Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Although widely known as “Rocky“, this isn’t, in fact, the character’s actual name. His real name is Robert Balboa – this was seen in a rough script from the second film. He took the nickname from real-life boxer Rocky Marciano.
Director: Sidney Lumet.
Screenplay: Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler.
Starring: Al Pacino, Tony Roberts, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, John Medici, Alan Rich, Edward Grover, Norman Ornellas, James Tolkan, Richard Foronjy, John McQuade, M. Emmett Walsh, F. Murray Abraham, Kenneth McMillan, Tracey Walter, Judd Hirsch.
“Frank, let’s face it, who can trust a cop that won’t take money?“
With their second collaboration in 1974, Al Pacino and Sidney Lumet delivered one of the very best films of the decade with “Dog Day Afternoon“. It was a taut and captivating true-life story of a bank robber that gets way in over his head. Two years previously, though, they worked on another true-life story from the opposite side of the law. This time it was NYPD officer Frank Serpico and how he got way in over his head with police corruption rife all around him.
Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Much of Michael Mann’s “Heat” was based on a real-life confrontation between Chicago cop Chuck Adamson (renamed Vincent Hanna in the film and played by Al Pacino) and the real Neil McCauley (played by Robert DeNiro). Adamson was a retired police officer whom director Mann had been working with off and on since the film “Thief” in 1981. They later worked together on two of Mann’s TV shows “Miami Vice” (1984) and “Crime Story” (1986). According to Chuck Adamson (and confirmed by Michael Mann), McCauley was a professional robber whom he had frequently crossed paths with. Events such as the scene between Hanna and McCauley in the coffee shop and the warehouse sting where McCauley got tipped off that the cops were around due to an officer making a noise really happened. In real life, Neil McCauley was killed during the robbery of a grocery store (similar to the bank heist shootout in the film) by Adamson’s team who were tipped off to the robbery.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier.
Screenplay: Jeremy Saulnier.
Starring: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack, Eve Plumb, Brent Werzner, David W. Thompson, Stacy Rock, Bonnie Johnson, Sidné Anderson.
“The keys are in the car… the keys are in the car… the keys are in the car“
Many didn’t pay attention when Jeremy Saulnier made his directorial debut in 2007 with the little seen comedy/horror film “Monster Party“. I know I didn’t. Now, though, it’s going to be hard to forget him as his sophomore effort “Blue Ruin” hits our screens (and our jugulars) with an impressively handled and assembled dark thriller that brings reminders of the arrival of the Coen brothers and all the taut and twisted glee of “Blood Simple“.
Director: Robert Stromberg.
Screenplay: Linda Woolverton.
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, Juno Temple, Isobelle Molloy, Michael Higgins, Kenneth Carnham, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.
“I had wings once, and they were strong. But they were stolen from me“
Better known for his visual effects supervision on such films as “Life of Pi“, or more significantly, as production designer on “Oz: The Great And Powerful” and winning consecutive Oscars for “Avatar” and “Alice In Wonderland“, Robert Stromberg now delves into his first directorial outing with a reimagining of the classic fairy tale, “Sleeping Beauty“. Much like the aforementioned “Oz“, the characters from this well known children’s story are playfully recreated in a lush and involving fantasy and with Stromberg’s expertise who better to take us on that journey?!…
Director: Denis Villenueve.
Screenplay: Javier Gullón.
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini, Joshua Peace, Tim Post, Kedar Brown.
“The last thing you need is meeting strange men in hotel rooms. You already have enough trouble sticking with one woman, don’t you?”
Reportedly made before they collaborated on the impressive vigilante thriller “Prisoners” in 2013, Jake Gyllenhaal and director Denis Villeneuve crafted this fascinating and hugely involving psychological drama. Now that the surrealist master David Lynch has seemingly taken a backseat from filmmaking, it’s promising to see that someone else is able to handle the material that wouldn’t be out of place in his hands.
Director: Michael Cimino.
Screenplay: Deric Washburn.
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Cazale, John Savage, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren, Rutanya Alda, Shirley Stoler, Pierre Segui, Joe Grifasi, Somsak Sengvilai.
“You have to think about one shot. One shot is what it’s all about. A deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don’t listen“
Released in 1978, only three years after the official end of the Vietnam war, Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter” seemed as if it may have been too soon for the American psyche. It was a surprising box-office hit but was also one of the most controversial, major theatrical releases about America’s involvement in the war. It went on to receive 9 Academy Award nominations (winning 5 – including Best Picture and Best Director). Despite this, the backlash was pretty vehement. It received criticism from the likes of Jane Fonda and John Wayne – who in his last public appearance had to present it with it’s Best Picture award even though he wasn’t fond of the film. These criticisms came in many forms but for as many critics as it had, there were also a great number who considered it to be another American classic.
Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Leonardo DiCaprio has stated that the characters of Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman) from “True Romance” and Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) from “Tombstone” were the main influences on his performance as Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained“.
Director: Scott Cooper.
Screenplay: Scott Cooper,
Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Tom Bower, Dwight Wolfe.
“Working for a living? I gave my life for this country and what’s it done for me? Huh? What’s it done for me?“
After finally helping Jeff Bridges to a long overdue Oscar in “Crazy Heart“, director Scott Cooper follows up that tale of a downward spiralling musician with another one of downward spiralling blue collar workers. Narratively, it’s lacking a certain something but one thing’s for sure with Cooper; he certainly knows how to bring out the best from his actors.
Director: Spike Lee.
Screenplay: Spike Lee.
Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez, Richard Edson, Bill Nunn, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison, Robin Harris, John Savage, Joie Lee, Miguel Sandoval, Rick Aiello, Roger Guenveur Smith, Frank Vincent, Martin Lawrence.
“Today’s temperature’s gonna rise up over 100 degrees, so there’s a Jheri curl alert! That’s right, Jheri curl alert. If you have a Jheri curl, stay in the house or you’ll end up with a permanent black helmet on your head fuh-eva“
Remember the days when Spike Lee’s “joints” has a real edge and potency to them? Nowadays, he’s rolling out more generic, Hollywood tripe like “Oldboy” but there was a time when he was a highly original and passionately political filmmaker as he regularly touched upon important social issues and conflicts. However, few of his joints have been as packed or as provocative as “Do The Right Thing“.
Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Steve Buscemi and Michael Douglas were all originally offered roles in Robert Rodriguez’s “Sin City“. Douglas was offered the role of Hartigan (played by Bruce Willis), Buscemi was offered the part of Junior (played by Nick Stahl) when he became the Yellow Bastard, and Dafoe and Walken were both offered the role of Senator Roark (played by Powers Boothe).
Director: Terrence Malick.
Screenplay: Terrence Malick.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams, Tatiana Chiline, Romena Mondello, Charles Baker, Tony O’Gans.
“You have to struggle with yourself. You have to struggle with your own strength”.
Say what you will about the stylings of Terrence Malick but he’s undoubtedly a director that puts his own stamp on things and refuses to tell a story in any conventional sense. He’s more interested in capturing moments and subtle glances while pondering the larger themes of love, life and religious beliefs. When you look back at his older works of “Days Of Heaven“, “The Thin Red Line” or “The Tree Of Life“, for example, you’ll find these themes in abundance. From a personal point of view, I often find Malick’s approach to be highly appealing but with “To The Wonder“, I was left somewhat distant and uninterested this time around.
Film: THE MASTER
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson
Setting the scene: Escaping from an upstairs party, FREDDIE QUELL (Joaquin Phoenix) is invited into the suite of LANCASTER DODD (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in order to sample some of Freddie’s homemade alcohol. Both men are just getting to know one another but Freddie is interested in joining “The Cause” – a cult, faith-based organisation of which Dodd is the charismatic leader (or Master). To test Freddie’s commitment, Dodd suggests that he goes through a series of questions known as ‘informal processing’.
Director: Martin Scorsese.
Screenplay: Paul D. Zimmerman.
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Diahnne Abbott, Ed Herlihy, Tony Randall, Shelley Hack, Fred de Cordova, Margot Winkler, Lou Brown, Ellen Foley, Martin Scorsese, Charles Scorsese, Mardik Martin, Chuck Low, Catherine Scorsese, Victor Borge, George Kapp.
“Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime“.
Although now regarded as one of cinema’s very best actor/director collaborations, “The King of Comedy” was reportedly such an unsettling experience that Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro would not work together again for several years. This was in part because of the bitter material of the script and the whole experience being so emotionally gruelling. If this is the case, then it certainly doesn’t show on screen. Scorsese delivers some of his most unsung work in a style that you normally wouldn’t associate with him. The same goes for DeNiro. In recent times, he has been delivering subpar comedic work but it’s often forgotten how strong and sharp his comic timing is in this underrated gem.
Director: Martin Scorsese.
Screenplay: Paul Schrader.
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, Joe Spinell, Victor Argo, Martin Scorsese, Diahnne Abbott, Steven Prince, Norman Matlock.
“Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up“.
Now regarded as a cinematic classic, I have to admit that Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” was always a film that left me as isolated as it’s lead character. The first time I saw it, I thought it vastly overrated. Admittedly, I was in my teens at this point and never managed to fully grasp it’s themes. With each viewing it did grow in stature but I could never really get over my initial judgement. It’s not often that I’ll backtrack on my opinion but I have now come full circle and can appreciate just how good a film it is, and why it’s regarded as one of the true greats of American cinema.
Director: Spike Lee.
Screenplay: Mark Protosevich.
Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperioli, James Ransone, Max Casella, Pom Klementieff, Lance Reddick, Richard Portnow, Linda Emond, Elvis Nolasco, Rami Malek, Hannah Ware, Hannah Simone, Ciera Payton, Elvy Yost.
“Heaven make me free of it. The rest is silence.”
Park Chan Wook’s 2004 Korean original of “Oldboy” is one of the most visceral and emotionally devastating thrillers that you’re ever likely to find. As a result, it totally baffled me when I heard about the intentions for an English language remake. I don’t care how much of an impressive cast or crew were assembled, as far as I see it, there really isn’t anything else that could have been brought to treading this ground again. Now that I’ve seen Spike Lee’s version, I stand by that even more. This was a completely pointless exercise.
Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are… 
1: The title of the film “American Beauty” refers to a breed of roses that while pretty and appealing in appearance, is often prone to rot underneath at the roots and branches of the plant. Thus, the tagline “…look closer” tells the viewer that when they look beyond the “perfect suburban life” they will find something rancid at the root.
Director: Lars von Trier.
Screenplay: Lars von Trier.
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LeBeouf, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Christian Slater, Willem Dafoe, Jean-Marc Barr, Connie Nielsen, Mia Goth, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Udo Kier, Michael Pas, Jesper Christensen, Saskia Reeves, Caroline Goodall.
“Perhaps the only difference between me and other people is that I’ve always demanded more from the sunset. More spectacular colours when the sun hit the horizon. That’s perhaps my only sin.”
When provocateur Lars von Trier released the magnificent “Dogville” in 2003 and followed it up with “Manderlay” in 2005, I was very eager to see him complete his USA: Land of Opportunities trilogy. Unfortunately, the third instalment “Wasington” never came to fruition. He did, however, venture into another trilogy – focusing on depression. The gruelling and unforgettable “AntiChrist” was the first, followed by the restrained and meditative “Melancholia“. Now, von Trier completes this outstanding trilogy in style.
Sati over at the always interesting and visually stunning blog Cinematic Corner has came up with a great idea for her first Blogathon. It leaves a lot of room for choices but the rules are fairly simple in that we are asked to choose a minor character that we love and why we would like to see them take the leading role in a film. What would that film then be like? For further information stop by Sati’s blog here and get involved. And now I invite you to…
“Sit down… grab yourself an eggroll. We got everything here from a diddle eyed Joe to a damned if I know.“…
And by that, I’m talking about Gary Oldman’s marvellous character from Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino’s
“True Romance“.
It ain’t white boy day, is it? Naw man, it ain’t white boy day – it’s
DREXL SPIVEY.
Drexl is a pimp who’s also involved in the narcotic’s business with a high ranking gangster known as Blue Lou Boyle. He has scars on his face and one of his eye’s has seemingly lost it’s sight. Added to which, he’s a white man with dreadlocks who believes himself to be a black Rastafarian. Drexl is a merciless brutal killer and a man with whom you do not fuck. As he was once the pimp of Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), he is confronted by Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) which results in being the catalyst for a crime spree involving mobsters, police and Hollywood producers.
What’s not to be interested in when we are first introduced to Drexl? The scars are on his face and dress sense are enough to grab your attention. In the space of 10 minutes screen time, Oldman really brings this character alive and makes a lasting impression. Despite an abundance of talent in True Romance, Drexl is, without doubt, the most memorable character. So much so, that he’s simply not in it enough. 
In a prequel to the film, the possibilities would be endless when incorporating Tarantino’s criminal underworld. We’d witness the rise of Drexl from his younger years as a viscous street hood and hired-gun under the guidance of L.A. crime bosses Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). His viscousness would eventually invite the attention of dogged and equally sadistic police detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore). Scagnetti would bring Drexl to justice with him serving an 8 year sentence in San Quentin prison where he would befriend Vic Vega (Michael Madsen). Once released, he would again go back to his old habits and become involved in the sex and drug trade before his involvement with Blue Lou Boyle (Robert De Niro) and his eventual confrontation with Clarence (Christian Slater).
As if that’s not enough, Gary Oldman had already stated in an interview that he would love to do a film on Drexl Spivey.
Mark Walker
Director: Peter Segal.
Screenplay: Tim Kelleher, Rodney Rothman.
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger, Alan Arkin, Kevin Hart, Jon Bernthal, LL Cool J, Barry Primus, Anthony Anderson, Ireland Baldwin, Rich Little, Roy Jones Jr, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson.
“Yeah, look at us! We’re not dead! Everyone’s laughing at us! The whole world’s laughing at us! But we’re not dead! In fact, I feel more alive now than I ever felt!”
Although their careers have went in very different paths, Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro have been around roughly the same amount of time and have, on occasion, come together. In 1976, they were Best Actor nominees for two of their most successful roles in “Rocky” and “Taxi Driver” (both losing out to Peter Finch in “Network“) and in 1997 they shared the screen for the first time in “Cop Land“. Now they’re at it again…
MARKED MOVIES 