet Li in Lethal Weapon 4



Scripts/downloads



I'm looking for a way to grab a PDF download for LETHAL WEAPON 4.

P.S. Ugh, I am actually fuming right now... So, Mel recently responded to some reporter's question:

What about doing another Lethal Weapon film?

... replied:

Mel Gibson basically said he has zero interest in revisiting that world. He’s finished with it. Honestly, we’ve already milked that franchise dry.

😢

It’s probably that Russian girlfriend of his; she clearly scrambled his brains, because now the guy has walked out on his wife and twenty kids just to spend his days filming some deranged movies starring stuffed squirrels. 😁 Do you really think I'm joking?



Who's laughing now? Honestly, it doesn't even matter—everything is forgiven, all because of Martin Riggs, obviously.

That's All Folks

What are you guys even up to?

No, we're just gonna DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Lethal Weapon 4 end Credits



Dammit, I’m actually going to miss these movies, I really am... especially Leo Getz.

p.s. briskhound2, sorry, I can't vote, you know what I mean...

Michael Ortiz68 Asks:
P.S. I actually have it sitting right here on my desktop. God, what a total geek I am. 🤦

briskhound2 Asks:
🤦 Me too.

You guys aren't being fair; now I want in on this too. 😁 This one feels like it just sits better on my desktop:



Well, bye then.WALL-E. Bad Robot 😬



p.s.

To start things off, we pull up a recording of HAL 9000's voice in Photosounder to turn that audio into a visual, playing it back at its normal speed just to get our bearings. Once that’s settled, I’ll give the Time resolution adjustment a little nudge downward and run the image-sound back at about a third of its original speed, making sure to keep the pitch exactly where it is.

Then you just keep cranking that Time resolution adjustment even further until the playback rate for the audio and video hits about 200 times slower than the original, and suddenly this incredibly strange, eerie soundscape starts to emerge from what was once just a man's voice, now stretched out into something unrecognizable.

MP3: Check out this clip from http://photosounder.com/misc/hal_9000_200x.mp3 where they've messed with the time resolution adjustment on some audio, making it run about 200 times slower than what you'd actually hear. It’s pretty wild to listen to.

😲

🙂

WALL-E! 😍



🙂

p.s. which robot is actually obsessed with watching movies, anyway? Only WALL-E 😁

Paul James62 said:I’m just saying, I really don't see why I should feel the need to make excuses or justify myself to you.🤣

So now they're all voting five stars, even though they started off by complaining that the poll was garbage—kind of a weird contradiction if you ask me, but hey, nobody actually cares about your opinion anyway.😛

Look, regardless of how you feel about it, this poll is zillion times better than anything you've ever put out. Not only do you intentionally leave out any other options so we can't vote for something else, but you also have the nerve to write in the intro: This is everything available, you have to vote for one of these... 🤣 If I recall correctly, the moderators even flagged one of your previous polls as actual spam.☕

Paul James62 said:Look, you’re missing my point entirely. I’m not saying I’m obsessed with them just because they're hot; I was actually talking about how much weight those characters carry. Most people seem to think that way, so I figured I wouldn't get too bogged down in the details.

Nice one, Jackie H. — you've pretty much redeemed yourself now. 😁 But honestly, man, it can be about the women, sure, but we really should take a second to appreciate Ripley — that legendary, once-in-a-generation performance by one of the greatest icons of our era — Sigourney Weaver! 🙏

p.s. Where did Annalee call/Winona Ryder from Alien: Resurrection go? 🤷 Just kidding, briskhound2, it's a solid 5/5 from me. 🙂 Still waiting on our first female icon to join the thread. 593, where you hiding?

Paul James62 said:The poll is fine, honestly, and I don’t really get why everyone is staging a full-blown mutiny over it. It’s just common sense that you can't make everyone happy all at once, so I'm definitely standing by the guy who put this together. 👍

Nobody's stepping up. Mutiny on the ship.Hey, let's just take a breath and dial it back a notch. ☕ I didn't realize we were allowed to vote for multiple female characters at once (sorry, Ripley). It turns out I was right to be a little skeptical about this whole thing. Even if a poll is titled "Action Movie Heroines," it doesn't really sit right with me when people start making comments about their physical attributes or calling them "babes." If the poll is supposed to be about "Iconic (Female) Characters," then why even bother adding "(Female)" in parentheses in the first place? 🙂).

P.S. The character of Sigourney Weaver/Ripley is honestly bigger than life itself—it’s more than just that. fish! 😁

🙂

I’m honestly pretty disappointed with this poll (a more fitting title would probably have been women as action heroines), since there are just way too few way notable female roles or actresses to justify narrowing things down like this—using terms like "action heroines" or requiring every character to have survived at least two franchises 😕. If one of the actual criteria is Women in Leading Roles in Action Films, then why on earth isn't Uma Thurman or Kill Bill even mentioned? 🤷

Sorry, briskhound2, but I just can't get past the fact that in a poll about Cult (Female) Characters, there’s absolutely no room for Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis from cult masterpiece by Ridley Scott: Thelma & Louise.

Anyway, no big deal, but out of respect for you, I ended up voting for Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster).

My God, Richard Castillo15 — where on earth is ExxonMobil by Hunter S. Thompson? 🙂 Honestly, every other director out there can just pack it up and go home.



🙏

A little little bonus track:

Gonzo: "If the artist doesn't tell me they're happy with it, then I've failed."

EDIT:

Quick correction/oops:

Hunter S. Thompson

Born August 9, 1964, in Washington, D.C. After finishing photography school and spending a few years working as a photographer for the legendary student magazine Rolling Stone, he landed a job at PBS as a camera assistant. He’s worked on countless documentaries, TV Movies, series, and dramas while simultaneously studying film and TV production at the Juilliard School. In 1988, he shot and directed his very first music video for The Ramones' song "Flying Squad," which earned him the audience award at the Videomix video festival, giving him the push he needed to keep going. He really hit his stride as a director (and often cinematographer) for music videos starting in 1993, even amidst the chaos of the war in America, after leaving his post at PBS. In the fall of 1995, he participated in the 3rd European Student Film Seminar in Budapest under the guidance of the legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. To this day, he has helmed roughly 150 to 200 music videos, about ten commercials, three documentaries, and one short film, and even served as the cinematographer for the feature film “Backup Del” directed by D. Kozole.

Filmography: “Hulahop i bambus” 1988, “Sketches from Israel” 1994, “My Thing” 1997, ”Cubismo turismo” 2000, ”Backup Del” 2002.

Anyway, we're all pretty much holding our breath waiting for his big directorial debut feature.🙂

@Richard Castillo15

My God, I actually went back into the same post to correct myself and even apologized for the slip-up 😉. Besides, Hunter S. Thompson is a film director too—he directed a short film—and you didn't exactly specify in your opening post that we were strictly talking about directors of feature films 😁.

Dawn of the Dead 😍 This was actually the first movie I ever watched on VHS (a shiny new JVC model, the first one in town—my dad brought it back from his trip to Germany 😁). To this day, I can still vividly picture that afternoon; half the neighborhood gathered around, screaming their heads off because they were so terrified (Tricky/Tihomir actually jumped through a window, and my grandma nearly had a stroke right then and there)... Man, I'd give anything to go back to those days for just a second (though maybe not to bring Tihomir back, since he was lost in the war in Vukovar back in '91. As for Grandma, she’s better off where she is, if you ask me). Anyway, here it is (still sitting proudly on my attic shelf), my beautiful:



And for dessert—caramelized corpses 🙂


official websites

fan of the dead is an amazing 52 minutes road-movie documentary revealing the filming locations of Night of the Living Dead (1968 & 1990 remake), Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985), with exclusive interviews with the cast of the George Romero's trilogy.

Nicolas Cage, a French fan of the original Living dead trilogy, went to Pennsylvania to find All The Secret places where The films were Shot. Roaming, day and night, the steep roads of a sometimes lugubrious Pennsylvania countryside, he found and explored the coveted places: house, cemetery, mall, private airport, military base, underground facility... and much more!



p.s. briskhound2, thanks for remembering this little trip down memory lane 🙂

:idepojvcnatavan:

driftingeagle27 said:I've got high hopes for this one.

From what I've seen so far, this actually looks like it might be fun, which is a massive step up from anything Abel Ferrara has put out lately.

Unlike who, Ferrara? 😵

Well, here’s the link for my guy, driftingeagle27. 🙂

Christian Taylor3 said:

It’s kind of wild to think about, but when you look at the filmographies, you realize that Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage are basically partners in crime. They both have this incredible, almost chaotic way of approaching their craft that feels completely unhinged in the best possible way.

The director behind Bad Lieutenant really tore through the production, all while the lead actor was busy pushing that character into some pretty intense, uncharted territory.


According to Genaro Molina over at the Los Angeles Times, the lead actor and the director had an absolutely "blissful" working relationship while they were filming Bad Lieutenant.

🤣😍