Episode 173 - Virtuosity: LIVE!

[RyanSz 3140]

I can NOT believe Jason didn't mention the gratuitous boobs shot at the weird ass UFC fight! While Denzel is stalking Sid in the ring he passes by a lot of the audience - at which point the camera pans in front of this woman who is standing in front of Denzel and she's just completely topless. Her head isn't even in the shot it's just a random ass blurry shot of breasts while Denzel tries to get a shot at Sid. It's completely unnecessary and bonkers and I would have thought Jason would have made it his mission to point this out lol.

Thank you, I thought I was the only one to notice this. This plays into part of my correction as it wasn't a wrestling event but a UFC card, which the original owners of the promotion allowed to be shown in the movie as a way to broaden their brand name. It makes sense but unfortunately they had no real control over how they were represented in the film. They had Ken Shamrock in a cameo, but the makers of the movie made the event seem like total carnage with a multi-man brawl with no referee, people fighting in the stands, and them cheering at a violent death. This led to many lawmakers, namely John McCain, to call for the outright ban of MMA in many states, most notably New York which only lifted its ban a year ago. It ultimately led to lower ticket sales and buyrates, leading to the eventual sale to Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, who helped completely overhaul the sport's image. So in essence, Virtuosity was pivotal in the evolution of MMA as the sport that we know it as.

 

Secondly,the total number of personalities that made up Sid bounced around from 150 to over 200 to 666, depending on which person was speaking and which trailer a person saw, the same as the Hawk/Hawks mix-up in Over the Top. The opening training scene wasn't meant to be preparing officers for hunting serial killers specifically, but rather help them develop the skills they would need as a detective, such as clue finding and processing potential suspects. With Sid being made up of hundreds of personalities and MOs, officers would have numerous exercises that they could run through to prepare for the actual job.

 

Third, as part of my usual prison correction, I will say that no way in hell would they allow Denzel to have a metal prosthetic inside a prison, especially one that could be modified to disarm a bomb. In my facility, even staff are not allowed metal implements like canes or those scooter walkers without a multiple doctors notes and reasons for the accommodation, and even then the worker would usually get a deferred duty where they are working somewhere that isn't filled with inmates. The only metallic equipment given out are wheelchairs and some walkers, though walkers are getting limited as a guy modified the legs of his and stabbed a dude. A bionic arm would never be allowed solely for how many ways it could be used to harm someone or themselves, I mean just recently an inmate at my facility was found to have been cutting himself using discarded sunflower seed shells, so something that is hard enough metal to stop a giant fan blade that contains cords and wires that could be used to hack a computer or strangle someone is a huge no-no.

[RyanSz 3140]

Another C&O (I feel special! I never have corrections and omissions) Taran and Jason say at the beginning that this was Crowe's first film in the United States, which it isn't. His first movie, is another movie I love, from earlier in 1995, Sam Rami's The Quick and The Dead. I'm not sure which one he filmed first, but TQ&TD was released in February of 95 (I know this because I believe I went and saw it around my birthday which is in the middle of February) and Virtuosity was released in late May or early June (a week after Sandra Bullock's The Net. I saw both around their opening weekends).

 

It's actually interesting to compare Crowe's two 95 performances. He is much more subdued in TQ&TD, probably because Rami was a much more experienced director. Kelly Lynch, in her (IMO weird) 2012 interview with the AV club where she talks about her career, says something to the effect that when there is no captain of the ship, actors can tend to take over. She's talking about Denzel in that situation while praising Crowe for going kind of off the rails. Rami was out to prove himself I think and probably kept a tighter reign on the actors.

I loved The Quick & the Dead for the hammy performances by all involved and that it was the inspiration for a good portion of Red Dead Revolver on the PS2. I would love if they covered that movie because Crowe's performance in it is the polar opposite of this one in how restrained he is.

[EvRobert 1684]

I loved The Quick & the Dead for the hammy performances by all involved and that it was the inspiration for a good portion of Red Dead Revolver on the PS2. I would love if they covered that movie because Crowe's performance in it is the polar opposite of this one in how restrained he is.

 

TQ&TD is so weird because everyone is chewing scenery like they are at the Golden Corral EXCEPT for Crowe, who is giving a very quiet, restrained performance. Interesting to note that Sharon Stone fought pretty hard for Crowe, Rami, and DiCaprio to get work on that film.

[BeezulVonDude 41]

Among the many, many dumb things in this movie, the train hostage bit really annoyed me. Parker knows at this point that SID is channeling his former America's Next Top Serial Killer foe who liked to play games with him AND has already riddled SID with bullets to zero effect, other than to have SID Daffy Duck his way away from the fight. So, SID takes a hostage and is obviously toying with Parker while trying to escape, but rather than just let him win, Parker keeps engaging him to try and take a shot he KNOWS isn't going to do anything. Maybe SID would have killed her anyway, but I doubt it; he didn't appear to hurt anyone else on the train. Instead, Parker keeps playing a game he knows he can't win, gets a shot off, and SID shoots the hostage in the back to "frame" him. All on you, Parker. You're a terrible cop.

[The_Triple_Lindy 2482]

Third, as part of my usual prison correction, I will say that no way in hell would they allow Denzel to have a metal prosthetic inside a prison, especially one that could be modified to disarm a bomb. In my facility, even staff are not allowed metal implements like canes or those scooter walkers without a multiple doctors notes and reasons for the accommodation, and even then the worker would usually get a deferred duty where they are working somewhere that isn't filled with inmates. The only metallic equipment given out are wheelchairs and some walkers, though walkers are getting limited as a guy modified the legs of his and stabbed a dude. A bionic arm would never be allowed solely for how many ways it could be used to harm someone or themselves, I mean just recently an inmate at my facility was found to have been cutting himself using discarded sunflower seed shells, so something that is hard enough metal to stop a giant fan blade that contains cords and wires that could be used to hack a computer or strangle someone is a huge no-no.

But the part where they pit Denzel and the white supremacist against each other in mortal combat ... that's real, right?

[RyanSz 3140]

But the part where they pit Denzel and the white supremacist against each other in mortal combat ... that's real, right?

Not so much at my facility where there are no gangs due to the classification system of the facility as a Sensitive Needs Facility.

[JonathanVik 37]

Not so much at my facility where there are no gangs due to the classification system of the facility as a Sensitive Needs Facility.

 

Another question, how in the world does the prison staff deal with the constant paper the inmates throw down from their cells? That must be a nightmare to clean up.

[RyanSz 3140]

 

Another question, how in the world does the prison staff deal with the constant paper the inmates throw down from their cells? That must be a nightmare to clean up.

Only during riots which are infrequent at my facility.

[Coffee & Pizza 3]

I think I noticed that throughout the entire movie Denzel and Crowe are never in the same shot together. They keep facing off but from a distance and the camera just switches each of between - most evident in SID's train escape scene and when SID breaks Parker out of the prison van. Only in the first scene in the VR world and the ending rooftop fight are they physically fighting. But in the rooftop fight, I'm pretty sure in all those shots one or both of them are stuntmen. And in the opening VR fight, they only show Denzel with the back of Crowe's head and have Denzel's face blocked by a pillar when they show Crowe's face, so I'm not convinced those aren't stuntmen/stand-ins too.

Were the two of them never actually on set at the same time? Is that possible?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Wait, weren't they doing a Friday the 13th at a live show? If that was already recorded why wasn't that one posted on Friday the 13th??? C'mon y'all!!!

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

Wait, weren't they doing a Friday the 13th at a live show? If that was already recorded why wasn't that one posted on Friday the 13th??? C'mon y'all!!!

they did jason x the same night as this. i watched the original friday the 13th last night. it's still alot of fun. and that bit where that thing happens (trying not to spoil anything) still gets me.

[PollyDarton 1807]

Adding to what Chunk Style and Triply Lindy said about the cops in this film:

 

At the end of the movie they put Sid back in VR so Denzel and Kelly Lynch (hereto forth referred to as Kenzel) can get the information about there the whereabouts of her daughter. Fine, sure...But once Sid reveals her location it does not seem like anyone is standing by to help them rescue her... like you know, like the regular-ass cops? By the time Kenzel gets out of the helicopter on top of the building, there are some kind of special ops there, but no one is doing ANYTHING to help the poor girl. It seems like there should be an entire specialized bomb squad team sent out... instead they are waiting around for Kenzel to diffuse the bomb. What kind of chicken-shit operation are they running at the precinct? Is anyone else working on this case?

 

[muttnik 476]

I feel like everyone I've met in my age bracket saw this movie as a child and enjoyed it. Seeing it again for the first time with adult eyes I only had three new thoughts which I yelled out loud as they happened: "How'd he get that patch!?", "I bet that fancy flash drive popped that police cruiser tire", and "Kaley Cuoco? Really? Huh. Good for her."

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

Russell giving a shout out to a future project ...

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

Adding to what Chunk Style and Triply Lindy said about the cops in this film:

 

At the end of the movie they put Sid back in VR so Denzel and Kelly Lynch (hereto forth referred to as Kenzel) can get the information about there the whereabouts of her daughter. Fine, sure...But once Sid reveals her location it does not seem like anyone is standing by to help them rescue her... like you know, like the regular-ass cops? By the time Kenzel gets out of the helicopter on top of the building, there are some kind of special ops there, but no one is doing ANYTHING to help the poor girl. It seems like there should be an entire specialized bomb squad team sent out... instead they are waiting around for Kenzel to diffuse the bomb. What kind of chicken-shit operation are they running at the precinct? Is anyone else working on this case?

 

Not to mention that the captain of the police, the only person on Denzel's side was murder at the VR place. Who ordered those cops? There is no way they'd listen to a former cop turned criminal.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Here's something interesting I noticed in the film but it's very subtle. When we see Denzel going back into prison the door has "Stand clear of door" written on it and then below it it has the same thing written in Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. I found it odd that there are all those languages on the door. I mean I could see the Spanish or French maybe but the Korean and Japanese seemed odd. Later on in the movie when we see Dr. Lindenmeyer watching the news a few times in his hotel room and each time there are three boxes on the side with different talking heads. The top head seems to be telling the news in English, the middle one is an Asian person, and there is one more on the bottom also speaking out of sync. So not only are the prisons multilingual but the news is too. This leads me to wonder is everything in future L.A. multilingual? Is it just L.A. or all of America? Why these languages? Why even include this at all? It's interesting world building I suppose but so subtle, did it even accomplish its goal?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

Here's something interesting I noticed in the film but it's very subtle. When we see Denzel going back into prison the door has "Stand clear of door" written on it and then below it it has the same thing written in Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. I found it odd that there are all those languages on the door. I mean I could see the Spanish or French maybe but the Korean and Japanese seemed odd. Later on in the movie when we see Dr. Lindenmeyer watching the news a few times in his hotel room and each time there are three boxes on the side with different talking heads. The top head seems to be telling the news in English, the middle one is an Asian person, and there is one more on the bottom also speaking out of sync. So not only are the prisons multilingual but the news is too. This leads me to wonder is everything in future L.A. multilingual? Is it just L.A. or all of America? Why these languages? Why even include this at all? It's interesting world building I suppose but so subtle, did it even accomplish its goal?

Maybe it's an odd nod to the Asian language and cultural influences in the future-dystopia of Blade Runner? Shit, do Virtuosity and Blade Runner exist in a... SHARED UNIVERSE?!?!

 

Fuck me. No. They don't.

 

Also, this is officially the first time anyone as used the phrase "it's very subtle" to describe anything in Virtuosity

[hellopplofearth313 4]

Okay, I have got to say this.

DENZEL WASHINGTON IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTORS OF ALL TIME PERIOD.

Check out W Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery's podcast to find out more why. When the audience member asked his question about the greatest actor being in the worst movie, PAUL thought he was talking about Russel Crowe... what the fuck. No way, man!

Not enough talk about how great Denzel Washington is!

 

 

Also, no talk about how the cops would shoot all willy nilly to try and KILL Denzel Washington' character with soooo many random citizens around. The police were so willing to kill this -former cop, who accidentally killed two dumb ass reporters, who they trusted enough and needed enough to use in their simulations- that they were willing to KILL him and other random civilians. CRAZY. I feel like thy tried harder to capture him than Russel Crowe's character.

[tomspanks 9039]

Here's something interesting I noticed in the film but it's very subtle. When we see Denzel going back into prison the door has "Stand clear of door" written on it and then below it it has the same thing written in Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. I found it odd that there are all those languages on the door. I mean I could see the Spanish or French maybe but the Korean and Japanese seemed odd. Later on in the movie when we see Dr. Lindenmeyer watching the news a few times in his hotel room and each time there are three boxes on the side with different talking heads. The top head seems to be telling the news in English, the middle one is an Asian person, and there is one more on the bottom also speaking out of sync. So not only are the prisons multilingual but the news is too. This leads me to wonder is everything in future L.A. multilingual? Is it just L.A. or all of America? Why these languages? Why even include this at all? It's interesting world building I suppose but so subtle, did it even accomplish its goal?

 

 

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I'm just wondering if I missed when anyone explained to Parker how he could extract the "soul orb" or whatever from Sid's body. He wastes so much time firing his gun at a computer program that is unaffected by bullets that you assume he just doesn't know how else to deal with this thing. Maybe there is one throwaway line about having to remove Sid's "program" from his body (I assume this was ADR-ed in later), but no one tells Parker that it's in the back of Sid's neck, right? Yet at the crucial moment, he KNOWS. He just knows.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Let's also just take a moment to admire the fashion choices for Denzel Washington in this movie.

 

 

 

 

[RyanSz 3140]

Here's something interesting I noticed in the film but it's very subtle. When we see Denzel going back into prison the door has "Stand clear of door" written on it and then below it it has the same thing written in Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean. I found it odd that there are all those languages on the door. I mean I could see the Spanish or French maybe but the Korean and Japanese seemed odd. Later on in the movie when we see Dr. Lindenmeyer watching the news a few times in his hotel room and each time there are three boxes on the side with different talking heads. The top head seems to be telling the news in English, the middle one is an Asian person, and there is one more on the bottom also speaking out of sync. So not only are the prisons multilingual but the news is too. This leads me to wonder is everything in future L.A. multilingual? Is it just L.A. or all of America? Why these languages? Why even include this at all? It's interesting world building I suppose but so subtle, did it even accomplish its goal?

CA prisons and court documents are done in a variety of languages including Korean and French as for whatever reason there is a sizable population in CDCR. Even though the CA superior court system only accepts legal paperwork in English, the forms are in four to five others depending on how commonly said forms are used, so the person filling out the form can do so in their native tongue. From their the form is then usually sent to a translator for putting it into English in order to be formally submitted to the court. The verbiage on walls/doors/floors in a prison are just in English, but is painted in red along with heavy lines to constitute out of bound areas or white/yellow lines for where inmates need to stand at a given moment.

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

 

So replaced the French and Japanese with Russian and Chinese. The times, they are a changing.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

One more C&O, again according to Kelly Lynch's 2012 AV Club interview, it was originally written for Mel Gibson then Denzel came on. I do remember Denzel interviews at the time re: his son. My memory (and this may be faulty, I'll concede) is that Denzel said his son wanted him to do an action movie, not this movie specifically.

I need to know: is this the son that is on Ballers now?

 

Not so much at my facility where there are no gangs due to the classification system of the facility as a Sensitive Needs Facility.

A follow up if I may, can you swim to Spago from your facility?

 

Okay, I have got to say this.

DENZEL WASHINGTON IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTORS OF ALL TIME PERIOD.

Check out W Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery's podcast to find out more why. When the audience member asked his question about the greatest actor being in the worst movie, PAUL thought he was talking about Russel Crowe... what the fuck. No way, man!

Not enough talk about how great Denzel Washington is!

 

I was a tiny bit bummed this wasn't another crossover episode. I demand Paul at least talk to Kevin Avery on the minisode!

 

ETA: I bet the JASON X episode will air the 27th so it will be Halloween centered. But I agree, a mistake to miss Friday the 13th.

[grudlian. 4725]

I'm curious if I'm the only one who was stupid enough to think "Is Sid 6.7 also a vampire?" when this happened?