411 Fact or Fiction Movies: Week 80

Posted by Ben Piper on 06.07.2007

Will The Sopranos be missed? Will Hostel: Part 2 suck? Will Ocean's Thirteen end the trilogy on a satisfying note? 411's James "JT" Thomlison and Al Norton discuss these and other topics in week 80 of Fact or Fiction: Movies.

Greetings once again to the 411 faithful, and welcome back to yet another exciting edition of everyone's favorite weekly internet debate, Fact or Fiction. This week, we've got James "JT" Thomlison sparring with Al Norton. I'm sure these guys have a lot to say, so let's not waste any more time and get to thier opinions.

1. You will miss The Sopranos.

Al Norton: Fact- For God's sake, it's one of the best shows in TV History. People can debate the direction of the last two seasons - Vito in New Hampshire seems to be where some of us think the show hit a new level of brilliance and others think there was a leather jacket, water skis, and a shark involved - but knowing we will never see new episodes of The Sopranos is enough to give any fan of quality television pause. Based on last Sunday I am not sure anyone will get out alive but that's not stopping me from being as excited for this finale as any in recent memory. Of course that excitement is tempered by knowing it's the last time we will ever get an update on the characters we've grown to love (but not like - let's face it, everyone on The Sopranos is a total A-hole).

JT: Fact- Absolutely fact. As Al said, it's one of the best television shows to have ever been made. I've heard the same debates going on about what they maybe should or shouldn't have done over the year, and I always did my best to stay as far away from them as possible. I don't care what they could have done, I don't care what they should of done. Fact is that for the better part of 10 years, they put on one fantastic show after another. I cannot wait for Sunday's bloodbath, and I will without a shadow of a doubt miss that show.

Score: 1 for 1

2. You like the idea of Austin Powers 4 being told from the point of view of Dr. Evil.

Al Norton: Fact- But only mildly. I seem to be leaning towards a little of Dr Evil being great but a lot being overkill. I have no idea of the planned story but I could see how a movie where he tries to work his way back into normal society, having given up his evil ways, could be quite funny; Dr Evil living with a roommate, Dr Evil going on a job interview, Dr Evil at a dating service - it's all gold, Jerry. The key to this being funny in my mind is to surround Dr Evil with quality supporting characters so he doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting.

JT: Fiction- Look, I'm not saying it won't be a good flick, but the trend started by the LOTR and Star Wars movies of creating trilogies is now evolving into the Harry Potter trend of 4, 5, and even 6th films. Die Hard 5? Shrek 6? Pirates 4? Filmmakers need to be coming up with new ONES to movies and stop trying to either A. Keep a cash cow going or B. Re-hashing classic franchises.

Score: 1 for 2

3. You're looking forward to the return of The 4400.

Al Norton: Fact The 4400 is one of those shows that causes some people to say, "I've never even heard of it", as if that were some sort of benchmark for quality, but the USA network has turned it into a solid little sleeper of a series. Joel Gretsch was a smart casting choice as the co-lead since his great work in the Sci-Fi mini-series Taken gave them instant credibility, and the acting is pretty strong despite the lack of overly recognizable faces. That the writers have resisted putting Gretsch's Tom Baldwin in a romantic relationship with his partner Diana (played by Jacqueline McKenzie) is a testament to them trying to do things a little differently. Billy Campbell joining the cast full time this season is a major plus, and the story lines opened up by last year's finale could/should really broaden the scope of the series.

JT: Fact- I was pretty much hooked when this debuted as a six part mini-series; I was unfortunately unable to keep up with it during the second and third season, but I own them both on DVD, and plan to make sure that I am prepared to fully reimburse myself into the show come June 17th. It should compliment John From Cincinnati nicely on my Sunday nights during this "there is SHIT on TV" summer lineup.

Score: 2 for 3

Switch!!!

4. Hostel 2 will suck.

JT: Fiction- Hell, I don't know. It depends on how you're approaching it. If you're expecting some sort of cinematic masterpiece, then I would say that you're setting yourself up for failure. If that is the case, yes, it will definitely suck. If (like myself) you are going into it with the understanding that it is nothing more than a gore flick, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Torture – especially in this setting and storyline – is always an intriguing thing to certain groups of people, and they will have no problems if there isn't some award-winning plot attached to this as long as they see toes cut off and guts spill.

Al Norton: Fact- But only for me if I were forced to see it. This is not to say the movie won't be exactly what it's fans are hoping for, just that I have no desire to see this level of gore and torture. It's not that I don't know it's all fake - it is just a movie and all - but rather that I don't have the slightest idea why someone would find this level of simulated sadism entertaining. But hey, I bet if I pulled some people out of the Hostel 2 line and made them watch episodes of Everwood, they would find that to be hellish, so to each their own!

Score: 2 for 4

5. You like the addition of Jeremy Sisto to the regular cast of Law And Order as a detective.

JT: Fact- I have no earthly idea. The only L & O that I watch is the SVU and Criminal Intent and I have no authority to be speaking on this. I know the actor and have liked some of his past work, so I'll give it a fact.

Al Norton: Fact- In a big way. First off, Sisto is a talented actor who shined in last year's short lived Kidnapped after bursting onto the scene playing Brenda's crazy little brother Billy on Six Feet Under, so this casting choice is a big plus. Secondly, even if Sisto was just average, it would be addition by subtraction since he is replacing Milena Govich, who was awful last season. Now they need to go out and get someone noteworthy to play the ADA (Sam Waterston's character is most likely getting bumped up to DA to replace the departing Fred Thompson, making his part much smaller) and maybe they can get a little buzz back.

Score: 3 for 5

6. Ocean's Thirteen will avoid this year's tendency of threequels being substandard and will be a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

JT: Fact- It will do so because it has remembered what the other one's have all forgotten; make a fun – yet with substance – film. When Pirates and Shrek first came out, they were designed to be family-fun summer movies to make a nice sum of cash and both had substance. The problem therein was that they made an AMAZING amount of cash. So while they are still designed to be family-fun summer flicks, they were now also forced to water it down in order to broaden its already mainstream appeal to even more mainstream appeal to ensure their precious hundreds of millions of dollars (Shrek 2 almost hit a billion and Pirates 2 eclipsed it). The Ocean's movies on the other hand – because of who's in them, the budget, and the genre – do not need to worry about these things. They can take 11 (13) guys, make the movie they want to make, have fun with it, and they will still turn a very nice profit. Because of this, the appeal of the first two films will not be lost in the third.

Al Norton: Fact- But a cautious one. Ocean's 12 was really, really substandard, so even an average movie will seem like a MAJOR improvement. On the other hand, there is no Julia Roberts, so a wholly satisfactory conclusion seems unlikely. I think having the Ocean's crew work with Andy Garcia's character this time around (a la Apollo in Rocky 3) is a smart idea, and Al Pacino doing his over-the-top schtick can be highly entertaining, so I am looking forward to seeing it this weekend. On a related note, I enjoyed Pirates 3; not as good as 1 but better than 2, and Geoffrey Rush was fantastic.

Final Score: 4 for 6

Alright! Thanks to Al and JT for playing along, and thank you, the 411 reader for clicking the link. Check back next week when we'll have more 411 Fact or Fiction: Movies!