FILM 1878: NEAR DARK

FILM 1878: NEAR DARK

TRIVIA: While shooting in the desert, Lance Henriksen relieved the boredom between takes by hopping in his car and taking short drives through the desert, still in costume and often staying in character. According to Henriksen and Bill Paxton, the two were stopped by a policeman who became so unnerved questioning Jesse about his speeding that the officer became visibly uncomfortable, stepping back and placing his hand on his firearm. The obviously flustered officer decided to send them on their way rather than write them a ticket.

Unusual for a vampire movie, the word "vampire" is never mentioned.

Future husband James Cameron suggested to Bigelow that she use the ready-made ensemble cast from his recent hit Aliens (1986), and thus Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein all appear in Bigelow's film. Michael Biehn had also appeared in Aliens and was considered, but declined to participate.

This film marked Kathryn Bigelow's first solo directorial effort and the film's producer, Edward S. Feldman told her that if she couldn't handle or didn't know what she was doing while filming after five days, she would be replaced. She kept the job.

At approximately 21:13 of the movie, when Caleb in stumbling through the town in Texas, in the background there is a Warner cinema playing Aliens (1986), a movie also starring several of the main characters from Near Dark - including Lance Henriksen (Jessie), Bill Paxton (Severen), and Jenette Goldstein. (Diamondback).

At the start of the bungalow gunfight scene, a cross can be seen in the handle of Jesse's pistol alluding to the idea that these vampires do not follow the same "rules" of traditional vampire mythology.

When Severen and Jesse torch the motor home, Severen asks Jesse if he had remembered about a "fire that they had started in Chicago". It is assumed that they mean the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that left more than 100,000 people homeless and destroyed businesses. Though apocryphal legend attributes the fire to a cow who kicked a lantern, the cause still remains a mystery.

FILM 1467: THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC 

TRIVIA: Believed lost until a complete print was found in a mental institution in Oslo. See also Der brennende Acker (1922).

None of the actors wears any makeup, which was unheard of in the silent era. Carl Theodor Dreyer thought this lent strength to the characters' faces.

Much of the project's budget was reserved for the expensive sets, although, Carl Theodor Dreyer used so many close-ups, very little of the actual sets are seen.

Real blood from a real puncture wound was used in the scene in which Joan's arm is cut, but it was that of a stand-in and not Maria Falconetti.

Although the film was shown with live musical accompaniment in the theatre, there is no evidence that Carl Theodor Dreyer ever selected a definitive score. All current DVD versions of the film use Richard Einhorn's "Voices of Light" for accompaniment.

FILM 1472: THE BOOK THIEF 

TRIVIA: One of the books that Liesel read to Max when he was sick is actually the book The Book Thief itself, containing the sentence: "what came to her then was the dustiness of the floor, the feeling that her clothes were more next to her than on her, and the sudden realisation that this would all be for nothing".

When first arriving at the school, a large poster with many faces can be seen. This is a replica of an accurate period piece, a poster depicting the "ideal" Aryan phenotypes according to the region. Painted by two artists with racial obsession, these posters were placed in every school, and students are forced to memorize them.

The Gravedigger's Handbook, The Dog Named Faust, The Lighthouse, The Shoulder Shrug, The Whistler, The Mud Men, The Standover Man, The Dream Carrier, A Song in the Dark, Under the Cherry Tree, The Tenth Lieutenant, The Last Human Stranger and The Rules of Tommy Hoffman were books Liesel got her hands on in the novel, but they were not real books; Markus Zusak made them up because he liked the sound of the titles and each one referred to problems that Hitler's oppressive tactics caused.

BOOK 100: FAHRENHEIT 451: RAY BRADBURY

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953. It is regarded as one of his best works. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The title refers to the temperature that Bradbury understood to be the autoignition point of paper.

Historical context

Bradbury's lifelong passion with books began at an early age. As a frequent visitor to his local libraries in the 1920s and 1930s, he recalls being disappointed because they did not stock popular science fiction novels, like those of H. G. Wells, because, at the time, they were not deemed literary enough. Between this and learning about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, a great impression was made on the young man about the vulnerability of books to censure and destruction. Later as a teenager, Bradbury was horrified by the Nazi book burnings and later Joseph Stalin's campaign of political repression, the "Great Purge", in which writers and poets, among many others, were arrested and often executed.

After the 1945 conclusion of World War II shortly after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States focused its concern on the Soviet atomic bomb project and the expansion of communism. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)—formed in 1938 to investigate American citizens and organizations suspected of having communist ties—held hearings in 1947 to investigate alleged communist influence in Hollywood movie-making. These hearings resulted in the blacklisting of the so-called "Hollywood Ten", a group of influential screenwriters and directors. This governmental interference in the affairs of artists and creative types greatly angered Bradbury. Bitter and concerned about the workings of his government, a late 1949 nighttime encounter with an overzealous police officer would inspire Bradbury to write "The Pedestrian", a short story which would go on to become "The Fireman" and then Fahrenheit 451. The rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy's hearings hostile to accused communists starting in 1950, would only deepen Bradbury's contempt over government overreach.

The same year HUAC began investigating Hollywood is often considered the beginning of the Cold War, as in March 1947, the Truman Doctrine was announced. By about 1950, the Cold War was in full swing and the American public's fear of atomic warfare and communist influence was at a feverish level. The stage was set for Bradbury to write the dramatic nuclear holocaust ending of Fahrenheit 451, exemplifying the type of scenario feared by many Americans of the time.

Bradbury's early life witnessed the Golden Age of Radio while the transition to the Golden Age of Television began right around the time he started to work on the stories that would eventually lead to Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury saw these forms of media as a threat to the reading of books, indeed as a threat to society, because they can act as a distraction from important affairs. This contempt for mass media and technology would express itself through Mildred and her friends and is an important theme in the book.