"Fool's Gold"

gkainz

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
8,401
Location
Arvada, CO
Display Name

Display name:
Greg Kainz
Saw "Fool's Gold" with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson over the weekend.

I somewhat in jest protested to my wife that I couldn't see it with her because I would cry. She said "What????" I had to tell her that I already saw the previews and a perfectly good floatplane dies ... I just didn't think I was up for that level of emotion! :D

When the Cessna gets hit with gunfire and begins to spew fuel from the belly, I leaned over to my wife and she said "Shush!!! Just don't say it!!!" She knew I was about to say something about the scene being wrong - stems from our first movie together - Top Gun - that she and I saw with our friends - he (a Navy pilot) and I pretty much guffawed and groaned at the technical bloopers through out that one...

Anyway, a cute, silly movie - decent Saturday afternoon entertainment, at least in our opinion.

http://www.parentpreviews.com/movie-reviews/fools-gold.shtml is reviewed here, which says, in part,

Beyond the movie ratings: What parents need to know about Fool's Gold...

"This tale about finding sunken treasure does have a daughter and father working out their differences and a husband and wife rethinking a divorce. However, other content overshadows these highlights. Violence consists of gunplay, with characters being threatened and shot at (some non-life-threatening wounds result). A man is harpooned in the leg, a woman is kidnapped by men and forced into a deep hole, and a pilot is kicked out of a plane while the craft is still in the air. Sexual content ranges from a variety of tiny bikinis and low cut shirts to one brief shot of fully exposed female breasts*. Sexual activity between a married man and woman are implied as well as overheard. There are also plenty of sexual innuendos, including comments made by a homosexual couple. Moderate profanities and terms of deity are used frequently throughout the script. Alcohol use to the point of drunkenness is depicted, and one inebriated character is portrayed driving a boat."

*must have been a VERY brief scene - I missed that one!
 
Last edited:
What concerns me the most about that movie is that even after the lackluster success of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days some studio exec thought it was a good idea to bring McConaughey and Hudson back together again. Did they really think their chemistry was that good??
 
It scares me the detail to which some people pore over the movies, looking for anything that might offend! (BTW, the implied "Sexual activity between a married man and woman" -- Unless they think that everyone there is a bastard or Jesus Christ, doesn't the existence of people in the movie imply that? Also, were they married to one another, or was adultery involved, too?
 
Grant - it did say "What parents need to know..." there have been a few movies that I wish we would have had a heads-up on when the kids were younger ... "Meet the Faulkers" was rather awkward when my wife took our boys ...
 
Grant - it did say "What parents need to know..." there have been a few movies that I wish we would have had a heads-up on when the kids were younger ... "Meet the Faulkers" was rather awkward when my wife took our boys ...
Maybe it's my political leanings coming to fore, but I halfway expected to see "There was a woman not covered in a burka", or "there was a Negro who could read!" in the description. It just seemed to reek of intolerance. Wouldn't a better rule be "go see a film before exposing your kids to it" or, even better, see the film and then explain how it fits in with the values you're trying to teach them, but realize that other people have other values? Sorry. Hit a hot button with me. And I have no leg upon which to stand, since I have no kids! :hairraise:
 
Grant - it did say "What parents need to know..." there have been a few movies that I wish we would have had a heads-up on when the kids were younger ... "Meet the Faulkers" was rather awkward when my wife took our boys ...

www.KidsInMind.com and www.ScreenIt.com are good for these things too... If you're offended by (or don't want your kids to hear) certain language in the movies, for example, you can find out exactly how many times certain words are used in a film. Or how "gory" the violence really is. As a parent, I find the sites worthwhile, and haven't been "surprised" at a movie in a long time (not that we go that often--we usually wait to see it on DVD).
 
www.KidsInMind.com and www.ScreenIt.com are good for these things too... If you're offended by (or don't want your kids to hear) certain language in the movies, for example, you can find out exactly how many times certain words are used in a film. Or how "gory" the violence really is. As a parent, I find the sites worthwhile, and haven't been "surprised" at a movie in a long time (not that we go that often--we usually wait to see it on DVD).
You know another thing you can do is just stop taking your kids to PG and R rated movies.

I personally am tired of seeing young kids at 9pm showings of R rated movies.
 
*must have been a VERY brief scene - I missed that one!


It was when he was rescued by the speedboat. First pass by him both girls flash him, second pass by him he gets tossed a can of beer.

"Decent rescue!" Was his response.

Oh, and they were technically divorced by the time the church scene came around.

--Carlos V.
 
You know another thing you can do is just stop taking your kids to PG and R rated movies.

You presume I take my kids to R-rated movies... I do not. Or was that a generic, public "you"?

And the F-word started showing up in PG movies, so you gotta watch (pre-screen) those too if you don't want your kids exposed to it needlessly.

But you are correct... stop going to the movies, and you don't need those sites... maybe I'll take them flying instead. :yes:
 
I don't condone kids to R movies, on the other hand, I think that there are a number of PG films pushing into the R boundries.

Thankfully, not a parent, so no worries. Still I'm the "bad" uncle: "You took them flying, to go see an movie, and bought them airsoft guns". I usually skedaddly when the parent of my unclely wards gets like that.

~ Christopher
 
I don't condone kids to R movies, on the other hand, I think that there are a number of PG films pushing into the R boundries.

And, there are films that are OK for kids and are educational in one way or another that get higher ratings anyway. I remember having a school field trip to go see The Last Emperor, which really should have been G but when the emperor was a kid he had a wet nurse and the ratings board went OH NO! BREASTS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! (Funny, with all of those topless beaches full of kids in Europe, their kids don't seem to be any worse for having seen breasts... Here, society thinks to seem that you'll be a degenerate if you see a breast between the ages of 2 and 18.)

Then, I also remember my parents taking me to see Witness when it came out. There is a murder at the beginning, not graphic (at least, I don't remember it at all so it sure didn't make an impression on my young mind) but enough to earn an R rating.

What the studios should do is have a youtube-style site that simply shows all of the "objectionable" pieces of the movie so that parents can watch snippets and make their decision without having to watch the entire movie.

Frankly, the ratings system is broken. Find the Playboy interview (yes, I did read the articles) with South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone from a few years ago. They cut and cut and cut and couldn't get less than an NC-17 rating. After their last cut, the board came back with an NC-17 rating again, until they screamed at one of the higher-ups at Paramount who then made some phone calls and the VERY SAME CUT came back with an R rating.
 
Then, I also remember my parents taking me to see Witness when it came out. There is a murder at the beginning, not graphic (at least, I don't remember it at all so it sure didn't make an impression on my young mind) but enough to earn an R rating.
I think it earned it's R-rating on the scene where you get to see Kelli McGillis' breasts.

Violence is ok, violence usually earns you a lower rating as compared to the quick flash of a boobie.
 
I think it earned it's R-rating on the scene where you get to see Kelli McGillis' breasts.

Violence is ok, violence usually earns you a lower rating as compared to the quick flash of a boobie.
In the US. Europe seems to be reversed in that respect. I prefer their way!:yes:
 
I think it earned it's R-rating on the scene where you get to see Kelli McGillis' breasts.

Violence is ok, violence usually earns you a lower rating as compared to the quick flash of a boobie.

There it is again... OH NO, BREASTS! While I don't remember the gore aspect of the murder, I do remember it. I don't remember breasts at all. Must have been so traumatic I blocked it out. :rolleyes:

I will admit to a boob fixation though. :yes: :D
 
Yeah ... but ....



spoiler alert ......





the airplane dies in the end. :(

Yeah, well that's par for the course in Hollywood, innit? No drama in a safe arrival... except for The High and the Mighty. :D
 
I thought we were going to talk about the plane... drat.
 
We're pilots. We see planes all the time, but breasts . . .

drool . . .

~ Christopher
 
okay......so I have to ask......what do I get to drool over..... :dunno: :D
 
Back
Top