Just saw "Catch Me If You Can." Nicely done. It was as if Spielberg chose to get out of the way of the story, and it was a good decision. Impressive to see Tom Hanks in a supporting role.
One comics-related observation: Interesting that Hank's G-man Carl Hanratty was able to determine that his quarry, Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) was not an adult because Abagnale used the name "Barry Allen" as an alias. As soon as Hanratty learned that Barry Allen was the Flash, he said, "He reads comic books! We're looking for a kid!"
Back in the early 1960s, apparently it was just that simple.
PAD
Posted by Peter David at January 13, 2003 12:01 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingEven to this day some people think reading comics is a sign of stunted development ;)
Then again, with books like Marville....
Whereas, these days, if anybody associated the name Barry Allen with the Flash, it would probably be a pretty safe bet that they were pushing 30 at the very least... like me... lol!
It's a good year for Flash associations in the movies. I saw the movie poster for the new Eddie Murphy torture coming out and there's a kid in a flash costume in the gang.
Of course, it could have been an AWOL enlisted man who used to get his comics at the PX. :)
My father and I both laughed at the Barry Allen line. And there was forshadowing for it, with the stack of Flash comics at Frank's bedside.
David
I saw the film with my brother-in-law and when he said that phrase here i was blushing like crazy with my brother-in-law laughing at me the whole time. lol
You know, Decaprio does look like Bary Allen.
Ugh... Have to wait about a month or so to this movie be released here in Brazil.
Yeah, times are not as simples anymore..... I think all comic readers I know are at least over twenty.....
J
I caught the foreshadowing earlier in the movie and whispered to my bro-in-law "I've got the top 2 but not the one there". I was kind of hoping there would be more secret ids later in the movie to laugh about.
I saw "Catch Me if You Can" with my sister. We both really enjoyed it. The fact it was true was really cool.
Is it just me, or did it seem like a "Feed the Beast that Killed me" kind of deal at the end?
I'll have to see this movie; I haven't got 'round to it yet. For a really good comic reference, see "Crimson Tide" (I think that was the title) starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. In the movie, two sailors get into a fist-fight over who was the better Silver Surfer artist -- Jack Kirby or John Buscema!
I also saw "Catch" tonight. Did you catch the "Mr. Flemming" when he bought the suit? Of course you did.
I'd pay to see a Dicaprio Flash movie.
-Shawn
As I read that scene, it wasn't just the comics that convinced Handratty that they were looking for a kid, but the comics combined with what they already knew about him, such as the lack of fingerprints on file, his sudden emergence, etc. I did think it was a nice touch that he not only gave his name as Barry Allen, but did so in a situation where he was basically pretending to be a forensic scientist.
Of course they wouldn't look for a kid these days- kids can't afford comics!
This reminds me of an actual news story about ten years back with a teenage boy claiming to be an amnesiac who wandered into a police station and had the cops baffled about who he was and where he came from. He did remember his name: "Raven Darkhölme." It took a while but someone recognized that as the name of Mystique from X-Men and blew the the whistle on the kid, who was faking amnesia to get attention...
I would like to recommend the book "Catch Me If you Can". If you were amazed at Frank's exploits in the movie just wait until you read the book. This guy was incredible!
Fazhoul
>>This reminds me of an actual news story about ten years back with a teenage boy claiming to be an amnesiac who wandered into a police station and had the cops baffled about who he was and where he came from. He did remember his name: "Raven Darkhölme." It took a while but someone recognized that as the name of Mystique from X-Men and blew the the whistle on the kid, who was faking amnesia to get attention... <<
It was further back than that, because I was still working at the Marvel office. And here's the kicker: According to the newspaper articles at the time, when called on the use of a comic book character, "he tried to give police another obviously made-up name, 'Peter David.'"
PAD
My buddy and I were the only ones laughing when Abagnole introduced himself as Barry Allen. We were also one of the few that laughed when he introduced himself as Mr. Fleming. I understand that most people wouldn't get the Flash reference, but the Bond ref I thought was pretty obvious, especially since he was watching a Bond film just prior to using the Fleming name. Honestly, doesn't anyone pay attention to pop culture anymore?
In an earlier adventure Posted by Tom Pearce @ 01/13/2003 09:53 PM ET:
"For a really good comic reference, see "Crimson Tide" (I think that was the title) starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. In the movie, two sailors get into a fist-fight over who was the better Silver Surfer artist -- Jack Kirby or John Buscema!"
Actually, it was Moebius instead of John Buscema. The sailor was relating this to the Denzel character that the other sailor was European. Denzel's character chastised him for fighting, then pointed out that anyone knows Jack Kirby was the best.
Of course, I would show my geekiness by bringing up Buscema.
"Okay, Moebius, open the door!"
Another trivia tidbit about that Silver Surfer dialog from Crimson Tide: that bit was apparently a contribution from Quentin "Pulp Fiction" Tarantino, who (although uncredited) provided some punchier dialog rewrites for certain scenes.
>>This reminds me of an actual news story about ten years back with a teenage boy claiming to be an amnesiac who wandered into a police station and had the cops baffled about who he was and where he came from. He did remember his name: "Raven Darkhölme." It took a while but someone recognized that as the name of Mystique from X-Men and blew the the whistle on the kid, who was faking amnesia to get attention... <<
It was in Aug. 1983. Reading over old newspaper articles, the kid also also said he was abandoned by a woman named Amanda (as in Sefton) and had a brother names Scott (as in Summers).
He then said he was Thilo Devereaux from Sweden and "his parents died in a fire in Stockholm when the boy was seven. Then he was then drawn into a
drug-dealing ring in Europe, he said, and, at one point after moving to the United States, supported himself through prostitution."
He ended up being 19-year old David Michael Peters, the adopted son of an Episcopal priest from Kansas.
David
I thought the name Dr.Connors name he used was a reference to The Lizard, but i couldn't remember if the Lizards first name was Frank.
good film
WHy all these things happen?
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