A new video from NextMovie compiled all of the references to movies that occurred during the first five seasons of The Simpsons. Some are more obvious than others (like the Lawrence of Arabia one), but the video helps you out by telling you the movies. 2016 Update: Unfortunately, that video is no longer available, but below is a similar compilation of movie references from the first two seasons. This video was created by Quiritare Cinema.
How many do you recognize? [Update, while the original posted video is no longer available, below is another video of Simpsons‘ movie parodies.]
What is your favorite Simpsons movie reference? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Many commentators have noticed the parallels between Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Several parallels are intentional, but is one of the biggest similarities just a coincidence? Note that this post has spoilers for both Moby Dick and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The Wrath of Khan (“TWOK“) mirrors the overrding theme of vengeance from Moby Dick. Just as Ahab is driven by his desire for vengeance against the white whale, TWOK focuses on Khan’s obsessive quest for vengeance against Captain Kirk (William Shatner). The movie writers’ intent is reinforced with Herman Melville’s book appearing in one scene and Khan quoting or paraphrasing from Moby Dickat points (“to the last I grapple with thee; from Hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee”). Finally, the ending of TWOK is almost identical to the ending of Moby Dick. But what is interesting is that, despite all of the intentional similarities, it appears that this major similarity about the two endings is entirely coincidental.
In the end of TWOK, after Spock dies, his body is sent off in a photon torpedo as his coffin. In one of the final scenes, we see that this “coffin” has landed on the planet where Genesis is bringing the planet back to life.
The test version of the film, though, omitted the final coffin-on-the-rejuvinating-planet scene. Various sources, including Wikipedia, explain that Leonard Nimoy had initially agreed to reprise his role as Mr. Spock in TWOK only because his character would finally be killed. But, as the filming was coming to a close, Nimoy had enjoyed the making of the movie so much, he wanted to allow for Spock’s return if they so chose. So, the scene of Spock mind melding with Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) was added, but the initial cut of the movie still ended in a way that appeared to make Spock’s death final. Only after test audiences reacted poorly to seeing the icon’s death did producer Harve Bennett add the final scene showing Spock’s coffin on the rejuvenating planet with Nimoy’s voiceover of the traditional Star Trek series opening monologue.
The director, Nicholas Myer objected to the changes but allowed them. According to his director’s commentary on the video, he believed it was cheating to change the finality of the death scene (and having no interest in a resurrection story, he declined an offer to direct Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). In the commentary, he explains that as the movie was being finalized, producers realized that they might want to continue the series. And so the movie has the ending we all know:
Other sources confirm the story about the changes to the ending of TWOK. The book Star Trek and Sacred Ground, by Jennifer E. Porter and Darcee L. McLaren, reports that the first versions of the film did not include the scenes with Spock’s coffin landing on the Genesis planet. (p. 155.) A 2010 Los Angeles Times article noted Nimoy’s response to seeing the coffin scene: ”I was caught by surprise by the ending…. I was sitting there watching it and the camera goes across some foliage, some mist — a little magical kind of look — and guess what, there’s the black tube … whoa, I think I’m going to get a call from Paramount.”
So why is it interesting that the final scene was an afterthought and not planned from the start? Because so much of the rest of the movie echoes Moby Dick, and in the classic novel, a coffin plays an important role. Aboard the novel’s ship the Pequod, the character Queequeg at one point thought he was dying and had a coffin built for him. At the end of the novel, the obsessed Ahab is killed by his obsession just as the obsessed Khan is effectively killed by his obsession Kirk. Then, the book’s narrator Ishmael survives because after the Pequod is destroyed, he uses the coffin as a life buoy, just as Spock is left with a coffin after the Enterprise is almost destroyed. As Ishmael is adrift after the ship’s destruction, he describes his discovery of a “black bubble” in the ocean:
“[T]he black bubble upward burst; and now, liberated by reason of its cunning spring, and owing to its great buoyancy, rising with great force, the coffin like-buoy shot lengthwise from the sea, fell over, and floated by my side. Buoyed up by that coffin, for almost one whole day and night, I floated on a soft and dirge-like main. The unharming sharks, they glided by as if with padlocks on their mouths; the savage sea-hawks sailed with sheathed beaks. On the second day, a sail drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last.”
[Update February 2015: The final coffin scene from the Gregory Peck movie does not seem to be on YouTube any longer, but below is a trailer for the movie.]
When I first saw The Wrath of Khan in the movie theater, because of the Moby Dick references, I thought the director intended to invoke Moby Dick again at the end. Just as the classic novel ended with Ishmael surviving in a scene with a coffin, I thought the producers’ message with the final coffin scene was designed to evoke Ishmael’s survival, revealing that Spock would live again. While they did intend to imply Spock might live again, it seems it was a coincidence that the way they did it once again invoked Moby Dick.
Were the similar endings a coincidence? What do you think? Leave a comment.
Bonus Moby Dick References: There are a couple of other parallels between Moby Dick and Star Trek outside The Wrath of Khan. Captain Picard, i.e., Patrick Stewart, starred in a TV version of Moby Dick and like Khan he quoted the book in a Star Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact (1996).
Jamie Benning compiled commentaries, deleted scenes, and other sources to put together Inside Jaws: A Filmumentary about the movie Jaws (1975). So, if you really want to know everything about the movie and the making of it, check out what was originally called “Jaws Bites Back,” which opens with commentary from Steven Spielberg.
Critics have attacked The Lone Ranger (2013) for a number of reasons. Because of the movie’s big budget and low box office returns, some have labeled it a flop, although that is not how a viewer should judge a film. Many attack the film for Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Native American Tonto, while others have defended his role. I understand the criticisms, and the producers should have expected that discussion. I am not qualified to add much to the Tonto debate, but I can say that the portrayal of the Lone Ranger disrespects the franchise and the Lone Ranger, by portraying him as kind of a jerk. [Warning: Post contains some spoilers.]
First, though, let me say I enjoyed the movie for a summer popcorn movie, which may explain why the film still has a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 68% compared to the horrible 26% critics’ rating. While critics have argued that the film shows that Westerns cannot do well at the box office, such conclusions are wrong. Good Westerns, like the 2010 remake of True Grit, will continue to find an audience. It is wrong to put the whole genre of Westerns on the shoulders of The Lone Ranger, which fails to succeed because it is not a great movie.
So what are the problems with the way the movie portrays the Lone Ranger? First, while Armie Hammer is a very good actor and captures aspects of the character, physically he is not right. Yes, it is a fantasy that folks will not recognize anyone who puts a mask around the eyes, but it stretches fantasy too much to expect someone would be fooled by the masked Hammer, who towers over everyone else. Further, the movie is never quite sure whether or not it is a fantasy. There are some realistic scenes of violence, but then we are expected to believe the Lone Ranger can ride Silver up and down the top of a moving train.
But the main problem is that this Lone Ranger is not a man of honor, and even if the intent of the film is to show the character’s evolution or it is meant to be a comedy, it fails in those respects too. In director Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, we are expected to accept the Lone Ranger as a symbol of upholding law, but he turns out to be kind of a dick. Some of it makes no sense, like the fact that he would leave Tonto to die buried up to his neck even after Tonto has helped him.
In another scene, we see that the Lone Ranger has evolved into an attempted murderer. In that scene near the end of the movie, the Lone Ranger points a gun at the head of his prisoner Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) and pulls the trigger in cold blood. Although the gun misfires and, yes, we have already seen Cavendish is a horrible person, the scene makes the Lone Ranger into a cold blooded (attempted) killer without addressing any of the moral ramifications.
The late Walter Wink wrote about the use of “redemptive violence” in movies, where an audience is manipulated into rooting for the hero to commit acts of violence by watching the bad guy repeatedly do horrible things to the hero. While I am not opposed to violence in movies, the problem is when we are supposed to accept the hero killing a captured prisoner out of revenge and still root for the hero.
Again, the movie is a fantasy, and we can suspend reality a little, especially once we hear the William Tell Overture. And for a summer movie, it is better than a lot of others. But as someone who likes Westerns, I hate to see The Lone Ranger used as a representative film of the modern Western genre or that this film will be the only portrayal of the Lone Ranger that kids will know.
Maybe I need to cleanse my palate with a viewing of my Appaloosa (2008) DVD. Or I can just watch the 1949 Enter the Lone Ranger with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, where the Lone Ranger captures Butch Cavendish instead of trying to kill him in cold blood — and where he does not abandon Tonto to die.
Conclusion? The portrayal of the Lone Ranger in the 2013 The Lone Ranger may not be offensive, but it fails to capture what made the earlier versions of the character heroic and fun.
What did you think of The Lone Ranger? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Saving Mr. Banks, coming to a theater near you in December, features Tom Hanks portraying Walt Disney’s struggles to make Mary Poppins (1964). The challenge for Disney, though, was convincing the book’s protective author P.L. Travers to trust the Disney empire to commercialize her book. In a recent interview, director John Lee Hancock explained that his movie does not “sugarcoat” the legendary Walt Disney. In the trailer, the interplay between Hanks and the wonderful Emma Thompson as Travers makes this one look worthwhile. Plus, you get to see Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the famous Sherman brothers who wrote so many Disney classics.
onus Trivia Question: Robert and Richard Sherman wrote what became Walt Disney’s favorite song for Mary Poppins. What song was it? Answer here. FYI, the “Mr. Banks” in the movie title is George Banks, the father who hired Mary Poppins.
Will you see Saving Mr. Banks? Leave your two cents in the comments.
, by Jennifer E. Porter and Darcee L. McLaren, reports that the first versions of the film did not include the scenes with Spock’s coffin landing on the Genesis planet. (p. 155.) A 2010 