According to the 1985 documentary "Spies Like Us" you can launch a Russian ICBM and then punch the launch codes in reverse to reverse the course of the missile...
If Philadelphia means "City of Brotherly Love," does Arkadelphia mean "Brotherhood of Aardvarks?"
As a fan of the movie Russian Ark, I think you should know better.
Tom, for next weeks 3x3, do fraternal twins count?
Only if one is a foot taller than the other.
Thank you, Mr. Gormongous, Sir.
I feel like you guys are losing sight of the true meaning of Christmas, I mean, IMDB synopses. It's fine if you want to make a game out of guessing the movie, but don't step all over Kelly's reading of the ridiculous prose. You didn't even laugh at how the two high school girls--one a cheerleader!--have to "outsmart a pack of scientists."
I agree. This war on synopses must end.
Why didn’t you tell me this had Chiwetel Ejiofor when you guys kept putting it as an over in your over-unders? I’d have sought it out much sooner.
That said, I think I take the Murawski/Wand position on this one — Tom may be right that it needed to have the love triangle to be the film it was trying to be, but I was disappointed that it turned out to be that film. I haven’t read (or even heard of) the source material, but from what I gathered from the AV Club review, I think I’d have preferred a straight adaptation a lot more. To conflate two viewpoints expressed in the podcast, I’ve seen Othello already. Still, great performances and some cool moments. I’m kind of amazed this didn’t get a bigger theatrical release. It doesn’t seem that niche (whereas a strict adaptation maybe would have been) and Ejiofor was a big draw after 12 Years A Slave.
I wonder if it would have played at the box office if it had been held until after Star Trek: Beyond and Suicide Squad, when Pine and Robbie might have put butts in seats? I kind of doubt it, though. You’re right that it’s not that niche in terms of the basic setting – post-apocalypse, starring movie stars, love triangle – but It’s overall structure and tone is very arthouse. I’m guessing it would have gotten the dreaded C+ on Cinemascore.
-Tom
I dunno, even for an arthouse film, 27 screens seems bafflingly low. I’d expect an arthouse film with relatively big names in it to open in around that many screens in the UK, and it’s a far smaller market. I can’t find a number for Z For Zachariah, but according to the BFI, two thirds of the 759 movies released in 2015 were exhibited in at least 10 sites. Was Z For Zachariah among the 480 most mainstream movies of the year? I would say so.