Nerding Out About: Constantine (2005)

Contact us on our website, www.nerdingoutabout.com

Call in to the show [phone]

• Crew
• • Directed by Francis Lawrence
  • • Did a lot of music Videos, including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga.
    • Did direct Water for Elephants & I Am Legend
    • Directed the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay. I really wish I gave a shit about those movies.
    • Originally the film was to be directed by Tarsem Singh, who directed The Cell, Mirror Mirror
    • • I think the visual style of Tarsem would have worked well in this film, especially from an Indian director. I love the Indian style of colors
• Cast
• • Keanu Reeves - John Constantine
  • • Nicholas Cage was originally slated to star in this film. I WANT TO SEE THIS MOVIE
    • • Mel Gibson and Kevin Spacey were also considered?
    • I’m guessing Reeves is a fan of sugar, judging by the number of fillings he has! yikes!
  • Rachel Weisz - Angela Dodson / Isabel Dodson
  • Shia LaBeouf - Chas Kramer
  • • I said it then, I’ve said it now, and I’ll say it again.. I hate Shia LaBeouf, and I think it’s ridiculous this fuck head has a career.
    • I imagine getting slammed from ceiling to floor repeatedly was what it was like working with LaBeouf on the set of Fury..
  • Pruitt Taylor Vince - Father Hennessy
  • • Such an interesting character actor.
    • Played Otis in The Walking Dead, was on the X-Files, Deadwood, but he will always be Malcolm Rivers in Identity, WHICH WE NEED TO REVIEW
  • Tilda Swinton - Gabriel
  • • What an interesting choice to play the angel Gabriel. Swinton is such a fascinating actress to watch, and I truly believe that as the years pass, she will reach a level like Helen Mirren, or Judi Dench
    • Was born Katherine Mathilda Swinton
    • Her big reveal near the end of the movie, when she drops down from the ceiling, was absolutely gorgeous. Normally movies that feature winged human-like characters look awful, but not this one.
    • • They also did something unique, which I’ve never seen in film before, where they had the wings become expressive instruments of the character. Really great stuff!
    • Do you think the character of Gabriel was male, female or both?
    • • Once again, interesting choice with Swinton because she’s known for her Androgynousisty? That’s a word
  • Peter Stormare - Satan
  • Djimon Hounsou
  • • We’ve seen in Guardians of the Galaxy, Blood Diamond and Gladiator
    • Born in West Africa, but moved to France when he was 13.
    • Worked as a very popular male model
• Movie Thoughts
• • I love using cigarettes as a method of showing the passage of time.
  • Stylistically I love the blast pattern of the dead demon with the blown apart body
• Conversation Starters:
• • Was it just me, or would this movie have been vastly improved had they gone with more practically based effects? The problem I had with it, is that everything looks so damned cartoony.
  • • Don’t get me wrong, some shots are incredible, like the transition of the demon out of the mexican girl at the beginning of the film.
    • Dying cattle looked horrible
  • Let’s talk cinematic interpretations of the Devil
  • • I have to admit, Peter Stormare’s interpretation might be my favorite, but it’s closely followed by Pacino’s from the Devil’s Advocate
    • • I love the idea that he is the only demon in hell that has a brain...but no heart.. Sorry wizard of Oz
      • Dripping hot oil from his feet was also an interesting concept.
  • I think the whole concept of exorcism in film works best when it’s done subtly. The best example will always be the Exorcist.
  • This film had a fascinating soundtrack, which was very distinct to the later 90’s early 2000’s.
  • • It almost blurrs with the same soundtracks of Queen of the Damned, Dracula 2000, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc.
    • It’s like every band was copying Stabbing Westward, and the singers sounded like they haven’t shit in a month.
• Movie Trivia
• • The Nazi flag featured in the beginning of the film was destroyed, to prevent it falling into the hands of Neo-Nazis
  • The Spear of Destiny Prop is the same one used in Hellboy
  • Domino Harvey, the model and bounty hunter who was the basis for the movie Domino makes a cameo. She’s the angel who has a demon nibbling her ear in the bar. (1969 - 2005) Died from drowning after drug overdose
• Episode Closing
• • We’re going to start releasing episodes on Thursday’s
  • Please send in your movie requests via facebook or our gmail
  • • Shoutout to our listener James, who has requested The Power Rangers Movie, which, with the upcoming reboot arriving soon, I’m very excited to revisit in a few weeks.
    • In the meantime, next week we will be heading back to the 1950’s from the 1990’s and reviewing the Toby Macquire classic, Pleasantville! Kinda excited to review this one, because it’s either going to be a great episode, or a really short one.
• Spear of Destiny - According to the movie, it has been missing since World War II
• • Also known as The Holy Lance, Holy Spear, or Lance of Longinus
  • There are currently three or four major relics that claim to be the Holy Lance, one is Rome, which is preserved beneath the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. There’s another in Vienna, which is displayed in the Imperial Treasury. Vagharshapat, previously known as Echmiadzin, which is the religious capital of Armenia
  • The Nazi’s and the Spear:
  • • According to Wikipedia, which I did dig a little further to confirm some of these details, a Dr. Howard A. Buechner M.D., who is a professor of medicine, wrote a book about the Dachau Massacre
    • • Dachau Massacre, also known as the Dachau Liberation Reprisals, occurred when American Soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp, and because they were so disgusted with what the Nazi’s had done, ultimatley executed 3 or 4 dozen SS members.
      • • Number of dead varies, it could have been 560.
        • This was under command of George S. Patton, who also ordered all evidence destroyed
        • The book Buechner wrote is called Dachau - The hour of the avenger
      • Anyway, Buechner claims he was approached by a U-boat submariner, who went under the pseudonym “Capt. Wilhelm Bernhart”.
      • • Bernhart claims that the spear in Vienna is a fake, and the real spear was sent to Antarctica, along with other Nazi treasures, by Hitler.
        • The mission was commanded by Col. Maximilian Hartman, who in 1979 went back and recovered the artifacts, including the spear, and they are all now hidden by a secret Nazi Society somewhere in Europe.
  • I’m actually surprised they wouldn’t have opened the film in Argentina, as opposed to Mexico, considering the Nazi’s had a pretty big influence in Argentina
  • • In fact, archeologists found a possible Nazi Hideout in the Argentinian Jungle just recently