User:UltraEgoMajinVegeta/John Wick (film)

John Wick

page 197-198

At a deeper level, the film suggests that John Wick's return to his past is not only driven by external forces but by a subconscious desire to reconnect with that darker world. The narrative sets up this return as inevitable, beginning with a glimpse of the story's end, highlighting the sense of destiny tied to his journey. The film explores how John feels most like himself within the chaos of his former life, suggesting a Gothic inevitability to his path. His wife's death and the loss of Daisy become catalysts for his return to the violent existence he had tried to escape.

page 198-199

Wick's retirement is superficial, as his past is filled with violence and lacks any emotional or moral weight, while his new life, idyllic and guiltless, is rooted in nostalgic flashbacks to his time with his wife. The contrast between his nightmarish past and his dreamlike present reflects his internal duality, where his new life is a fragile fantasy that is inevitably shattered by the return of his violent history.

This tension between past and present is central to Wick’s story, as his idyllic life with his wife becomes an unattainable dream. The house he lives in and the puppy she left him symbolize the perfect future he yearns for but can never reclaim. Ultimately, Wick’s return to violence is not just a reaction to his loss but a reawakening of his true self, where the violence of his past comes flooding back, exposing the nostalgic illusion of his present. The franchise portrays Wick's journey as one of rediscovering who he really is, as his idealized future crumbles under the weight of his former life.

page 200

In John Wick, the past dramatically intrudes on John’s new life when a young mobster, Josef, becomes fixated on John's classic Mustang—a relic from his old life. A This violent act symbolizes the past reclaiming what it once owned, with the Mustang representing Wick’s previous life as a hitman. The death of Daisy—the final gift from John’s wife—destroys the last connection to his new life and shatters his attempt at moving forward. Wick’s resolve to leave his old ways behind collapses, and he returns to the violent world he once ruled.

page 200-201

necessity drives John’s return to violence, as he feels forced into action by external pressures. This necessity mirrors the common trope of mild-mannered characters being pushed too far—like The Incredible Hulk—and aligns with John’s Everyman status in the series. He reacts not out of personal choice but due to the pressures inflicted upon him, first by Josef and later by the powerful system of The High Table. This reflects the broader frustrations of people in the 21st century, where pressures of work, encroaching forces, and political decisions often provoke extreme reactions. In John’s case, necessity powers his violent retaliation, resonating with populist sentiments that demand swift action in the face of insurmountable challenges.

John’s transition back to his former life is seamless, demonstrating the ease with which he reassumes the violent skills of his past. Although retired, he retains muscle memory, instantly reconnecting with the physical and mental processes of his former profession, highlighting the pleasure and nostalgia associated with returning to familiar patterns. This return is fueled by Gothic excess, with John’s violent methods embodying a grotesque transformation of the bodies around him. His kills go beyond normal action scenes, pushing the boundaries of what the human body can endure, thus Gothicizing his enemies by rendering their bodies fragile, penetrable, and ultimately destroyed.

Thematic analysis

John Wick as the epic hero

According to professor Ann C. Hall, John Wick is a postmodern epic hero in a contemporary epic universe. She said the John Wick franchise satisfies five of the six requirements to be classified as an epic: the imposing hero is of national or international importance and legendary significance; the setting is vast; the hero conducts great deeds of valor or superhuman courage; the tale involves powerful forces; and characters speak in stylized ways. Hall believed it fails the requirement of objectivity because John is the protagonist and is generally presented positively. Hall links the film's narrative to elements of Samurai lore, Russian folktales, and historical epics from Christianity, ancient Greece, Rome and the Mediterranean. Wayne Wong wrote Stahelski and Reeves have collaborated throughout their careers with choreographers familiar with action in Kung fu films, such as Yuen Woo-ping and Tiger Chen, and that John Wick can be seen as a synthesis of Eastern and Western action styles.

Keanu Reeves and Action Hero Tropes

Owen R. Horton described John as "one of the deadliest and most brutal heroes in modern action cinema", but said unlike other contemporary action heroes, John regularly retreats to his soft side, which is defined by his love for his wife. This, Horton says, represents the conflicting multiplicities of manhood. On an extradiegetic level, author Simon Bacon places John in a broader context, relating both to the genre he operates within and to the actor who portrays him. As the narrative unfolds, he increasingly assumes the role of an action hero, though he is portrayed as older and wearier than the typical genre archetype. This positions him alongside other iconic action figures like John McClane and John Rambo, who are similarly drawn into battles against overwhelming odds. A common feature is the actors' age and their characters' ability to survive extreme physical punishment. Wick, like McClane and Rambo, sustains severe injuries, but what sets Wick apart is the volume and intensity of violence he endures. This creates a mythic quality around John, aligning him with characters like Eric Draven (Jason Lee) in The Crow (1994), who, like Wick, is portrayed as a revenant figure—someone who rises from the grave, driven by an unfulfilled quest. Wick's uncanny ability to survive fatal wounds lends credibility to the idea that he cannot die until his mission is completed. John's seemingly supernatural ability to survive these injuries hints at an underlying death wish—his longing to be reunited with his wife, Helen. His subconscious drive toward death, however, manifests as a reckless disregard for his own safety rather than a direct desire for suicide.

Hall also analyzed John from the perspective of Reeves's personal life. She said the character and hero share many characteristics, and that in the vein of epic heroes, Reeves faced obstacles in his career but persisted with acting despite criticism; he faced personal trials of courage and loss that inspire his character and make audiences sympathetic to him. Both professor Lisa Coulthard and author Lindsay Steenberg said Reeves's and John's personalities are almost interchangeable, sharing a similar mixed-race background, personal tragedies, professionalism, and an inherent likeability—all of which add authenticity to the character and film.

Professor Sarah Thomas wrote that while The Matrix was a defining role for Reeves, it was not originally tailored specifically for him. It was not until the 2010s that Reeves effectively established his own unique star persona, partly influenced by online discussions about his public image, which generated an almost mythical and malleable perception of Reeves. Thomas argued that because the script for John Wick was reworked with Reeves in mind, his public image played a significant role in shaping and interpreting the character. This is in contrast to his role in The Matrix, where the character's meaning would likely remain unchanged with a different actor in the part. According to Thomas, this alignment between Reeves's authenticity and image and the character of John Wick made it a perfect fit, as Reeves's persona filled gaps in the film's narrative.

Moral ambiguity

Comparisons to McClane, Rambo, and Draven also emphasize the moral justification behind Wick's actions. Bacon described these narratives, in which the protagonists are typically seen as righteous, forced into conflicts not of their choosing, but bound by a sense of honor or duty. Audiences forgive their violence because it is framed as deserved or just. John's association with these figures strengthens the perception that he is justified in his violent actions, particularly as he often faces much younger adversaries. However, John's past as a professional assassin complicates his moral standing, and John Wick does not dwell on any guilt or remorse he may feel about this aspect of his life.

Despite this morally ambiguous history, the audience's perception of John is shaped by the actor who plays him. Much like Bruce Willis's off-screen persona influenced the character of McClane, Reeves's real-life reputation plays a significant role in how John is viewed. Reeves is widely regarded as a humble, kind-hearted, and down-to-earth figure, qualities that inform the audience's reading of Wick. His likability and good deeds outside the film industry elevate John's character, making his grief over his wife, his desire for peace, and the murder of his dog resonate on a deeper, more emotional level.

The dog, a symbol of his lost life and love, serves as sufficient justification for John's violent actions in the eyes of the audience. The final gift of the puppy Daisy, from his wife, symbolizes John's new beginning and the potential for hope, as well as serving as a continuing connection to Helen and a demonstration of John's softer side. As John tells Vigo: "When Helen died, I lost everything. Until that dog arrived on my doorstep... I received some semblance of hope... an opportunity to grieve unalone... And your son... took that from me... Stole that from me... Killed that from me!" However, when figures from his past invade his life and kill the dog, it symbolizes the destruction of the future he yearned for and forces him back into his former violent world. At the conclusion of John Wick, John adopts a pit bull. Bacon said that, unlike Daisy, this new dog is not a symbol of grief but a fitting companion and solidification of John's transition back to a violent world.

According to critic Emanuel Levy, the central question of John Wick is whether John is a bad person who became good or a good person who has done bad things; and whether he can truly change or be redeemed. Kolstad said even though John had left his former life behind, he remains in the outskirts of the city, sees a reminder of it every time he leaves his home, and does not truly escape its shadow. The shift back to his former life is cemented when John unearths a chest of weapons and gold coins hidden beneath his house’s floor, signifying that his seemingly peaceful life was built upon the foundation of his violent past. His return to violence, while not sentimental, is familiar and inevitable, conforming to the classic notion of nostalgia as the need to return to the familiar in the face of loss. Wick's reawakening in this world is portrayed as both a return to his true self and a necessary confrontation with the past he can no longer escape. John exists in a liminal space between the present and the past. Even when he is physically in the moment, his mind is elsewhere, temporally porous, as his body reflects this detachment through its ability to endure punishment. The wounds he suffers are not merely physical; they represent the past constantly seeping into the present, transforming him. This kind of Gothic porosity intensifies as John progresses through the series, with his body and mind becoming more entangled with his traumatic past. Professor Scott T. Alison and Doctor George R. Goethal said while John has faults and is a ruthless killer, he does not have to objectively do good and his heroism is retaining his integrity against the unjust, violent criminal underworld.

Purgatory

Bacon analyses John Wick as a symbol of purgatory. During the film's opening, as John watches a video of his wife on his phone, he passes out, only to wake up in a flashback to the day of her funeral. Here, layers of nostalgia unfold, as he reflects on his past with Helen. Nostalgia becomes John's way of existing in the world, as he remains perpetually trapped in a purgatorial state, unable to move forward. This purgatory is symbolized by John's descent into the criminal underworld, which mirrors poet Dante Alighieri's Inferno. John's involvement with Viggo and The High Table takes him through ever-deepening layers of this underworld, each representing a further step away from the "heaven" of his life with Helen. Helen's funeral marks his first step back into this world. Here, he reconnects with Marcus, a link to his past and the deeper levels of the underworld. The pull of the past becomes inescapable with the arrival of Iosef, whose actions drag John back into the underworld, symbolically making Viggo responsible for both John's exit and his return.

The film blends Gothic elements like secret realms, codes of honor, and a collapsing of temporalities, creating a dream-like space where violence and death pervade. As the narrative unfolds, it hints at a much darker, almost occult underworld, epitomized by the Continental Hotel, where assassins and gang bosses meet under strict rules of honor. Winston enforces these rules, and its concierge, Charon, symbolically ferries guests between the realms of light and dark, reinforcing a Gothic duality. This underworld is governed by "The High Table," and rules such as no violence within the hotel's premises underscore its chivalric, almost medieval, sense of honor. Bacon describes The High Table as a metaphor for the global elite who control the world through wealth and violence. In contrast, John is framed as an authentic figure, representing natural honor, wronged repeatedly by this corrupt system. While The High Table enforces laws to benefit itself, John becomes the Everyman fighting back against this corrupt power structure.

• Bacon, Simon (2024). ""But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back": The All-Consuming Gothic Nostalgia in the John Wick Franchise". In Bacon, Simon; Bronk-Bacon, Katarzyna (eds.). Gothic Nostalgia: The Uses of Toxic Memory in 21st Century Popular Culture. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-43852-3. ISBN 978-3-031-43852-3.

American Pie

Soundtrack

American Pie
Film score
Released	June 29, 1999
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	46:02
chronology
American Pie (1999) American Pie 2 (2001)

The film's soundtrack peaked at number 50 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

No.	Title	Performed by	Length
1.	"New Girl"	Third Eye Blind	2:16
2.	"You Wanted More"	Tonic	3:52
3.	"Mutt"	Blink-182	3:23
4.	"Glory"	Sugar Ray	3:29
5.	"Super Down"	Super TransAtlantic	4:07
6.	"Find Your Way Back Home"	Dishwalla	4:04
7.	"Good Morning Baby"	Dan Wilson of Semisonic & Bic Runga	3:34
8.	"Stranger by the Day"	Shades Apart	4:02
9.	"Summertime"	Bachelor No. 1	3:46
10.	"Vintage Queen"	Goldfinger	3:04
11.	"Sway"	Bic Runga	4:23
12.	"Wishen"	The Loose Nuts	3:04
13.	"Man with the Hex"	The Atomic Fireballs	3:01

The following songs were included in the film but were not featured on the soundtrack:

• Sex-o-rama Band – "Love Muscle" (plays in the beginning with Jim watching a porn video, and again with Jim having sex with a pie.)
• The Ventures – "Walk Don't Run" (Plays when Finch runs to the bathroom.)
• Barenaked Ladies – "One Week" (Plays twice in the film, once during one of the party scenes and during the end of the film where Jim's Dad watches Jim stripping at the webcam.)
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre – "Going To Hell" (Plays in the first Dog Years scene before Stifler's party.)
• Third Eye Blind – "Semi-Charmed Life" (Plays during the Dog Years scene after the party.)
• Oleander – "I Walk Alone" (Plays during one of the party scenes, Stifler opens the door for the band geeks and rejects them from the party.)
• Hole – "Celebrity Skin" (Plays when Kevin performs oral sex on Vicki)
• Everclear – "Everything to Everyone" (During a montage with Oz and Heather on the docks and Kevin and Vicki in the house.)
• Harvey Danger – "Flagpole Sitta" (Plays when Jim sets up his webcam.)
• Duke Daniels – "Following a Star" (During a montage with Jim buying a tuxedo and Vicki dancing in the mirror.)
• Simon & Garfunkel – "Mrs. Robinson" (Plays when Finch seduces Stifler's Mom.)
• Libra Presents Taylor – "Anomaly - Calling Your Name (Granny's Epicure Mix)" (Plays when Nadia is about to have sex with Jim.)
• Etta James – "At Last" (Plays when Jim walks over to Nadia in slow motion.)
• Five Easy Pieces - “Turn It Around” (When Kevin asks his brother tips on how to give Vicky an orgasm.)
• Loni Rose – "I Never thought you would come" (When Oz and Heather kiss.)
• Norah Jones – "The Long Day is Over"
• Marvin Gaye – "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
• Maria Muldaur – "Midnight at the Oasis"
• Simple Minds – "Don't You (Forget About Me)"

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	60,000*
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Useful References

• ‘American Pie,’ the Culmination of a Decade of Family-Friendly Films - The Ringer
• ‘American Pie’ at 20: That Notorious Pie Scene, From Every Angle - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
• The Cast of 'American Pie': Where Are They Now? (people.com)
• Mr American Pie: how Adam Herz made a fortune from horny teens  (telegraph.co.uk)
• American Pie at 20: why the raucous comedy could never be made today | Film | The Guardian
• 'Pie' Is in Bad Taste - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
• Movie Review – American Pie – Fernby Films
• ‘You take care of that pie:’ Jason Biggs discusses 25th anniversary of ‘American Pie’ (clickorlando.com)
• American Pie Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date) (collider.com)
• AMERICAN PIE (screenit.com)
• american pie (1999) | MovieWeb
• American Pie (ew.com)
• Shannon Elizabeth Says American Pie Screwed Her Accent: I'm Devastated (variety.com)
• 25 Years Ago, American Pie Launched An Unlikely $1 Billion Franchise (slashfilm.com)
• 'American Pie' at 20: Where are the cast now and who has had the most box office success? (yahoo.com)
• The 'American Pie' Neighborhood - American Pie Filming Locations (seeing-stars.com)
• dailypress.com/1999/07/16/american-pie-is-sweet-moral-and-true-to-life/
• Seann William Scott': American Pie actor Seann William Scott made only $8000 in blockbuster film; hints at new sequel - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
• BFI | Sight & Sound | American Pie (1999)
• https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-pie-1999
• https://consequence.net/2019/07/classic-film-review-american-pie/
• https://people.com/jason-biggs-says-it-was-special-to-work-with-eugene-levy-on-american-pie-exclusive-8663237
• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/american-pie-review-movie-1999-1223085/
• https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/070999pie-film-review.html
• https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/was-american-pie-more-influential-than-titanic/255391/
• https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/american-pie-90s-high-school-movie-post-metoo-white-male-privilege-sexism/279423
• Saving for later Darkwarriorblake (talk) 13:34, 5 August 2024 (UTC)
• https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/movies/american-pie-is-warmed-up.html
• https://movieweb.com/american-pie-why-so-popular-and-successful/
• https://www.slashfilm.com/1616864/25-years-ago-american-pie-launched-unlikely-1-billion-franchise/
• https://www.screendaily.com/uk-welcomes-second-helping-of-pie/407216.article
• https://ew.com/movies/2019/09/25/seann-william-scott-american-pie-memories/
  • https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/american-pie-at-20-the-lewd-comedy-could-never-be-made-today-1.3951143
• https://www.theringer.com/movies/2019/9/24/20879910/american-pie-90s-comedy-home-alone-mighty-ducks-clueless

Reviews

• https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-09-ca-54153-story.html
• https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/A-Juicy-American-Pie-Teen-comedy-goes-beyond-2919967.php
• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/american-pie-review-movie-1999-1223085/
• https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/american-pie-review/
• https://ew.com/article/1999/07/09/american-pie-2/
• https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1999-07-16/american-pie/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/reviews/americanpieosullivan.htm
• https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/american-pie-1200458000/
• https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/american-pie-251284/
• https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-pie-1999
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/06/25/american_pie_1999_review.shtml
• https://web.archive.org/web/20091120065651/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/209

Sequels and spin-offs

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-10-ca-32562-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-01-et-manohla1-story.html

smash hit

The term "smash hit" gets thrown around a bit too often, but this was truly a smash hit.

milf

Even beyond the raw ticket sales, the film's cultural penetration was palpable. They may not have invented the term "MILF," but the use of it in relation to Stifler's mom certainly popularized it.

phenomenon

pop-phenomenon original

The original ‘American Pie’ was released in 1999 and became a cultural and commercial phenomenon, grossing more than $200 million worldwide and spawning a booming market for R-rated summer comedies. ‘American Pie 2’ and ‘American Wedding’ followed at two-year intervals.

breakout roles

American Pie featured the breakout roles for many of its main cast, including Biggs, Elizabeth, Hannigan, and Lyonne. Scott was considered the film's true breakout mainstream star, moving from working multiple day jobs to a full time actor, though few of the cast were able replicate their successes outside of the American Pie series.

Because of the buzz surrounding “American Pie” two years ago, Scott was offered a few WB shows. But he turned them down because he wanted to concentrate on movies. While waiting for the film to open, Scott worked at a law firm filing and fixing things and even sold food at the L.A. Zoo. He finally quit his day job when he got a small role in the thriller “Final Destination,” and he hasn’t looked back since.

cultural influence

Comedies like "Road Trip" were made in an attempt to emulate this success. That's beyond impressive for a movie that was written in mere weeks by a first-time screenwriter. It feels a little fair to put some respect on this movie's name, even if many elements of it are outdated and questionable by modern standards. (No, broadcasting a girl via webcam from your bedroom for all to see is not okay. It's by no means an aspirational moral compass.)

Modern Hollywood can stand to learn a thing or two from "American Pie," outdated though it may seem. For one, just because a genre is dead doesn't mean it has to stay dead. The sex comedy was virtually extinct, but one executive had the guts to try to bring it back. Most important of all, the instinct wasn't to reboot something that already existed. It was to make something new.

casting

So the question becomes: Which of the current stars will return for ”AP3”? Mena Suvari has already said that she’d be willing to come back. But even if Suvari’s game, there may be problems elsewhere. The original cast, including Chris Klein (who plays footballer-turned-chorus boy Oz), Eddie Kaye Thomas (Tantric mother-lover Finch), and Jason Biggs (flautist fan Jim), were only contracted to appear in a single sequel. ”Most of us had options to do the second one. No one has options to do the third one,” explains Tara Reid, who plays the elusive Vicky. ”It’d be a lot harder to get everyone back, I think.” Still, Reid holds out hope: ”If they did a good script and everyone came back, well, maybe [I would, too].”

Despite his ease with playing comedy, Scott says he finds playing for laughs hard to do. “When I was out here trying to get a job, I hated comedy auditions,” he explains. “I was always more attracted to the inward, darker roles. Then I got ‘American Pie.’ [The film was released in 1999.] I thought that there was an opportunity to make him the guy you hate to love. I based him on 10 individuals I knew from school. I wanted to be real specific [with Stifler].”

“American Pie,” he says, was pretty much “my first acting gig. I had a couple things [before that]. I had two lines on a TV show that you and I would never watch. I just felt like a paid extra. The only acting I did was auditioning.”

home video

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-29-et-hart29-story.html

behind-the-scenes documentary titled “Beneath the Crust, Volume One” is packaged with today’s re-release of “American Pie” on DVD. “Beneath the Crust, Volume Two,” featuring deleted scenes, comes with the newly repackaged “American Pie 2” DVD, also out today. Moviegoers who purchase either DVD can send for free tickets to see “American Wedding,” the third installment in the trilogy, when it opens Friday.

The kicker: “American Wedding” comes out on DVD in December with a 3 1/2-hour “Beneath the Crust” retrospective, incorporating volumes one and two and covering everything anyone could possibly want to know about the making of the three movies.

Aimed squarely at fans who can’t get enough of the lewd lore, “Beneath the Crust” gave filmmakers a chance to answer frequently asked questions, share stories, show clips and talk dirty if they feel like it. As for Universal Studios, adding uncensored “Crust” extras to “Pie 1” and “Pie 2” discs seemed like a smart way to coax additional revenue from the exploding DVD market.

Adam Herz, who scripted all three movies, explained, “I wasn’t thrilled with the previous ‘American Pie’ editions. When I knew we were doing a third movie, one of the first things that jumped into my head was, ‘OK, let’s make sure the DVD is done right.’ It’s become a habit in the DVD industry to just show you B-roll fluff, where everyone they interview is going ‘I loved making the movie. Everything was great!’ We set out to do something that was the antitheses of that.”

For “American Pie 2,” that meant being brutally frank about two major subplots dumped just weeks before the film’s release. In test screenings, Moore said women “hated” an infidelity story line involving Klein and Suvari, and the talent agreed. In one of his “Crust” appearances, Klein acknowledged that “I was moping around the whole movie,” while Herz confessed on camera, “I realized [the story line] might be good for ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ but there was nothing funny about it at all. I don’t know why I did it.”

Of course, “American Pie”-style nostalgia has a flavor all its own. Harkening back to 1999, “Crust, Volume 1” features Eddie Kay Thomas wistfully recalling his character’s bout of diarrhea, which he describes as an homage to “Dumb and Dumber.” Thomas Ian Nicholas reminisces about his “tongue tornado” sequence with Tara Reid. Biggs revisits the kitchen in the Long Beach house where the famous pie fornication scene took place, dryly offering audio commentary on the alternate take that wound up on the cutting room floor.

Biggs said, “The whole time we were filming ‘American Wedding,’ we had the DVD in mind as much as the actual theatrical release of ‘American Wedding.’ The [DVD] crew was always around with their video cameras, so we became comfortable with these guys and let our guard down. Consequently there was quite a bit of cursing. Especially on these three films, everyone takes more liberties than you would on other sets, just because of the subject matter.”

“Crust” may turn out to be a multimillion-dollar marketing idea, but for Biggs, taking part in the DVD gave him a chance to speak to the “Pie” people who bought tickets and made him a star. “Fans are always asking us about what was going on behind the scenes. Doing ‘Beneath the Crust’ was really about taking this opportunity, while we were all together again on the set, to tell our stories from the first two [movies], and then let the cameras follow us around while we make ‘American Wedding,’ because you want to get some cool [stuff] from this one too. That was sort of the take on it.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20171226212245/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/movies/home-video-american-pie-is-warmed-up.html As DVD editions of a film multiply, so do permutations and tie-ins. For example, on July 29 Universal is to reissue American Pie and American Pie 2. With each disc, priced at $26.98 apiece, will come a free DVD called Beneath the Crust, with new behind-the-scenes material about each movie.

The bonus discs were put together by the filmmakers, not the studio. The purpose is to promote American Wedding, the next chapter in the lives of the American Pie characters, which is to open in theaters on Aug. 1. Buy either of the Pie DVD's and along with the bonus disc you qualify for free admission to American Wedding, available through a rebate.

Reissuing videos of older movies in a series to call attention to the newest is standard practice, but in this case there are already enough DVD editions of the American Pie movies available to make it difficult to release still others without some notable departures.

American Pie, released in theaters in 1999, is available on DVD in an R-rated version and an unrated ultimate edition. The sequel, in theaters in 2001, has an unrated collectors' edition. All have commentaries by the stars (Jason Biggs, Sean William Scott and others) and the filmmakers.

The Under the Crust discs add much more. We thought the materials for the first DVD's were weak, said Chris Moore, a producer of the films. We had a ton of added footage.

legacy reception?

In the first movie high school seniors are intent on losing their virginity. In the second they are college freshman building on this experience. The 'American Pie' movies succeed where many other comedies aimed at the youth market falter: they manage to be both lewd and sweet, exploiting the natural prurience of young people, while implicitly comforting their raging anxieties, A. O. Scott wrote in The New York Times.

Issues

goes the same for reliable sources that becoime unreliable if the information is in a list format.

And whether it is intentional or not, such a substantial oppose after meeting 99% of the requests, puts other editors off commenting, it's a death knell for a nomination in my experience and, as demonstrated with John Wick, any number of supports from long time editors doesn't matter in the face of a substantial oppose, especially one so long that no coordinator can possibly follow it all without a substantial investment of their personal time. Therefore, this needs to be addressed as a point of whether it is fair or not to oppose over this issue since it creates an insurmountable boundary between nominator and reviewer such that the oppose will never be overturned.

Before

John Wick has been named by several publications and critics as one of the best action films ever made.

After

Some publications, such as Empire and Time Out, and critics including Stephanie Zacharek have listed John Wick among the best action films.

In this scenario I downplayed the achievement considerably and eventually qualified it by naming the publications and added even more references and this was still deemed an extreme claim that could not be evidenced, resulting in an opposition that could not be overturned. It will be stated there were other reasons for opposition but nothing so completely insurmountable as having to ignore a wide variety of references giving an educated opinion.

Before

In the years since its release, Seven has grown in esteem, receiving general critical praise, and being described by the British Film Institute (BFI) as a groundbreaking thriller. In a 2015 interview, Walker said that he remained proud of Seven despite criticisms from some audiences. In 2016, the BFI's retrospective on Seven identified it as a landmark serial killer film. In the 2020s, MovieWeb and Stuff called Seven one of the most memorable and "quintessential" crime thrillers of the 1990s, representing a high point of the genre and filmmaking for the decade. Assessments by NME and Collider wrote that Seven had an enduring appeal distinct from its contemporaries. This distinction is attributed to its bleak and seldom matched ending, as well as its stylized reality devoid of popular culture references or technological emphasis, ensuring it does not reflect any particular time or place. Richard Dyer featured Seven in the British Film Institute's Film Classics series in 1999. Seven was also highlighted by critic Roger Ebert in his series, The Great Movies, in 2011, and it is included in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

A 2014 poll of 2,120 entertainment industry professionals by The Hollywood Reporter ranked Seven the eighty-fifth-best film of all time. In audience-voted polls, Seven has been listed at number 15, 30, and 37 on lists of the greatest films conducted by the publications Total Film and Empire. Empire's 2008 poll of readers, Hollywood actors, and key film critics ranked Seven at number 134 on its list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, while Time Out's 2023 staff poll ranked it number 87. 

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes offers a RT data approval rating from the aggregated reviews of RT data critics, with an average score of RT data. The website's critical consensus says: "A brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale". The film has a score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 22 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

After

In the years since its release, Seven's initial critical acclaim has endured. Richard Dyer featured Seven in the British Film Institute's (BFI) Film Classics series in 1999.

In the 2010s both the BFI and Indiewire identified it as a landmark in the serial killer film genre. In 2011, as part of his The Great Movies series, Ebert upgraded his original score for the film from three-and-a-half stars stars to a full four stars, lauding it as one of the darkest and most ruthless Hollywood productions, anchored by the stellar performances of Freeman and Spacey. Ebert concluded that while Seven may not delve into profundity or depth, its rich mythology and symbolism elevate its impact. Discussing Seven in 2013, critics David Edelstein and Bilge Ebiri acknowledged the film's shortcomings in dialogue and plot predictability, yet praised its compelling portrayal of the city's grim atmosphere and Doe's macabre murders. Edelstein particularly highlighted the shootout scene between the detectives and Doe as one of the most chilling he had witnessed, attributing its impact to the vivid visual imagery and innovative camera angles. A 2014 poll of 2,120 entertainment industry professionals by The Hollywood Reporter ranked Seven the eighty-fifth-best film of all time. In 2015, writer Scott Beggs said Seven remained and would continue to be a powerful viewing experience that is further elevated by its unforgettable conclusion. According to Beggs, Seven's enduring appeal was because it is not solely reliant on its twist or revealing the killer's identity, but the detailed world in which it takes place. That same year, Walker expressed his enduring pride in Seven, despite facing criticism from certain audiences.

Reviewing Seven on its 25th anniversary in 2020, The Film Magazine wrote that it remained relevant and significant as a viewing experience, in part because of the core cast, horror elements, and its tasking of audiences to introspect on their sins. Another anniversary retrospective by The Independent said that Seven remains celebrated for its twist ending, which is among the most well-known twists in cinema, and remained both influential on filmmaking and popular with audiences due to its storytelling, cast, and innovative use of psychological manipulation. Writer Drew Dietsch described Seven as a landmark for film horror, citing its noir, decaying cityscape and philosophical contemplation on evil and justice. Dietsch wrote that Seven was as important to the genre and cinema of the 1990s as The Silence of the Lambs. He tempered his opinion, however, by noting that the sexual misconduct allegations made against Spacey in the intervening years had tainted the viewing experience and made some people hesitant to revisit Seven.

In the early 2020s, MovieWeb and Stuff called Seven one of the most memorable and "quintessential" crime thrillers of the 1990s, representing a high point of the genre and filmmaking for the decade. Assessments by NME and Collider wrote that Seven had an enduring appeal distinct from its contemporaries. This distinction is attributed to its bleak and seldom matched ending, as well as its stylized reality devoid of popular culture references or technological emphasis, ensuring it does not reflect any particular time or place. Retrospectives in years since have continued to discuss Seven as iconic and one of the bleakest and best detective films in modern history, acclaimed for its harrowing visuals, deft blend of thriller and horror genres, and its ending.

Filmmakers and critics have spoken of their appreciation for Seven including: Mark Burg, Babak Anvari, Rüdiger Suchsland, Richard Kelly,, Jorge Ignacio Castillo, Jacob Stolworthy, Lars Ole Kristiansen, and film curation organization, the T A P E Collective.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes offers a RT data approval rating from the aggregated reviews of RT data critics, with an average score of RT data. The website's critical consensus says: "A brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale". The film has a score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 22 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In audience-voted polls, Seven has been listed at number 15, 30, and 37 on lists of the greatest films conducted by the publications Total Film and Empire. Empire's 2008 poll of readers, Hollywood actors, and key film critics ranked Seven at number 134 on its list of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, while Time Out's 2023 staff poll ranked it number 87. Seven is also included in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die based on contributions from more than 70 critics.

I argue that these claims were extensively sourced and cannot be described as contentious, and it needs establishing what the guidelines are here if one person can refuse to support or even just defer because they don't like the sources used despite them being reliable sources. This has now killed 3 nominations, John Wick twice, the second because everyone was waiting for Tompa to comment following their previous opposition, and Seven, and it's honestly killed any further interest I have in this area. I haven't touched a new article in 3 months when I was working on them consistently so a standard needs establishing one way or another and this needs to be the time and place.

Plot

In New York City, young ballet dancer Abigail is abducted by six masked criminals and recovered to a secluded upstate mansion. Before leaving, their leader Lambert orders them to guard Abigail for the next 24 hours, at which point they will receive an equal share of a $50 million ransom paid by her father. Instructed not to share identifying information with each other, and using aliases, the group consists of: Joey, a former Army medic and recovering drug addict; Frank, a former NYPD detective; Sammy, a thrill-seeking wealthy hacker; Dean, their sociopathic driver; Rickles, a former Marine sniper; and Peter, a dimwitted brute and mob enforcer.

Though reluctant to continue with the plan as she was unaware the target was a child, Joey is tasked with managing Abigail. Joey is sympathetic to Abigail, sharing she has a child of her own and, in turn, Abigail admits her father does not care about her and will not pay the ransom. Abigail apologizes for what will transpire during the night. Frank confronts Abigail at gunpoint for information, learning that her father is Kristof Lazar, a powerful, almost mythical crimelord.

After unsuccessfully flirting with Sammy, Dean enters the basement where he is attacked by an unseen assailant. Investigating his screams, Sammy finds Dean's decapitated corpse. The group realize that Lazar's legendarily violent enforcer Valdez must be inside the house and Rickles tries to leave, but the home's security system seals the property, preventing escape. While separately looking for a way out, Rickles is mutilated and killed. Frank orders Peter to beat Abigail for information but she transforms into a vampire, revealing she is Valdez. Frank shoots Abigail but her injuries instantly heal and the group flees in terror.

The group discusses how to kill Abigail using tropes of vampiric lore such as garlic, crucifixes, and wooden stakes. They find Abigail dancing with Dean's body and attack her her ballet skills, strength, and speed, allow her to easily overwhelm them. Joey suggests using a tranquilizer whick worked during the initial abduction and they successfully capture and subdue Abigail, though not before she bites Sammy on the arm.

Upon awakening, the centuries-old Abigail reveals that she arranged her own abduction through Lambert to bring the group together so she can kill them, as she knows their true identities and each has wronged her father. Joey deduces that Abigail has killed dozens of her father's enemies in aa failed effort to win his love. Abigail effortlessly escapes her confines and attacks Frank, but Joey rips wooden planks off a window to expose Abigail to sunlight, which severely wounds Abigail. With only hours before sunset, the group splits up to find an escape route. However, Sammy is transformed into a vampire thrall under Abigail's control and kills Peter. Abigail has Sammy attack Frank and Joey, forcing Joey to destroy Sammy with reflected sunlight.

Lambert lures Frank and Joey to the hidden security room, where he reveals Abigail turned him into a vampire years earlier for helping Frank avoid Lazar's wrath. Frank allows Lambert to turn him into a vampire so they can kill Abigail and Lazar together, but immediately betrays and kills him after. Abigail attacks Frank but he overpowers her and drains her blood, leaving her weakened. Trapped, Joey leaves a phone message for her son, apologizing for having been an absent mother for many years. Frank finds and bites Joey, intending to turn her into his thrall and have her kill Abigail and eventually her own son. However, Joey's transformation fails due to Frank's inexperience with his new abilities. Abigail and Joey team up to kill Frank, preventing Joey from becoming a vampire.

Abigail encourages Joey to leave and be present in her son's life, but Lazar arrives and threatens Joey. Abigail stands up to her father, saying Joey was there when she needed her and he was not. Although Lazar angrily rebuts her, he relents and allows the bloodied and battered Joey to leave.

Plot

cops for 16 years wife getting remarired cares but dislikes his childishness aunt dies and leaves him 40K

detective from the south side drowned and thrown off a building - killed by nskae

snake carrying 50k only give him 5 back

snake lures them into a trap

Ray Hughes and Danny Costanzo are two police officers working on Chicago's North Side, known for their wisecracking demeanors and unorthodox police methods, which get results in their various cases. One such case involves trying to bust up-and-coming drug dealer Julio Gonzales. After arresting Snake, one of Gonzales's associates, they convince him to wear a wire in order to get the necessary evidence to put Gonzales away.

When they approach the meeting place (a cargo ship) they find that Gonzales has acquired a large store of Israeli Uzi submachine guns. Snake is setting the detectives up, however, prompting the detectives to rush in by acting as though Gonzales was preparing to kill him. Gonzales reveals his ambition to be the Spanish "Godfather" of Chicago, but chastises Snake for letting the detectives get close, and Snake is shot dead by a subordinate. The pair look as though they will be killed, but two undercover DEA detectives in Gonzales's gang step in to make the arrest. In the ensuing gun battle, most of the gang escape, but Ray and Danny capture Gonzales.

realize they messed up

initially dislike it but come to Enjoy their time with women, fishing, weather

Back at the station Ray and Danny expect to be praised, but instead their captain chastises them for their sloppy work (as revealed by Snake's wire) and orders them to take a vacation. ..On vacation in Key West, Florida, the pair begin to question their career choice after the experience and decide to retire and open a bar. danny convinces Ray to use aunts money start wearing bulletproof vests

find julios car, get it towed, follow a kid to him but danny worried about the confrontation, wants yo be resoinsible though ray more impulsie

When they return to Chicago and inform the captain of their intentions, they find out that Gonzales has been released and is free on bail. Incensed, they vow to capture Gonzales before retiring, but by being a little more careful in the process. To add insult to injury, Captain Logan assigns them the additional task of training their replacements before they go. They must train detectives Anthony Montoya and Frank Sigliano, none other than the two undercover officers who saved them from being killed in the Gonzales bust.

they have some insight on julios operation. danny gets shot durinh a raid frtom friendly fitrr

get ihfo from one of them air shipmenyt (but this is a decoy)

chief prefers to use the haul for media than find julio upsetting the m both and givbes the credut ti the other guys a distraction from the main haul on another flighyt#

chase from the airport through trainyard and above ground train tracks smuggling cocaine disguised as trinkets

return to the informant and get hte rest

julio catches them during a stakeout and offers to clear the loan on the bar if they get the cocaine back for him but they refuse and dump car in a garbage truck

take julios impounded car and drive around local neighbourhoods so he will find them

although danny agrees to make the exchange in public, julio has captured all the guards and replaced them with his men in diguise. agrees to come alone Ray uses the window washesr rig to climb the side of the building and reach the roof without being seen.

luckiyl the other cops arrive havin followed them

ray and danny saves them by killin julio the 4 bond During one of the attempts to capture Gonzales, Ray and Danny confiscate a large shipment of cocaine coming from Colombia. In order to get it back, Gonzales kidnaps Danny's ex-wife Anna, whom he still loves and has been trying to reconcile with, and says he will trade her for his drugs; otherwise, he will kill her. Danny agrees, leading to the final confrontation inside the high-rise atrium of the State of Illinois Center. During the ensuing fight, Danny and Ray rescue their would-be protégés in a way similar to their own rescuing, and Gonzales is killed. Anna and Danny reconcile and he and Ray decide not to retire after all.

Plot

On May 28, 1976, the last day of school at Lee High School in Austin, Texas, the next year's group of seniors prepare for the annual hazing of incoming freshmen. The school's popular football quarterback, Randall "Pink" Floyd, refuses to sign a pledge dedicating himself to the team's success while avoiding drink, drugs, sex, and any other undesirable activities. When classes end, the incoming freshman boys are hunted down by the seniors and paddled. Fred O'Bannion delights in the hazing, chasing down freshman Mitch Kramer and his friends Carl Burnett, Tommy Houston, and Hirshfelder, although they escape when Carl's mother threatens O'Bannion with a shotgun. The freshman girls are rounded up in the school parking lot by senior girls, covered in various foods, soaked with water, and forced to propose to senior boys.

As day fades to night, O'Bannion catches Mitch outside his baseball game and violently paddles him. Pink takes pity on Mitch, recalling his own hazing as a freshman, and drives Mitch home, inviting him to come cruising with Pink's friends later that night. Plans for the evening are ruined when Kevin Pickford's parents discover his plans to host a large-scale keg party at their home, and cancel their holiday to prevent it.

As the night progresses, the various teenagers loiter around the Emporium pool hall, listen to rock music, cruise the neighborhood, and frequent a local drive-through restaurant. Pink and his friend David Wooderson, a man in his mid-20s who still socializes with high school students, pick up Mitch and head for the Emporium. Mitch is introduced to sophomore Julie Simms, with whom he shares a mutual attraction. While cruising again with Pink, Pickford, and Don Dawson, Mitch drinks beer and smokes marijuana for the first time. They drive through a neighborhood destroying mailboxes but are confronted by an irate resident brandishing a gun. The group barely escape after the resident fires at their car and return to the Emporium.

Carl, Tommy, and Hirshfelder leave their last junior high dance and are pursued by O'Bannion, and Hirshfelder is caught and paddled. Mitch runs into his friends and they plot their revenge on O'Bannion. Julie lures O'Bannion outside of the Emporium to paddle Carl but before he can, the boys dump paint on him and flee, causing a humiliated and enranged O'Bannion to leave.

Wooderson suggests an impromptu keg party in a field under a moonlight tower and word quickly spreads among the teenagers. The intellectual trio of Cynthia Dunn, Tony Olson, and Mike Newhouse decide to attend and embrace the experience of the last day of school. Mike makes a remark about tough guy Clint Bruno smoking marijuana and is almost attacked before Pink intervenes. Afraid the humiliation of cowing to Clint will remain with him forever, Mike returns and punches Clint and is beaten up until Pink and Wooderson calm Clint down. Fellow football player Benny O'Donnell confronts Pink about not signing the pledge, but Pink refuses to compromise himself by agreeing to their Coach's demands. Benny accuses Pink of being scared and reminds him the team is reliant on Pink as their star quarterback. Pink later shares a kiss with Mitch's sister Jodi, until she reminds him he already has a girlfriend. The party draws to a close as the beer runs out: Tony and Sabrina, a freshman he met during the hazing, leave together, Cynthia gives Wooderson her telephone number, and Mitch and Julie relax on a hill and kiss as the sun rises.

Pink, Wooderson, Don, and several other friends decide to smoke marijuana on the school football field. Wooderson advises Pink to live how he wants without concern for what is expected of him. Pink says he will reluctantly sign the pledge but hopes that he will not look back at these years as the best of his life. The police arrive and, upon recognizing Pink and Dawson, call their coach, who lectures Pink about his undesirable friends and insists that he sign the pledge. Pink says that he might play football next year, but he will never sign the pledge.

Mitch arrives home to find his mother waiting for him. She decides against punishment, but warns him about coming home late again. He retires to his bedroom, puts on headphones, and listens to "Slow Ride" by Foghat, as Pink, Wooderson, and their friends drive down a highway to Houston to buy tickets to an Aerosmith concert.

Plot

In New York City, neurotic and multiphobic Bob Wiley struggles spends his life in an almost constant state of panic. Exasperated by Bob's high-maintenance needs and invasion of personal boundaries, his current therapist quits his practice and refers Bob to the egotistical and controlling Dr. Leo Marvin, who believes his new therapy book, Baby Steps will make him a household name. Bob meets with Leo who gifts him a copy of Baby Steps and dismisses him in a rush as he is leaving for a month-long family vacation and will not return until after Labor day. Unable to cope without therapy, Bob contacts Leo's telephone exchange to find out where he is, but Leo dismisses him. Unable to cope without regular reassurance, Bob makes multiple calls to Leo's telephone exchange in failed attempts to deduce where he is staying, even pretending to be Leo's sister Lily, but Leo dismisses him. Bob eventually visits the exchange in person posing as a homicide detective investigating Bob's suicide and learns that Leo and his family are at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.

Bob travels to Lake Winnipesaukee by bus, irritating the other passengers with his habits. After arriving he runs into Leo who agrees to call Bob at a local coffee shop if he buys a bus ticket home. The shop owners, the Guttmans, despise Leo because he outbid them for their dream lakeside home, and take Bob to Leo's property instead. Bob is introduced to Leo's family—his wife Fay, and children Anna and Siggy—who are charmed by his eccentric and fun personality, much to the uptight Leo's chagrin. Eager to get rid of Bob, Leo tells him to return to the city and take a vacation from his problems. Having never been on vacation, Bob takes the advice literally, remaining in Lake Winnipesaukee at the Guttmans'.

Bob unintentionally bonds with Leo's family, going sailing with Anna (after being tied to the mast to overcome his fears), and inadvertently giving Siggy the confidence to dive into the lake, which Leo had failed to instill for years. After Leo aggressively pushes Bob into the lake, Fay forces him to apologize and invites Bob to dinner. Bob accepts, oblivious to Leo's hostility and believing the experiences are part of his therapy and eventually throws away the tissues he uses to touch things as he overcomes his germophobia. A thunderstorm after dinner forces Bob to spend the night. Leo demands that Bob leave early the following morning before Good Morning America arrives to interview him about Baby Steps. The TV crew arrive early and, oblivious to Leo's reluctance, suggest having Bob on the show as an example of his book's successful influence. Leo humilitates himself during the interview by giving stilted and nervous responses whule Bob speaks highly of Leo, the family, and the book, inadvertently stealing the spotlight.

Infuriated, Leo attempts to have Bob institutionalized, but he is soon released after befriending the hospital staff. Forced to retrieve Bob, Leo abandons him in the middle of nowhere, but he quickly gets a ride back to Leo's while various mishaps delay Leo. A dishevelled and irate Leo returns after nightfall, but is happily surprised by the large birthday party awaiting him and the arrival of Lily. When Bob appears and puts his arm around Lily, Leo snaps and attacks him. While Leo is seemingly sedated, his family reluctantly ask Bob to leave due to Leo's irrational anger towards him.

A manic Leo sneaks out, breaks into the general store, and steals a large amount of explosives. He confronts Bob and takes him deep into the woods where he ties him up with the explosives, calling it "death therapy". Believing the explosives are a metaphor for his problems, Bob frees himself of his restraints and remaining fears. Bob reunites with the Marvins and praises Leo for curing him. Leo asks where the explosives are, as Bob says they are in the house, which promptly explodes into flames, to the Guttmans' delight. Leo is rendered catatonic and institutionalized.

Some time later, Bob marries Lily and, upon their pronouncement as husband and wife, Leo snaps out of his catatonic state and screams, "No!", but the sentiment is lost in the family's excitement at his recovery. A closing text reveals that Bob went back to school and became a psychologist, then wrote a best-selling book titled Death Therapy, for which Leo is suing him for the rights.

Plot

Attorney Walter Fielding and his classical musician girlfriend, Anna Crowley, learn that Walter's father, Walter Sr., has married a woman named Florinda and fled the country after embezzling millions of dollars from their musician clients. The next morning, they are told they need to vacate the apartment they are subletting from Anna's ex-husband, Max Beissart, a self-absorbed conductor who has returned early from Europe.

reluctant to get marred because of her past experience max wants to get back together

gets money from Benny popular star - child obnoxious, threatens to not like him anymore in exchange for the 200k

Through an unscrupulous realtor friend, Walter learns about a million-dollar distress sale mansion on the market for just $200,000. He and Anna meet the owner, Estelle, who claims that she must sell it quickly because her husband, Carlos, has been arrested. Her sob story and insistence at keeping the place in candlelight in order to save money "for the bloodsucking lawyers" distracts Walter and enchants Anna, who finds it romantic. They decide to buy it.

dust, electrical faults, crumbling ceiling, door falls out, bed broke, steps break, plumbing broken and puts out brown sludge invaded by racoons, leaking roof, mosquitos, trees fall over. bathfalls through the ceiling walter immediately gives up though anna remains optimistic

lecherous ARt carpenter brother plumber estimated the job at 2 weeks

vastly cheaper contractors

the shirks send their contrators, exccentiric, bikers, muscle men, and punks, mand midgets, demolish the house exterior

offers the sell the paintings she received in the divorce back to max for a cut down price

walter returns, everthing ripped out missed the permit man wants bribe walter becomes trapped in the floor and misses the permit guy anna has to get a truck back because he cant pick her up jealous of nmax chimney fals through the fire

four monhs later house in a better state, tensions are frayed, arguing more often stairs finally restored finally fix the water

cavalcade of mishaps ends up destroying the scaffolding

max continues to try and seduce her

When Walter visits Philadelphia anna finds herself unable to return to the house alone and goes out with Max.

As soon as Walter and Anna take possession of the house, it begins to fall apart. The entire front door frame rips out of the wall, the main staircase collapses, and the electrical system catches fire. Contractors Art and Brad Shirk summarily tear the house to pieces using Walter's $5,000 down payment, leaving him and Anna embroiled in bureaucracy to secure the necessary building permits to complete the work. Walter's continuing frustration at the escalating costs of restoring the house leads him to brand it a "money pit", while the Shirks continue to assure him that their work will take "two weeks".

The repair work continues for four months, and Walter and Anna realize they need more money to complete the renovations. She attempts to secure additional funds from Max by selling him some artwork she received in their divorce. Although he does not care for it, he agrees to its purchase.

He wines and dines her, and the next morning, when she wakes up in his bed, he allows her to believe that she has cheated on Walter; in reality, Max slept on the couch. Walter later asks her point-blank if she slept with Max, but she hastily denies it. His suspicions push her to admit that she did so.

walter knows she wasnt there because he called nad received no answer confesses to a barely awake walter who takes a moment to recognize and loses his mind

end up having an argument in front of the attentive workers after the fight dies down they both feel bad about it

max visits anna at the house

anna plans to leave the symphony to get away from walter and max, max admits they didnt sleep with each other, wanted her back but instructs her to tell him the truth, max also confronts walter and tells him he is throwing away a great women and will regret it for ever

finally the house is restored to its glory.

curly tells them that it wasnt an easy job but hte foundation was good and as long as it is, things can be fixed. the pair prepare to split but walter finally admits that while she slept with max he cannot be without her and she happily tells him she didnt and they kiss.

max conducts the orhcestra at their wedding attended by Walter's clients and the contractors

Due to Walter and Anna's stubbornness, their relationship breaks down. They vow to sell the house once it is restored and split the proceeds. This nearly happens, but he misses her and says he loves her even if she did sleep with Max. She happily tells him that in fact she did not, and they reconcile. In the end, they are married in front of the newly repaired house.

Meanwhile, Estelle and her husband/partner-in-crime, Carlos - now revealed to be con artists - resurface in Brazil, where they meet with Walter's father and new bride to sell them an old house they claim to have lived in for several years.

Plot

In Louisville, Kentucky, cab driver John Winger loses his job, apartment, and car in a single day through his own actions. Tired of his immaturity, his girlfriend also leaves. Realizing his limited prospects, he decides on a whim to join the Army and persuades his friend, language teacher Russell Ziskey, to join him. The pair visit a recruiting office and are swiftly sent to basic training.

Arriving at their base camp, they meet their fellow recruits including Dewey "Ox" Oxberger and their drill instructor Sergeant Hulka who takes a dislike to Winger's sardonic slacker attitude, often punishing the other recruits for his actions and turning the recruits against Winger.

The gruelling training leads Ziskey to demand that Winger get them out of the army.

After Hulka discovers that John and Russell have briefly gone AWOL, Russell confesses his mistake, but John keeps silent. Hulka orders Russell to scrub garbage cans for 24 hours and gives the rest of the platoon two weeks of KP duty. In the latrine, Hulka privately tells John that he will never make a good soldier and invites John to attack him. When John throws a punch, Hulka dodges and hits him in the stomach, then suggests that John think about the encounter.

That night, Russell catches John attempting to flee the base and stops him, angrily reminding John that it was his idea that they both enlist. Louise and Stella find them fighting and drive them back to their barracks without reporting them. John honors Russell's request for both of them to continue basic training.

As graduation approaches, Hulka is injured when the haughty and dull-witted self-serving Captain Stillman, the recruit company's commanding officer, orders a mortar crew to fire without first setting target coordinates. Later, members of Hulka's platoon sneak off base and visit a mud wrestling bar, where John persuades Ox to compete with a group of women. When MPs and police raid the club, Stella and Louise help John and Russell escape. The rest of the platoon are returned to base, where Stillman reprimands them for being arrested and threatens to report them to the base commander, General Barnicke, and make them repeat basic training.

, and he and Russell become romantically involved with MPs Louise Cooper and Stella Hansen

John and Russell have sex with Stella and Louise, then return to base. John motivates the disheartened platoon with a speech and begins preparing them for graduation. After a night of practice, they oversleep and wake up an hour late for the ceremony. They rush to the parade ground, where John leads them in an unorthodox but highly coordinated drill display. Impressed upon learning that they completed their training without a drill sergeant, Barnicke assigns them to a secret project he is overseeing in Italy.

bravo company Upon arrival in Italy, the platoon is reunited with a recovered Hulka and tasked with guarding the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle, an armored personnel carrier disguised as a recreational vehicle. Hulka assigns Johna nd Russellto guard it for the weekend due to his dislike of John, but the pair steal it to visit Stella and Louise, who are stationed in West Germany. When Stillman finds the vehicle missing, he launches an unauthorized mission to retrieve it, against Hulka's objections. Stillman brings a date to see it and finds out early.

Stillman inadvertently leads the platoon across the border into Czechoslovakia. Hulka jumps from their truck before the Soviet Army captures it, and sends out a radio distress call that John and Russell hear. Realizing that their platoon is in danger, John, Russell, Stella, and Louise take the EM-50 and infiltrate the Soviet base where the platoon is being held, and rescue them with aid from Hulka.

Upon returning to the US, John, Russell, Louise, Stella, and Hulka are hailed as heroes, and are each awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Hulka retires and opens a restaurant franchise; John, Russell, Ox, Louise, and Stella are featured in various magazines; and Stillman is reassigned to a weather station near Nome, Alaska.

Plot

Advertising executive Neal Page is on a business trip in New York City two days before Thanksgiving, eager to return to his family in Chicago. An indecisive client causes Neal's meeting to overrun and he struggles to hail a cab to the airport during rush hour. Neal bribes a man to give up his cab but while he is disracted another man takes it. Neal eventually reaches LaGuardia Airport to learn his flight is delayed, While waiting, he meets the man who unwittingly stole his cab, talkative shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith. To his dismay, Neal is seated next to Del on the crowded flight to O'Hate International Airport.

A blizzard in Chicago forces the plane to divert to Wichita, Kansas with no alternative travel until the following day. Neal phones his wife Susan to inform her of events, but is unable to book a hotel room. An experienced traveler, Del has arranged one for himself and offers to secure one for Neal in exchange for him paying for the taxi there. During check-in, Neal and Del inadvertently switch credit cards and learn they have to share the last remaining room. Neal quickly becomes irritated by Del's messiness, eventually berating him. Del is emotionally hurt, saying that others, including his wife Marie, like him as he is. The pair reconcile and awkwardly share the bed. While they sleep, a burglar steals their cash.

The next day, with air travel still delayed, Neal buys them both train tickets to Chicago, with seats in separate cars. However, the locomotive breaks down near Jefferson City, Missouri, stranding its passengers in a field. Neal takes pity on Del struggling with his trunk, and they reunite, traveling on a crowded bus to St. Louis station, where Del earns cash by selling curtain rings as earrings to pedestrians. However, Neal accidentally offends Del over lunch by suggesting traveling they will travel faster alone, and the men part ways again.

At the St. Louis Airport, Neal rents a car, but it is missing when he gets to the lot. After a long and perilous walk back to the terminal, he vents his anger in a profane tirade at the rental agent to no avail. He attempts to hire a taxi but impatiently insults the dispatcher, who then punches him in the face. By chance, Del arrives at the scene in his own rental car and takes the dazed Neal with him. As they drive, they argue again, and Del nearly gets them killed overnight when he accidentally drives in the wrong direction on a freeway. As they compose themselves by the side of the road, Del's carelessly discarded cigarette sets the car on fire. Neal initially gloats, thinking that Del is liable for the damage, until Del reveals that he used it to rent the car after finding it in his wallet, causing Neal to punch Del.

With his credit cards destroyed in the fire, Neal barters his expensive watch for a motel room. Having nothing of value, Del waits outside in the charred, roofless car in frigid temperatures. Neal takes pity on Del and invites him to share the room. The pair share miniature liquors and laugh about the events of the past two days. The next day, the pair resume their trip in the burnt car, but the Illinois State Police impounds it for being unroadworthy. Del persuades a trucker to take them to Chicago, and they ride in the truck's refrigerated trailer.

At a Chicago "L" station, Neal sincerely thanks Del for getting him home, and they part ways with affection. As Neal rides a commuter train to his neighborhood, he recalls some of Del's odd comments and silences during the journey. It occurs to him that Del has not actually been trying to get home himself. Neal returns to the station, where he finds Del still sitting. Del explains that Marie died eight years earlier and has been living a transient lifestyle since. Neal decides to bring Del home for Thanksgiving dinner, and introduces his family to his new friend.

Plot

In 1953 Los Angeles, the LAPD is trying to positively redefine its public image following decades of corruption. Intelligent and career-focused sergeant Edmund Exley lives in the shadow of his legendary detective father whose murderer was never identified; Exley names the murderer "Rollo Tomasi", representing any criminal who escapes justice. Vain narcotics sergeant Jack Vincennes collaborates with tabloid journalist Sid Hudgens to perform high-profile celebrity arrests, while volatile officer Wendell White uses violence to interrogate and intimidate suspects.

White encounters Lynn Bracken, a prostitute resembling actress Veronica Lake, and former officer Leland Meeks, who work for millionaire businessman Pierce Patchett. Patchett operates Fleur-de-Lis, a clandestine prostitution ring featuring escorts surgically altered to resemble film stars; White begins a relationship with Lynn. After drunken officers beat inmates to avenge their injured fellow officers, Exley convinces the police chief, district attorney Ellis Loew, and police captain Dudley Smith to prosecute securely-pensioned officers to save the departments reputation and earn himself a promotion to detective lieutenant. He helps coerce Vincennes to testify, while White refuses to incriminate his colleagues and is suspended. White's partner Dick Stensland is fired for his involvement, turning White and other officers against Exley. Following the imprisonment of powerful gangster Mickey Cohen, Smith recruits White to frighten off criminals attempting to take Cohen's place. A spate of murders targeting Cohen's underlings leads to the disappearance of 25 lb (11 kg) of his heroin.

Exley investigates a massacre at the Nite Owl café, with Stensland and Fleur-de-Lis prostitute Susan Lefferts among the victims. The evidence leads Exley and Vincennes to arrest three African-American felons. Interrogation by Exley and White reveals the men have been raping a captive woman. White rushes to free the woman and executes her captor, planting evidence to imply the act was self-defence. The African-Americans escape the station and are killed by Exley in the ensuing shootout, closing the case and earning him a medal for bravery. However, unable to ignore inconsistencies in the case, Exley and White continue the investigation independently. White meets Lefferts' mother and discovers Meeks' body beneath the house. He interrogates Cohen's ex-bodyguard Johnny Stompanato who reveals Meeks was trying to sell the stolen heroin.

Hudgens and Vincennes orchestrates a homosexual tryst between struggling actor Matt Reynolds and Loew to create a scandal, but after Reynolds is found murdered, a guilt-ridden Vincennes joins Exley's investigation. Vincennes learns that Meeks and Stensland formerly worked together under Smith's command and had dropped an investigation into Patchett and Hudgens blackmailing prominent businessmen with photos of them with prostitutes. He confronts Smith who shoots Vincennes; his final words are "Rollo Tomasi".

The following day, Exley becomes suspicious of Smith after he enquires about "Rollo Tomasi", a name Exley disclosed only to Vincennes. Smith has White beat Hudgens, ostensibly to identify Vincennes' killer, and arranges for White to find photos of Lynn having sex with Exley, taken by Hudgens. Enranged, White leaves to confront Exley; the pair fight until they realize that their evidence implicates Smith. They deduce that Stensland killed Meeks for the heroin, and Smith planned the Nite Owl massacre to kill Stensland, before planting evidence to implicate the African-Americans. Exley and White interrogate Loew, learning Smith and Patchett are taking over Cohen's empire and coerced Loew's cooperation using photos of his tryst with Reynolds. Exley and White later find Hudgens and Patchett murdered.

Smith lures Exley and White into a remote ambush. Though badly wounded, the pair kill Smith's men and Exley holds Smith at gunpoint. Smith offers to mislead the approaching police and give Exley a further promotion, but Exley executs Smith to prevent him potentially avoiding punishment. At the station, Exley explains the evidence of Smith's corruption. However, the LAPD decides to protect their image by claiming Smith died a hero fighting gangsters, and award Exley a second medal for bravery. Outside city hall, Exley says goodbye to Lynn and White before they leave for Arizona.

Others

The ceilings of the sex club in which the lust victim is murdered were lowered to make the space more claustrophobic, and wax was sprayed on the walls to give texture and to imply they are covered in bodily fluids. A former bank was used as the library and 5,000 books, which were supplemented with fiberglass replicas, were rented to fill the space. The shaking in Mills apartment, which is caused by a passing train, was created using gas-powered engines attached to the set. Walker's script extensively described Doe's home, whose windows are painted black for privacy and a drawer is filled with empty painkiller bottles to help Doe cope with frequent headaches.

A scuba-like device was used to let Mack breathe while face-down in spaghetti.

A fiberglass replica of Mack was used for the character's autopsy, featuring a deliberately enlarged penis; Fincher said after Mack spent so long in makeup for 30 seconds of screen time, he could "at least give him a huge cock".

Leland Orser, who portrays the man who is forced to kill the lust victim, deprived himself of sleep to achieve a "deranged mindset"; his scene was postponed so he stayed awake another night.

Pitt said he regretted not disrobing for a separate scene of Mills and Somerset shaving their chests to wear concealed listening devices. He disliked the public attention given to his body but later came to believe taking off his shirt off would have conveyed the growing partnership between Mills and Somerset.

The set was wrapped in plastic to contain the insects.

https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/matt-barone/best-villains-movie-history https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/20-movie-villains-and-the-menacing-stories-they-tell/ https://movieweb.com/best-villain-evil-plans-movies/ https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-murder-mystery-movies/ https://ew.com/gallery/50-most-vile-movie-villains/ https://ew.com/gallery/25-best-villains/ https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-greatest-movie-villains-of-the-1990s-ranked/2900-2131/ https://movieweb.com/seven-movie-worth-watching-thriller/ (grown to be considered one of hte best" . enduring

thrillers

• https://www.cbr.com/best-thriller-movies-ever/#se7en #21
• https://collider.com/best-rewatchable-gripping-suspenseful-thriller-movies/#39-no-country-for-old-men-39-2007 #3
• https://movieweb.com/best-thriller-movies/#seven-1995 #22
• https://parade.com/1286288/samuelmurrian/best-thriller-movies/ #29
• https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g35566605/best-psychological-thrillers/ no rank
• https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g28513718/best-murder-mystery-movies/ no rank
• https://www.slashfilm.com/891056/best-thrillers-ever-made/ no rank

close

• https://movieweb.com/se7en-look-back-quintessential-90s-crime-thriller/ a crime thriller that would rise above the rest as a truly consummate masterwork of the style. / launched finchers career / brad pitt leadingman

mystery

• https://www.glamour.com/gallery/best-mystery-movies no rank
• https://www.gamesradar.com/best-mystery-movies/ #1
• https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-murder-mystery-movies/ #2
• https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/the-best-mystery-movies.html
• https://www.themarysue.com/best-mystery-movies/

best crime

• https://ew.com/movies/best-crime-movies-of-all-time/ #8

reader votd

• https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movies-2/ #37 all time

finchers first great film

• https://collider.com/best-movies-like-se7en/ finchers first great film / influential
• influential https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/se7en-is-19-years-old-today-so-here-are-seven-things-that-we-love-about-the-classic-thriller-466240

might be useful

• i<ref name="TheRingerTruth"> ndeed, time has conferred a mostly rapturous critical consensus on Se7en highlighted by Richard Dyer’s 2008 BFI Classics monograph, / Most of the initial dissent against Se7en—Maslin’s review included—was rooted in the old shibboleth of style over substance.

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