TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS.
Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Michael Fassbender’s performance as Lt. Archie Hickox in “Inglorious Basterds” is layered with irony due to his real life. Fassbender was born in Germany to German and Irish parents and raised in Ireland, now residing in London with fluency in German as his first language and English as his second, and a mastery of English accents and dialects. In the film, he plays an Englishman who goes undercover as a German, and who can speak German fluently, but cannot hide his accent.
2: Sergio Leone was approached to direct “The Godfather” but turned it down since he felt the story, which glorified the Mafia, was not interesting enough. He later regretted refusing the offer, but would go on to direct his own critically acclaimed gangster film, “Once Upon a Time in America“.
3: (Courtesy of Fogs’ Movie Reviews)
In “Blue Velvet“, Dean Stockwell held a worklight in the Roy Orbison “In Dreams” sequence only after director David Lynch saw him holding one during a lighting session. He was originally supposed to hold a microphone but Lynch found the worklight far more creepier and effective.
4: After their success in “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid“, the subject of “Serpico” was first planned as a star vehicle for Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Redford was to play Frank Serpico (Al Pacino’s role) and Newman was to play his lawyer friend David Durk (a character renamed “Bob Blair” in the final film, where he is played by Tony Roberts).
5: As of 2010, there are only six actors to win an Academy Award for a role primarily in a language other than English. They are: Sophia Loren, Robert DeNiro, Roberto Benigni, Benicio Del Toro, Marion Cotillard and Christoph Waltz.
6: Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone had to wear genital pads during the sex scenes in “Basic Instinct” due to the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s.
7: Yann Martel, the author of the book “Life Of Pi” has stated that his inspiration for the book’s premise came from reading a book review of Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar’s 1981 novella “Max and the Cats“, about a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar.
8: There is a supposed “odd-numbered movie curse” associated with the “Star Trek” films in which the odd-numbered films tend to be weaker and the even-numbered ones tend to be stronger. This curse was supposedly proved false with the poor reception of film ten, “Star Trek: Nemesis“. J.J. Abrams’ new “Star Trek” is the eleventh film. Years before, Simon Pegg’s character in “Spaced” joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film being “shit” was a fact of life. Pegg noted: “Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ass.”
9: The mug shot of George Clooney’s character Jack Foley in “Out Of Sight” (of which Karen says “He doesn’t even look like that“) is the mug shot of Clooney’s character Seth Gecko from “From Dusk Till Dawn“.
10: While filming the whipping scene in “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom“, the crew played a practical joke on Harrison Ford. While he was chained to a large stone, Barbra Streisand appeared, dressed in a leather dominatrix outfit. She proceeded to whip him, saying “That’s for “Hanover Street“, the worst movie I ever saw.” She continued whipping him for “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope“, and making all of that money. Carrie Fisher then threw herself in front of Ford to protect him, and Irvin Kershner chided director Steven Spielberg. “Is this how you run your movies?” This entire sequence was filmed.
So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesdayβ¦
(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)
December 11, 2012 at 8:00 am
Great tidbits as always. #10 is awesome.
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December 11, 2012 at 11:38 am
Thanks man. Apparently the video of #10 is available on the Internet. I’ve not seen it myself or looked for it but it would interesting to see.
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December 11, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I’ll try to look for it.
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December 11, 2012 at 11:57 am
Great trivia. I never heard that Sergio Leone was supposed to direct The Godfather.
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December 11, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Thanks man. As much as I love Leone, I’m glad he done his gangster movie. Once Upon A Time is an absolute favourite of mine. Unlike many, I actually prefer it to The Godfather.
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December 11, 2012 at 2:17 pm
This could be the first time the words “genital pads” have been used on your blog! π Great read as always!
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December 11, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Haha! I might make it a priority to use “Genital Pads” on a regular basis. (On my blog of course) π
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December 11, 2012 at 2:53 pm
I would love to see that Indiana Jones prank! Oh how that would be funny!
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December 11, 2012 at 6:01 pm
I think you may get it somewhere on the Internet if you search around for it. I’ve seen stills of it but the picture quality wasn’t great. Thanks for stopping by man. π
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December 11, 2012 at 8:10 pm
LOL. I’d love to see that “Temple of Doom” deleted scene. LOL!
And I always just presumed Douglas and Stone actually banged in Basic Instinct. LOL. Maybe “Genital Pads” is code word for condom. π
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December 11, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Haha. Yeah, a packet of Genital pads please – ribbed! π
Apparently, the Indy one is available on the Internet. I’m going to hunt it down when I get a chance. Cheers Fogs!
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December 11, 2012 at 9:20 pm
I would have loved to see Sergio Leone’s version of βThe Godfatherβ. Great work once again.
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December 11, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Thanks man. It would be interesting but I love both those films the way they are.
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December 11, 2012 at 9:47 pm
Interesting stuff as always Celtic π
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December 11, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Thank you Liverpool π
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December 11, 2012 at 10:33 pm
EXCELLENT stuff today!! As far as number six goes – I remember seeing that in the theater and I was thoroughly convinced they were actually Doing It. I also remember seeing the part that’s been cut out of it. I don’t want to be vulgar on your site, but you might know what I mean. I was on a date and I was all WOOOOOAAAHHHHH awkward.
As far as our other project is concerned – I have viewed and intend to do some writing – probably tomorrow – so whenever you are ready and NEVER any rush. There’s a teaser for your readers : )
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December 12, 2012 at 9:09 am
You’re not the first that thinks they were actually doing it but it was all Genital Pads man… Genital Pads π
I shouldn’t take too long on that other project. I’m keeping some bits from my old write-up and expanding it further. I’ll get back to you when I’m done. π
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December 12, 2012 at 3:14 pm
That Indiana Jones fact sounds like some crazy dream! Utterly bizarre.
Genital pads. Sexy. But apparently a prevention for AIDS as well. I think I’d demand genital pads if I were doing a sex scene. Well, for me anyway.
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December 12, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Haha. It’s just dawned on me that I’ve included a dominatrix Barbara Streisand and Genital pads in the same post. π
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December 12, 2012 at 3:19 pm
You’re mind’s in the gutter this week Mark! A very weird, slightly disturbing gutter. π
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December 12, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Ion drowning here man. This gutter stinks π
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December 13, 2012 at 5:33 am
I love this post, especially #1 (I need to see that movie again soon) and #10 (hilarious!)
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December 13, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Cheers Steph. Inglorious Basterds is due a rewatch for me also. Number 10 is a good one isn’t it? Check the Internet, you might find the footage. I keep forgetting to look.
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December 13, 2012 at 5:37 am
And by the way, until this moment I had no idea “genital pads” even existed. Your blog has proven to be even more educational than I expected. π
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December 13, 2012 at 8:58 pm
Haha. Glad to be of service. A fountain of knowledge here Steph. A fountain of knowledge! π
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December 14, 2012 at 4:50 pm
Love the life-imitating-art Fassbender story. So ironic.
I had NO IDEA Jack Foley’s mugshot was Seth Gecko. That’s a great piece of trivia right there.
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December 14, 2012 at 5:38 pm
Yeah, I liked that Fassbender one as well Alex.
I remember the Clooney mugshot at the time but it was only recently that I was reminded of it.
Thanks for stopping by as always Alex. π
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February 4, 2014 at 12:29 pm
How on earth did you find out the last point?
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February 4, 2014 at 3:18 pm
The information is out there, man. You just need to pluck it out. Apparently it’s entirely true. There used to be a video on youtube but I think it’s been taken down.
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