He was quite the ladies man.

Apparently, he was quite indulgent in other ways as well. His weight, which was surely part of his movie identity, was due to his excess consumption of food. That, combined with his other indulgences, resulted in high blood pressure which led to his early demise. What a shame.

Although, looking back, for someone born in 1903 (as he was) the average life expectancy was about 48 years, which was his age at death. That is, despite it seeming that he got short changed, he hit his number, so to speak.

Doug

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YORF member #11

Kudos to Fred for an absolutely incredible post regarding the Three Stooges !!!!

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

OK, Emma and I went to see Apollo 18 and...

we REALLY liked it, a LOT!

First, the person who wrote this film is obviously a HUGE space buff. Lots and lots of subtle references to real NASA history that would only be known by someone who's really into the history of the Apollo program. The opening sequence giving a thumbnail sketch of the history of the Apollo program indicating 18, 19, and 20 were cancelled due to budget reasons, very nicely done.

In the film, just prior to landing on the moon the soundtrack of mission control indicates a "1201 program alarm" and seconds later someone responds "we're go on that 1201", lifted almost verbatim from the Apollo 11 landing. Really a nice homage to the real folks who did the real thing, and completely opaque to 98% of the audience who will see this movie.

Likewise, when they land on the lunar surface one of the crew drops a color picture of his family, encased in a baggie, on the lunar surface. Very nice recreation of Charlie Duke's family photo left on the moon. Again, a really nice homage to actual space history.

Later in the film, one of the characters, contemplating his own death speaks as a soliloquy the great words William Safire wrote for Richard Nixon to read to the public if Neal and Buzz got killed on the moon. Again, not stuff the average filmgoer would have any knowledge of but clearly written into the film by someone who truly knows and loves the Apollo program.

As for the space hardware and general "space reality" of the film, incredibly well done. Command module and Lunar Modules were phenomenally realistic. Living scenes inside the LM, depicting how two grown men lived for 3 days in such a tiny space, were better than anything I've seen in any movie, ever. Even better than anything I've ever seen from actual NASA footage, of which there is almost none inside the LM. My only authenticity quibble was that the spacesuits in the film didn't get filthy enough as the movie progressed.

Not to ruin the movie for anyone, but there is a Soviet Lunar Lander depicted in the film that must have been a true work of love for whoever built it. Almost an exact replica of the hardware currently sitting in a Moscow museum. Just incredible to see it in a silly horror film. The folks who did this movie could have cheaped out and made it look like anything, but they spent a lot of time and money to depict what actually might have been. I really appreciate that. Very, very, cool.

The astronauts in the film, who at the time would have known nothing of Soviet plans, speculate as to how many cosmonauts flew in the Soviet craft. But a voice from mission control, ostensibly from someone in the defense department, correctly informs them it is a one man craft. Again, very cool historical tidbits completely unneccessary to the plot of the film, but really appreciated by me.

There was nothing in the hardware, general activities, soundtrack, character movement, that wasn't authentic to the Apollo era. Really, really well done, and obviously a work of love for whoever wrote the film.

Now, as to the horror aspects of the film. Emma and I thought these were pretty well done, too. No slimy space aliens, no wacky paranormal zombie/vampires. Horror entities were something that lived in the lunar soil, somewhat spider-like rock-type creatures. Very mild by today's CG-animated standards, and way less stupid than what I was expecting.

For a fairly concrete guy like myself, most horror films are just way silly in the amount of reason they expect you to suspend to buy into the horrific agent of doom. This film didn't ask you to stretch too much in that regard, especially when you remember that the first 3 Apollo crews went into isolation and that NASA injected lunar material into living organisms to be sure it represented no biohazard.

Finally, both Emma and I really liked how the film ended. Definitely not what we were expecting. Parts of it were pretty implausible but, hey, it's a stupid horror film.

Overall, both Emma and I were really glad we went to see Apollo 18. We had very low expectations and the film really surprised us with how good the visuals were and the obvious attention to detail paid by the folks who made the film. Clearly, these folks really loved the Apollo program and went way out of their way to honor the real folks of Apollo. Really nice to see in something as goofy as a horror film.

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additional note:

Very nice review of Apollo 18 and where it fits in the pantheon of "spacesuit movies" can be read at: http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/201...w-of-apollo-18/

The author of that review describes the makers of Apollo 18 as "meticulous". I like that. Very appropriate.

Now I'm thinking it may be worth seeing just for the realistic spacecraft depictions....

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

One thing that I have noticed nowadays is that Hollywood relies too much on 3D and CGI that they movies have no plot or it comes in a very distant last. Take Avatar for example. That movie had terrific special effects and 3D but the plot was worthless. I rather watch a good plot without the 3D and special effects.

I must confess a guilty indulgence.....
I just watched Apollo 18, twice.

Kudos to Gus for commenting on all the technical matters that the movie got correct. Maybe it was the low expectations I had, but the general look and feel of the film were quite genuine to NASA footage of that era. Surprised, I was, to see such detail in the interior of the LEM and CM. Shocked, was I, to see and authentic reproduction of the Soviet LK lander. Please, I was, that the movie was actually watchable and creepy.

Having said all this, the film would have been much better if it had been made as a serious horror film instead of an "Apollo Witch" mocumentary. Then there were the matters of hatches creaking and wheels squeaking in vacuum, impossible liftoff's, among other major plot holes and Hollywoodisms.

If Apollo 18 had been shot as serious Sci-fi and made to the standards of Alien, we would have had yet another all time classic sci-fi/horror film.

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Layne Pemberton NAR# 83083
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Why not go a step further, and, in addition to all the authentic depictions, forego the horror altogether and make it into some other sort of failure? That is, for example, make it the secret mission to the moon (to install a spy base there) which goes awry. During the mission or after landing on the moon, there are many scenarios which can occur - all of which are scary, interesting, suspenseful - that don't involve monsters. The film could be that much more legitimate (IMO).

Nevertheless, thanks to Steve and Layne's input, I'll probably trek down to the cinema to see it now

Doug

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YORF member #11