FILM 2015: SICARIO

FILM 2015: SICARIO

TRIVIA: While Benicio Del Toro's character is frequently silent in the movie, he initially had more lines. "In the original script, the character explained his background several times to Kate," Del Toro said. "And that gave me information about who this guy was, but it felt a little stiff to have someone you just met fifteen minutes ago suddenly telling you what happened to him and who he is." Working with director Denis Villeneuve, Del Toro began cutting some of his dialogue to preserve the mystery of who his character is; Villeneuve estimated they cut 90% of what Del Toro was originally intended to say by screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. Like Del Toro, Villeneuve saw power in stripping the character down to a brooding silence, stating that dialogue belongs to plays and "movies are about movement, character, and presence, and Benicio had all that."

When discussing the score with composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, director Denis Villeneuve said he wanted the the sound of a threat. The one film Villeneuve used as a comparison was Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975).

Emily Blunt based Kate Macer's character on one of four female FBI agents she spoke to in preparation for the role, whom she described as "shy" and with a "loner quality" to them.

The word "Sicario" derives from the Latin word "Sicarius," meaning "dagger man." The term was used by Romans to describe Jewish zealots who killed Roman citizens using a "sica" or small dagger hidden in their cloaks. There were so many murders in the province of Judea around the 1st Century AD that the figure of "Sicarius" was codified in Roman law ("Lex Cornelia de Sicariis et Veneficis -- Cornelian Law for Stabbers and Poisoners") of 81 AD. These words also derive from the verb "secare," which means "to slice."

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

TRIVIA: Actress Millicent Simmonds has been deaf since infancy due to a medication overdose. This was the second film she starred in, with Wonderstruck (2017) being her first.

The bathtub scene with Emily Blunt was done in one take. According to John Krasinski, who is also Blunt's co-star and husband in real-life, as soon as he said, "Cut," Blunt immediately fell out of character and asked the crew, "What's everyone having for lunch?"

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's original screenplay contained only one line of dialogue.

Actor-director John Krasinski has said that the single greatest compliment he received regarding the film, was in a tweet from the master of the horror story himself, Stephen King: "A QUIET PLACE is an extraordinary piece of work. Terrific acting, but the main thing is the SILENCE, and how it makes the camera's eye open wide in a way few movies manage" (6 April 2018). 

In the opening scene, most of the shelves in the grocery store are cleared off, but the chips are completely untouched because they would make too much noise to open and eat.

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's screenplay was named one of the ten best scripts of the year on Tracking Board's 2017 Hit List, an annual list voted on by industry professionals.

During filming, the crew avoided making noise so diegetic background sounds (e.g., the sound of rolling dice on a game board) could be recorded; the sounds were amplified in post-production.

It was initially intended to leave the American Sign Language un-subtitled, believing the audience would understand the emotional subtext of what was going on--the first trailer notably does not translate the signing. However while editing the early sequence where Regan argues with her father regarding her hearing aides, it was decided by the filmmakers that the sequence would have to be translated, so then the whole movie's use of ASL became subtitled.

FILM 1617: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

TRIVIA: To date (2016), Paula Hawkins' book that inspired this film is the fastest-selling adult novel in history.

Original author Paula Hawkins had Michelle Williams in mind for the role of Rachel Watson, which went to Emily Blunt.

The painting that Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) is looking at in an art gallery is "The Subway" by George Tooker.

The book that this film is based on is actually set in England, and Rachel Watson gets the train into London. Emily Blunt is from London, England. For this film, the location was changed to New York but Rachel speaks with Emily's natural British accent in keeping with author Paula Hawkins' vision.

Friends (1994) reference: When Lisa Kudrow's character sees Rachel (Emily Blunt) on the train, she excitedly exclaims, "Rachel! I haven't seen you in a million years!" Kudrow's character on the sitcom, Phoebe Buffey, was best friends with Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). Coincidentally, Aniston's real-life husband, Justin Theroux, plays Rachel's ex-husband in this film.

FILM 1525: EDGE OF TOMORROW 

TRIVIA: Based on the manga and novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.

It was never stated in the movie, but in the manga, the reason why Rita uses a melee weapon is because during her "resets" she would often run out of ammo, which resulted in her deaths. Keiji (in the manga) also learned about the convenience of a melee weapon and started using one.

While filming the car chase scene which includes a minivan, Emily Blunt was instructed to drive fast and then to take a right hand turn so that the van would shake. However, Blunt missed her mark and she drove the car right into a tree. She later said that it was both hilarious and terrifying, as she almost killed Tom Cruise, who was in the passenger seat, but both of them started laughing after the incident.

Emily Blunt admitted that after putting on the metal suit, she started crying because it was so heavy (it weighed 85 pounds) and that she would be required to perform action scenes in it for five months. She was jokingly told by Tom Cruise to "stop being such a wuss."

When Emily Blunt's character is introduced, she is doing a "planche" hold. Although she needed a wire for help on long takes, she is actually capable of doing that maneuver without assistance. In fact, when discussing the introduction, a cast member said, "Em, show that yoga move," and she casually demonstrated it.

The default language setup for Cage's battle armor is Japanese, a nod to the novel's country of origin.

Operation Downfall, the name the movie gave the planned invasion, was in fact a real planned invasion: the final invasion of the Japanese Home Islands to end World War II. The real Operation Downfall never happened, as the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about the surrender of Japan.

Rita, for her bravery, was nicknamed by the public "The Angel of Verdun." In real life, Verdun was the site in France of the bloodiest battle of WWI in 1916. It lasted almost a year and an estimated one million men on both sides died, and Mons was the site in Belgium of a battle in 1914 and spawned tales of what many consider an otherworldly miracle. A 1914 newspaper short story about the battle, "The Bowmen," written by horror-story specialist Arthur Machen, told the tale of how during the battle, soldiers on both sides saw "supernatural" medieval archers appearing in the sky and causing the enemy to retreat. Despite Machen's attempts to prevent it, his story, which was entirely fictional, quickly inspired a popular and strongly believed account of "the Angels of Mons." The Battle of Verdun occurred two years later and there was no association with angelic apparitions, but Rita's nickname does seem to be inspired by the "Angels of Mons" story.

The sound design of the jacket is the same gun used in Aliens (1986).

At the beginning of the movie, there is a montage of different newscasters, news footage, and public officials trying to deal with the alien invasion. One of the public officials they showed was Hillary Clinton, implying that she was President of the United States. The movie was released in 2014, two years before the 2016 presidential elections.

While preparing for her role here, Emily Blunt was tutored in the Israeli self-defense system of "Krav Maga".

Doug Liman wanted to do the film because it showed a role that Tom Cruise hadn't done yet; someone very bad at what they do.