a polarizing topic, streets - are they for vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, all of them? Or just cars as was the intended use (let pedestrians use sidewalks, cabs, ubers, subways, etc!) but activists and protesters only fall on the side of "streets for anything but cars" lunacy. This documentary dives into the activists point of view of course, no one makes documentaries about things being used as intended

It opens in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Royal, Glendale, Monica, and Town Center theaters, and director Ben Wolf will be there for post-screening Q&As on April 16, April 18, and April 20.

after a beloved teacher is killed in a hit-and-run, neighbors organized to remake a four-lane boulevard into a two-lane street with protected bike lanes

the film connects a single street fight to bigger questions about who gets to decide on what streets are used for, and how activists can influence change and make commutes worse for the vast majority of the street users who drive, to benefit the tiny minority who bike. 

Because, democracy? Is a society being run by the choices of the majority. 

However, facts and rational explanations about how inherent dangers, and acceptable risks, intrinsically state that there WILL be a mortality rate for those who aren't following the herd. There's a reason herds, flocks, and schools of prey travel in groups.... death is the frequent ankle biter of the ones that can't keep up. If you get in the way of the running bulls, or vehicles, you will be trampled, and run over. Because that's how that works. If you stay away from roads and vehicles, your chances are far better that you'll see old age. Just like sharks, just stay out of the water, and you won't get bit. Simple. 

The 2021 hit-and-run death of a Brooklyn schoolteacher on McGuinness Boulevard sparked a grassroots movement for safer streets. (Streets are incredibly safe if pedestrians stay off them, of course)

 Local activists launched Make McGuinness Safe, pushing the city of New York to redesign the street with protected bike lanes, wider medians, and fewer car lanes.

The effort to screw up the decades old traffic pattern has opposition from businesses that have always relied on water to be wet, the sun to shine, and the streets to have parking for customers, deliveries, and pickups. 

Featuring former NYC Transportation Commissioner, the film shows the efforts of grassroots activism, and the uphill battle to get streets rezoned for pedestrians, made into sidewalks, and generally taking them away from vehicular traffic

Upcoming Screenings:

April 16-20 — Laemmle theaters at 3 Los Angeles area locations
April 23 -- Brooklyn Manhattan Community College in NYC
May 21 - Cleveland Cinematheque
May 30 — Wisconsin Bike Federation in Milwaukee
June 4 -- Greenpoint Public Library, Brooklyn
June 11 -- Van Alen Institute & the AIA, in Gowanus, Brooklyn

https://firstrunfeatures.activehosted.com/index.php

the upcoming Fantastic Four movie has only cool 50s and 60s cars and trucks

now, a day later, the full trailer has come out

the new preview for Deadpool 3 (Deadpool and Wolverine) was just released, and the 6 wheeled Hydra car from Capt America is now hot rodded, with a flame job

it's in the lower left behind a couple characters

https://www.mensjournal.com/streaming/secret-marvel-characters-in-deadpool-and-wolverine-trailer

the movie Gran Turismo has just been released on Netflix... I'm only 20 minutes in, and it's GOOD!

Gran Turismo tells the “true story” of Jann Mardenborough, the real-life 2011 GT Academy champion. As with most movie adaptations, the truth gets re-worked a bit to make the story fit into its run time.

the Hollywood direction / production over dramatized how scared the kid was at every minute of every race, in every scene he's on screen racing, and that gets real old real fast, but the track scenes outside the car are great, the helicopter shot of Du Bai's skyscrapers under construction is superb, and though no one will probably admit that this movie is in the same category as Gran Prix, and LeMans, it is. 

Just more realistic for the current race environment, of billionaires funding their spoiled kids racing program, and the high winds catching under the cars going over the hill at Nurburgring, and kids on games with ambitions to go pro who parents aren't ready to be mentors or supportive of their kids far out unrealistic dreams. 

The scene at 1:33 where the old driver relates his life story of crashing, to the young new driver who has a pivotal decision to make about bailing out of the dangerous sport, or accepting that the career of a race driver has horrible days and people die. 

The actor that plays the asshole driver for Team Capa, in the gold lame Lambo, shows the acting trick of taking on such a different role from what you're familiar seeing them in that you forget it's an actor instead of a spoiled asshole kid. 

The writing and script has some exceedingly lame and predictable lines, and they too are as ridiculous as nearly everything that David Harbour's character is given to state as if it's not nauseatingly obvious

recommending the movie Sisu for the WW2 military trucks, tanks, and sidecar - and the unbelievable action

During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with a legendary ex-commando

If you want to see the lead actor in another movie, I recommend Rare Exports. He is really fun to watch in action movies

the preview is finally available for the Tom Hardy 1960s biker movie

I posted about it a couple months ago https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-bike-riders-movie-just-locked.html

it was about a year ago that I learned of this movie, and posted about the source material https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2022/08/tom-hardy-is-set-to-lead-movie.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21454134

Norman Reedus is made to look unidentifiable with bad teeth, a beard, and aviators 

I hadn't heard of, or seen, this movie about Ferruccio Lamborghini. Rotten Tomatoes seems to hate it... 6% was the sum total of reviews, Elana say's it's a mess too

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lamborghini_the_man_behind_the_legend

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a42155783/lamborghini-the-man-behind-the-legend-movie-review/

Matt Farah said: "lazy and inaccurate and made no sense historically and wasn’t cast well. Just every element of moviemaking was at a two. It's rare when you see a movie where every single possible choice is wrong. It was just a very sad kind of terrible."

Elana Scherr said "Stunningly boring"

One of that movies producers says there will be a movie about Enzo, with Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz.  https://www.autoevolution.com/news/interview-with-an-italian-movie-producer-true-stories-are-the-best-stories-214737.html

and about 2 years after that,  "Maserati: A Racing Life," a biopic feature of the Maserati brothers.

If you like Dennis Quaid movies (who doesn't?!) there's a new one on Amazon, On A Wing And A Prayer, also starring Heather Graham. It's a suspense

the Barracuda in the 2nd Black Panther movie... interesting combination of the decals from a 71 440 Cuda, plus a 70 AAR, on a 72 or 73. It is a good looking combo of decals, but, it would have looked better on an AAR Cuda (better looking hood scoop and tail lights)

at least they got rid of the side marker lights, those 72-73 side marker lights are ugly. I had a 72 for a year, back in the 90s

the grill on a 71 is so much cooler looking, they should have went with that. I think the 72 looks too damn much like the pointed center section of a Pontiac bumper

And I've wondered if the round tail lights on the 72 and 73 were imitations of the Chevelle / Corvette taillights

Keanu is driving a 71 Barracuda in the new movie, John Wick 4

the sequel to Ferris Bueller's Day Off will be about the valets that joy ride in the Ferrari... that's a great idea!

"Sam and Victor's Day Off" will follow two characters from the 1986 John Hughes original and take place on the same day. 

 The project will chronicle the mischievous valets who took the Ferrari, which Alan Ruck’s character Cameron Frye stole from his father, on a high speed joyride. While they were nameless in the original, they’ll get their very own movie

Paramount has yet to decide who will portray the titular characters, who were played in the original film by Richard Edson and the late Larry “Flash” Jenkins.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sam-and-victors-day-off-announcement_n_63063e01e4b00c150d670291

Tom Hanks will briefly be in Toledo on Wednesday to shoot a scene for his upcoming feature film A Man Called Otto at Central Union Terminal (thanks Marc!)

roughly 162 film extras from the Toledo area who were chosen by a casting agency to play the roles of 1970s-era train travelers. Train equipment to be used for the scene has been parked on a track near the depot for several days, and Ms. Rosner said a vintage 1970s-era locomotive was transported there from West Virginia for Wednesday’s filming — a process that took three weeks.

Typically such an undertaking wouldn’t occur to bring the vintage train, along with passenger and baggage cars such a long distance, but she said Otto Director Marc Forster insisted on doing so after seeing the Toledo train station, which appears largely as it did during the 1970s. Ms. Rosner said filming on Wednesday will be used for two flashback scenes in the movie.

“The director loves the train station,” she said. “The train station is beautiful. We think it’s really authentic, and it’s just got so much to offer and it fits really well with our period trains that we’re pulling in.”

The crew spent Tuesday finishing filming in Cleveland and has previously been shooting scenes for Otto in the Pittsburgh area since mid-February.

plans are for the film to be released in December.

The movie is a film adaptation of the Swedish novel A Man Called Ove about a bitter widower whose life changes after he befriends a mixed-race couple and their two young daughters who move into the neighborhood.

https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/movies/2022/05/03/filming-tom-hanks-movie-wednesday/stories/20220503113

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7405458/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

A hot wheels movie? Thanks Kim!

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) and Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot will produce Hot Wheels, a live-action movie

https://corporate.mattel.com/news/mattel-films-and-warner-bros-pictures-announce-jj-abrams-bad-robot-will-produce-hot-wheels-live-action-motion-picture

Via https://jalopnik.com/theres-going-to-be-a-hot-wheels-movie-and-it-doesnt-so-1848841972

this is not the first time Mattel has tried to make a Hot Wheels movie, that was first pitched in 2003, and was initially attached to Joseph McGinty Nichol, a.k.a. McG, directing.

The property switched studios and directors several times, before more recently ending with Justin Lin in 2016. 

The movie will probably look a lot like their Feb 2021 video 

40 years ago there was a good movie, Diner, and there's an interesting story about it

The titular diner is the space where all the guys gather to reflect on their romantic failures, their hopes for the future, their fears, and just generally shoot the shit.

Diner follows a group of twentysomething buddies in 1959 as they prepare for the wedding of their pal, Eddie (Steve Guttenberg). 

All of them are searching for something — Boogie (Mickey Rourke) for a way out; Shrevie (Daniel Stern) for a connection with his wife; Billy (Timothy Daly) to marry the best friend he loves; Fenwick (Kevin Bacon) for someone to see the intelligence underneath the prankster; and Modell (Paul Reiser) for a sandwich or a ride. But the only thing they can count on are their nights in the diner and the strength of their bonds.

That meant the first order of business was to find the right setting for this central meeting spot.

He first scouted real diners in the Baltimore area, but they were all outside of the production budget. Then, he found the perfect space for the classic '50s eatery in the Baltimore suburb of Fell's Point while driving around, a vacant lot on the harbor, the Domino Sugar sign in the distance.

He then visited a "diner graveyard" in New Jersey. "We were lucky enough to take [our diner] from that diner graveyard and have it shipped to Baltimore," he recalls. "We put it on the piece of land that I saw, and that's how it happened."

After filming wrapped, the diner was returned to its junkyard, but later the city of Baltimore brought it to a new location and transformed it into a vocational training school for those interested in working in the restaurant business.

https://ew.com/movies/diner-40th-anniversary-barry-levinson

not a car guy thing, but, I've been a fan of, and posted about, Duke Kahanamoku

 

So I just wanted you to know that there's a new documentary about him.

Here's the post from a couple years ago https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/05/did-you-know-duke-kahanamoku-famous.html

looks like a fun movie, and the trailer opens with a car chase, with the big bad wolf in a sports car... coming to theaters April 22nd

something like a Mustang

with his crew of bad guys

dual hood scoops, hood pins, stick shift, side pipes and round tail lights. I may not have posted about round taillights before... but, Chevelle, Corvette, Ferrari, Barracuda, Falcon, etc etc cool car stuff

Who use a freight elevator to get the cool car into the bad guy lair

horn button is BG for Bad Guy

In the new action comedy from DreamWorks Animation, based on the New York Times best-selling book series, a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws are about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens.

Never have there been five friends as infamous as The Bad Guys—dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf ( Sam Rockwell), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), short-fused “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), aka “Webs.”

But when, after years of countless heists and being the world’s most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal (that he has no intention of keeping) to save them all from prison: The Bad Guys will go good.

Under the tutelage of their mentor Professor Marmalade, an arrogant (but adorable!) guinea pig, The Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they’ve been transformed. Along the way, though, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give him what he’s always secretly longed for: acceptance. So when a new villain threatens the city, can Mr. Wolf persuade the rest of the gang to become … The Good Guys?

https://www.dreamworks.com/movies/the-bad-guys

https://www.facebook.com/dreamworks/

on the website https://www.dreamworks.com/downloads/TheBadGuys_ActivityPack_Complete.pdf are a bunch of games, no matter what your age

mazes, word finds, etc 

this post took 30 minutes

a new movie with Brad Pitt about assassins on a Japanese bullet train

Based on the novel Maria Beetle (published in English as Bullet Train) by Kōtarō Isaka, the movie will find a group of assassins, who are travelling together on said bullet train, realizing that their individual contracts are interconnected. 

Naturally, high speed chaos ensues, and the Nippon Speed Line quickly becomes a bloody playground for its money-hungry passengers.

The tagline “Get on Board March 2” is presumably teasing the release of a full-length trailer tomorrow.

Bullet Train is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 15.

Brad Pitt isn’t the only high profile name attached to the project, either, Michael Shannon and Sandra Bullock are also starring in this movie

https://www.techradar.com/news/john-wick-meets-the-orient-express-in-brad-pitts-latest-action-thriller

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12593682/

later in 2022, or early 2023 there will be a World War II action-thriller movie “Wolf Hound” inspired by the real-life Nazi special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses.

“Wolf Hound” takes place in 1944 Nazi-occupied France as an American fighter pilot, who must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew, evade the enemy stalking him at every turn and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.

For the film’s extensive aerial scenes and dogfights, Chait used authentic, rare WWII aircraft and shot as much as possible in-camera. Craig Hosking, who previously served as aerial coordinator and lead pilot for Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” performed the same roles for “Wolf Hound.”

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/lionsgate-grindstone-wolf-hound-1235150396/

The Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, Michigan, provided its bomber plant hanger for location shooting and allowed the production to use its North American B-25 Mitchell Bomber and one of the only 10 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Bombers still flying.

The movie stars James Maslow, who says he has a personal connection to the story. "My grandfather flew B-17s in WWII and I've always wanted to play a pilot from that period of time," he said when the movie went into production. "This story is remarkably similar to something he actually went through."

https://www.military.com/off-duty/movies/2022/01/12/wolf-hound-wwii-movie-inspired-secret-nazi-air-combat-unit.html

Dick Van Dyke dropped out of high school in 1944 to join the Army Air Force, in hopes of being a pilot, during World War II. But his showbiz big break came when he was hired to replace Johnny Carson as host of CBS's news The Morning Show in 1955.

Toward the end of basic training, his instructors informed his class that most of them would be going overseas as tail gunners for B-24s. With less than 25% of aircrews surviving the war unscathed, tail gunner was one of the military’s most dangerous jobs. 

When Van Dyke heard the Army recruits with special abilities could be placed in other positions, he sprang into action, literally. 

“I tap-danced and sang right on the spot,” Van Dyke quipped in the interview. “I got into USO shows […] and entertaining [troops]. So cowardice got me into showbiz.”

He served as a radio announcer before transferring to the Special Services and entertaining troops in the continental United States, he was honorably discharged in 1945. https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Dick_Van_Dyke (Encyclopedia Britannica states he was discharged in 1946)

Fyi, VE day was May 8, 1945, VJ day was Sept 2, 1945

He was stationed at Camp Crowder in Missouri, which counted among its inhabitants the Beetle Bailey cartoonist Mort Walker.             

He received his high school diploma in 2004 at the age of 78.

By the way, in the 1950s took various acting jobs and hosted a series of TV game shows. In 1960, he earned him a Tony Award for starring in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, despite having never been a professional dancer.  

The following year, he signed on to play comedy writer Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1963 the feature film adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie co-starred Ann-Margret and Janet Leigh. In 1964 he was the charming chimney sweep Bert in Walt Disney’s movie musical Mary Poppins, and did not get an Oscar, because of the accent offended the Academy voters, but he earned the Grammy for the soundtrack to the movie.

He got the job as Rob Petrie, because Carl Reiner, who wrote the show, was deemed by Sheldon Leonard (CBS producer) to not be right to play himself on screen, and was replaced by Van Dyke. During WW2 Reiner was serving as a radio operator and French translator, before joining an entertainment unit that toured the Pacific, which included Hogans Heroes Colonel Klink, actor Werner Klemperer, Jewish German, whose parents escaped Germany in 1935, and was drafted into the combat infantry, before auditioning to be transferred into the entertainment special services, where he spent the rest of the war in Hawaii with Carl Reiner.

 http://worldwartwo.filminspector.com/2013/09/celebrities-in-uniform.html

 

Van Dyke’s potentially upcoming (in process for 4 years, might not happen) project is an upcoming film about two Korean War veterans — a soldier and a sailor — who fight over which of them gets to raise the flag over their retirement community each morning. In a promotional interview for the film, which is in development, 

https://coffeeordie.com/dick-van-dyke-wwii/

A group of elderly Vets engage in a spirited game of 'capture the flag' for the privilege of raising Old Glory every morning in their community.

Grumpy Navy Veteran James Donovan lives in a retirement community, and his only real pleasure in life is raising the flag every morning in the community courtyard. His routine is interrupted when the ever-cheerful Lou Addison, a retired Army veteran, moves in across the way and challenges James for the right to hoist the flag in their retirement community every morning.

 A humorous rivalry begins and, after a series of escalating pranks, the two rivals decide to settle the score with a no-holds barred camp game of ‘capture the flag.’ They each recruit a team of feisty seniors to determine the winner -- but not before they come to terms with their own regrets, fears, and losses in this funny, heart-warming script about rivalry, respect, sacrifice and friendship.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3208392/

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/feature-film-with-dick-van-dyke-louis-gossett-jr#/

https://www.nndb.com/people/150/000023081/

http://worldwartwo.filminspector.com/2013/09/celebrities-in-uniform.html

By the way, you're distantly related to Dick Van Dyke if you're related to John Alden, passenger on the Mayflower  https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Dick_Van_Dyke 

movie about a chauffer that is likely to make a big splash soon, it's up for an Oscar. But it's as dull as watching paint dry. Unless you're into movie critics like, that no one else does

how Ebert gushed about this, I thought it was going to be amazing. But it was boring. Moody. Dull. The main character is an actor turned theater director whose wife in the first act, dies of a brain hemorrhage, but was cheating on him with other actors, his chauffer is depressed because she feels that she is to blame for her mother's death, and then there are the long camera shots of the bay, the snow falling, etc. 

The car is real nice though. The story? Just depressing and a snooze.