411 Fact or Fiction Movies /TV 1.27.12: Week 315
Posted by Ben Piper on 01.27.2012
Will The Grey be a great man vs. nature action thriller? Are people interested in a Horrible Bosses sequel? Did the Academy do a good job with the Oscar nominations? 411's Joseph Lee and Andy Critchell debate these topics and more in this week's 411 Fact or Fiction: Movies/TV!
On behalf of peace loving people everywhere, welcome back once again to another thrilling installment of Fact or Fiction. This week, we've got Joseph Lee and Andy Critchell to kick around, so let's get right at it, shall we?
1. The Grey will be a fantastic man vs. nature action thriller.
Andy Critchell: Fiction. *Puts on Tap-Out t-shirt* I mean come on, it has Liam Neeson FIGHTING WOLVES WITH HIS FISTS! Do you really need any more than that? *Burns Tap-Out t-shirt* The rest is just looks like Alive without the cannibalism. This movie is such a meathead paradise I can't believe Channing Tatum isn't in it. I do find it interesting that this is what Neeson's career has evolved into; either big budget special effects movies (Clash of the Titans, Battleship, A-Team) or random tough guy roles that Bruce Willis used to do (Taken, The Grey) but I guess that cashing those paychecks sure is fun. Usually actors take these types of roles so they can afford to do smaller, creative movies but it seems ol' Liam has just decided to go all in on whatever work he can get, no matter how silly. Honestly, I hope this movie is not a success to the degree that people will start to think that real wolves are scary killers that need to be wiped out before they start eating babies. That's a legit concern because this movie is for idiots.
Joseph Lee: Fact. Even with CGi wolves, I think The Grey will be a fun movie. Andy seems to criticize Liam Neeson taking on tough guy roles like that's a bad thing. Taken was awesome, and although Unknown was less so, it's still a fun movie. I expect the same from The Grey, not only because it looks like a solid survival film but yes, Liam Neeson is battling some wolves. I'll admit that if he doesn't kill one with his bare hands I'll be slightly disappointed. Sure, this is The Edge with wolves, but it looks like fun.
Score: 0 for 1
2. You'd be in favor of a Horrible Bosses sequel.
Andy Critchell: Fact. Sure, why not? It was a successful movie that most people seemed to enjoy so a sequel seems logical. And I am a big fan of Charlie Day, Jason Bateman, and Jason Sudeikis so I am usually in favor of any project involving those guys. The better question is; why would anyone be opposed to it? It's not like everyone died at the end of the first one or there was some kind of delicate narrative finality that must not be disturbed, it was a black comedy that allowed a past-her-prime Jennifer Aniston act like a slut and for funny people to be funny. We're not splitting the atom here kids.
Joseph Lee: Fiction I think the original pretty much wrapped up the story, didn't it? Sure, it did leave things open for a sequel, but I think we've milked all the jokes we can out of the premise. What would happen in the sequel, they all get new types of bad bosses and come up with the same plan? We'd probably just get another Hangover 2 and no one wants that.
Score: 0 for 2
3. A modern day U.S. set TV series about Sherlock Holmes is a horrible idea.
Andy Critchell: Fact. Ugh. This sounds terrible on so many levels. First of all, it is on CBS and pretty much every show on CBS is made for the lowest common denominator and/or old people who have no idea what's good. Then you have the fact that Sherlock, a modern day version of Holmes, is already being broadcast by BBC (and by PBS in the US) and there is zero chance a network show can even approach the quality that Sherlock has. And part of the appeal of Holmes for an American audience is that it is British and if you take that away you take away part of the Holmes appeal & mystique. And doesn't CBS already have their Holmes in The Mentalist? What's going on there? Anyway, you have the most famous fictional character in literature, one who is admired for his intelligence and attention to detail, being developed by a network which routinely produces some of the dumbest television ever created. What could go wrong??
Joseph Lee: Fact. If it was just a US series about Sherlock Holmes, that would be one thing. But they want to take a British icon and move him to America? That's really stupid. You don't see the UK making their own version of Perry Mason to make their audiences identify more with him. Let's not skirt around the truth here. CBS wants to make an American version of Sherlock Holmes for the same reason Hollywood likes to make remakes of foreign films a year or two after their original release. They think their audiences are too stupid for the real thing.
Score: 1 for 3
Switch!!!
4. Man On A Ledge will not be very good.
Joseph Lee: Fact. I'm sure Sam Worthington's attempt to bring back the mullet will fail because it doesn't look interesting at all. He's not actually going to jump, in spite of what the ads show. In fact he's probably just jumping to another rooftop, where he'll probably make it. There's all your drama of that little moment. The premise in general is just stupid in my opinion. He's staging a suicide attempt to get attention, to have everyone focus on him while a heist goes on nearby? Which will apparently prove his initial innocence? I don't buy it. And I bought an action movie where Jean Claude Van Damme travels through time.
Andy Critchell: Fiction. Obviously I am in the minority here, because I think Sam Worthington is pretty decent as an action movie type guy. I don't think that Man on a Ledge is going to be some kind of tour de force, and I doubt I will ever even see it, but I think at worst this will be just another middling movie rather than some kind of detestable trainwreck.
Score: 1 for 4
5. You were mostly pleased with the Oscar nominations.
Joseph Lee: Fiction. Not only did The Adventures of Tintin not get nominated for best animated feature, but the Academy needs to learn to think outside of the box. There is no way that Andy Serkis doesn't at least get a nomination for his work as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Not only that, but the Academy clearly took the bait on Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, which did not deserve a best picture nomination. I always have some sort of beef with the nominations but this year especially.
Andy Critchell: Fiction. I'm glad Joseph has some opinions on this because I really just don't care so it would be impossible for me to be "pleased" at all. I mean the list seems to be a typical Oscar list; a lot of safe & predictable choices. And look, I appreciate the work of Andy Serkis as much as the next guy but the idea of getting an Oscar nomination for motion capture is an absolute joke. He's basically a stunt man so if they have a stuntman category then he should definitely win there but acting like a monkey, even a genius monkey? No way.
Score: 2 for 5
6. You'd watch a Psycho prequel TV series that focused on the teenaged years of Norman Bates.
Joseph Lee: Fiction. I wouldn't watch simply for the reason that I've seen a Psycho prequel already. It was Psycho IV: The Beginning, and it had the advantage of Anthony Perkins still being alive to at least provide some narration. What kind of story would you tell? Norman is abused by his mother, and eventually kills her and her lover. Then runs the Bates motel, probably killing someone every so often. Sounds kind of dull, if you ask me.
Andy Critchell: Fiction. I am not one for scary movies so you lose me right there. But as far as a Psycho prequel goes, I don't think it is a bad idea at all. Joseph is right, the storyline itself would probably be pretty basic but in the right hands the potential is there to see a lot of depth and character development. Mental instability is exceedingly complex and there have been plenty of good films built on an exploration of the deranged mind. Now if somehow they ended up with some doofus like Brett Ratner as the director then all bets are off.
Final Score: 3 for 6
Andy and Joseph split the difference. Thanks to them both for playing and we'll see you all again next week.
-BP
Liam Neeson's cock will wipe out the entire grey wolf population.
If you don't understand that joke, listen to the podcast Hollywood Babble-On with Ralph Garman and Kevin Smith (yes, the guy that did Clerks). Or put "Liam Neeson's Cock" as a youtube search for some of the bits they've done.
Posted By: Scott B (Guest) on January 26, 2012 at 11:14 PM
I volunteer at an animal sanctuary and many many times I've been in a wolf enclosure with several wolves and just one other person and the wolves run away every time. I went to another sanctuary thatis breeding endangered wolves and the same thing..they run away from people. they are scared as hell of people so this movie finda pisses me off
Posted By: Adrian (Guest) on January 26, 2012 at 11:45 PM
Liam Neeson did a great job in Taken. It was Schindler's list kind of movie. But he made us feel the pain of a parent searching for his daughter. I am looking fwd to The Grey.
Posted By: Y2SJ (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 12:49 AM
The Grey sounds like a film you sit back and turn off the ol' noggin'. If it's outlandish enough, it will be entertaining.
Horrible Bosses 2 cannot work again with the SAME characters. The original wrapped up the stories nicely. Now if they make it a franchise with a revolving set of bosses and victims/employees the concept can be successful. There's an almost limitless supply of bad boss stereotypes they can work into a movie, only if the story always wraps up nicely and they change the cast.
I'd love if they have Tom Cruise's Les Grossman character to appear as a boss or even Steve Carrel bringing a more offensive and less well meaning Michael Scott to the big screen.
Posted By: Guest#9867 (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 01:59 AM
"I appreciate the work of Andy Serkis as much as the next guy but the idea of getting an Oscar nomination for motion capture is an absolute joke. He's basically a stunt man"
You seriously have no fucking idea what you're talking about. I think any legitimate actor would be greatly angered by the way you make ignorant assumptions on a craft you clearly have absolutely no concept of. And you get paid for this?
Posted By: login (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 04:53 AM
I don't like to troll but Andy Critchell can suck a dick! Joseph Lee thank you. Andy Serkis deserves a damn nomination. I don't feel like I'm in the minority here but his contributions to the movie industry is incomparable. Andy check out The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Rise if you have any doubts douchebag.Anybody that disagrees or calls me a troll can fuck off because I really don't give a shit.
Posted By: Caesar Rules (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 06:18 AM
BBC already has a Holmes series set in the present, it is very good. But the key is, it's the BBC not CBS. American TV doesn't have the best track record bringing British TV series overseas (The Office being the exception).
Posted By: Jeremy T (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 06:26 AM
I volunteer at an animal sanctuary and many many times I've been in a wolf enclosure with several wolves and just one other person and the wolves run away every time. I went to another sanctuary thatis breeding endangered wolves and the same thing..they run away from people. they are scared as hell of people so this movie finda pisses me off
Posted By: Adrian (Guest) on January 26, 2012 at 11:45 PM
That may be the stupidest thing I've ever read. Those sanctuary wolves are practically dogs. Let's see how safe you'd be out in the Great Northwest by yourself. Go eat some tofu honey.
Posted By: The Big Fat F*g (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 08:02 AM
Obviously you didn't see the story about the pack of wolves that tore that teacher apart in Alaska a couple years ago.
Posted By: yO aDRIAN (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 08:33 AM
i hope the wolves win
Posted By: dan d (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 09:02 AM
I volunteer at an animal sanctuary and many many times I've been in a wolf enclosure with several wolves and just one other person and the wolves run away every time. I went to another sanctuary thatis breeding endangered wolves and the same thing..they run away from people. they are scared as hell of people so this movie finda pisses me off
Posted By: Adrian (Guest) on January 26, 2012 at 11:45 PM
Seriously...wtf. Enclosed wolves that have probably never had to kill or be killed to survive, have human contact daily, surrounded by man made enclosures compared to wild animals that have probably never seen man and are starving ... How the fuck can you compare the two.
Posted By: APrince66 (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 11:04 AM
unless starving or sick, wolves don't tend to attack people. That's a fact you can look up if you're too stupid to know it for yourselves. But there are always exceptions-- and I took this movie to have a very "Ghost in the Darkness" vibe to it. That movie didn't really "villify" lions and I don't think this movie will "villify" wolves
Posted By: Guest#2808 (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 11:17 AM
how can people who haven't spent time around wolves tell me how they act when I have? no they are not at all like dogs. this is what I was afraid of, ignorance spreading
Posted By: Adrian (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 11:24 AM
Perry Mason? Get back in your time machine buddy.
Posted By: Alan (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Adrian and others,
If wolves are in the WILD and hungry enough, they will attack whatever they need to in order to survive. I'm sure the lovely wolves in the sanctuary that are well-fed don't have those issues. Why would they attack the person bringing them food? It's common sense. Now, please let me be, I have to feed my dog.
Posted By: The Big Fat F*g (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 12:32 PM
"I appreciate the work of Andy Serkis as much as the next guy but the idea of getting an Oscar nomination for motion capture is an absolute joke."
So the actual actor should be standing in front of the camera to be nominated for an award. Motion capture is a joke? How so? Maybe there shouldn't be animated film awards then...
Posted By: Sephiroth (Guest) on January 27, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Andy Critchell thinks The Grey is for "idiots", yet he thinks there should be a sequel to Horrible Bosses. Critchell gives idiots a bad name.
Meanwhile, The Grey is getting good reviews from critics who people have actually heard of and whose opinions people actually respect.
Oh and by the way, just because Liam Neeson isn't a bodybuilder and doesn't take steroids (Schwarzenegger and Stallone), doesn't mean he's not a "tough guy".
Posted By: Cosmo KKKramer (Guest) on January 28, 2012 at 05:59 AM
Andy Critchell thinks The Grey is for "idiots", yet he thinks there should be a sequel to Horrible Bosses. Critchell gives idiots a bad name.
Meanwhile, The Grey is getting good reviews from critics who people have actually heard of and whose opinions people actually respect.
Oh and by the way, just because Liam Neeson isn't a bodybuilder and doesn't take steroids (Schwarzenegger and Stallone), doesn't mean he's not a "tough guy".
Posted By: Cosmo KKKramer (Guest) on January 28, 2012 at 05:59 AM
Good comment, bravo! I'm just not sure I would use the word "thinks" and Andy Critchell in the same phrase after his comment. No offence to Andy (I was just kidding), he can say what he wants but calling a movie "for idiots" and he hasn't seen it, well that's a little bit offensive and not very smart and all of this while the good reviews keep on coming...
About the subject of "Grey" there's a thing about some kinda impossible situations, they either turn you into a pussy or they're able to pull out the beast in you. In movies the concept is often used in a very "over the top" unrealistic way but Neeson works well even in these roles.
Posted By: Max (Guest) on January 29, 2012 at 01:28 PM
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