The Following is Based on a Half-True Story

This past week I was in St. Petesburg, Florida at a conference for work.  One of the sessions was conducted by Frank Abagnale.  For readers that don’t know Mr. Abagnale, he is currently a consultant with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is an expert on the subjects of forgery, embezzlement and secure documents.  Abagnale’s teen years are what most people know about him.  During this time, Abagnale became the countries’ notorious con artist.  Abagnale successfully impersonated a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer all before the age of 21.  In 2002, Steven Spielberg adapted Abagnale’s story into a movie in called Catch Me if You Can.

Catch Me if You Can 2002 trailer

According to Abagnale, Steven Spielberg never spoke with him regarding his life or how to interpret it.    Spielberg took some creative liberties with Abagnale’s story.  There’s a scene in the movie after Abagnale brings impersonating a pilot, where he meets his father for a lunch.  Abagnale stated that after he ran away, he never saw his father again.  Abagnale’s died while he was in prison in Europe. When Abagnale was impersonating a pediatrician, he did so to convince people there was a reason he was a driving expensive car.  This aspect of the movie was never explored.  The film shows him working at a hospital. He did read medical journals to keep his cover going when a doctor moved into the same apartment complex. 

Another piece of movie fiction is regarding Tom Hanks’ character of Carl Hanratty.  The real name of Abagnale’s FBI pursuer was Joe Shea.  Why this was changed in the movie was unclear, but Abagnale and Shea did remain friends in real life after Abagnale starting was working for the FBI which is portrayed in movie. 

Now Catch Me if You Can is one of the few films that some of the true events appear in of the movie.  A few years ago a movie called The Strangers came out and was based on a true story as well.  Basically the plot revolved around people coming up to the door in the middle of the night and asking for someone that didn’t live at the house. The people staying at the home were then brutally murder.  Well the only true aspect of this movie was when the film’s director was younger; someone came to his house late at night and asked for someone that didn’t live there.  The next few days, a few homes in his neighborhood were robbed.

So when a film says that it is based on a true story, the story may only a half truth.

What is your favorite movie based on a true story?

Here I am with Frank Abagnale

Tom Cruise is one crazy…….stuntman

With the emergence of computer generated images (CGI), filmmakers can create new worlds, monsters or anything their imagination can dream up.  Because of this moviegoers have been treated to many films like Avatar and the Star Wars prequels that we made possible with CGI.  One of the drawbacks to using CGI is overusing it.  Too much of it can ruin a movie, last year’s Green Lantern is a prime example.   In that movie, creatures and aliens looked way to fake. Another drawback to CGI is it eliminates good old fashion stunt work.  Because of the dangerous nature and planning time involved in creating physical stunts, some filmmakers opt to shoot these scenes in a soundstage where there is more control.

Last night I watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on Blu-Ray and there is some amazing stunt work in this film, specifically by Tom Cruise.  There is a scene in the middle of the film were Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt and his team of spies are in the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai and need to get to a secure room a few floors above their current position.  So Ethan needs to go outside and scale the building to get to the secure room.  

Now most filmmakers and actors would have shot this scene in a controlled environment.  Not Tom Cruise and Brad Bird (the film’s director) they choose to go for as much realism as possible and decided to shoot outside the Burj Khalifa building.

Let me give you some facts about the Burj Khalifa according to the building’s official website http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/

At 2,716.5 feet and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records:

• Tallest building in the world
• Tallest free-standing structure in the world
• Highest number of stories in the world
• Highest occupied floor in the world
• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
• Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
• Tallest service elevator in the world

I have to give Cruise credit for doing this stunt, which was shot at 127 stories up and where he’s hanging from just a few wires.  

I don’t think many actors, would be doing their own stunts let alone hanging from 2000 ft in the air.  He has nerves of steel, because if I was hanging from that building I would be absolutely terrified.

Anybody want to hang up side down 2000 ft in the air?

That scene is one of the best in the entire film because there’s a sense of realism as Cruise is climbing the outside of this building.  The entire sequence carries a level of uneasiness as he’s climbing the building with just a pair of super glue gloves.  This action scene made the movie for me.  I thought it was great and thrilling which made Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol one of the better action films I have seen.

What are some of the movies you've seen that have great stunts in them?

Cabin in the Woods, NOT the Horror film You’re Expecting

Cabin in the Woods is one of those movies people are going to either love or hate.  The reason why some people may hate this movie has to do with the way the film was marketed.  Lionsgate (the studio that released the film) marketing department pulled a bait and switch on moviegoers.  Those darn marketers, how could they?  Well, I’ll get to that part in a minute.  Based on my discussions on Facebook and at the office this morning, some people thought this was a horror movie in the tradition of Evil Dead and Friday the 13^th.  Heck, the movie even opened on a Friday the 13^th, which makes the movie even more scary right?  Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not a horror movie, it’s a horror comedy and at the very least it’s satire of the horror genre, particularly of horror movies like the Evil Dead and Friday the 13^th. 

 

I know what you’re thinking based on the TV commercials, it looks and feels like a horror movie, so it must be a horror movie?  Well that’s where the marketing switchroo comes into play.  Cabin in the Woods is an extremely difficult movie to market without revealing too much of its twisting and turning plot.  So the Lionsgate’s marketing department decided to market the film as a horror movie with very familiar themes related to the horror genre.  A move that netted them $14 million in opening weekend box office returns.  Not bad for a horror movie or horror comedy.  Don’t get me wrong this movie has a lot of horrific moments and there’s a ton of blood spilled, but it’s also got a lot of funny parts too. It’s just not a horror film.  I don’t like to see people go to a movie thinking it's something it’s not.  This can totally ruin the experience for some viewers.  

 

Now I bet your wondering what I thought of Cabin in the Woods, well I liked it.  After the first scene in the movie I knew exactly what kind of film this was.  Also producer and writer Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series) has a track record of turning genres upside down.  So armed with that information, I knew this film was going to be something different than what was being advertised.  One of the things, I really enjoyed in this movie is that fact it was so unpredictable.  I mean I didn’t see the final shot coming at all and if you did you’re either lying to yourself or you read the script online somewhere.

So if you’re in the mood for a horror comedy, then Cabin in the Woods is the film for you. 

Here's me standing next to a large piece of movie marketing.

The Summer Movies I Can’t Wait to See

The Summer Movie Season is my favorite time of the year and it’s only a few weeks away. I’m super-excited.  This week's Entertainment Weekly is the preview issue for the Summer Movie Season, so I thought it would be cool if my first blog post covered the movies I can’t wait to see.  

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

I don’t know much about this film, other than it’s based on a popular novel.  It seems like a strange concept, with one of our country's greatest presidents slaying the creatures of the night.  What’s next George Washington with super powers? I have to admit that after I saw the trailer, this movie went from rental to must see in the theaters. 

Expendables 2

This sequel to the 2010 original returns Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and the rest of their mercenary team return for some high octane over the top action.  The sequel also offers expanded roles for both Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger while adding more action movie stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris into the mix.  Not much is known regarding the plot of the movie other than it’s going to includes a lot of explosions.

Total Recall

This remake of the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi classic now stars Colin Farrell in the Schwarzenegger role of Douglas Quaid as a man with identity issues. This movie, like the 1990 original is based on the short story by Philip k. Dick’s “We Can Remember it For You Wholesale.” According to the early buzz, this remake is supposed to follow the plotline of the short story. A recently released trailer however shows that the remake has many of the same scenes previously shown in the original film.  The story is a great mind bending sci-fi thriller, I’m curious to see how closely this film resembles the original Schwarzenegger film.

Ted

This movie is from Family Guy Creator Seth MacFarlane and stars Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis.  The story revolves around a boy’s wish for his teddy bear to come to life.  This movie deals with what happens to the teddy bear when the boy grows up to be a man.  Well the answer to that question is found in this raunchy comedy, that deals with a cursing, sex crazed, pot smoking stuffed animal.  The trailer for this movie is really funny and Wahlberg appears to be perfectly cast in this role. 

These next three movies are in my opinion the biggest of the year.  In some cases, I’ve been waiting for these movies for years.

Prometheus

Director Ridley Scott’s return to the sci-fi horror genre he created.  Originally this film was supposed to be a prequel to the Alien franchise, but has been changed to something different.  Apparently, it exists in the same universe as the Alien franchise.  This movie has Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender leading an ensemble cast.  The plot of this movie revolves around a team of explorers trying to uncover the secrets of the universe when they appear to bite off more than they can chew. It will be interesting to see if this movie carries the same themes as the first Alien film.  I’m curious to see all the secrets revealed and if this movie’s storyline does have ties to the Alien franchise. 

The Avengers

Marvel Comics' ultimate superhero team up is finally a reality.  The plans for this film started with 2008’s Iron Man and led all the way to last summer’s Captain America: The First Avenger.  Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk join together to defend the Earth against an alien invasion.  This movie is comic book nerd’s dream, to see all these characters on the screen together in an epic way.  The buzz on this movie is high and reports from early screenings have been extremely positive.  I’m excited see how all these different characters get blended together under one spotlight.

The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan’s follow up to one of the best comic book movies ever made The Dark Knight.  The plot takes place eight years after the events of that film.  A new terrorist leader by the name of Bane wrecks havoc in Gotham City and Batman must return to stop him.  Joining Christian Bale’s Batman is Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathway as Catwoman.  Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite filmmakers and it's very cool to see him wrap up his Batman saga on his terms.