MARKED MOVIES

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: In “Saturday Night Fever“, in Tony’s (John Travolta) bedroom there’s a poster for “Rocky“, a film directed by John G. Avildsen. The sequel to this film, “Staying Alive“, was written and directed by the star of “Rocky“, Sylvester Stallone. In fact, Avildsen was the original director of this film but was fired by producer Robert Stigwood shortly before principal photography began due to “creative differences”. John Badham was approached to fill in at the last minute. Tony also has a poster for “Serpico” on his wall. Avildsen was originally considered to direct that film as well, but left the project due to “creative differences.”

2: The three main characters in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” are named after dogs. Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) was named after screenwriter Willard Huyck’s dog, Willie (Kate Capshaw) is named after Steven Spielberg’s dog and Indiana (Harrison Ford) is named after George Lucas’s dog.

3: Kiefer Sutherland is named after Warren Kiefer, pen name of Lorenzo Sabatini. Sabatini directed “Il castello dei morti vivi“, in which his father Donald Sutherland made his theatrical film debut.

4: Anjelica Huston was offered the leading role of Annie Wilkes in “Misery” and was interested, but was unable to accept it due to her commitment to “The Grifters“. Bette Midler also turned the role down before it went to Kathy Bates.

5: In the closing credits of “Jackie Brown“, Quentin Tarantino gives special thanks to “Bert D’Angelo’s Daughter”. In the late 70’s, Paul Sorvino starred in a TV detective show, “Bert D’Angelo/Superstar“. Thus “Bert D’Angelo’s Daughter” is Paul’s daughter and Tarantino’s girlfriend (at the time) Mira Sorvino. Sorvino can actually be seen (out of focus) in a brief court room scene.

6: The original director of “Malcolm X” was going to be Norman Jewison but he had to withdraw from the project due to outside pressure demanding that the subject be made by a black film-maker. At one point Oliver Stone also expressed interest in directing it as a follow-up to “JFK“; Stone’s first choice was Denzel Washington, who went on to star in the title role when Spike Lee came on board as director.

7: The part of John Keating (Robin Williams’ role) in “Dead Poet’s Society“, was once intended for Dustin Hoffman. The film was also going to be Hoffman’s directorial debut before Hoffman withdrew from the film. Liam Neeson had then originally landed the role to be directed by Jeff Kanew, but lost it to Robin Williams when director Peter Weir came on board. Bill Murray was also considered at one point.

8: The name of the high school in “Carrie” is Bates High, a reference to Norman Bates from “Psycho“. In addition, the four note violin theme from “Psycho” is used over and over in the film.

9: Kate Winslet holds a unique position in Academy Awards history: Only twice have two actresses been nominated for playing the same character in the same film. The first two were Gloria Stuart and Winslet in “Titanic“. The second two were Judi Dench and Winslet in “Iris“.

10: Director Francis Ford Coppola explains on the DVD commentary of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” that Mina (Winona Ryder) and Jonathan Harker’s (Keanu Reeves) wedding was a reshoot done at a Los Angeles Greek Orthodox church. They filmed the entire ceremony with a genuine Orthodox minister and realized afterwards that Ryder and Reeves really were (unintentionally) married.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: In a TV interview, Charlie Sheen credited Keith David with saving his life on the set of “Platoon“. While shooting in an open-doored Huey gunship, the helicopter banked too hard and Sheen was thrown towards – and would have gone through – the open door. David grabbed him and pulled him back in.

2: At one point Steven Spielberg considered directing “Awakenings” before passing it on to Penny Marshall. The time he spent on the project did yield one useful outcome for him: Steven Zaillian’s script took several short chapters, each about different patients, and put them together into a linear whole. This brought Zaillian to Spielberg’s attention, and he offered Zaillian the similar task of adapting “Schindler’s List“, which ended up winning Oscars for both of them.

3: Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the role of Dirk Diggler in “Boogie Nights“. He liked the screenplay but turned it down because he had already signed on to do “Titanic“. However, it was DiCaprio who suggested Mark Wahlberg for the role.

4: Martin Scorsese stated before the release of “Casino” that he created the “head in a vice” scene as a sacrifice, certain the MPAA would insist it be cut. He hoped this would draw fire away from other violent scenes that would seem less so by comparison. When the MPAA made no objection to the vice scene, he left it in, albeit slightly edited.

5: In “Aliens“, Lance Henriksen caught a dose of food poisoning from the milk and yogurt combination that he had to spew up when his chest was pierced by the alien queen’s tail. Having this lactose combination sitting around under hot studio lights created a bacterial breeding ground. Curiously, the crew of the first “Alien” film opted not to use milk for Ash’s “death” scene (where he also spews the milky substance out of his mouth) as they thought a fluid made of milk would go sour under the hot lights.

6: When trying out for the parts of Bill and Ted in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure“, each actor was paired up with another. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter were paired up, Reeves trying out for the part of Bill while Winter tried out for the part of Ted. They were cast opposite what they auditioned for.

7: During the climatic motorcycle chase in “The Great Escape“, director John Sturges allowed Steve McQueen to ride (in disguise) as one of the pursuing German soldiers, so that in the final sequence, through the magic of editing, he’s actually chasing himself.

8: In “Glengarry Glen Ross“, Alec Baldwin, was initially hired to play Blake (a role which wasn’t in the original play) but with the agreement that if Al Pacino was unable to play Roma, Baldwin would play him. Early in preproduction it looked as if Pacino was going to be unavailable, so Baldwin began working on Roma, only for Pacino to join the project and Baldwin went back to Blake.

9: “Dances of Wolves” ran so far over budget that Kevin Costner was forced to invest his own money. This caused rumors that the film would be another out-of-control, disappointing western like “Heaven’s Gate“. In fact, some studio people were referring to it as “Kevin’s Gate”. It went on to win the first Best Picture Oscar for a western since “Cimarron“, over 50 years before it.

10: When the film “Gangs of New York” was first conceived in 1978, it was originally planned for Dan Aykroyd to be cast as Amsterdam Vallon and John Belushi as Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. The project fell apart after Belushi died. A cast reshuffle had Mel Gibson as Amsterdam Vallon and Robert DeNiro or Willem Dafoe as The Butcher. Eventually, Leonardo DiCaprio was cast as Amsterdam Vallon and Daniel Day-Lewis was cast as The Butcher.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: “Drive” and “Taxi Driver” actor Albert Brooks’ real name is, in fact, Albert Einstein. He changed his surname “Einstein” because there was already an extremely well-known theoretical physicist by that name.

2: According to David Fincher, Robert Downey Jr. was so exhausted while making “Zodiac” because the film was shot digitally (leaving them with fewer resets and fewer breaks) that he decided to leave jars of his urine around the set as a form of protest.

3: In “Trainspotting” there are several references to The Beatles: – The scene where the store detectives chase Renton down the street is reminiscent of the scene in “A Hard Day’s Night” where The Beatles are pursued by fans. – While watching the train, the four friends arrange themselves in the same manner as The Beatles did on the back of the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“. – The scene where the four friends cross the road and enter the hotel is reminiscent of the cover of the album “Abbey Road“. – The scene where Renton wakes up on the couch in the morning at Diane’s home and says hello to someone passing through the hallway while covered with a blanket to his chin, is reminiscent of a scene in “Help!” where Ringo is found in a trunk of a car covered up with a blanket, and upon being found, says hello. – The “Mother Superior’s” written in the dealer house is a reference to the Beatles song Happiness is a Warm Gun, a song about heroin, which has the line “mother superior jump the gun“.

4: Dino De Laurentiis, who had produced “Manhunter“, passed on “The Silence of the Lambs” because Manhunter had flopped. He gave the rights away to Orion Pictures for free.

5: The part of J.D. (played by Brad Pitt) in “Thelma & Louise” was originally intended for William Baldwin but he jumped ship when he landed the lead in “Backdraft“. Christian Slater was also considered and, then struggling actor, George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott before Pitt took over.

6: Following the success of the movie “Forrest Gump“, the writer of the novel, Winston Groom wrote a sequel called “Gump & Co.“, which referenced the movie as if it had been released in Forrest’s world. Forrest also meets Tom Hanks in the novel.

7: After “The Wild One” in 1953, Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin almost starred together again 19 years later in John Boorman’s “Deliverance“. They were cast together in the film until Lee Marvin told director Boorman that he thought he and Brando were too old for their roles. Boorman agreed and cast Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds instead.

8: When Paul Thomas Anderson approached George C. Scott about playing the role of Earl Partridge (Jason Robards’ character) in “Magnolia“, Scott threw the script across the room, saying “This is the worst fucking thing I’ve ever read. The language is terrible.”

9: The inspiration for the character of Freddy in “A Nightmare On Elm St” came from several sources in Wes Craven’s childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate of Craven with whom he had shared a paper route, and who had bullied him for several years. In “The Last House on the Left“, Craven also used this experience as inspiration, calling the villain Krug. Freddy’s appearance (especially the dirty clothes and hat) was inspired by a hobo who Craven saw staring at him through his window one day when he was ten.

10: In “The Big Lebowski“, the Dude’s line, “The Dude abides” is a reference to Ecclesiastes 1:4, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth abides forever.” It is a reference to how the Dude, much like the Earth, can weather change and chaos around him, but still remain the same.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

As some, or most, of you will be aware, the 2013 Lammy Awards are now underway. Amongst all of us bloggers this is a coveted prize that brings warmth the heart of the victor. If only, to be reminded that other bloggers appreciate the effort that you’ve put in. Don’t worry too much, though. I’m not about to go on the campaign trail and bombard you with my gleaming smile, firm handshake or even a photographic opportunity when kissing your baby. That being said, I’d still like to win one of these awards but I’m going to be straight up about it.
What I would like to do, at this time, is thank all of you who have submitted my blog and got me to the nomination stage. I’m over the moon and can’t thank you all enough. It is at this time that I will now submit my “For Your Consideration” poster (which I’ve been dying to do) for the four main category’s that I would be greatful in getting a nomination for.

The poster speaks for itself, I think, and that’s as far as my campaigning will go. However, you will still be able to see the poster in my sidebar throughout the nomination stage as a gentle reminder. Anyway, I’ve said enough already. A big thank you to Chris from Filmhipster for the excellent poster that he designed for me and thanks to all that have submitted me so far and for any further consideration you might have.

Always grateful,

Mark

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: Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” originally had a voiceover narration, which was written in the script but he eliminated it, and filmed the movie so that the audience discovered the clues at the same time Jake Gittes did.

2: During filming one of the night scenes in “The Blues Brothers“, John Belushi disappeared and could not be located. Dan Aykroyd looked around and saw a single house with its lights on. He went to the house and was prepared to identify himself, the movie and that they were looking for John Belushi. But before he could, the homeowner looked at him, smiled and said, “You’re here for John Belushi, aren’t you?” The homeowner then told them Belushi had entered their house, asked if he could have a glass of milk and a sandwich and then crashed on their couch. Situations like this prompted Aykroyd to affectionately dub Belushi “America’s Guest“.

3: Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest actress to be nominated for two Best Actress Academy Awards and the 2nd youngest recipient of the award upon winning for “Silver Linings Playbook” aged 22; the youngest recipient is Marlee Matlin, who won for “Children of a Lesser God” aged 21.

4: There’s a scene in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” where Adam Kesher (played by Justin Theroux) smashes a producers’ car windshield with a golf club. This is a reference to the famous 1994 incident where Jack Nicholson did the same. Nicholson’s nickname is “Mulholland Man“.

5: Matthew Modine turned down the Tom Cruise role, Maverick, in “Top Gun” because he objected to the film’s Cold War politics. Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox, Scott Baio and Tom Hanks also turned it down. Rob Lowe, Eric Stoltz, Robert Downey Jr and Charlie Sheen were considered for it. Sheen would later go on to spoof the role in the 1991 comedy “Hot Shots“.

6: Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie’s inspiration for the character of Keyser Soze in “The Usual Suspects” was a real-life murderer by the name of John List, who murdered his family and then disappeared for 17 years.

7: Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for his role as Ratzo Rizzo in “Midnight Cowboy“, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the “beggar” less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity.

8: Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar was approached several times to direct “The Paperboy” before Lee Daniels. He seriously considered making it his first English-speaking feature but finally declined. Allegedly, he participated in early versions of the script.

9: John Turturro role of Bernie Bernbaum in the Coen’s “Miller’s Crossing” is a performance that’s actually based on the film’s cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld.

10: According to an interview with “Predator” director John McTiernan, the “hole in the jungle” appearance of the Predator was played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in a “blue screen” (actually red) suit. Van Damme quit after two days, unhappy with being cast as an uncredited special effect, but can be seen as the Predator in “If It Bleeds We Can Kill It: The Making of ‘Predator’“. The alien was scrapped, redesigned and was eventually played by Kevin Peter Hall who was over 7 feet tall.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: As with most of Stephen King’s stories, “Stand By Me” contains connections to other books he has written. Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland’s character) later re-appeared in the book “Needful Things“, although he does not appear in the film. The dog Chopper is compared to “Cujo“.
Characters are familiar with Shawshank Prison, from “The Shawshank Redemption“. Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman’s character) was actually first mentioned in King’s first book, “Carrie“, in which Carrie destroys a gas station he once worked at.

2: Al Pacino turned down the role of Ron Kovic’s (Tom Cruise) father in Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July“. Some years earlier another version of the film was proposed with Pacino as Kovic with William Friedkin directing.

3: Production on the film “Barry Lyndon” was moved from Ireland to England after Stanley Kubrick received word that his name was on an IRA hit list for directing a film featuring English soldiers in Ireland.

4: Before Anthony Hopkins was cast as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs“, the considerations were: John Hurt, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson, and Robert DeNiro. Jeremy Irons actually turned down the offer.

5: John Singleton’s Best Director Oscar nomination for “Boyz N The Hood” at the age of 24 makes him the youngest director to ever receive such an accolade, beating Orson Welles by a good 2 years.

6: Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury while filming “The Exorcist“. In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain.

7: Robert Mitchum turned down the role that eventually went to Tony Curtis in “The Defiant Ones“. Mitchum, a real-life veteran of a Southern chain gang, didn’t believe the premise that a black man and a white man would be chained together and said that such a thing would never happen in the South. Over the years this reason was corrupted to the point where many people now believe Mitchum turned down the role because he didn’t want to be chained to a black man, an absolute falsehood. Curtis repeated the inaccurate story in his autobiography, but later recanted after Mitchum’s real reason was explained to him.

8: Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho through all three “Man with No Name” movies- “A Fistful of Dollars“, “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly” without a replacement or ever getting it cleaned.

9: The original cut of “The Town” that Ben Affleck screened for producers was 4 hours long. After realizing that the film would never appeal to wide audiences, he cut the film down to 2 hours and 50 minutes in three days. After screening that version, the studio and producers loved it but knew that it was still too long. Affleck eventually had to cut beloved footage and personal favorite scenes to make the film work. The film then went through more change at a studio standpoint when they wanted the film at no more than 2hours and 10 minutes. Eventually, Affleck cut the film down to 2 hours and 8 minutes, ultimately trimming action sequences, character development and dialog. Affleck, while happy with the theatrical cut, stated that an Extended Cut will be featured on the DVD and BluRay with deleted scenes on top of that. He also stated that, while the theatrical cut of “The Town” is a close adaptation of ‘Prince of Thieves‘ (the novel which it is based on), the extended cut is a mirror of the novel, staying more true to the book.

10: “American Beauty” has many references to the Vladimir Nabokov novel “Lolita“. “Lester Burnham” (Kevin Spacey’s character) is an anagram for “Humbert learns”. Prof. Humbert was the main character from the novel and film adaptations.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: The coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival has been won twice by only 8 directors since it’s origins in 1939. They are: Bille August, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, Alf Sjöberg, Shôhei Imamura, Emir Kusturica, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Haneke.

2: To achieve the feeling of brotherhood between the two lead actors in “Raging Bull“, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci actually lived and trained with each other for some time before filming began. Ever since then, the two have been very close friends.

3: The character of Leo (played by Albert Finney) in “Miller’s Crossing” was written for Trey Wilson, who played Nathan Arizona, Sr, in the Coens’ previous film, “Raising Arizona“. Wilson died shortly before production began, so Finney took over the role.

4: The mask that Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) wears with his costume in “Eyes Wide Shut” is modelled from the face of Ryan O’Neal, a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s earlier film “Barry Lyndon“.

5: Jeremy Renner was originally going to play Freddie Quell in “The Master” when the film was prepped to shoot years ago, but when financing fell through, and Joaquin Phoenix was available following his “I’m Still Here” project, the filmmakers were able to cast him.

6: The project of “L.A. Confidential” was twice pitched to television: first, producer David L. Wolper wanted to produce the project as a mini-series, and later, it was being developed as a weekly series by HBO. A pilot that starred Kiefer Sutherland was produced, but the series was not picked up afterwards.

7: Unlike most animated films, the principal actors in “Wreck-it Ralph” regularly recorded audio sessions together in the same room, a situation which led to a lot of improvising.

8: Kirk Douglas, who owned the rights to “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest“, planned to star himself, but by the time they got around to making the film he was too old. Douglas passed on production duties to his son Michael and Jack Nicholson was then cast in the lead.

9: The film “Four Rooms” that included segments from four directors – Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Alexandre Rockwell & Allison Anders was originally to be titled “Five Rooms” with Richard Linklater contributing a segment; however, he withdrew before production began.

10: Oliver Stone wrote the first draft of “Platoon” in 1971 and sent it to Jim Morrison in hopes that he would play the part of Pvt. Chris Taylor (whom Charlie Sheen would ultimately play). Morrison had the script on him when he was found dead in Paris. It is unknown whether he would have been cast had he lived. However, Stone eventually made “The Doors” based on Morrison’s life.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: Richard Farnsworth was a stunt man for 40 years before becoming an actor. During this time he doubled for Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Montgomery Clift, Steve McQueen and Roy Rogers before eventually taking his own life with a self inflicted gunshot wound when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The year before this, he was the eldest actor ever (aged 79) to receive an Oscar nomination for David Lynch’s “The Straight Story“.

2: Three directors were offered to direct “Fight Club” prior to David Fincher. Peter Jackson was the initial choice of the producers, who had been impressed with Jackson’s work on “Heavenly Creatures” and “The Frighteners“. Jackson however, although he loved the Chuck Palahniuk novel, was too busy prepping “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” in New Zealand. The second choice for director was Bryan Singer, who was sent the book, but who never got back to the producers (he later admitted he didn’t read the novel when he received it). Next to be offered the job was director Danny Boyle, who met with the producers, read the book, and loved the material, but who ultimately decided to concentrate on “The Beach” instead. The producers then turned to David Fincher, after having been impressed with his work on “Se7en“.

3: Orson Welles chipped his anklebone halfway through production of “Citizen Kane” and had to direct for 2 weeks from a wheelchair. When he was called upon to stand up onscreen, he wore metal braces. The injury occurred in the scene where Kane chases Gettys down the stairs and Welles tripped.

4: The original falcon used to play Mordecai in “The Royal Tenenbaums” was kidnapped during shooting and held for ransom – production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has “more white feathers” – it’s a different bird.

5: When the film version of “Miami Vice” was still being developed by Michael Mann, Don Johnson (who originally played the character on TV) was asked who he would pick to play Sonny Crockett. Johnson suggested Colin Farrell – who eventually got the role.

6: In “Saturday Night Fever“, John Travolta originally wanted his disco suit to be black, until it was pointed out that in the darkened disco, his co-star’s red dress would make her easier to see than him. It was then agreed upon to be White.

7: Following the “eggplant scene” in “True Romance“, Dennis Hopper was concerned about being “shot” by Christopher Walken with the prop gun so close against his head for fear of being burned by the barrel. Director Tony Scott assured him the gun was 100% safe, and even tested it by having the prop man fire it against his (Scott’s) own forehead. But upon firing the prop gun the barrel extended about a third of an inch and Scott ended up on the floor with blood pouring from the wound.

8: In Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away“, actual lines of dialogue were written for Wilson the Volleyball, to help Tom Hanks have a more natural interaction with the inanimate object.

9: The line-up scene in “The Usual Suspects” was scripted as a serious scene, but after a full day of filming takes where the actors couldn’t keep a straight face, director Bryan Singer decided to use the funniest takes. A making-of documentary shows Singer becoming furious at the actors for the constant cracking-up. In an interview (on the Special Edition DVD), Kevin Pollak states that the hilarity came about when Benicio Del Toro “farted, like 12 takes in a row.” Del Toro himself said “somebody” farted, but no one knew who.

10: According to William Goldman’s book “Four Screenplays“, the main character of Paul Sheldon in “Misery” (eventually played by James Caan) was offered to William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty, all of whom declined. Jack Nicholson was also offered the role but passed because he wasn’t sure he wanted to do another movie based on one of Stephen King’s novels after what he had experienced with Stanley Kubrick on “The Shining“.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: As a producer of “Schindler’s List“, Steven Spielberg shopped directing duties on the film to numerous colleagues, because he was afraid he couldn’t do the story justice. He was turned down by Martin Scorsese (who was interested but ultimately felt it was a subject that should be done by a Jewish director), Roman Polanski (who didn’t feel he was yet ready to tackle the Holocaust after surviving it in childhood), and Billy Wilder (who wanted to make this as his last film). Apparently, it was Wilder who convinced Spielberg to direct it himself.

2: Up until his death in 1978, actor John Cazale appeared in only five feature films in his career: “The Godfather“, “The Conversation“, “The Godfather: Part II“, “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Deer Hunter“. All of them were nominated for Best Picture (with three of them actually winning the award).

3: Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out of the role of Stephen Meyers in George Clooney’s “The Ides Of March” but stayed on as executive producer through his company Appian Way. Chris Pine was then considered before Ryan Gosling was cast.

4: Among its 8 Academy Award nominations, “Silver Linings Playbook” became the first to earn nods in all four acting categories since “Reds” in 1981 and the first “Big Five” (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing) nominee since “Million Dollar Baby” in 2004z

5: Originally the movie “Three Amigo’s” was supposed to star Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Martin mentioned it in a Playboy interview published January 1980, referring to the movie as ‘The Three Caballeros‘.

6: Writers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen suffered writer’s block while writing “Miller’s Crossing“. They took a three week break and wrote “Barton Fink” a film about a writer with writer’s block. The name of Tom Regan’s (Gabriel Byrne) residence is “The Barton Arms“. In one of the newspapers an article reads ‘Seven Dead in Hotel Fire,’ another reference to Barton Fink.

7: The director of “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy“, Adam McKay has said that in the first draft of the script, the story was about a planeload of news anchors who crash in the mountains and discover that the plane which they collided was carrying monkeys and martial arts equipment, leading to a battle between cannibalistic newsmen and star-throwing monkeys.

8: The extraordinary cost of the production of “One From The Heart” would lead to director Francis Ford Coppola’s declaring bankruptcy. Originally intended as a small film after the enormous cost, pressures and production problems of “Apocalypse Now“, One From The Heart rapidly ballooned from a projected budget of $2 million to over $25 million. Coppola has stated that the films he made during the rest of the 1980s and most of the 1990s, such as “The Outsiders“, “The Cotton Club“, “The Godfather: Part III“, “Jack” and “The Rainmaker“, were done to pay off the debts incurred by the production of this film.

9: Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe were both slated to play the lead in “Footloose“. The casting directors were impressed with Cruise because of the famous underwear dance sequence in “Risky Business“, but he was unavailable for the part because he was filming “All the Right Moves“. Lowe auditioned three times and had dancing ability and the “neutral teen” look that the director wanted, but he pulled his knee, and the injury prevented him from taking the part. After watching “Diner“, the director had to convince the producers to go with Kevin Bacon.

10: In “The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus“, according to Terry Gilliam, the last line Heath Ledger spoke for filming on the set was “Don’t shoot the messenger.” When Johnny Depp filmed his role after Ledger’s death, Depp asked Gilliam if he could try a new ad-lib: “Don’t shoot the messenger“, unaware that Ledger had improvised an identical line. Gilliam was astounded, remarking, “Heath is still out there. Johnny’s channeling Heath somehow…”

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: Bill Murray was considered and tested for the role of Sulley in “Monsters Inc.” but the director, Pete Docter, said that when the filmmakers decided to offer it to Murray, they were unable to make contact with him and took that to mean “no”.

2: Daniel Radcliffe, Shia LaBeouf, James McAvoy, Erryn Arkin and Tobey Maguire were considered for the role of Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit“. However, Peter Jackson has said that his first choice was always Martin Freeman. Freeman was initially unable to accept the role, due to scheduling conflicts with “Sherlock“, but Jackson reworked the entire shooting schedule for the Hobbit films to accommodate him.

3: According to Naomi Watts, the producers of the film “The Impossible” heard an interview on Spanish radio where the real family told their story of surviving the Tsunami and decided from then to adapt the story into a film.

4: Originally, Richard Donner directed “Superman” and “Superman II” back to back, then cut back on filming the sequel to focus on finishing the first one for a Christmas release. A clash with producers Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind over the material led to Donner being fired before he could finish filming the second one and he was replaced with Richard Lester. Donner later estimated that he had directed 80% of the sequel and saw about 50% of his work in the theatrical film.

5: To enhance the scale of the Space Jockey in “Alien“, Ridley Scott actually filmed his kids in miniature space suits.

6: “Manhattan” is Woody Allen’s least favorite of the movies he has directed. However, it was the most commercially successful film of his career. He said years later that he was still in disbelief that he “got away with it”. He disliked it so much that he offered to direct another film for United Artists for free if they kept “Manhattan” on the shelf for good.

7: Edward Norton was originally offered the role of Pvt. Ryan in Steven Spielberg’s World War II film “Saving Private Ryan” but he turned it down and it eventually went to his “Rounders” co-star Matt Damon.

8: Author William Peter Blatty once won $10,000 on the Groucho Marx show “You Bet Your Life“. When Groucho asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he planned to take some time off to “work on a novel.” The novel turned out to be “The Exorcist“.

9: Viggo Mortensen was originally cast to play John Dunbar (Kevin Costner’s role) in “Dances With Wolves“. Mortensen was also supposed to play the character in a proposed sequel called “The Holy Road“. Costner stated he didn’t want to reprise the character but the sequel has yet to see the light of day either.

10: Francis Ford Coppola was in the early stages of developing a script for a fourth “Godfather” film with Mario Puzo which was to tell the story of the early lives of Sonny, Fredo and Michael. After Puzo’s death in July of 1999, Coppola abandoned the project, stating that he couldn’t do it without his friend.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.).

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: In the graveyard scene in “Seven Psychopaths“, the grave that the Jack of Diamonds killer is hiding behind is named “Rourke”. Mickey Rourke was initially cast in the movie as Charlie (eventually played by Woody Harrelson) but dropped out after disagreements with the director.

2: Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro were Michael Mann’s first choices for the roles Hanna and McCauley in “Heat” but Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges were discussed as a possible alternative for the two leads.

3: Terrence Malick wrote a ‘treatment’ for the Clint Eastwood classic “Dirty Harry” but none of his material was used for the final film.

4: Both Warren Beatty and Kevin Costner were considered for the role of Bill in “Kill Bill“. Both turned it down and it was Beatty who suggested that Tarantino use David Carradine instead.

5: The “You think I’m funny?” scene in “Goodfellas” was based on a story that Joe Pesci acted out for Martin Scorsese. While working in a restaurant as a young man, Pesci once told a mobster that he was funny and the mobster became very angry. Scorsese allowed Pesci and Ray Liotta to improvise the scene. He did not tell the other actors in the scene what would happen because he wanted their genuine surprised reactions.

6: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Hulk Hogan have all revealed in interviews that Schwarzenegger and DeVito were given the option of doing “Twins” or “Suburban Commando“; had the two chosen Suburban Commando, Hogan and Christopher Lloyd would have done Twins.

7: John Travolta, Tom Hanks, and Tom Cruise where among the actors that were considered for the role of Sheriff Freddy Heflin in “Copland“. Sylvester Stallone eventually got the role and gained 40 pounds for it by sticking to a diet of giant pancakes.

8: As roommates, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman would often go to their apartment rooftop and play the drums. Hoffman played the bongo drums while Hackman played the conga drums. They did it out of their love for Marlon Brando, who they had heard played music in clubs. They wanted to be like Brando and were big fans of his.

9: Director Darren Aronofsky originally envisioned telling the story of “Black Swan” as part of the plot of “The Wrestler” and was actually developing a project that was about a love affair between a ballet dancer and a wrestler, but he realized pretty quickly that taking two worlds like wrestling and ballet was much too much for one movie.

10: In an interview with ‘Entertainment Weekly‘, Christopher Nolan explained that he based roles of the “Inception” team similar to roles that are used in filmmaking – Cobb (DiCaprio) is the director, Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) is the producer, Ariadne (Page) is the production designer, Eames (Hardy) is the actor, Saito (Watanabe) is the studio, and Fischer (Murphy) is the audience. “In trying to write a team-based creative process, I wrote the one I know,” said Nolan.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

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: Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Robert Redford were the cast of “Indecent Proposal” but it was originally designed as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, with Warren Beatty taking the part of the millionaire.

2: After “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade“, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery passed up three subsequent opportunities to work together. Connery accepted a role in “The Hunt for Red October“, while Ford declined the role of Jack Ryan, which went to Alec Baldwin instead. (Ford later took over the role in “Patriot Games“). Ford and Connery both declined the roles of Alan Grant and John Hammond, respectively, in “Jurassic Park” and Connery declined to return to the role of Henry Jones in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“.

3: After playing Al Capone in “The Untouchables“, Robert DeNiro was looking for some lighter material to do next. Initially, he wanted to play the lead in Penny Marshall’s “Big“, but the studio wasn’t interested in having DeNiro play the role, and it ultimately went to Tom Hanks. He then became involved in “Midnight Run“.

4: For the Spike Jonze film “Adaptation“, Donald Kaufman was nominated for a Golden Globe with writer Charlie Kaufman, despite being a fictional character. They were also both nominated for an Academy Award and the Academy made it known that, in the event of a victory, the two brothers would have to share one statue.

5: After she just won her Oscar for “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1979, during the festivities, Meryl Streep left the statuette on the back of a toilet.

6: At one point, George Lucas had planned the character of Han Solo to be a huge green-skinned monster with no nose and gills. Then Lucas changed the idea of Han Solo to a black human. He auditioned several black actors and even musicians (including Billy Dee Williams) until finally settling on Glynn Turman. But after this he decided to make the role white. Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, Christopher Walken, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Robert Englund, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and Perry King were all candidates for the role of Han Solo. George Lucas also wanted to stay away from any actors he had previously used in his films. James Caan, Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro and Burt Reynolds turned down the role. Harrison Ford (who had played Bob Falfa in Lucas’s “American Graffiti“) read the part of Han Solo for screen tests of other characters but wasn’t originally considered for the part. During these tests Lucas realized Ford was perfect for the role.

7: Before becoming an actor Russell Crowe tried a music career as a rockabilly singer sporting a large pompadour hairdo, playing under the name Russ Le Roq. He titled his first single “I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando” but later admitted that he had never even seen a Brando movie when he wrote and recorded the song.

8: When Steven Spielberg first showed composer John Williams a cut of the film “Schindler’s List“, Williams was so moved he had to take a walk outside for several minutes to collect himself. Upon his return, Williams told Spielberg he deserved a better composer. Spielberg replied, “I know, but they’re all dead.”

9: In 1969, Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Jay Cocks met author Philip K. Dick to discuss the possibility of adapting his novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” into a film, but they never optioned the novel, and the project fell through. Ridley Scott would, of course, turn it into “Blade Runner” in 1982.

10: There have been many speculations as to the nature of the mysterious glowing contents of the briefcase in “Pulp Fiction” – The most persistent theory is that it is Marcellus Wallace’s soul. The story goes that when the Devil takes a person’s soul, it is removed through the back of the head (this isn’t part of any known religion, though). When we see the back of Marcellus’s head he has a Band-Aid covering the precise spot indicated by his soul removal. Perhaps Marcellus sold his soul to the devil which would also explain why the combination to open the briefcase is 666.

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 Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.).