What If… Part 11: Modern Films Re-Casted

If you are a movie lover and you thought that the last What If… was fun then wait until you check out today’s idea. There have been so many great films that have come out in the last 20 years or so with so many of today’s stars, but thanks to Nerdist.com something has been brought to my attention. Nerdist presented an idea that was brought to the limelight thanks to New York illustrator Peter Stults who also dabbles in the idea of what ifs on his own site. He presented the idea of what if some of today’s films that are so popular starred classic actors and actresses of the past. I am talking about films like Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Iron Man, The Shape Of Water, Hellboy, Dune, Trainspotting, and so many more amazing ideas. I mean could you have imagined if Trainspotting starred actors like Anthony Hopkins, Terence Stamp, Michael Caine, Julie Christie, and Ian Holm as Begbie? It might have been an excellent film, but that is up to us to imagine hence why this is called What If. Could you have imagined Paul Newman as Tony Stark in Iron Man? He might not have done it with the same charisma as Robert Downey Jr, but it might have been cool to see. I want to thank Peter with presenting some amazing ideas and while you check out some of them below, don’t forget to visit his site for even more amazing stuff.

 

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Jack Reacher: Never Go (2016)

If you noticed in the last couple of weeks, we have been doing a new segment called Tuesday Night Fights which we have listed under Ass Whoopin Wednesdays. Witht hat being said, we haven’t forgotten about the actual Ass Whoopin Wednesdays, we have just been waiting for the right film to come along. For this week’s edition of Ass Whoopin Wednesdays, we are watching Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. In this film, we see Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) return to DC to meet a Major Turner (Cobie Smulders) to take her out on a date, but there is a problem. She has been arrested for treason and he is being charged with murdering her lawyer and he found out that he is possibly a dad. So, he breaks her out of jail to try and get to the bottom of the problem before they are both toast, but this goes deeper than they expected. The film also stars Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton) as Espin, Danika Yarosh (Shameless) as Sam, Patrick Heusinger (Black Swan) as The Hunter, Holt McCallany (Fight Club) as Col. Morgan, Robert Knepper (Hard Target 2) as General Harkness, Madalyn Horcher (Gracepoint) as Sgt. Leach, and the film was directed by Edward Zwick (Legends Of The Fall). Before we get into the review of the film, let’s check out some stats:

As far as the stats are concerned, Jack Reacher has about 18 kills/KO’s in the film and if you want to know his origin story then rent the first film. He kind of has a love interest because his whole reasoning for going to DC in the first place was to take Major Turner out on a date. As far as the love interest, family, or friend getting hurt is concerned, they are fugitives on the run who are constantly shot at and at one point the Hunter tries to kidnap what could be his daughter. So, I think it’s safe to say that question gets a yes to it. The big boss is defeated, but not in a way you would think so watch it to find out for yourself. I loved the first Jack Reacher film and I definitely liked this one, but it could have been a little bit better. There were some things in the film that I just felt were a little rushed to be honest, but overall it has all the action and problem solving you could want from the film. I wasn’t a huge fan of Aldis Hodge’s character for most of the film cause it was kind of cheesy, but you’ll like him in the end. The fight scenes Cruise had were pretty good as well and you got to love the Hunter who is the ultimate match for him throughout the whole film. I feel like their fight scene in the end could have been more of a fight then it was, but I’ll allow it. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.

Soundtrack Saturday: Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins

It was only a matter of time until I covered one of the most iconic songs of the 1980’s for Soundtrack Saturday. You can not think of the 1980’s and movies without thinking Tom Cruise, Top Gun, and Danger Zone. You also can’t think of 1980’s Iconic soundtracks without thinking of Kenny Loggins who was the soundtrack man of the 80’s (e.g. Over The Top, Footloose, Caddyshack II). In 1986, Paramount Pictures released the film Top Gun which starred Tom Cruise as a rebellious Naval jet fighter pilot and the film also starred the likes of Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, and so many more. The other amazing thing about the film was the soundtrack which featured Cheap Trick, Berlin, Loverboy, Teena Marie, and today’s featured artist Kenny Loggins. Kenny Loggins sang the track Danger Zone which was composed by famous soundtrack composer Giorgio Moroder with lyrics written by Tom Whitlock.  It has such an amazing guitar riff with the synths that is just very catchy. Not to mention that this song is Sterling Archer’s favorite song. Check it out below and enjoy the flashback!!!

Eddie’s Top 5: Actors From The 80’s

A post on my new blog 365moviesin365dayschallenge.wordpress.com inspired me to do this Eddie’s Top 5 list. You should definitely check out that blog as I am trying to watch 365 movies in 365 days. Anyways, the film High Fidelity inspired me to write this next piece as I explore my top 5 actors from the 1980’s (males of course with female to follow soon). Who will make the cut? This was a tough list to make as I had to go through and remember why I enjoyed watch films from these actors in the first place. Check it out below:

5. River Phoenix– This is one of the saddest stories of that 80’s generations because this guy could have been huge. While I enjoyed Little Nikita, A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon, it was Stand By Me that will forever be embedded in my soul. One of my all time favorite films and actor with so much potential.

4. Patrick Swayze– If you were not a fan of his work like Red Dawn, The Outsiders, Roadhouse, etc. then you have no soul or appreciation for the 80’s. He was a little bit older than the rest of them, but a true actor.

3. Michael J. Fox– Back To The Future 1 & 2, Teen Wolf, and Class Of 1984 are some of my favorite films. It’s unfortunate what happened to Michael later on his life, but he did star in one of the greatest time travel movies ever.

2. Tom Cruise– You had to know that one of the all time greatest from the 80’s (before he was deemed weird) was going to be on this list. Let’s see, The Outsiders, Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man, Legend, The Color Of Money, Cocktail, do I really need to go on?

1.Johnny Depp– This is another one that should have been a no brainer because this may be one of the all time greats from the 80’s who still arguably produces. From his humble debut in A Nightmare On Elm Street and through Private Resort, Platoon, and whatever else he has put out in this world is just off the charts. Now the dude is a musician who plays with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Joe Perry, Alice Cooper, and so many more.

Honorable Mention: John Cusack, Sean Penn, Patric Dempsey, Kevin Bacon, Corey Haim, and Corey Feldman.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation (2015)

It is finally here and that means that the countdown to Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation is finally in the books and I have the review for you. Once again the gang is all here with Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible) as Ethan Hunt, Jeremy Renner (Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol) as Brandt, Simon Pegg (Mission: Impossible III) as Benji, and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible) as Luther all return for the fifth installment. In this one, Ethan is still on the hunt to prove that the Syndicate is real and he will go out at all costs to prove it. The only thing is that he has a couple of problems on his hands with one being the CIA had IMF shut down and he is now a fugitive on the run and the second thing is that he has to trust a rogue assassin to help him find the leader of the syndicate as they chase all around the world. Can Ethan get the job done with the help of his old team or will it be too late for him and IMF as we know it? The film also stars Alec Baldwin (The Getaway) as Alan Hunley, Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules) as Ilsa Faust, Sean Harris (Prometheus) as Lane, Simon McBurney (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Atlee, Tom Hollander (About Time) as The British Prime Minister, Jens Hultén (Skyfall) as The Bonecrusher, Wolfgang Stegemann (Edge Of Tomorrow) as Assassin, and the film was directed by Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher). Now let’s check out some of the stats before we get into the review of the film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I have to point out about this series before we get into anything that has to do with this film in particular and that is Tom Cruise has a different director for each film. Not only that, but he has chooses directors that he has done films with before the making of whatever the current film is. So in this film, Ethan Hunt has a total of 21 knockouts/kills and he still has no origin story to speak of, but there are references to various films in the series. I am not entirely sure if we can count the woman he has to trust as a love interest, but that is why I placed the question marks there in the first place. Throughout the film, the team is put through the rigger with one of them being kidnapped at one point in the film (you’ll have t see it for yourself to figure out who I am talking about). The big boss in this film is defeated, but the way they do it is clever as hell. I loved the fact that in the beginning they reference some of the missions from various films as Baldwin’s character is claiming that the team is reckless. They head to a former Soviet country in this film in Belarus and they go back to England which was one of the settings in the first film as well as they used Austria and Morocco for more settings in the film as well. This was definitely a really good film, but it’s not better than Ghost Protocol which is by far my favorite in the series. It has some amazing cinematography and some great action sequences, but I could have used a little more. With that being said, I am still going to give this film four fists out of five for a final grade.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol (2011)

It is week number four on our countdown to Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation here on Ass Whoopin Wednesdays as we countdown to the film’s release on July 31ST. As you can see on the blog, we have reviewed the first three Mission: Impossible films and we are continuing with the fourth film in the franchise Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol which sees our hero Ethan Hunt in a Russian prison as he crew made up of Benji (Simon Pegg) and Carter (Paula Patton) prepare to break him out. After the successful breakout, they are sent on another mission to steal some launch codes from the Kremlin, but before they can they are beat to the punch by Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) a Swede hell bent on having the world powers collide. After the Kremlin is destroyed by a bomb triggered by the Swede, the team is forced into Ghost Protocol along with the newest member on the team in Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Together they will do all they can to stop Hendricks from launching the nuclear bombs. The film also stars Vladimir Mashkov (Behind Enemy Lines) as Sidorov, Samuli Edelmann (The Tough Ones) as Wistrom, Ivan Shvedoff (Enemy At The Gates) as Leonid, Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds) as Sabine, Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire) as Brij Nath, Josh Holloway (Sabotage) as Hanaway, a cameo from Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible), and the film was directed by Brad Bird (Tomorrowland). Before we get into the review of the film, let’s check out some stats below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one thing you’ll notice about this film is that his numbers are at a all time low considering what he had for Knockouts/kills in the second and third film, but that is because his team also gets in on the action. So in this film, Ethan Hunt only gets nine kills which is still better than the first Mission: Impossible film. In this film he has no origin story (as usual), no love interest, and no one he really cares about gets hurt in the film unless you are talking about the director of IMF (Tom Wilkinson). That only leaves us the big boss as far as the stats are concerned and you’ll have to watch it as the mission is accomplished. Every film has a different director and each one brings their own unique style to the film and that is case with Brad Bird who brings you plenty of great stunts and the cinematography is amazing as the gang go to Russia, Dubai, and Mumbai. One of my favorite scenes is the chase through the sandstorm while the team is in Dubai because it has plenty of suspense to go with the action. That is also the case for the whole film as the action sequences and some of the missions are amazing. This one could definitely be one of my favorites in the series by far and Jeremy Renner is equally a bad ass in this film as he was in his Bourne film. Check it out for yourself and be sure to check out Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation in theaters everywhere on July 31ST and watch for the review on the next edition of Ass Whoopin Wednesdays

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Mission: Impossible III (2006)

For most of us, Wednesdays only mean that its hump day, but it also means that it’s Ass Whoopin Wednesdays. To continue on the same theme that we have been doing for the last couple of weeks, we are week three in to our countdown to Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation which hits theaters July 31ST. For today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film, we are looking at the J.J. Abrams (Star Wars Episode VII) directed Mission: Impossible III which once again starred and was produced by Tom Cruise. In this one, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has been out of the game for a very long time and he is looking to get married to his girlfriend Julia (Michelle Monaghan). The only problem is that she doesn’t know that Ethan used to be a spy and he is trying to keep it a secret, but after a mission that failed, Ethan has to come face to face with the sadistic and evil arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who threatens to put Ethan’s secret at risk. The film also stars Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) as John Musgrave, Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) as Luther, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Match Point) as Declan Gormley, Keri Russell (The Americans) as Lindsey Farris, Maggie Q (Balls Of Fury) as Zhen Lei, Simon Pegg (Shaun Of The Dead) as Benji Dunn, Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) as Brownway, Laurence Fishburne (Boyz n The Hood), and many more. Let’s check out some stats before we get into the review of the film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the direction that J.J. Abrams went with this film because it brought it back to reality other than the kung fu version of number two and you can just tell from seeing past Abrams films that this had his signature all over it. In the film, Ethan Hunt has a total of 23 kills which is fewer than the second film, but still a hell of a lot more than the first film. He still has no origin story, but in this one he has a love interest who is his girlfriend and eventually his wife as the film goes along and she is the one that is hurt (she gets kidnapped). The big boss is definitely defeated and I just wanted to say that Philip Seymour Hoffman was masterful in this film as it’s villain. Tom Cruise is masterful of course as Ethan Hunt and by this point I am surprised that it’s taking them this long to come out with sequels to each film (MI in 1996, MI2 in 2000, and this one in 2006), but it makes sense considering it is the tenth anniversary to the first film. The film of course does a great job of throwing curveballs at you when you least expect it or if you suspect someone of being a mole, they’ll quickly change that. I love that some of the locations for the film were in Rome and Shanghai, it makes it fun to have the ability to form stories around different parts of the world for each film. I swear you’ll love some of the stunts for this film and the cinematography so check it out.You’ll also notice that ayoung Aaron Paul has a couple of scenes in the film too. I am giving the film 4.2 fists out of five for a final grade.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)

Once again, we are continuing on our countdown to Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation with our Ass Whoopin Wednesdays presents the Mission: Impossible series. For today’s film, we are looking at Mission: Impossible 2 which was the sequel that took four years to make and once again stars Tom Cruise (Top Gun) as our favorite IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. This time around, a deadly virus that was created by a scientist named Dr. Nekhorvich (Radé Sherbedgia) called Chimera which has been stolen by a former IMF agent named Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) and he plans to sell it in the market for lots of money. With the help of a former girlfriend of Ambrose (Thandie Newton), Hunt has to destroy both the virus and the cure before it gets into the wrong hands. The film also stars Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) as Luther, Anthony Hopkins (The Silence Of The Lambs) as Swanbeck, Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing) as Hugh Stamp, John Polson (Swimfan) as Billy, Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) as McCloy, William Mapother (The Grudge) as Wallis, Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) as Ulrich, and the film was directed by John Woo (Face/Off). Let’s check out some stats from the film before we get into the review of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can definitely tell the difference between the first film and this one just by who the director of the film is which happens to be John Woo. Just from that little piece of info, you know that the action sequences are going to be more epic and more outrageous because let’s go for broke after all. For one, Ethan Hunt knows some bad ass martial arts moves in this film and his kills/knockouts count triples in this film than what it was in the first film as he has 26 kills/knockouts overall. Once again, Ethan has no origin story to speak of in this film, but he does gain a love interest and he has a sexual conquest with her. In the film, she is infected with Chimera virus so Ethan is on the hunt for the cure before it is too late and the big boss is eventually defeated. Now the question going into this film is do I think that it was better than the first film? To be honest with you, while the action was turned up a notch for this film, I still find the first film to be better than this one. There was  more of a clever story in the first one than there was in this one, but this film is still pretty good in it’s own right. One thing that it has working for them is the cinematography as we get some great shots of Sydney, Australia during the film. While the rest of the series is not available to stream on Netflix as we speak, the first two films in the series are and you should definitely check them out if you love the whole action spy espionage thing that so many of us have craved for years which is why we continue to love James Bond. I am going to give this film four fists out of five for a final grade.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Mission: Impossible (1996)

For Ass Whoopin Wednesdays, we’ll be doing the same exact thing that we did for Mad Max by counting down, but this time its for the release of the brand new Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation which comes out in theaters on July 31ST. There are about to be five films in the series, but we are starting with the very first film. There are rumors that a man is about to deal out a list that has all the identities of every IMF agent and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team are put to the task. The only problem is that it’s a task gone wrong and everyone’s dead except for Ethan and the IMF suspects that he is disloyal. So, Ethan will assemble a new team to infiltrate the system in order to figure out who the real mole is before it’s too late. The film also stars Jon Voight (Heat) as Jim Phelps, Emmanuelle Béart (8 Women) as Claire Phelps, Jean Reno (The Professional) as Franz, Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) as Luther, Kristin Scott Thomas (Gosford Park) as Sarah Davies, Vanessa Redgrave (Howards End) as Max, Ingeborga Dapkunaite (Seven Years In Tibet) as Hannah Williams, Rolf Saxon (Entrapment) as CIA Analyst William Donloe, and the film was directed by Brian De Palma (The Untouchables). Before we get into the review of the film, let’s check out some stats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mission: Impossible movies are always amazing and they always deliver on non stop suspenseful action that will please any action espionage fan. Although, the film may not have a lot of stats as far as kills/knockouts are concerned, but Tom Cruise knew how to deliver and he does in Mission: Impossible. Now back to the stats, in the film Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has only five (really 5 1/2) kills in the film which I believe is the lowest total we’ve done so far. He doesn’t really have an origin story because all we know is that he is a secret agent and we don’t know if he has a love interest or not. As far as a friend/family member being hurt, we do know that his whole team appears to be taken out and eliminated which is what drives him on this mission and the big boss behind the whole thing known as Job is taken out and defeated. Of course, the film features one of the most iconic scenes which you can see in this very paragraph and that is what you get. The film delivered on the whole secret agent/action/espionage craze that people needed filled and as we know there are three more films with another on the way that is sure to deliver. The acting is amazing on all ends and I didn’t realize that Emilio Estevez makes an appearance in this film. The editing is phenomenal as well as the cinematography which worked well together as it needed to in order for the film to work. We have three more films o check out and you can see this one on Netflix as we speak. I am giving the film four fists out of five for a final grade.

Film News 6/29/2015

While everyone is enjoying all the films that this summer has to offer, I am here to report on some very important information that Marvel head Kevin Feige has let slip out during a promotional tour for Ant-Man. The first piece of news that I am reporting to all of you is on the brand new Spider-Man film that Marvel announced that it will be doing since they acquired the rights to Spider-Man from Sony. Tom Holland who starred in the film The Impossible and Locke, was announced as the next actor to take over the reigns of Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire have played the character before). Well, Tom has taken some heat as of late for the fact that he is a baby faced actor as some fans have expressed their dislike in the choice, but reality is that Peter Parker was 15 years old when he was bitten by the Spider. Plus while on the promotional tour Feige has stated that they were inspired by John Hughes films when it came to the next Spider-Man movie. Feige says in an interview with Birth. Movies. Death, “It’s the soap opera in high school, and those supporting characters, that are interesting. Just as we hadn’t seen a heist movie in a long time, or a shrinking movie in a long time, we haven’t seen a John Hughes movie in a long time. Not that we can make a John Hughes movie — only John Hughes could — but we’re inspired by him, and merging that with the superhero genre in a way we haven’t done before excites us […] Particularly at that age, in high school, everything feels like life or death. The tests feel like life or death. Coming home from being out with your friends seemed like life or death. The stakes are high at that age.” He has also gone on record at the promotional tour naming some names that they are contemplating as being the next villains for Spider-Man as they probably will not do another origin story, “Right now we’re interested in seeing villains we haven’t seen before.” The Sinister Six would be cool villains for Spider-Man, but we’ll have to wait to find out. Spider-Man will appear in Captain America: Civil War in 2016.

Kevin Feige also managed to let some information on the very next Guardians Of The Galaxy film out while on the promotional tour for Ant-Man. Apparently, the next film will be titled Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 which is actually a clever title for the next film seeing as at the end of the first film, he pops in volume 2 of his Awesome Mix. Of course, after he realized that he had let it slip out, he refused to confirm the very news, but never fear because GOTG director James Gunn confirmed the info himself. Gunn released a statement that read as follows:

Yes, the official title of the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Kevin Feige recently let the title slip while doing Ant-Man press, which I’m really happy about because God knows I’ve let more than one thing slip accidentally while chattering away on this FB page.

Also, hats off to some intrepid fans who figured out the title a couple of days after I posted the cover page. More than one person guessed “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” – I wanted so badly to give you props at the time, but knew I had to wait.

For Kevin to mess up. Haha.

PS ANT-MAN PREMIERE TONIGHT AND I AM STOKED!

The film will be released on May 17, 2017 and we are still waiting on information as to who will be the next to join them or who the villain for the next film is. Check out Ant-Man in theaters July 17, 2015.

For the life of me I do not understand the logic in Hollywood as a sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun has been confirmed 30 years after the original film. The question going into the announcement of the film was whether or not Tom Cruise was going to reprise his role as Maverick for the sequel. Skydance CEO David Ellison didn’t call him out by name, but he pretty much confirmed that Tom Cruise will be apart f it as he said, “There is no ‘Top Gun’ without Maverick, and it is going to be Maverick playing Maverick.” As far as what the film would evolve around, here is what he revealed as well, “It is very much a world we live in today where it’s drone technology and fifth generation fighters… It’s really exploring the end of an era of dogfighting and fighter pilots and what that culture is today.” I guess you are either excited or displeased over the news, but what are you going to do?

We also have some Box Office News for the weekend of June 26, 2015 which saw the release of the Universal Sequel Ted 2. Even though the first film was a juggernaut, ti had no chance to dominate at the box office as it went up against record breaking Jurassic World and the awesome Pixar flick Inside Out. While the film opened with 33 Million in sales, it wasn’t enough to beat the films I mentioned above and it failed to beat the numbers the first film posted. Check out the numbers below: