As always I come to your reactions in equal measure for the filmic analysis and your unique snark. Barry Sonnenfeld also photographed Raising Arizona, one of my favorite Shanelle Riccio reactions to rewatch (especially the dye bomb scene). By the way, that "font choice" in the credits is Pablo Ferro's handwriting, as seen in his opening title sequences for Dr Strangelove (1964) and Stop Making Sense (1984).
@@AlanCanon2222 Don't forget Addams Family Values, which she did WAY before that one. She also did the original Addams Family but took it down. Still don't know why though.
Can we talk about how great Vincent D'onofrio's physical mannerisms are in this movie? He moves like you imagine a cockroach wearing a human skinsuit and hating everything about this planet would move. Even his violence is jerky, but looks believable. He's got a good balance of physical comedy and believable threat.
Everybody talks about how great he was as Wilson Fisk... I thought that character was terrible (though admittedly that was not his fault)... but yes, he's amazing in so many things aside from that.
Vincent D'onofrio studied for the role's unique physicality by watching bug documentaries and Peter Sellers' performance in Dr. Strangelove before discovering that basketball braces could help him achieve the desired effect. He is truly and underrated actor, he pulled that off well and made us believe he was a big bug in an Edgar suit.
In other words, a crowd of people panicking is one of the most dangerous things most of us might encounter. When there's a fire in a public building, way more people die because of the stampede than because of the fire.
For anyone who rewatches this/the actual movie, pay attention to how Edgar's face decays over the course of the movie since it's a dead body that's being worn. Really awesome little thing they did.
When I was 7 my dad took myself and my brothers to the movie theater and we had to choose between this movie and Batman and Robin. We decided on Batman and Robin but when we got out dad surprised us by taking us to Men in Black. Only time doing a back to back feature in a theater and I’ll never forget it.
glad it wasn't the other way around lol, ended with a banger I had a similar experience with equally diverse quality films haha My parents took me to see Kazaam then we walk out and decided to go back in to watch the original Mission Impossible Blew my mind... good memories, i miss the 90s :)
Simple stories are the reason I miss 90s movies. "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." Most famous quote from the movie.
Very true about simple stories. Modern prestige television has taught viewers that everything must have seven twists and plans within plans within plans.
I love how much this movie paid attention to detail as far as Edgar. The more time went on, the more decayed he got and stiffer he got. Because Edgar’s body was decomposing and going through rigor mortis.
Just a note.. At the time Tommy Lee Jones was a much bigger star. Smith had done a TV show, an Indie (Six Degrees of Separation), an action movie from a then unknown music video director named Michael Bay (Bad Boys), and then a major role in the ensemble summer blockbuster 'Independence Day'. 'Men in Black' cemented summer as Big Willy's summer hit streak... And what made him the big star he became. Jones had been working well over 20 years, had won his first Oscar three years prior ('The Fugitive') and the secondary villain in a summer super hero film 2 summers before ('Batman Forever' as Two-Face).
@@bigbake132 true.. But that was expected to be huge..re teaming with the director of MIB.. amazing how that movie really has just vanished from the world though. Seems it never gets brought up anymore. Lol.
@@mcgilj1 Yeah I never hear about it either, probably for the best lol. I remember watching it a few times back in 99 and the early 2000's because I wanted to give it a few more chances but it never got any better.
@@bigbake132 I will give kudos to the fx... Salma Hayek is gorgeous.. And Kevin Kline did the best he could.. But yeah.. The less said about it the better.
Came to the comments looking for this. Will Smith got big because of the success of this movie and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He could have ended up a TV actor and rapper and never made it as a movie top bill.
17:15 “Correct me if that’s not what those dumpling things were.” It literally says in the movie, “Do we have time to eat?” “I ordered you pirogies.” “Ahhh.”
Back in those great times, this movie was one of the 'must-see flicks'. Several reasons: big names, revolutionary special effects, Will Smith outside the "Prince of Bel-Air" mansion (yes, he was in "Independence day" a year before). And the promotion for this movie was really heavy. Seeing it in a cinema was definitely an experience
Men in black was actually the 1st movie that I watched after reading a book on screenwriting and taking an interest in how movies were made. It was fascinating how so much of the movie's plot structure was so much like a lot of what the book was talking about.
This film was absolutely groundbreaking in 1997. EVERYBODY saw this one in theaters, and EVERYBODY was talking about it. The fact that the ride still exists 26 years later at Universal Studios Florida says a lot about its popularity. Tommy Lee Jones was firing off his string of amazing performances in "JFK" (1991, his villainous turn in "Under Siege" (1992), Academy Award win for "The Fugitive" (1993), and playing Harvey Dent/Two-Face in "Batman Forever" (1995) , and was a very bankable star. He'd been acting since 1970 and had been nominated for two Academy Awards (winning one), three Golden Globe Awards (one win), two BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards (one win), and a SAG Award. Smith had been in five films total at this point in his career, most notably the Summer blockbusters "Bad Boys" and "Independence Day" in 1995 and 1996, respectively. I don't think Jones' agent had to push much for him to get top billing.
This was one of my favorites growing up. The sequels are fun too. Wait until you see MIB 3. Linda Fiorentino who plays Laurel was in Dogma too. So happy you reacted to this one. Keep up the great work.
Love the reaction! I'll forgive that you omitted my favorite line from this film, "Elvis is not dead. He just went home". Caught this at the cinema with my then-girlfriend. It was a pleasant surprise for us in how much we enjoyed it.
Shanelle i don't think you've done _Galaxy Quest_ have you? -I'm reminded because the "alien" who played the expectant father in MIB played a big role in it. It's a MUST watch
I love a glib fast-talker and stoic badass combo. The chemistry between Tommy and Will is so fun, and then you throw in Linda Fiorentino "She got this whole 'queen of the undead' thing going on..." 🤣🤣🤣 Every time K talks down to J or hands him a terrible job it makes me laugh.
I was lucky enough to watch this in the theaters back in 1997. It doesn't feel that long ago... And yeah, it was _the_ summer blockbuster for that year. Will Smith's accompanying song and music video got _tons_ of play on MTV and radio, there was a Saturday morning cartoon show on the WB, a massive marketing campaign that spanned at least a couple dozen different companies, etc. Box office-wise, it came in third after Titanic and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The top 10 movies for 1997 also included Tomorrow Never Dies, Air Force One, As Good As It Gets, Liar Liar, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Fifth Element, and The Full Monty. The fact that a sci-fi action comedy managed to outperform that kind of lineup is a testament to its quality. It absolutely encapsulated the era it was made; an excellent combination of practical and digital effects, snappy dialogue, a surprisingly lighthearted story with a sense of optimism... God, I miss that decade sometimes.
Ive just recently started watching your content... out of all of the "first time seeing" reactors on TH-cam, you are the most knowledgeable about film making and really good at guessing what is about to happen... keep up the good work ❤
If you watched a legal copy, there would have been subtitles for the restaurant scene and known that it was full of unimportant diamonds, and that they were pierogi
I was 12 when this came out. My mother, brother, and I saw it in the theater. Back then our local theater tickets were only $1.50 so we would go almost every Sunday and watch movies.
22:49 - "That is pretty tiny ..." That's what she said. Shan, did the version you watch not have subtitles? Some scenes are supposed to, like K speaking Spanish at the start and the restaurant scene with the two aliens talking.
Will Smith was in a summer blockbuster pretty much every year or quite a few years in the mid/late 90s. I grew up right in that period so saw them all in the cinema. Good times!
Every single time I need to add more sugar to something, I quote this movie. "Give me. Sugar," *pause* "...In water." I love that Vincent D'Onofrio was cast here. Being six-foot-four and already imposing enough, add some prosthetics and have fun pretending you're a bug alien inside of an Edgar suit, and you've got an antagonist who has more than one note. D'Onofrio always does that-his villain roles are mesmerizing because he's just as interesting as the protagonists and he makes you pay attention. I love the forced nonchalance he tries to do in the exterminator truck.
3:10 The font was in tribute to the credits to Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire, "Dr. Strangelove". You should react to that film, Shanelle. It's nutty and smart. 4:11 That's Sergio Calderon, who sadly passed away this week, as Jose. He was in "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End", but I know him best from the two-hour "A-Team" TV pilot, "Mexican Slayride".
38:57 ---- most times, the "goo" or slime is a methylcellulose base with coloring or thickeners.. I believe the Raft Creature in Creepshow II was done the same way.. (The parts where it was stuck to the actors or "consuming" them...) Though I did hear a set story that the actress in the water nearly drowned because part of the creature's construction was nylon / rayon / silk which became really heavy and tangled when waterlogged...
I was in highschool when this came out. It was huge. Tommy Lee Jones was higher billed because he was a huge movie star. Will Smith was that rapper guy from Fresh Prince. This was the first movie of his domination of the summer box office in the late 90s, if I remember right.
The Men in Black" Is no joke an actual unexplained real world phenomenon where hundreds of people both civilian and government have witnessed men in black suits and sunglasses appear whenever something unexplainable/other worldly is witnessed/reported saying they are from an undisclosed agency but all known agencies claim to not know who or what they are. The myth of the MiB is what inspired the comic and these movies along with many other things it's a fun google.
Thanks, Shanelle! 🕶 The Greek diner was a real place called *Florent* in Manhattan's Meatpacking District; it closed 15 years ago. A friend and I shot parts of a music video there. #ShanelleRiccio #BarrySonnenfeld #MenInBlack
I doubt you’ll read this, but just because I have to say it, the website for this movie was pretty awesome, bearing in mind that you had to dial in to AOL and spend minutes to load the main page of the website, just to go to other parts of the website, which also took minutes. That anticipation made it so much more enjoyable.
Men in Black was a comic by a small press company called Aircel in the 90, It partnered with another small company, Eternity Comics, before being bought out by Malibu Comics in 1994. Malibu was then bought by Marvel shortly after.
100% comfort food movie, every time if it’s on I usually stop and at least have it on for background noise while I’m working, all of the series is good especially the third one wow! , thanks Shanelle!
Personally, I found the second film a bit disappointing on first watching it (I found it a bit rushed) but I've enjoyed it more on rewatches. I agree that number 3 is pretty good. I'm not sure whether I've watched MIB International. I think I have but don't remember it at all.
MIB is one of the best sci-fi comedies ever made. If you want to get a clue about J's backstory, continue the series. If you like this, also check out Galaxy Quest, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Mars Attacks. The conversation on the park bench is absolutely classic! The FX were incredible and still hold up now, 26 years later.
1 Edgar/Bug = Vincent D'onofrio played Gomer Pyle in "Full Metal Jacket". 2. Tommy Lee Jones' roommate in college was Al Gore. 3. Jones has claimed that he's never had a part that he didn't love and doesn't have a job. Just a hobby that pays very well.🤑😁 4. "Congratulations Reggie........It' a squid".🤣 5. Tell me this wasn't a fun movie. I dare you.
My husband and I went to go see this in theaters when our son was about 18 months to 2 years old. We weren't too worried about his age since whenever we had gone to a movie with him before he had fallen asleep during the coming attractions and basically slept through the movie. This time we had brought our comfortable jogging stoller and it worked like a charm. That is until the scene where K looses his gun. It got loud during that scene and he woke up. People in the theater got a kick out of watching me try to watch the movie over my shoulder while I stood in front of my son to try to block his view until all of the giant bug stuff and shooting was over. It was hilarious in hind sight! He is 28 now!
I'm watching on a small screen (laptop) but those sure looked like pierogis to me. Not surprising that Shan recognizes and loves Polish ravioli! =D I'm authorized to award you 25 honorary Polish points.🇵🇱🇮🇹
yes, those are pierogi. there used to be a polish deli near me where an old dude that would crank them out by hand faster than you could follow, he’d been doing it for 50 years. yum!
Knew it was going to be really good as soon as I saw Rick Baker did the special make-up effects and Bo Welch was the production designer. They both did awesome work especially for the time. To catch everything, it may take two or three times watching it because there is so much going on. The actor that played "Mikey" in the beginning just passed away a couple of days ago, but I can't think of his name. It is hard to not give away any spoilers for II and III. "Men in Black: International" isn't too bad, just different.
This movie was HUGE in 1997. I was 13 , it was the first time I saw a movie twice in theaters it was that fun! $589 million at the box office world wide.
It looks as though you were watching a version without subtitles of the different alien languages. The galaxy is heavily inferred in the conversation between the two aliens in the restaurant. And yes, that was pierogi.
@@ShanelleRiccio Yeah, I find it puzzling when they do stuff like that, because how do they expect you to follow the film as intended? It's happened to me several times! It can be quite annoying. Love your reactions by the way! Keep up the stellar work!
D’onofrio’s decaying body effects was added into the movie because Vincent had just finished filming a war movie and had lost a lot of weight before arriving on set of MIB. His skin was hanging loosely on his face, neck and other areas of his body. SFX then made Vincent look like his body is rapidly deteriorating throughout the movie
One of the best days of my life was back in the early 2000's when I was signed up for a "joke a day" email. I was just thinking about man in black and that punchline "But this one is eating my popcorn". Then low and behold the whole joke was in my email.
Hi Shanelle!!!😊 That big, tall, skinny, bald alien you've just seen in the restaurant was portrayed by actor Carel Struycken, or Lurch from the Addam Family movies in the early 1990's!!!!!😄
👽👍 If you enjoyed this, then you will definitely also enjoy Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks," which came out within a couple of months of it and of course, also features incidental music by Danny Elfman. The opening credit roll alone usually causes people's jaws to drop due to the sheer enormity of the cast. Jack Nicholson is the president of the United States, Natalie Portman is his teenage daughter, and Tom Jones plays himself...And that's barely scratching the surface.
My favorite subtle scene is when the little destruction ball is flying around how Zed doesn’t even look up or change expression as he casually evades it. I like this demonstration that even the bureaucrat in the office is this off the charts bad ass, but I also just like Rip Torn.
One of the most awesome things about the build up to this film was just the perfect accident of the two lead's names. So they would just have a poster that showed Will captioned with Mr. Smith and another poster of Tommy captioned with Mr. Jones. The perfect anonymous last names for two men in black type of of characters. It was just serendipity.
I saw this in theaters when I was 11 years old with my mother, my 9 year old brother, and 2 of my friends. It was a fun movie and a good memory. Speilberg had the director put friends and other people he has worked with when showing all the people who were aliens. That is why George Lucas, Danny Devito, and Sylvester Stallone are on the screens. In 1999, in Star Wars episode 1. George lucas repays him by putting in ET's race in the senate since Spielberg always references lucas in some way somewhere.
Yeah Will Smith was at like a peak at this poin, we'd have the music video for the song on MTV and it blew me away as a kid. My first instance of Tommy Lee Jones and he was so cool to me and helped shape my future movies if I saw him in it. I had that MiB song on repeat as a child.
I was working at a mall at the time and the bus stop was outside the movie theater. I remember closing the store down and checking the posters while I waited for the bus. All the poster was was Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in costume, with the caption, "Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, Men In Black". I was sold at first glance and wanted to see it with no more information than that, and I succeeded! And it was just as brilliant as I hoped.
Yeah. Saw this in the cinema in 97. The effects were great, beyond reproach. This movie really established Will Smith as a movie actor. Directly leading to Independence Day.
When Men in Black was released, it was censored in some countries, including Australia. The censoring involved the suicide scene near the start (the guy who jumps off the building). It was a bit strange, if creative. He dissolved into sparkly stuff as he fell--leaving it unclear whether he'd died or just teleported away to safety. That was the version I grew up with in the cinema and on TV. I remember being puzzled that the movie never picked up that 'dropped plot thread' again or explained what the guy had done. Years later I bought the DVD and was utterly baffled when there was just a thump as he hits the ground. 🤯
Alien coming out of the chest? Well ... I know at least two movies that had that thing happening. 17:19 You're correct. The question is, what was inside of them. The most popular ones would have white cheese mixed with the potatoes. There could be pierogi filled with the cabbage, or with the grind meat, or with the black berries ... The possibilities are almost limitless.
MIB was a Marvel comic for about a year. It wasn't originally a Marvel comic, it was published by 2 other independent publishers until Marvel bought its second to last publisher, Malibu in 1990.
2:20 - No, I can assure you, you do *NOT* lack popcorn pushers. You're OK in that department. Oh also, those were quite accurate guesses (snazzy dialog, block buster, popcorn-pusher...) 😃
"what are they looking for? I don't know" When you said that you sounded Australian. And yes, we do have visitors from elsewhere. That's all I will say on that.
35:11 - On that note: look up if you can find it the Barry Sonnenfeld episode of the TNT show The Directors. He talks about directing TLJ and having to tell him to play it straight.
This is the second movie I saw on DVD (I saw it in the theater too). In addition to the special features, it was the first time you could watch VFX clearly frame-by-frame. I still remember discovering that the truck that the bug's ship crashes into is just a shell, there's nothing in the engine compartment (which you can see through to the explosion behind it for exactly one frame).
Chanelle you should do more popcorn movies. Your reactions are priceless and since so many of us grew up with these movies your predictions are fun without ruining anything. I found out this for you in regards to the slime. Hope it’s enlightening. Keep up the good reviews.
When it came out, I was working at Boy Scout camp in Maine. We were usually only allowed to take one night out per week, but could be pulled into other people's nights out if there were a reason. Each night out group needed two things: someone 18+ and a vehicle. As a 19yo with a car, I was pretty much guaranteed to be on any night out trips, and the movies theater about 30min away was about the only thing to go and do. Saw this several times, Air Force One at least once, and I'm not sure what else.
There are a whole bunch of things about this film that work really, really well. One that isn't mentioned as much as it should be, is the script, which gives a whole batch of stand-out moments. One example: the whole mini-monologue by Rip-Torn, over the montage where Will Smith has his identity erased to become 'J'. Yes, it's melodramatic, but it adds to the comedy and textures the movie.
Not sure about the MCU comparison... If you want to know what gave Marvel the Idea to start their own Superhero Franchise and that Marvel Superhero Films can make a profit... watch Blade! It was the first bigger budget Marvel movie that made money and was a huge reason for Fox to invest in X-Men and Sony in Spider Man.
This movie was clever. The sequel not so much. "I have Men in Black II in here" "So you get the general idea" "Ha ha ha, not quite! It's basically and endless string of call backs to..." "Alright! Save it for TH-cam. I'll keep looking for clues. "
Academy Award for best makeup... enough said. Love this movie for the new take on our interaction on aliens. Oh, before i forget I think you remember the little pug from Armageddon Day when he attacks the toy Godzilla.
I cant remember if I saw this one in theatres or not. That year I know I saw Mouse Hunt and the rereleased Star Wars Trilogy. I did see 2&3 in theatres though, and they were fun for sure. There was also an animated series after the first film.
I liked to think of this movie as simple in much the same way as A New Hope is simple and refreshingly doesn't exhaust the premise by the end. Like gets no further than channeling the force to make one shot. Similarly, J gets in the deep end on a whole universe he's unprepared for. It's brisk, has a lot of texture, and makes you want more. Very nice reaction!
The really tall guy who meets the cat guy also played Lurch in the Addams Family movies. Also, like the original B&W Addams Family, both Lurches were on Star Trek. The Original show and The Next Generation.
There was a theater near me showing this all night long on opening day. I worked all day and had obligations that evening. I went to see it at midnight, but it was sold out and had to wait for a 1am showing. I was that excited to see it and I was not disappointed!
He said "It just be raining black people in New York" not "random black people in New York". Also, that actor that played the alien pawnshop dealer was Tony Shalhoub. Love this movie 😊
Hi shanelle I'm glad you enjoyed men in black and especially it's special effects. Sorry I missed your last live stream in may (hope it went well) I had an early Saturday morning appointment but hopefully I'll be there for you next live stream. Also the actress who played the morgue lady in MIB was in dogma.
Catch the Full-Length version here -- www.patreon.com/shanellericcio
I guess you'll have to watch the 2nd MIB to see if Tommy Lee Jones comes back or not
As always I come to your reactions in equal measure for the filmic analysis and your unique snark. Barry Sonnenfeld also photographed Raising Arizona, one of my favorite Shanelle Riccio reactions to rewatch (especially the dye bomb scene). By the way, that "font choice" in the credits is Pablo Ferro's handwriting, as seen in his opening title sequences for Dr Strangelove (1964) and Stop Making Sense (1984).
@@AlanCanon2222 Don't forget Addams Family Values, which she did WAY before that one. She also did the original Addams Family but took it down. Still don't know why though.
Watch all 3 MIBs. It's worth watching even if you don't react to 2&3.
Wearing pink while watching better black coordinate Sister
Can we talk about how great Vincent D'onofrio's physical mannerisms are in this movie? He moves like you imagine a cockroach wearing a human skinsuit and hating everything about this planet would move. Even his violence is jerky, but looks believable. He's got a good balance of physical comedy and believable threat.
Yeah, he's my favorite part of the movie.
I honestly feel like I am that guy sometimes.
That was Vincent’s idea. The director was worried but went with it.
Everybody talks about how great he was as Wilson Fisk... I thought that character was terrible (though admittedly that was not his fault)... but yes, he's amazing in so many things aside from that.
He is so incredible as the Big in Edgar. His vocal ticks, physicality, and the way he uses his whole body to act. Amazing.
Vincent D'onofrio studied for the role's unique physicality by watching bug documentaries and Peter Sellers' performance in Dr. Strangelove before discovering that basketball braces could help him achieve the desired effect.
He is truly and underrated actor, he pulled that off well and made us believe he was a big bug in an Edgar suit.
"A person is smart. People are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it." still one of the best lines in a movie
Because it's True!
What should I say...
Trust me, it's also one of the most accurate assessments of humanity.
In other words, a crowd of people panicking is one of the most dangerous things most of us might encounter. When there's a fire in a public building, way more people die because of the stampede than because of the fire.
I agree
For anyone who rewatches this/the actual movie, pay attention to how Edgar's face decays over the course of the movie since it's a dead body that's being worn. Really awesome little thing they did.
When I was 7 my dad took myself and my brothers to the movie theater and we had to choose between this movie and Batman and Robin. We decided on Batman and Robin but when we got out dad surprised us by taking us to Men in Black. Only time doing a back to back feature in a theater and I’ll never forget it.
glad it wasn't the other way around lol, ended with a banger
I had a similar experience with equally diverse quality films haha
My parents took me to see Kazaam then we walk out and decided to go back in to watch the original Mission Impossible
Blew my mind... good memories, i miss the 90s :)
That is probably because your dad hoped you guys would have picked this movie
You have a really cool dad Kerry! :)
@@danholmesfilm the Shaq movie? 😂
@@READY_OR_NOTyes, best movie ever 😜
Simple stories are the reason I miss 90s movies.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." Most famous quote from the movie.
I always like the horses description (dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle)
And true....
Very true about simple stories. Modern prestige television has taught viewers that everything must have seven twists and plans within plans within plans.
covid proved that so much
I love how much this movie paid attention to detail as far as Edgar. The more time went on, the more decayed he got and stiffer he got. Because Edgar’s body was decomposing and going through rigor mortis.
He wouldn't be going through rigor mortis, because that's a tightening of the muscles. The alien just took Edgar's skin.
@@brewdaly1873 O.K. The skin was drying out.
Just a note.. At the time Tommy Lee Jones was a much bigger star. Smith had done a TV show, an Indie (Six Degrees of Separation), an action movie from a then unknown music video director named Michael Bay (Bad Boys), and then a major role in the ensemble summer blockbuster 'Independence Day'. 'Men in Black' cemented summer as Big Willy's summer hit streak... And what made him the big star he became. Jones had been working well over 20 years, had won his first Oscar three years prior ('The Fugitive') and the secondary villain in a summer super hero film 2 summers before ('Batman Forever' as Two-Face).
But then Smith did that awful Wild Wild West movie.
@@bigbake132 true.. But that was expected to be huge..re teaming with the director of MIB.. amazing how that movie really has just vanished from the world though. Seems it never gets brought up anymore. Lol.
@@mcgilj1 Yeah I never hear about it either, probably for the best lol. I remember watching it a few times back in 99 and the early 2000's because I wanted to give it a few more chances but it never got any better.
@@bigbake132 I will give kudos to the fx... Salma Hayek is gorgeous.. And Kevin Kline did the best he could.. But yeah.. The less said about it the better.
Came to the comments looking for this. Will Smith got big because of the success of this movie and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. He could have ended up a TV actor and rapper and never made it as a movie top bill.
He used the same font for Addams Family as well. It's hand lettered by a designer named Pablo Ferro. (see mom, art school wasn't a waste of money!)
Didn't realize D'Onofrio played "Thor" mechanic in Adventures In Babysitting.
17:15 “Correct me if that’s not what those dumpling things were.”
It literally says in the movie,
“Do we have time to eat?”
“I ordered you pirogies.”
“Ahhh.”
Back in those great times, this movie was one of the 'must-see flicks'. Several reasons: big names, revolutionary special effects, Will Smith outside the "Prince of Bel-Air" mansion (yes, he was in "Independence day" a year before). And the promotion for this movie was really heavy. Seeing it in a cinema was definitely an experience
Especially as a child
Where the hell do those huge emojis come from?
Not to forget the song that went to #1 in many countries
Not sure the FX was "revolutionary"in MiB. I mean, this was four years after Jurassic Park. State-of-the-art, though.
As I recall, there were billboards erected well before the release that just said "MIB" and nobody knew what it meant until the movie was released.
Men in black was actually the 1st movie that I watched after reading a book on screenwriting and taking an interest in how movies were made. It was fascinating how so much of the movie's plot structure was so much like a lot of what the book was talking about.
This film was absolutely groundbreaking in 1997. EVERYBODY saw this one in theaters, and EVERYBODY was talking about it. The fact that the ride still exists 26 years later at Universal Studios Florida says a lot about its popularity.
Tommy Lee Jones was firing off his string of amazing performances in "JFK" (1991, his villainous turn in "Under Siege" (1992), Academy Award win for "The Fugitive" (1993), and playing Harvey Dent/Two-Face in "Batman Forever" (1995) , and was a very bankable star. He'd been acting since 1970 and had been nominated for two Academy Awards (winning one), three Golden Globe Awards (one win), two BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards (one win), and a SAG Award. Smith had been in five films total at this point in his career, most notably the Summer blockbusters "Bad Boys" and "Independence Day" in 1995 and 1996, respectively.
I don't think Jones' agent had to push much for him to get top billing.
This was one of my favorites growing up. The sequels are fun too. Wait until you see MIB 3. Linda Fiorentino who plays Laurel was in Dogma too. So happy you reacted to this one. Keep up the great work.
Love the reaction! I'll forgive that you omitted my favorite line from this film, "Elvis is not dead. He just went home". Caught this at the cinema with my then-girlfriend. It was a pleasant surprise for us in how much we enjoyed it.
My favorite line too! I also though do love K's recruitment explanation ending with "imagine what you'll know tomorrow."
Shanelle i don't think you've done _Galaxy Quest_ have you? -I'm reminded because the "alien" who played the expectant father in MIB played a big role in it. It's a MUST watch
Plus the Shaloub as Fred.
Awesome film, came out of the blue, took a chance, struggled in the beginning, became a cult classic! must watch hidden jem, high on the list!
@@Alcagaur1 Oh, YES!
This film and Starship Troopers still hold up well, they both use a mix of practical and CG. Thanks for the reaction!
Do not be discouraged. You are playing a note that resonates with many. I appreciate your candid takes.
My mom and I went to see this in the theater and had a great time. I think the simplicity of the movie is part of its genius.
agree!
I love a glib fast-talker and stoic badass combo. The chemistry between Tommy and Will is so fun, and then you throw in Linda Fiorentino "She got this whole 'queen of the undead' thing going on..." 🤣🤣🤣
Every time K talks down to J or hands him a terrible job it makes me laugh.
Men In Black was a comic that was originally published by a company called Malibu Comics, but Malibu was acquired by Marvel in 1994.
actually it was published by Aircel, in 1990, which had already partnered with Eternity Comics in 88, which was imprint of Malibu
I was lucky enough to watch this in the theaters back in 1997. It doesn't feel that long ago... And yeah, it was _the_ summer blockbuster for that year. Will Smith's accompanying song and music video got _tons_ of play on MTV and radio, there was a Saturday morning cartoon show on the WB, a massive marketing campaign that spanned at least a couple dozen different companies, etc. Box office-wise, it came in third after Titanic and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The top 10 movies for 1997 also included Tomorrow Never Dies, Air Force One, As Good As It Gets, Liar Liar, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Fifth Element, and The Full Monty. The fact that a sci-fi action comedy managed to outperform that kind of lineup is a testament to its quality. It absolutely encapsulated the era it was made; an excellent combination of practical and digital effects, snappy dialogue, a surprisingly lighthearted story with a sense of optimism... God, I miss that decade sometimes.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." Truth
Ive just recently started watching your content... out of all of the "first time seeing" reactors on TH-cam, you are the most knowledgeable about film making and really good at guessing what is about to happen... keep up the good work ❤
Wow, thank you!
If you watched a legal copy, there would have been subtitles for the restaurant scene and known that it was full of unimportant diamonds, and that they were pierogi
Nice reaction Shanelle. The MIB comic was actually produced by Aircel Comics. They were purchased by Marvel in the mid 90s.
I was 12 when this came out. My mother, brother, and I saw it in the theater. Back then our local theater tickets were only $1.50 so we would go almost every Sunday and watch movies.
This movie is so good. Vincent D'Onofrio was fantastic as the bug.
I loved the line where the wife says, "I've never seen sugar do that."
22:49 - "That is pretty tiny ..." That's what she said.
Shan, did the version you watch not have subtitles? Some scenes are supposed to, like K speaking Spanish at the start and the restaurant scene with the two aliens talking.
Will Smith was in a summer blockbuster pretty much every year or quite a few years in the mid/late 90s. I grew up right in that period so saw them all in the cinema. Good times!
Yeah but 2 years later Wild Wild West was a huge flop
Every single time I need to add more sugar to something, I quote this movie.
"Give me. Sugar," *pause* "...In water."
I love that Vincent D'Onofrio was cast here. Being six-foot-four and already imposing enough, add some prosthetics and have fun pretending you're a bug alien inside of an Edgar suit, and you've got an antagonist who has more than one note. D'Onofrio always does that-his villain roles are mesmerizing because he's just as interesting as the protagonists and he makes you pay attention.
I love the forced nonchalance he tries to do in the exterminator truck.
Rip Torn really makes this show work. "Could you explain why you thought little Tiffany had to die?"
3:10 The font was in tribute to the credits to Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire, "Dr. Strangelove". You should react to that film, Shanelle. It's nutty and smart.
4:11 That's Sergio Calderon, who sadly passed away this week, as Jose. He was in "Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End", but I know him best from the two-hour "A-Team" TV pilot, "Mexican Slayride".
Also, that font was used for Barry Sonnenfeld’s ADDAMS FAMILY movies.
38:57 ---- most times, the "goo" or slime is a methylcellulose base with coloring or thickeners.. I believe the Raft Creature in Creepshow II was done the same way.. (The parts where it was stuck to the actors or "consuming" them...) Though I did hear a set story that the actress in the water nearly drowned because part of the creature's construction was nylon / rayon / silk which became really heavy and tangled when waterlogged...
I was in highschool when this came out. It was huge.
Tommy Lee Jones was higher billed because he was a huge movie star. Will Smith was that rapper guy from Fresh Prince. This was the first movie of his domination of the summer box office in the late 90s, if I remember right.
The Men in Black" Is no joke an actual unexplained real world phenomenon where hundreds of people both civilian and government have witnessed men in black suits and sunglasses appear whenever something unexplainable/other worldly is witnessed/reported saying they are from an undisclosed agency but all known agencies claim to not know who or what they are. The myth of the MiB is what inspired the comic and these movies along with many other things it's a fun google.
Thanks, Shanelle! 🕶 The Greek diner was a real place called *Florent* in Manhattan's Meatpacking District; it closed 15 years ago. A friend and I shot parts of a music video there. #ShanelleRiccio #BarrySonnenfeld #MenInBlack
I doubt you’ll read this, but just because I have to say it, the website for this movie was pretty awesome, bearing in mind that you had to dial in to AOL and spend minutes to load the main page of the website, just to go to other parts of the website, which also took minutes. That anticipation made it so much more enjoyable.
Men in Black was a comic by a small press company called Aircel in the 90, It partnered with another small company, Eternity Comics, before being bought out by Malibu Comics in 1994. Malibu was then bought by Marvel shortly after.
100% comfort food movie, every time if it’s on I usually stop and at least have it on for background noise while I’m working, all of the series is good especially the third one wow! , thanks Shanelle!
Personally, I found the second film a bit disappointing on first watching it (I found it a bit rushed) but I've enjoyed it more on rewatches. I agree that number 3 is pretty good. I'm not sure whether I've watched MIB International. I think I have but don't remember it at all.
@@malcolmrowe9003 agreed, and international at least for myself wasn’t that bad but not near as good as 1 and 3
Fun fact! The worm guys were speaking Huttese, the language Jabba the hutt speaks in Star Wars.
"Hire me."
They should! Your instincts about what the next lines should be are spot on . . .
MIB is one of the best sci-fi comedies ever made. If you want to get a clue about J's backstory, continue the series. If you like this, also check out Galaxy Quest, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Mars Attacks. The conversation on the park bench is absolutely classic! The FX were incredible and still hold up now, 26 years later.
1 Edgar/Bug = Vincent D'onofrio played Gomer Pyle in "Full Metal Jacket".
2. Tommy Lee Jones' roommate in college was Al Gore.
3. Jones has claimed that he's never had a part that he didn't love and doesn't have a job.
Just a hobby that pays very well.🤑😁
4. "Congratulations Reggie........It' a squid".🤣
5. Tell me this wasn't a fun movie. I dare you.
I love the look and feel and sound and attitude of the New York City of the '80s and '90s in this movie. Gorgeously done.
What did this movie have to do with the 80s?
@@TheDrag0nSlayer It's depiction of New York was flavored from the '90s and the '80s
It's crazy to think they started filming LOTR just a year or so after this came out.
My husband and I went to go see this in theaters when our son was about 18 months to 2 years old. We weren't too worried about his age since whenever we had gone to a movie with him before he had fallen asleep during the coming attractions and basically slept through the movie. This time we had brought our comfortable jogging stoller and it worked like a charm. That is until the scene where K looses his gun. It got loud during that scene and he woke up. People in the theater got a kick out of watching me try to watch the movie over my shoulder while I stood in front of my son to try to block his view until all of the giant bug stuff and shooting was over. It was hilarious in hind sight! He is 28 now!
haha too good!! I might've been scared at this one at 2 😂
Late 90s was a great time for VFX. MIB, Titanic, What Dreams May Come and others all had the perfect blend of CGI and practical
yeah, the back story you wanted is shown in "MIB 3".
I'm watching on a small screen (laptop) but those sure looked like pierogis to me. Not surprising that Shan recognizes and loves Polish ravioli! =D I'm authorized to award you 25 honorary Polish points.🇵🇱🇮🇹
ILL TAKE THE POINTS
Are these redeemable for pierogi? 🥹
Frank being literally shaken down makes me laugh nonstop.
The opening font reminded me of Dr. Strangelove, but I don't know if it influenced MIB.
yes, those are pierogi. there used to be a polish deli near me where an old dude that would crank them out by hand faster than you could follow, he’d been doing it for 50 years. yum!
The character arc and storyline in MIB 3 makes it one of my fav movies of all time.
After watching MIB 3, this movie just hits different. It’s a perfect end and beginning.
Knew it was going to be really good as soon as I saw Rick Baker did the special make-up effects and Bo Welch was the production designer. They both did awesome work especially for the time. To catch everything, it may take two or three times watching it because there is so much going on. The actor that played "Mikey" in the beginning just passed away a couple of days ago, but I can't think of his name. It is hard to not give away any spoilers for II and III. "Men in Black: International" isn't too bad, just different.
Sergio Calderon played Jose, the human identity of Mikey.
@@Madbandit77 Thank You.
The wide-eyed Met was an actual New York Met - Bernard Gilkey.
This movie was HUGE in 1997. I was 13 , it was the first time I saw a movie twice in theaters it was that fun! $589 million at the box office world wide.
It looks as though you were watching a version without subtitles of the different alien languages. The galaxy is heavily inferred in the conversation between the two aliens in the restaurant. And yes, that was pierogi.
yeah they took out the subtitles! It was weird, I thought it might've been because of a deleted plot or something
@@ShanelleRiccio Yeah, I find it puzzling when they do stuff like that, because how do they expect you to follow the film as intended? It's happened to me several times! It can be quite annoying. Love your reactions by the way! Keep up the stellar work!
D’onofrio’s decaying body effects was added into the movie because Vincent had just finished filming a war movie and had lost a lot of weight before arriving on set of MIB. His skin was hanging loosely on his face, neck and other areas of his body. SFX then made Vincent look like his body is rapidly deteriorating throughout the movie
One of the best days of my life was back in the early 2000's when I was signed up for a "joke a day" email. I was just thinking about man in black and that punchline "But this one is eating my popcorn". Then low and behold the whole joke was in my email.
It's Chekhov's Button. If you introduce a Big Red Button in the first act, you damned well better push it in the third!
HELL YES
Love your reaction 👌🏾🔥. Can’t wait for the men in black 2 reaction
"There's ALWAYS an Arquillian battle-cruiser"
Universal wisdom, that I've adopted into my life/worldview philosophy.
Hi Shanelle!!!😊
That big, tall, skinny, bald alien you've just seen in the restaurant was portrayed by actor Carel Struycken, or Lurch from the Addam Family movies in the early 1990's!!!!!😄
👽👍 If you enjoyed this, then you will definitely also enjoy Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks," which came out within a couple of months of it and of course, also features incidental music by Danny Elfman. The opening credit roll alone usually causes people's jaws to drop due to the sheer enormity of the cast. Jack Nicholson is the president of the United States, Natalie Portman is his teenage daughter, and Tom Jones plays himself...And that's barely scratching the surface.
Danny Elfman did the film _score._ It was not _incidental music._
My favorite subtle scene is when the little destruction ball is flying around how Zed doesn’t even look up or change expression as he casually evades it. I like this demonstration that even the bureaucrat in the office is this off the charts bad ass, but I also just like Rip Torn.
One of the most awesome things about the build up to this film was just the perfect accident of the two lead's names. So they would just have a poster that showed Will captioned with Mr. Smith and another poster of Tommy captioned with Mr. Jones. The perfect anonymous last names for two men in black type of of characters. It was just serendipity.
I went to visual effects school at Universal Studios so I was in the park almost every day. I definitely went on that ride a couple of times.
I saw this in theaters when I was 11 years old with my mother, my 9 year old brother, and 2 of my friends. It was a fun movie and a good memory.
Speilberg had the director put friends and other people he has worked with when showing all the people who were aliens. That is why George Lucas, Danny Devito, and Sylvester Stallone are on the screens.
In 1999, in Star Wars episode 1. George lucas repays him by putting in ET's race in the senate since Spielberg always references lucas in some way somewhere.
You were 11 and brother was 9?........9/11.....I solved it!
Yeah Will Smith was at like a peak at this poin, we'd have the music video for the song on MTV and it blew me away as a kid. My first instance of Tommy Lee Jones and he was so cool to me and helped shape my future movies if I saw him in it.
I had that MiB song on repeat as a child.
Smith was nominated for best comedic performance for this movie at the 1998 MTV movie awards but lost out to Jim Carrey for Liar Liar
I was working at a mall at the time and the bus stop was outside the movie theater. I remember closing the store down and checking the posters while I waited for the bus. All the poster was was Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in costume, with the caption, "Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, Men In Black". I was sold at first glance and wanted to see it with no more information than that, and I succeeded! And it was just as brilliant as I hoped.
Yeah. Saw this in the cinema in 97. The effects were great, beyond reproach. This movie really established Will Smith as a movie actor. Directly leading to Independence Day.
When Men in Black was released, it was censored in some countries, including Australia. The censoring involved the suicide scene near the start (the guy who jumps off the building). It was a bit strange, if creative. He dissolved into sparkly stuff as he fell--leaving it unclear whether he'd died or just teleported away to safety. That was the version I grew up with in the cinema and on TV. I remember being puzzled that the movie never picked up that 'dropped plot thread' again or explained what the guy had done.
Years later I bought the DVD and was utterly baffled when there was just a thump as he hits the ground. 🤯
Alien coming out of the chest? Well ... I know at least two movies that had that thing happening.
17:19 You're correct. The question is, what was inside of them. The most popular ones would have white cheese mixed with the potatoes. There could be pierogi filled with the cabbage, or with the grind meat, or with the black berries ... The possibilities are almost limitless.
MIB was a Marvel comic for about a year. It wasn't originally a Marvel comic, it was published by 2 other independent publishers until Marvel bought its second to last publisher, Malibu in 1990.
I kind of love Linda Fiorentino in the movie. I wish she was in the sequels.
2:20 - No, I can assure you, you do *NOT* lack popcorn pushers. You're OK in that department. Oh also, those were quite accurate guesses (snazzy dialog, block buster, popcorn-pusher...) 😃
"what are they looking for? I don't know" When you said that you sounded Australian.
And yes, we do have visitors from elsewhere. That's all I will say on that.
35:11 - On that note: look up if you can find it the Barry Sonnenfeld episode of the TNT show The Directors. He talks about directing TLJ and having to tell him to play it straight.
This is the second movie I saw on DVD (I saw it in the theater too). In addition to the special features, it was the first time you could watch VFX clearly frame-by-frame. I still remember discovering that the truck that the bug's ship crashes into is just a shell, there's nothing in the engine compartment (which you can see through to the explosion behind it for exactly one frame).
Shanelle I just have to applaud you for your appropriate level of dismay over wasted pierogi.
Chanelle you should do more popcorn movies. Your reactions are priceless and since so many of us grew up with these movies your predictions are fun without ruining anything. I found out this for you in regards to the slime. Hope it’s enlightening. Keep up the good reviews.
When it came out, I was working at Boy Scout camp in Maine. We were usually only allowed to take one night out per week, but could be pulled into other people's nights out if there were a reason. Each night out group needed two things: someone 18+ and a vehicle. As a 19yo with a car, I was pretty much guaranteed to be on any night out trips, and the movies theater about 30min away was about the only thing to go and do. Saw this several times, Air Force One at least once, and I'm not sure what else.
Vincent really had such fun with this. I love this movie, this series, it's a great world.
There are a whole bunch of things about this film that work really, really well. One that isn't mentioned as much as it should be, is the script, which gives a whole batch of stand-out moments. One example: the whole mini-monologue by Rip-Torn, over the montage where Will Smith has his identity erased to become 'J'. Yes, it's melodramatic, but it adds to the comedy and textures the movie.
Not sure about the MCU comparison...
If you want to know what gave Marvel the Idea to start their own Superhero Franchise and that Marvel Superhero Films can make a profit... watch Blade! It was the first bigger budget Marvel movie that made money and was a huge reason for Fox to invest in X-Men and Sony in Spider Man.
Ugh this week... Thank god Shan uploaded today. And it's friggin MIB! Awesome. Love at ya Shanelle!
Im feeling it too!! weird week!
The tiny alien in the head was incredible for '97 because it was like a 10 foot tall practical bigature.
This movie was clever. The sequel not so much.
"I have Men in Black II in here"
"So you get the general idea"
"Ha ha ha, not quite! It's basically and endless string of call backs to..."
"Alright! Save it for TH-cam. I'll keep looking for clues. "
Academy Award for best makeup... enough said. Love this movie for the new take on our interaction on aliens. Oh, before i forget I think you remember the little pug from Armageddon Day when he attacks the toy Godzilla.
I cant remember if I saw this one in theatres or not. That year I know I saw Mouse Hunt and the rereleased Star Wars Trilogy. I did see 2&3 in theatres though, and they were fun for sure. There was also an animated series after the first film.
I liked to think of this movie as simple in much the same way as A New Hope is simple and refreshingly doesn't exhaust the premise by the end. Like gets no further than channeling the force to make one shot. Similarly, J gets in the deep end on a whole universe he's unprepared for. It's brisk, has a lot of texture, and makes you want more.
Very nice reaction!
The really tall guy who meets the cat guy also played Lurch in the Addams Family movies.
Also, like the original B&W Addams Family, both Lurches were on Star Trek. The Original show and The Next Generation.
There was a theater near me showing this all night long on opening day. I worked all day and had obligations that evening. I went to see it at midnight, but it was sold out and had to wait for a 1am showing. I was that excited to see it and I was not disappointed!
He said "It just be raining black people in New York" not "random black people in New York". Also, that actor that played the alien pawnshop dealer was Tony Shalhoub.
Love this movie 😊
When this was released on VHS Will Smith's video was shown after the credits. Look for MIB song. Oh, yeah, it's worth it.
Hi shanelle I'm glad you enjoyed men in black and especially it's special effects. Sorry I missed your last live stream in may (hope it went well) I had an early Saturday morning appointment but hopefully I'll be there for you next live stream. Also the actress who played the morgue lady in MIB was in dogma.
@1:55 "We'll tackle Barry"... Me, casually listening: "Wait, is this Police Academy? I thought we were doing MIB?" 😆