Is “Nuke the Fridge” the New “Jump the Shark”?
The Urban Dictionary has added an entry for “Nuke the Fridge”, a contemporary replacement for the slang term “Jumped the Shark”.
Jump the Shark is a reference to a scene in an episode of Happy Days when Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while water skiing. The scene was considered so preposterous, and is considered by many to signify the moment in time when the show became unappealing to its core audience.
The new term Nuke the Fridge is based on an event in the opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Here is an explanation of the term from the online Urban Dictionary:
“Nuke the fridge is a colloquialism used to refer to the moment in a film series that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense, and it becomes apparent that a certain installment is not as good as a previous installments, due to ridiculous or low quality storylines, events or characters.
The term comes from the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which, near the start of the movie, Harrison Ford’s character survives a nuclear detonation by climbing into a kitchen fridge, which is then blown hundreds of feet through the sky whilst the town disintegrates. He then emerges from the fridge with no apparent injury. Later in the movie, the audience is expected to fear for his safety in a normal fistfight.
Fans of the Indiana Jones series found the absurdity of this event in the film to be the best example of the lower quality of this installment in the series, and thus coined the phrase, “nuke the fridge”.
The phrase is also a reference to the phrase “jump the shark”, which has the same meaning, only applied to a television series instead of a film series.
This phrase is not in common use.
“Star Wars didn’t really nuke the fridge until Jar Jar Binks was introduced.”
“Peter Parker dancing around the bar in Spider-Man 3? Kinda nukes the fridge!”
“The Godfather: Part III nukes the fridge.”
“Gremlins 2 more or less nuked the fridge.”
What do you think? Pretty funny but I think “Jumped the Shark” rolls off the tongue easier.
via: FilmDrunk
More Sex and the City movies? Believe it
Just as the Sex and the City movie is surging to the top of the box office charts — beating out week two of Indiana Jones — Michael Patrick King is cashing in on the success. DreamWorks has offered the writer/director/producer of Sex and the City a first-look deal for future film project. And one of those future films could be sequel to the new Sex and the City movie. This may seem unimaginable, but — come on — this is Hollywood. If this film does boffo box office, which seems likely based on a $26 million Friday, why wouldn’t Warner Bros. and New Line cash in with another episode from the lives of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte?
According to King, he wasn’t thinking of launching the ladies into a film series, especially since they had such a good run on HBO and are still doing well on cable. “I wrote that movie with a beginning, middle and end because I didn’t want to leave the audience unfulfilled. The actresses are great, and if the gods smile and people are still interested, why not?”
That must be music to the ears of Warner Brothers and New Line executives. By tonight, Sex and the City’s box office should be at $75 million in the U.S. alone. It’s well on the way to making back its cost and will be a legitimate hit.
Dreamworks wants the gods to smile on whatever King can cook up for them motion picture-wise. In this era where it’s getting harder and harder to appeal to female movie-goers, where romantic comedies have been getting Judd Apatow-ed so that the guy is the driving force in the story, not the gal, King may be just what women need.
Stacey Snider, CEO of Dreamworks thinks so. “King writes for audiences that are hungry for real characters and human stories.”
And if that doesn’t sound like women’s pictures to you, listen to King. “I want to write bigger stories about love and what it all means.”
MPAA Gives SAW IV an NC-17 Rating
SAW IV producer Mark Burg and director Darren Lynn Bousman announced at Comic-Con that the MPAA has given SAW 4 an NC-17 rating. I assume they will go back and make cuts to earn a R-rating but producer Mark Burg says “One day we’d like to have the guts and leave it like it is” So who knows. I’m sure Lionsgate wants to reach as many people as possible and unfortunately that means they must conform to the ratings board. In fact, even a clip of the first five minutes of the film was rejected by Comic-Con because it was too intense.
Bousman says that if there was ever a line that he promised himself he wouldn’t cross, he crossed that line in SAW 4. And as for the critics, Bousman says “Fuck em”. Burg adds, “We’d like to think that you (the fans) are coming for the story in addition to the fucked up brutal violence”
“With the last two films the traps were the very last things we worked on,” says Bousman. “It starts with the themes first.”
When asked how there can be a Saw 4 when (spoiler alert) Jigsaw dies in the third film. Bousman says “In our world, legends never die.” Producer Mark Burg promises fans that there are no cheats, and that fans will be shocked to find out who everything happens.
“I think it;’s the best ending of any SAW movie we’ve done yet,” said Burg, who promises the biggest shocker yet.
Bousman even admitted that he thought there was no way to make a sequel when he agreed to film SAW 3, but Mark promised that it was not only possible but inevitable - there was a plan.
Tobin Bell who plays the character in the film series was also in attendance. Bell has done extensive research into the background of his character. Bousman says he has notebooks worth of data on everything about the character.
“I could ask Tobin if Jigsaw is a vegetarian and he would know and tell me why and how.”
The clip shown involves a man who wakes up in a room with his eyes sewn shut. He has a collar around his neck attached to a chain. The other end of the chain is attached to a man who has his mouth sewn shut. There is a key on the man with no vision which may open the man with no voice’s neck clamp. In the middle of them is a trap device which is spooling the chain inward. What follows was a blood filled brutal fight for survival. I’ll just say this, if they allowed this clip than the first five minutes of the movie most be disgustingly gory.
Mini-Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum
In The Bourne Ultimatum, Jason Bourne will conclude his journey to find the answers to his mysterious past. While the answers yielded may not be enough for even the simplest of viewers, the action sequences are sure to keep you glued to the big screen. During one car chase sequence I found myself literally on the edge of my seat grasping the armrests. Paul Greengrass creates some amazing artfully shot intense action sequences of the likes that have never been seen before. Julia Stiles has her most interesting turn yet. Greengrass shot New York City like he has with the foreign countries in the rest of the series. This is a New York City you have never seen before on film.
Some people may feel that the ending is too neatly wrapped up, especially for a film series which is identified for it’s misanthropic realism. I was angered that Universal had spoiled so much of the movie in the movie trailer and poster advertising. The United States portion of the film is just the third act of this film, and that great “office” moment shown in the trailers is very close to the film’s finale.