FILM 2000: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

FILM 2000: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

TRIVIA: Filming was shifted from Beijing to Macau after Chinese authorities demanded to see the completed script. Director Wong Kar-wai never used scripts.

Maggie Cheung wears a different cheongsam dress in each scene. There were 46 dresses in total, though not all made it to the final cut.

During filming, director Wong Kar-wai improvised often with the actors, crafting the story and mood of the film as he went along. Originally, In the Mood for Love (2000) was a much more obvious romance film, with the actors throwing witty dialogue at each other and engaging in several scenes of lovemaking. Eventually, the actors and director decided to tone the mood down to the more subtle version that was released in theaters.

Maggie Cheung's hair and makeup took five hours each day to apply.

The number of the hotel room where Chow (Tony Leung) stays is 2046. Director Wong Kar-wai's next feature length film was 2046 (2004), which also starred Tony Leung.

The film was ranked #2 in BBC's "100 Greatest Films of The 21st Century" list, and the highest ranking non-English film.

The film is included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider.

The film's original Chinese title, meaning "the age of blossoms" or "the flowery years" – Chinese metaphor for the fleeting time of youth, beauty and love – derives from a song of the same name by Zhou Xuan from a 1946 film. The English title derives from the song, "I'm in the Mood for Love". Director Wong had planned to name the film Secrets, until listening to the song late in post-production.

FILM 1985: THE BOSTON STRANGLER

FILM 1985: THE BOSTON STRANGLER

TRIVIA: Film debut of Edward Winter.

Shortly before filming was set to begin, the real Albert DeSalvo escaped from the mental institution where he was imprisoned. He was later captured after being on the run for thirty-three hours.

Tony Curtis broke his nose while filming a chase scene.

Tony Curtis was on Variety's list of Top Ten Overpriced Stars in 1968.

Other actors considered for the role of Albert DeSalvo were Robert Redford and Warren Beatty.

BOOK 179: ON WRITING: CHARLES BUKOWSKI

Sharp and moving reflections and ruminations on the artistry and craft of writing from one of our most iconoclastic, riveting, and celebrated masters.

Charles Bukowski’s stories, poems, and novels have left an enduring mark on our culture. In this collection of correspondence—letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers—the writer shares his insights on the art of creation.

On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of life—and of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture icon—the “laureate of American lowlife” (Time)—who stoically recorded society’s downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: “Don't try.”

Piercing, poignant, and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with Bukowski’s trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos, and intimacy.

(Info from: Amazon)

http://www.we-are-scout.com/2016/05/henry-talbot-australian-fashion-photography-1960s.html

FILM 1505: THAT THING YOU DO!

TRIVIA: Tom Hanks's writer-directorial film debut.

The four actors playing The Wonders rehearsed as a band for eight weeks to get the feel of performing - but most of their performances in the film were dubbed by other musicians.

Film debut of Tom Everett Scott. Tom Hanks was initially opposed to hiring Scott because of Scott's strong resemblance to a younger Hanks. He was finally convinced by his wife, Rita Wilson, who thought Scott was cute.

Adam Schlesinger, the bassist of Fountains of Wayne, penned the title song in response to a contest being held by the studio. Their song won, being used in the movie. The movie was released shortly after their first album.

Tom Hanks claimed that he wrote the script while on the promotional tour for Forrest Gump (1994) due to his boredom doing non-stop interviews.

Including full versions, alternative versions, live versions and snippets, the song "That Thing You Do" is heard eleven times in the movie.

Frequent Tom Hanks collaborator, Ron Howard's, brother plays a DJ in the film. It's Howard's director hallmark to feature his brother in his work.

FILM 1442: BLAST FROM THE PAST

TRIVIA: In keeping with the theme that the late 90's are a "new world" for the Webbers, the main characters are named Adam and Eve.

FILM 1366: WHERE THE TRUTH LIES

TRIVIA: An important plot twist, part of the reason the film was given an NC-17 rating in the US, is revealed in the documentary 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)'.

FILM 1175: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

TRIVIA: In this film, Elizabeth Taylor does an exaggerated impression of Bette Davis saying a line from Beyond the Forest (1949): "What a dump!" In an interview with Barbara Walters, Bette Davis said that in the film, she really did not deliver the line in such an exaggerated manner. She said it in a more subtle, low-key manner, but it has passed into legend that she said it the way Elizabeth Taylor's delivered it in this film. During the Barbara Walters interview, the clip of Bette Davis delivering the line from Beyond the Forest (1949) was shown to prove that Davis was correct. However, since people expected Bette Davis to deliver the line the way Elizabeth Taylor had, she always opened her in-person, one woman show by saying the line in a campy, exaggerated manner: "WHAT ... A... DUMP!!!". It always brought down the house. "I imitated the imitators", Davis said.

Every credited member of the cast received an Academy Award nomination.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) became the first motion picture in Academy Awards and cinema history to be nominated for every Academy Award category in which it was eligible, including Best Adapted Screenplay (Lehman), Director (Nichols), all the acting categories (Burton, Taylor, Segal, and Dennis), and Picture of the Year (Lehman), since Cimarron (1931).

Edward Albee said he came up with the title when he saw the phrase written on a men's room wall in a New York tavern.

Elizabeth Taylor gained nearly 30 pounds to play the role of a middle-aged wife just for this film.

In her A&E Biography special, Elizabeth Taylor remarked that her performance as Martha remains her personal best.

The fourth of eleven films that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton starred in together.

Richard Burton was heavily criticized for playing his character with an English accent.

According to Edward Albee, the only thing he doesn't like about the film is the over-use of over-head shots. He did say, however, that he envisioned Bette Davis and James Mason as Martha and George rather than Taylor and Burton. If Davis had been cast, she would have ended up parodying a line from one of her old films ("What a dump!") in the opening scene.