Category: Movies

Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars VII

On a recent episode of Parks & Recreation, Patton Oswalt described his funny vision for the next Star Wars film as Amy Poehler listened. A creative person named Isaac Moores, who goes by Izac Less on YouTube, rose to the occasion and made a video illustrating Oswalt’s description of Star Wars VII, which adds some characters such as Iron Man Tony Stark.

Update 2025: While the video by Isaac Moores seems to be no longer on YouTube, below is a similar one posted by Nerdist.

What is your favorite part of Patton Oswalt’s vision? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Visiting the Hickory of “Hoosiers” Today

    hoosiers revisited
    One of my favorite movies of all time is Hoosiers (1986), so I really liked this Hoosiers Revisited video by Michael Watson that tracks down the location of many scenes from the movie to show what the locales look like today. The video does a cool job of blending movie scenes with the new shots. And every time I hear the theme music by Jerry Goldsmith it makes me want to run home and put in my Hoosiers DVD.

    Hoosiers, which starred Gene Hackman and was directed by David Anspaugh, is set in the fictional town of Hickory, Indiana. While the story is based on the Milan High School basketball team that won the 1954 state championship, the filmmakers used the town of New Richmond, Indiana for many of the scenes in the movie. But some of the scenes are from other towns, such as the white barn at the beginning of the film, which is in Sheridan, Indiana.

    If you want to test how much you know about Hoosiers, check out our Hoosiers trivia quiz.

    What is your favorite scene in Hoosiers? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Happy Birthday Brooklyn Bridge

    Brooklyn Bridge 1899 May 24 is the anniversary of the 1883 opening of the Brooklyn Bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn across the East River. At the time, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge was seen as a great human achievement, resulting in the longest suspension bridge by more than 50% over any existing bridge. Well over a century later, it is still beautiful and fun to walk across.

    The bridge has appeared in a number of movies, such as Moonstruck (1987), The Siege (1998), Godzilla (1998), and I Am Legend (2007).

    Despite the Brooklyn Bridge’s iconic status, the Manhattan Bridge has stolen some of the more classic New York bridge movie scenes. That bridge is featured in classic scenes in Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1979)) and in Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

    The Brooklyn Bridge still has a pretty good movie record, and you may also check it out online with a live videocam. The bridge also appears in songs. For example, Frank Sinatra sang the song, “The Brooklyn Bridge.” Similarly, the bridge recently appeared in Lee Dewyze’s jazzy “Brooklyn Bridge.”

    Below is Sinatra’s “The Brooklyn Bridge,” which was written by Sammy Cahn. The song was recorded for the movie It Happened in Brooklyn (1947), which also features Sinatra on the Bridge. The song was released as a B-side in 1947.

    For more about the Brooklyn Bridge and its historical significance, a History Channel documentary in their Modern Marvels series tells the story of the bridge.

    If you prefer a much shorter video, you can check out another one that has 10 Amazing Facts About the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Photo of Brooklyn Bridge in 1899 via Brooklyn Museum. What is your favorite image of Brooklyn Bridge? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    7 Things About “Star Trek: Into Darkness” (Short Review)

    Star Trek Into Darkness Here are seven spoiler-free things about Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013).

    1. You already know whether or not you will enjoy Star Trek: Into Darkness. If you are a Star Trek fan or like action movies in space, you will see the movie no matter what I say. And you probably will not be disappointed. For a Star Trek fan like me, it is a very entertaining movie and the most fun I have had at the cinema in awhile.

    2. Director J.J. Abrams continues with our heroes in an alternate time-line from the 1960s series and the characters from the original series. In this first sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) reboot, where time does not need to be wasted on the set-up, we are starting to see the brilliance of having the freedom to change the events of the “past” while also connecting to the stories we know.

    3. While the first film took me awhile to adapt to the new actors in the classic roles, by now the actors fit well into their roles. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and others have become the characters we know. Benedict Cumberbatch does a good job as the bad guy too.

    4. There are several references to the old TV and movie series. I will leave it to you to decide whether the movie overdoes it. On one hand, one might conclude there was a little too much old and not enough new — while also wondering if this alternate universe storyline really makes much sense for the characters. But on the other hand, the connections did make for an entertaining and clever movie.

    5. As Slate has noted, the new film has a little something to say about the U.S. war on terrorism, making the movie relevant in the way the old series was. The Atlantic, however, finds the message is not so ambiguous. There is a lot to discuss on this point, which makes the movie even more memorable.

    6. While many speculated about the identity of the villain prior to the film’s release (and which I will not spoil here), I was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of one of these (warning: clicking on the link will give you a minor spoiler).

    7. Conclusion? If you liked past Star Trek films, you should see Star Trek: Into Darkness. But I probably did not need to tell you that.


    What did you think of Star Trek: Into Darkness? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Watch “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise”

    Mel Brooks Documentary
    PBS premiered as part of its American Masters series a new documentary about the legendary filmmaker and funny guy Mel Brooks called Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (2013). The informative movie follows Mel Brooks’s early career through his classic movies like Young Frankenstein (1974) and Blazing Saddles (1974) and through his Broadway hit The Producers. The documentary also delves into his childhood and personal life, including his marriage to actress Anne Bancroft.

    PBS has made the documentary available online for a limited time, and you may find out more on the PBS website.

    Robert Trachtenberg wrote, directed, edited, and produced Mel Brooks: Make a Noise. You may read reviews of the film on the A.V. Club or in the Los Angeles Times.

    What is your favorite Mel Brooks film? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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