Switch The Envelope

Only 1 out of every 5 Oscar nominated actors actually gets to enjoy the ceremony with a win. The remaining 80% of the audience then become very talented Seat Fillers. Join Jeff and Cory on this inaugural StE Presents series, as they take you through the many Oscar misses of the King of Seat Fillers, Peter O’Toole. His career was heralded, his characters iconic, but for every nomination he faced, The Academy had other plans. Were his performances under appreciated?  Was the deck constantly stacked against him? Did he spend more time drinking with Richard Burton than Burton’s own 2nd and 3rd wife Elizabeth Taylor to care? All this and more on Seat Fillers: Peter O’Toole.

Hollywood loves to pull stories from the history books. They also feel the need to alter that history to be more entertaining, even when the real history is sometime better than the movies. In this StE Presents series Jeff and Cory are traveling through time, going after Hollywood’s historically fictional history of reframing actual history. Stop one on this quantum celluloid journey, the old west, and how the history and historical figures from the film Young Guns were way more interesting in real life.

On this episode we’re all about film trilogies. The standard marker of a successful film used to be defined by the achievement of a trilogy. The success of that third film typically determines if that set of films will become a franchise gold mine. Jeff and Cory take a journey through some thirds that worked, thirds that saved a franchise, and some thirds that bombed. Then our galant hosts take on some duologies that deserve to reach the coveted trilogy status.

Nothing quite moves an audience of filmgoers quite like camera movement. Suppose that’s more literal movement than being moved emotionally, but go with us on this. This episode of Cinnovations explores Garrett Brown and his Steadicam, a marvel of modern cinema technology that combined the movements of larger camera moving devices into a single operator rig that could move a camera with a weightless like ease. Join Jeff and Cory as they take you through the history of motion in motion pictures that led one inventor to revolutionize the industry.

Jeff and Cory take some lessons from master film meddler, George Lucas, and apply them to other blockbusters and beloved films. From retconned pothole fixes in Citizen Kane to an abundance of lasers in Top Gun, they’re answering the important question of what would George Lucas do? Will the tinkering be expensive? Sure. Are the changes completely unnecessary? Absolutely. Does constant tweaking of a film help sell special edition box sets? You betcha! Does all of that make the film better? Umm…we’ll let you be the judge.

On this episode, Jeff and Cory air their grievances over being lured into watching some bad movies on the star power of their casts. In Hollywood when a movie stacks the deck with acting talent, box office draw, and director bona fides you sometimes strike gold, but often movies with that much promise turn out to be turd sandwiches. Whether it’s an overly contrived western gunslinger tournament, a bloated space opera, or Cats, our hosts are here to steer you clear of some movies that, despite their great casts, are terrible movies.

This week Jeff and Cory put on their writer’s caps and dream up some sequels to some classic one-off movies. From Galaxy Quest to Pulp Fiction to Stand By Me, our fearless hosts dare to concoct winning formulas to extend their favorite movieverses. All you writers out there looking for the next million dollar script idea, you’ll probably have to keep looking, but if you do use one of these ideas and it gets made don’t forget to credit Switch the Envelope. we’ll also accept a late credits thank you. You’re welcome in advance.

On this episode Jeff and Cory dip into the bag of dad jokes that hangs on the wall of StE HQ and has been collecting puns for the later part of a year. Oh yeah, they also get into all the kicks and punches from their favorite fight sequences on film. From Keanu to Van Damme, these fight sequences are so good they justify a Stunt Coordinator Oscar Category!

Just when you thought it was safe to go to a kids movie, Jeff and Cory take a look at some Children’s films that might have some explaining to do. Whether it’s torture, drug use, child murder, parent murder, the murder of innocence, (man…there’s a lot of murder) or all of the above, some movies made safe for general audiences tow the line with themes that will definitely make for awkward car rides home from the theater. Buckle up, cause these kid flix double takes just may cause whiplash.

On this episode, Jeff and Cory find themselves once again with the burden of answering some Celebrity Mail. Those celebrities are far too busy to answer your nonsense, but the internet is in luck because Jeff and Cory have nothing but free time on their hands. You’re welcome. After helping some celebrities manage their fan’s tomfoolery, our hosts turn their ire to the celebrities themselves. More specifically, they get into the thick of some very terrible accents in film. From the “not-gonna-do it” actors like Kevin Costner to the “tried-and failed” actors like Dick Van Dyke, Jeff and Cory are here to Olde English crowd Boos at the worst accents Hollywood has to offer.