I-Iz Movies

I Am Legend (2007)  Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.

Warner Brotherss gained the rights to the novel by Richard Matheson in the 1970s and produced a version of it, called The Omega Man, in 1971. Previous to that, Associated Producers did an adaptation in 1964 called The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price, shot in Italy and directed by Italian Ubaldo Ragona and American Sidney Salkow. Although Matheson did not contribute to the screenplay of the 1964 film - which took a critical drubbing - he did contribute to the screenplay for this film.  Although I Am Legend is the best of the three movies the other two are worth seeing to see how the integration of special effects has progressed.

I Love You to Death (1990)  Joey works with Rosalie in their pizza parlor. She is convinced that he works all of the time for them and her world dissolves when she finds that he has been fooling around for years. Being Catholic, divorce is out of the question, so she and her mother and her best friend decide to kill him. Hopelessly incompetent as killers, they hire incompetent professionals as they beat, poison, and shoot Joey who remains oblivious to their attempts.

I, Robot (2004)  It's 2035 A.D., where robots are everyday objects and are programmed to live alongside humans. Detective Del Spooner is called out to investigate the apparent suicide of the scientist behind these robots, Dr. Alfred Lanning. Spooner suspects that the death might not be a suicide, but the result of one of the robots. All robots are programmed by three laws, but Spooner starts to wonder if a robot can in fact feel emotions, and possibly murder. But if Spooner's suspicions are true, he is going to have a hard time convincing everyone.

Good adaptation of Issac Asimov's robot stories.  Too brainy a movie for some.  Somewhat weak ending.

Imitation General (1958)  Master Sgt. "Murph" Savage impersonates a fallen general in the hope of inspiring his fellow soldiers to bravely fight their way out of a Nazi ensnarement. He might succeed if he can avoid the one soldier who knows his true identity.

The Imposters (1998) A fresh and witty resurrection of the slapstick comedy of Laurel and Hardy combined with The Marx Brothers. Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt team-up as two out-of-work actors who accidentally stowaway on a ship to hide from a drunken, belligerent lead actor who has sworn to kill them for belittling his talents. Of course, the lead actor ends up on the ship as well. Also, a madman plots the destruction of the ship and Steve Buscemi is a depressed, suicidal lounge singer named Happy Frank.

Incredibly funny movie, especially if you are familiar with Laurel & Hardy, Abbot & Costello and The Marx Brothers.  This is a more upscale version.  Stanley Tucci is brilliant.  Woody Allen in a nice cameo role.

In & Out (1997)  Howard Brackett is a high school teacher in a small town in Indiana with everything going for him; a nice job, an attractive fiancé named Emily and respect from everyone. Everything changes in one night when a former high school student of his, named Cameron Drake, now a famous actor living in Hollywood, makes an acceptance speech after receiving an Academy Award for his portrayal of a homosexual army soldier and 'outs' Howard Brackett as his inspiration for his role. The media circus immediately begins as Howard desperately tries keep his life from falling apart by protesting that he is not gay and that the whole thing with Cameron's speech is a simple misunderstanding. While most of the townspeople want to believe Howard, Peter Malloy, an openly gay TV reporter who arrives in town to cover the story, suspects that the teacher is in denial.

During the end credits, the cast is dancing to "Macho Man" and goofing off at Berniece and Frank's wedding reception.

Matt Dillon's outing of his teacher in his acceptance speech is based upon Tom Hanks' real-life acceptance speech at The 66th Annual Academy Awards for his Oscar for Philadelphia, in which he thanked a gay teacher.

Inception (2010)  Dominic Cobb is the foremost practitioner of the artistic science of extraction - inserting oneself into a subject's dreams to obtain hidden information without the subject knowing - a concept taught to him by his professor father-in-law, Dr. Stephen Miles. Dom's associates are Miles' former students, who Dom requires as he himself has given up being the dream architect for reasons he won't disclose. Dom's primary associate, Arthur, believes it has something to do with Dom's deceased wife, Mal, who often figures prominently and violently in those dreams, or Dom's want to "go home" i.e. get back to his own reality, which includes two young children. Dom's work is generally in corporate espionage. As the subjects don't want the information to get into the wrong hands, the clients have zero tolerance for failure. Dom is also a wanted man as many of his past subjects have learned what Dom has done to them. One of those subjects, Mr. Saito, offers Dom a job he can't refuse: to take the concept one step further into inception, namely planting thoughts into the subject's dreams without them knowing. Inception can fundamentally alter that person as a being. Saito's target is Robert Michael Fischer, the heir to an energy business empire, which has the potential to rule the world if continued on the current trajectory. Beyond the complex logistics of the dream architecture of the case and some unknowns concerning Fischer himself, the biggest obstacles in success for the team become worrying about one aspect of inception which Cobb fails to disclose to the other team members prior to the job, and Cobb's newest associate Ariadne's belief that Cobb's own subconscious, especially as it relates to Mal, may be taking over what happens in the dreams.

The "Penrose stairs" (with a woman perpetually picking up papers) that Arthur shows Ariadne is a reference to a lithograph print by the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. The print is usually called "Ascending and Descending" or "The Infinite Staircase", and was first printed in March 1960; Escher is well-known for his drawings exploring optical illusions and real architectural, mathematical, and philosophical principles rendered in fantastical ways.   

A direct translation of the lyrics for the song "Non, je ne regrette rien" as performed by Édith Piaf is: "I regret nothing/no, I have no regrets/I regret neither the good things that were done to me nor the bad things/They are all the same to me/...The past is payed, swept away, forgotten/I don't care of the past anymore/I set my memories on fire/My agonies, and my pleasures/I don't need them any more/Swept away in the agonies of love/Swept away forever, I'm restarting with nothing..." Christopher Nolan has made a point of saying that he chose the song specifically for the movie, which is heavily concerned with the effect of memories on the psyche, and specifically the disastrous effect that not letting go of memories of love-gone-wrong can have on the subconscious--exactly what the song discusses. Also of note: in the original French, "I regret neither the good things done to me nor the bad things" is "Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait ni le mal," and since Cobb's wife is named Mal, that gives the line a double meaning.  

Inside Man (2006)  From a cell, a man tells us he has planned the perfect bank robbery; he invites us to watch. An efficient gang enters a Manhattan bank, locks the doors, and takes hostages. They work deliberately, without haste. Detective Frazier is assigned to negotiate, but half his mind is occupied with the corruption charges he is facing. The bank's president has something to protect in a safe deposit box, so he brings in Madaline, a high-power broker with a hidden agenda. With an army of police surrounding the bank, the thief, the cop, and the plutocrat's fixer enter high-stakes negotiations. Why are the robbers asking for a plane, if they are so competent and they know they won't get one? Why aren't they in more of a hurry? If the job's perfect, why is the thieves' leader in a cell?

Well crafted crime drama with a crime in a crime.

Insomnia (2002)  Sent from the city to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in a small Alaska town, a police detective (Pacino) accidentally shoots his own partner while trying to apprehend a suspect. Instead of admitting his guilt, the detective is given an unexpected alibi, but this "solution" only multiplies the emotional complexity and guilt over his partner's death. He's also still got a murder to solve, in addition to the blackmail and framing of an innocent bystander being orchestrated by the man they were chasing. There's also a local detective (Swank) who is conducting her own personal investigation... of his partner's death. Will it all come crashing down on him?

Good movie.  You can't quite call it a whodunit but it is a tangled mess with no way out.

Instinct (1999)  Nearly two years after having gone amiss in Africa, renowned anthropologist Dr. Ethan Powell is caught committing a crime and subsequently imprisoned in a Florida mental institution, where aspiring psychiatrist Dr. Theo Calder takes over his important case. Dr. Powell, who has been with a group of gorillas during all that time, is not talking at all and seems to be living in a dreamworld. Very slowly, Dr. Calder manages to reach Ethan Powell and starts finding out why Ethan killed two of the poachers. Yet Theo's case is not just about why the murders have happened, but also about how Dr. Powell became the being he is in the first place. With Ethan's silence broken, Theo is introduced into a world beyond common human comprehension: The true nature of being. He learns that mankind's control of everything is a mere illusion and that the true values of existence can't be found so easily. Ethan changes Theo's view of things forever.

Interesting film.

Intolerable Crulety (2003) Miles Massey, a prominent Los Angeles divorce attorney has everything--and in some cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list, a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad contract (the Massey pre-nup) named after him, he's reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success, boredom has set in and he's looking for new challenges. All that changes when Miles meets his match in the devastating Marylin Rexroth. Marylin is the soon-to-be ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth, a wealthy real estate developer and habitual philanderer. With the help of hard charging private investigator Gus Petch, she has Rex nailed and is looking forward to the financial independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to Miles' considerable skills, she ends up with nothing. Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle.  

Very funny comedy especially if you have been divorced once.

The Invention of Lying (2009)  It's a world where everyone tells the truth - and just about anything they're thinking. Mark Bellison is a screenwriter, about to be fired. He's short and chunky with a flat nose - a genetic setup that means he won't get to first base with Anna, the woman he loves. At a bank, on the spur of the moment he blurts out a fib, with eye-popping results. Then, when his mother's on her deathbed, frightened of the eternal void awaiting her, Mark invents fiction. The hospital staff overhear his description of Heaven, believe every word, and tell others. Soon Mark is a prophet, his first inventive screenplay makes him rich, and he's basically a good guy. But will that be enough for Anna?

This is good and interesting film.  Research into the value of lying is also worth persuing.

Invitation to the Dance (1956)  Three separate and individual stories are told exclusively through dance and mime. In "Circus", a clown in a street circus is in love with one of the other troupe members with who he often performs. She is unaware of his feelings as she is in turn in love with the circus' high wire walker. The clown does the only thing he knows to compete against the wire walker and win her heart. In "Ring Around the Rosy", a women's bracelet acts as the common bond between several male/female liaisons. The bracelet is primarily a symbol of allure between the men and women involved. It is initially given by a husband to his wife as an anniversary gift. As the bracelet gets passed from man to woman to man to woman and so on, it eventually makes its way full circle back to the husband. What he decides to do with it will decide the fate of his marriage. In "Sinbad the Sailor", Sinbad, a sailor on shore in the Middle East, comes into possession of a magical lamp containing a young genie. Sinbad, not knowing what to do with the genie, initially just wants the genie to go away. He eventually learns the genie's powers, which allows the two to have some fantastical adventures.

Gene Kelly's original intention was to make a film that would educate mainstream audiences about professional dancing in the world. To this end, he wanted to cast the greatest dancers in Europe for the four segments in leading roles. He himself would only appear in one - the Popular Song sequence, which ended up being cut. But MGM refused to allow the picture unless he appeared in all of them. Many of the professionals who worked in the film agreed that this was one of the film's great weaknesses.

Iron Lady (2011)  Biopic of Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdoms first female Prime Minister. Now elderly and senile, Thatcher spends much of her time in conversation with her husband Denis, who is dead. Interspersed with her everyday life are snippets of her life and political career. The middle class daughter of a grocer, she obtained a good degree and developed an interest in politics. She was first elected in 1959 and quickly developed a reputation for dealing with difficult issues and showing herself more than capable of taking on her male counterparts in the House of Commons. As Prime Minister, she takes on the very powerful unions seeing her popularity plummet until her patriotic response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland islands leads to her re-election. In the longer term, her rigid approach with her colleagues leads to her downfall and the Conservative party ousts her from the leadership.

I was prepated not to like this film.  I like Meryl Streep and her work.  I do not like Margaret Thatcher.  She was the first femal prime minister of England and deserves credit for that, but her policies were often wrong headed IMO.  My wife admires her, so I watched the film.  Actually it wasn't until my thrid attempt to watch it that I was hooked on the character.

Iron Man (2008)  Tony Stark is the complete playboy who also happens to be an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile, he's captured and wounded. His captors want him to assemble a missile for them but instead he creates an armored suit and a means to prevent his death from the shrapnel left in his chest by the attack. He uses the armored suit to escape. Back in the U.S. he announces his company will cease making weapons and he begins work on an updated armored suit only to find that Obadiah Stane, his second in command at Stark industries has been selling Stark weapons to the insurgents. He uses his new suit to return to Afghanistan to destroy the arms and then to stop Stane from misusing his research.

Tony is no mild mannered superhero, he is arrogant and proud of it.  Quite well done.

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)  Somewhere in the desert. A car speeds like crazy along the roads. Suddenly, the driver loses control and sails off a cliff. Four other vehicles are near, they stop to help. The dying man narrates a tale of a fortune in cash, $350,000, which he has hidden below a giant "W" in Santa Rosita, some 200 miles away. The four drivers and their respective passengers can't decide on how to share the future fortune, and suddenly a wild race to Santa Rosita develops. While one party manages to rent a plane (from 1916), the others face different problems like tire damage, untrustworthy lifts, deep water, drunken millionaires, a British adventurer, little girl's bicycles, and last but far not least a mother-in-law from hell and her imbecile son. While the folks slowly travel towards the goal, they are being watched. Who ever said that nobody else knew about the fortune?

After Spencer Tracy's credit has been shown, the words "and in alphabetical order" appear, and the next group of credits is assembled below them by animated hands: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, and Jonathan Winters. But after a moment, the hands reappear to pull out Silvers' credit and move it to the top, then Winters', then Caesar's, and so on until everyone has had had a turn at top billing in the group. The hands then quickly shuffle the credits several more times for good measure, all the time with the "and in alphabetical order" label still in place. The final order is Silvers, Rooney, Berle, Winters, Merman, Hackett, Terry-Thomas, Caesar, Shawn.

Melville Crump was originally to be played by Ernie Kovacs, but he died in a one-car accident before principal shooting. In real life he was married to Edie Adams, who played Monica Crump.

The billboard that the twin-engine Beechcraft flies through was made of thin balsa wood, except for a thicker frame for support. Stunt pilot Frank Tallman had to fly the aircraft directly through the center of the billboard or the thicker frame would shear off a wing. The billboard was located at the end of the runway of the Chino Airport(40 miles from L.A. and just southeast of Pomona, CA) which made it ideal and isolated enough for filming. It was placed at runway's end due to the fact that the plane's prop would come to a halt after crashing through the wood, making it necessary for the pilot to land immediately. He did just that, flying through the billboard and landing on the runway directly behind it.

In the scene where Jonathan Winters backed the truck into the water tower, it actually fell too soon, before the truck actually hit it. To compensate, special effects split the screen and slowed down the side with the water tower so that the fall would coincide with the hit.

It's Complicated (2009)  When brought together at a family event, two exes find themselves oddly attracted to each other after ten years of divorce. Although the couple think that this affair will stay in a different state, it brings itself back to their own city and disrupts their personal lives. While the couple still maintain other romances, they cannot help but to continue with their affair.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)  George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George's modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father. But on Christmas Eve, George's Uncle Billy loses the business's $8,000 while intending to deposit it in the bank. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide. But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George, with the promise of earning his wings. He shows George what things would have been like if he had never been born. In a nightmarish vision in which the Potter-controlled town is sunk in sex and sin, those George loves are either dead, ruined, or miserable. He realizes that he has touched many people in a positive way and that his life has truly been a wonderful one.

This is a best and must see film.  It is often shown around Christmas but it was not made as a Christmas movie.  It was nominated for five Oscars but did not win.

Films made prior to this one used cornflakes painted white for the falling snow effect. Because the cornflakes were so loud, dialogue had to be dubbed in later. Frank Capra wanted to record the sound live, so a new snow effect was developed using foamite (a fire-fighting chemical) and soap and water. This mixture was then pumped at high pressure through a wind machine to create the silent, falling snow. 6000 gallons of the new snow were used in the film. The RKO Effects Department received a Class III Scientific or Technical Award from the Motion Picture Academy for the development of the new film snow. The scene on the bridge where Clarence saves George was filmed on a back lot on a day where the temperature was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is why James Stewart is visibly sweating in a few scenes. The scene on the bridge where Clarence saves George was filmed on a back lot on a day where the temperature was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is why James Stewart is visibly sweating in a few scenes.

As Uncle Billy is leaving George's house drunk, it sounds as if he stumbles over some trash cans on the sidewalk. In fact, a crew member dropped some equipment right after Uncle Billy left the screen. Both actors continued with the scene ("I'm all right, I'm all right!") and director Frank Capra decided to use it in the final cut. He gave the clumsy stagehand a $10 bonus for "improving the sound."

For the scene that required Donna Reed to throw a rock into the window of the Granville House, Frank Capra hired a marksman to shoot it out for her on cue. To everyone's amazement, Donna Reed broke the window with true aim and heft without the assistance of the hired marksman. Reed had played baseball in high school and had a strong throwing arm.  

James Stewart was nervous about the phone scene kiss because it was his first screen kiss since his return to Hollywood after the war. Under Frank Capra's watchful eye, Stewart filmed the scene in only one unrehearsed take, and it worked so well that part of the embrace was cut because it was too passionate to pass the censors.  

In 1947, an FBI analyst submitted, without comment, an addition to a running memo on "Communist infiltration of the motion picture industry," recording the opinion of an industry source who said that the film's "obvious" attempt to discredit bankers "is a common trick used by Communists."  

The set for Bedford Falls was constructed in two months and was one of the longest sets that had ever been made for an American movie. It covered four acres of the RKO's Encino Ranch. It included 75 stores and buildings, main street, factory district and a large residential and slum area. The Main Street was 300 yards long, three whole city blocks!  

The scene on the bridge where Clarence saves George was filmed on a back lot on a day where the temperature was 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is why James Stewart is visibly sweating in a few scenes.

The Italian Job (1969)  Charlie has just left prison, and now wants to do a 'big job'. The job is to steal $4m of gold arriving in Italy from China. Charlie's job needs financing, so he goes to Mr Bridger (a Mafia-type boss) who is in prison (Charlie has to break in !). In Italy, a clever plan is used to distract the authorities, while the raiders make their get-away in three Minis. This leads to an excellent car chase sequence through Italian streets, buildings, rivers, sewers, highways and rooftops which lasts for several minutes.

They filmed a scene for part of the Mini Cooper chase sequence on an ice rink, with the cars gliding past each other to the accompaniment of Strauss's "The Blue Danube". The scene was cut for timing reasons, but was included in the Channel 4 documentary "The Mini Job" which later appeared on the Special Edition video. All DVD releases include the scene as an extra feature.

BMC (British Motor Corporation), the owners of Mini, refused to donate any cars to the film. The boss of Fiat Motors offered to donate all the cars they needed including Fiat 500s in place of the Minis. The director however decided that as it was a very British film, it should be British Minis. Fiat's boss still donated scores of cars for filming as well as the factory grounds and even though the authorities refused to close the roads, the Italian Mafia stepped in and shut whole sections of Turin down for filming, so the traffic jams in the film are real as are people's actions during it.

The road used for the climactic cliff-hanger sequence led only to a restaurant. The first day of shooting was a Saturday, brilliantly sunny and the shoot went off without a hitch. On the next day, however, a huge line of cars appeared at the bottom of the road - the restaurant was hugely popular on Sundays. Some disgruntled drivers eventually broke through the police cordon and the shoot had to be aborted. Over the next two weeks it rained steadily and the snowline came down the mountain by approximately 250 feet. By the time the shot was completed, the crew had to sweep snow from the road.

The Italian Job (2003)  Led by John Bridger ('Donald Sutherland' ) and Charlie Croker ('Mark Wahlberg' ) a team is assembled for one last heist to steal $35 million in gold bars from a heavily guarded safe in Venice, Italy. After successfully pulling off the heist, a team member, Steve (Edward Norton), driven by greed and jealousy, arranges to take the gold for himself and eliminate the remaining members of the group. Thinking the team dead, he returns to L.A. with the gold. Charlie and the survivors of this betrayal follow Steve L.A. to exact revenge against the traitor. Charlie enlists the help of John Bridger's daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron) - a professional safe cracker, to get revenge. With Stella and the hacking skills of Lyle (Seth Green), the explosives skills of "Left Ear" (Mos Def), and the driving skills of "Handsome" Rob (Jason Statham) this new team plans and executes a daring heist that weaves through the freeways and subways of L.A.

Almost as good as the original but not quite.