Snakes On A Mutherfuckin' Plane

[matt35mm]

Fuck that shit.  The best titled movie in the history of film is the Steven Segal movie Half Past Dead.

Fuck that shit.  The best movie title in history is still this one.

BOTH those shits should be fucked!  Those titles are tongue in cheek... THIS is the best title.

I don't think my title was tongue-in-cheek.  It's a Steven Segal movie!

[polkablues]

I don't think my title was tongue-in-cheek.  It's a Steven Segal movie!

I'm with you.  The terrifying thing about "Half Past Dead" is that someone honestly and truly believed that it was just a clever, kick-ass title.  And then, apparently, someone agreed, and thus a movie was born.

"Death Bed: The Bed That Eats", on the other hand, actually is a brilliant title.

[Pubrick]

"Albert - Why?"

This may be the best movie title ever.

[squints]

Fuck that shit.  The best titled movie in the history of film is the Steven Segal movie Half Past Dead.

Fuck that shit.  The best movie title in history is still this one.

BOTH those shits should be fucked!  Those titles are tongue in cheek... THIS is the best title.

while the patton oswalt reference is hilarious, gayniggas from outer space will stand as the best movie title ever

[RegularKarate]

while the patton oswalt reference is hilarious, gayniggas from outer space will stand as the best movie title ever

I'll accept Half Past Dead as worthy competition (Polka has a good point), that one is just kind of hacky comedy.  It's like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... trying to string together wacky stuff and tagging the end with something as lame as "from outer space".  It's trying too hard, plus it's trying to be funny.

[pete]

I've had enough with these diva critics and their overreactions, by the way.  the whole "death of movies as we know it" shit is getting really old.

[MacGuffin]

Exclusive: Snakes on a Plane's David Ellis
Source: ComingSoon

Anyone who has seen the 2002 horror sequel Final Destination 2 might wonder about director David R. Ellis' sanity, because it would take a pretty sick mind to come up with some of the gory things he did in that movie. This might be why true horror fans were probably thrilled when they learned that New Line had decided to give Ellis' new movie, the much-ballyhooed Snakes on a Plane with Mr. Samuel L. Jackson, its justly deserved R-rating.

ComingSoon.net had a chance to talk to Ellis while he had a brief moment of respite amid his hectic San Diego Comic-Con schedule of interviews and presentations for the movie.

ComingSoon.net: This is your third movie with New Line and suddenly, "Snakes on a Plane" has become the biggest craze of the summer, so how do you feel about that?
David R. Ellis: Yeah, who knew? I think it's great that it's getting the buzz that it's getting, and we have the internet and the media to thank for that. It's exciting. It's been quite a ride for sure.

CS: Is it possible that it's been hyped up so much that it's going to be hard to live up to the expectations?
Ellis: No, I'm not worried about that at all. I mean, there's two kinds of hype. There's the hype of the people that are fans and can't to see Sam Jackson say "motherf*ckin' snakes" and all that stuff, and then there are the ones who are going to go see the movie but they're just more intrigued and think it's going to be the best "worst movie of the year." I think the ones going with that in mind are going to be surprised that the movie is actually really good and really works.

CS: The movie now has an R-rating, so was that something thrown at you at the last minute?
Ellis: No, I wanted to do an R-rated movie in the beginning and when I signed on, that's what it was, but then New Line felt that we'd get a bigger audience with a PG-13 movie. So that's the movie we made. As soon as I delivered that film, they said "David, this has to be an R-rated film." I said, "No sh*t" because you have to cut the snake attacks early and you can only use the "F" word once for PG-13. Because it's called "Snakes on a Plane," I felt we just had to go for it, so we got to increase the nudity and the gore and the language and all that stuff.

CS: Was this your original concept?
Ellis: No, this was a concept that had been around for nine years. It was based on another script called "Venom" and then these guys [New Line] bought the rights to that. It wasn't set on a plane, but then they changed it, and John Heffernan came in and wrote "Snakes on a Plane." It was set up originally at Paramount with MTV Films and they were going to make it, and then 9/11 happened so they put it on the shelf. It went through several different places and finally ended up at New Line.

CS: I remember when 9/11 happened, every single movie that took place on a plane, even "View from the Top," was gone, and now last year, they had "Red Eye" and "Flightplan."
Ellis: Yeah, they're coming back. Ours isn't political like some of the other movies, so it's easier to sell, because it's just about a mob boss that is trying to get a witness. But plane movies are coming back.

CS: How do you feel about making a movie that will probably never be shown on a plane?
Ellis: Yeah, this isn't going to make any airlines, that's for sure.

CS: This being your third movie with New Line, what is it about the company that makes you want to work with them so extensively?
Ellis: I don't have a contract with them. It's just worked out that they've had three projects I responded to. I did have a two-picture deal with them, which was "Final Destination 2" and "Cellular," and then "Snakes" came up and they were looking for a director and they came to me. I'll go back with them in the future, but I'm going to off to do a horror movie called "Asylum" first, that's my next project, and then from there, we'll see. I have a lot of really good friends at New Line and a lot of support there.

CS: All three of those movies have been very high concept. Is that something you're drawn to?
Ellis: No, that's just what's coming my way. "Homeward Bound 2," the first film I directed, is so different from "Final Destination 2." It's about dogs and cats and the next film, I'm chopping people in three parts, so they're totally different. It's just that people offer me projects, I feel I could do a good job with the material. I sign up and there we go.

CS: But how did you get so caught up in the horror genre? It seems like a bit of a jump, but now you're firmly entrenched in it.
Ellis: It just came to me. I started as a stuntman when I was 19 and had a great career doing that, in stunts, and then became a big second unit director, directing action on everybody else's film, and after I did all the action in "The Perfect Storm" and the first "Harry Potter" and "Matrix Revolutions," studios started coming to me to direct films and "Final Destination 2" was just the first one to come up, and I took it.

CS: I'm guessing that with "Snakes on a Plane," a lot of the challenges involve combining the real snakes with the CG ones. Is that something you learned on the fly with "Final Destination 2"?
Ellis: No, that was something I've learned already doing 2nd unit, because all of those movies (see list above) were all very heavy with visual FX, so I already had a good background in doing visual FX. I already knew how to execute them and what was involved.

CS: In terms of this movie, getting actors being on a plane with real snakes, how do you decide what's going to be real and what's going to be added with computers?
Ellis: We had 500 snakes and we tried to use real snakes wherever we could, but there were certain limitations with snakes, what they can do or can't do, and then obviously, we kill a lot of snakes in the movie. We can't kill real snakes, so we have to kill CG snakes, so it's an intricate mixture of both.

CS: Did you have any animatronic snakes?
Ellis: We had some that we used in a couple shots, but it's mainly real snakes and then CG snakes.

CS: Assuming that most of this film takes place on a plane...
Ellis: All of the film takes place on a plane.

CS: Were they any difficulties in shooting on such a small set?
Ellis: It's very claustrophobic, because we built a 747 that's 150 feet long and two stories high and there's only so many entrances and exits to the set and it got very hot and smoky, because there's an electrical fire on board, so it was a really tough working environment, but we just made it fun as far as how we ran the set. So in spite of all that, we still had a really good time making the film.

CS: Can you tell me a little more about "Asylum"? When do you start that?
Ellis: Yeah, that we start shooting September 18 in South Carolina, and it's a horror film based on an insane asylum that has been converted into a college...

CS: High concept!
Ellis: Yeah, and these kids that end up going to this college all have dark secrets in their past, and it's haunted by this doctor who used to perform lobotomies on kids, thinking he was doing a good thing for them by erasing their nightmares, but he was actually really sadistic. So it's twisted and gory and psychological. It's for Hyde Park Entertainment, which is an independent company, and then I think Fox is going to distribute it. They've got a first look deal with Fox and a second look with Disney, so it'll be one of the two.

CS: Any chance that you'll do another "Final Destination"? I thought you really upped the ante with number two, so that when James Wong came back, he had to raise his own.
Ellis: It would be fun. I don't count anything out.

[Chest Rockwell]

No, I'm pretty sure the general public realizes this is a movie you have to see in a theater packed with people also in on the joke. People will come out in droves the first weekend but I predict the business will plunge after the first couple weeks.

[MacGuffin]

Survive 24 Hours with Those Snakes

Feel like maybe you've heard enough about Snakes on a Plane? Worried that you might not last through a whole two-hour movie based on the concept? Now imagine watching those motherf***ing snakes on that motherf***ing plane for 24 hours straight. That's what Shannon McCormick is planning to do on the first day that Snakes on a Plane is released. He's going to watch the same movie over and over for 24 hours. (I wonder if he's ever practiced with the yearly TNT A Christmas Story marathon.)

Anyone can join McCormick at Alamo South Lamar on August 18 for his "Snakes on a Day" event and attempt to survive 24 hours with Samuel L. Jackson and our reptile friends. Admission is free ... but only if you last the whole 24 hours. If you sign up and don't make it, you have to pay to leave. (The earlier you leave, the more you have to pay.) The proceeds all benefit the nonprofit group VenomousReptiles.org, fittingly enough. In addition, the "Snakes on a Day" event is being filmed for a documentary.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

I can't say much for it other than a standing ovation from the audience at the infamous line.

[RegularKarate]

Anyone can join McCormick at Alamo South Lamar on August 18 for his "Snakes on a Day" event and attempt to survive 24 hours with Samuel L. Jackson and our reptile friends. Admission is free ... but only if you last the whole 24 hours. If you sign up and don't make it, you have to pay to leave. (The earlier you leave, the more you have to pay.) The proceeds all benefit the nonprofit group VenomousReptiles.org, fittingly enough. In addition, the "Snakes on a Day" event is being filmed for a documentary.

The wife and I went to see a movie there tonight (NOT Snakes on a Plane because Alamo crowds are inSANE) and when we came out, the VenomousReptiles folks had a table set up in front of the crowd, baiting people to give it a shot.  Considering a good deal of those people had been in line for the first showing all day already, no one was up for it.

[polkablues]

a standing ovation from the audience at the infamous line.

[JG]

Yeah, I walked out of World Trade Center last night at ten o'clock and the theatre right across from me was showing Snakes on a Plane.  It was like a calling, but the girl I was with "hates snakes." 

That's the point! 

[I Don't Believe in Beatles]

Sam Jackson on the Daily Show:

[noyes]

admin edit: actual images removed due to horrible loading/scrolling issues

Not sure if any of you guys have seen this before, but I found it hilarious. Enjoy.

http://www.lecherousjester.com/finestdrops/snakes/