Wed, May 30, 2001

I think it's kind of odd that the posters for The Substitute and The Substitute 2 are so similar. Not the setup or anything – it makes sense to stage it the same – but the blackboard. Again, not the right-hand side, because that's clearly just the conceit of the thing, repeating the title over and over like it's a detention assignment. But, look at the left-hand side of the blackboard.

It just seems crazy that they'd bother to recreate so much of that content. And it's not like they just used the old photo as the backdrop, because the handwriting's different and some of the content is different. It's particularly fascinating when you think about the fact that the two stories were supposed to take place some time apart. So, the blackboard would've been erased by then. It's just very strange that someone would even consider what had been written in the background of the first poster when setting up the photo for the second.

I don't know about the first, because it didn't just randomly happen to be on Cinemax a few minutes ago the way the sequel did, but in The Substitute 2, he's a history teacher. So, equations don't make sense at all.

It's also interesting that these poster images from the IMDb aren't just the DVD cover image provided by the studio. They appear to be scans of the DVD case by contributors. (Look close and you can see the scratches, and that stupid wrinkle that the security sticker always makes in the plastic across the top.) Weird. Even weirder that they don't bother to take the paper out of the case to scan it.

***

Didn't know there was a Substitute three-quel? Well, me either. I mean, how many situations can they come up with for a mercenary to exercise vigilante justice while still going undercover as an educator in order to maintain the premise of the title? Apparently, three. Imagine my surprise when Substitute 3: Winner Takes All came on Cinemax a few days later...

Then imagine my surprise when I trotted over to IMDb to look at the poster image. He's no longer at a desk, for crying out loud! But, the algebra is still there. Artisan must have signed it into the deal. ("Hereafter, in perpetuity, X is equal to Q...") Very odd.

These movies are hilarious, by the way. I mean, the actual "substitute" part has nothing whatsoever to do with it! At least in the second one, most of the action took place in a high school. I haven't seen the first, but I get the impression that 2 and 3 relate to it about as closely as Star Trek VI relates to Jaws 4. But I love Treat Williams. He's one of the most underrated character actors of his generation. You can tell by the kinds of movies he's offered the lead in.

Still and all, the posters provide hours of entertainment.

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