FILM 1980: BURNING

FILM 1980: BURNING 

TRIVIA: The scene in which the main characters talk at Jong-su's house was filmed for about a month. They were only able to shoot for a few minutes every day to capture the twilight on camera.

Paju, the hometown of Jong-su, is famous for its fog. According to cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong, there were many foggy scenes at dawn, but some were deleted because they came out so beautifully. Many of the scenes where Jong-su runs to search greenhouses at dawn were also deleted because the foggy landscapes were too beautifully shown.

Official submission of South Korea for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

FILM 1849: SIGNS

FILM 1849: SIGNS

TRIVIA: Abigail Breslin's film debut.

The production used a new watering technique to make the corn grow faster, which the Delaware Valley agricultural college was then very keen to adopt for themselves.

The stories of the children's birth are actually the stories of M. Night Shyamalan's two children.

The artwork in the book about extraterrestrials was actually done by Writer and Director M. Night Shyamalan's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan.

Joaquin Phoenix replaced Mark Ruffalo, who had to pull out of the film due to a brain tumor. It was later found to be benign.

The crop circles are real, as M. Night Shyamalan doesn't particularly like using CGI.

Mel Gibson didn't realize Shyamalan was playing the vet, until the day that they came to shoot their scenes together.

Graham Hess was originally written as an older character. Paul Newman was offered the role, but turned it down, as did Clint Eastwood.

M. Night Shyamalan had the cast watch The Birds (1963) several times during production.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: (M. Night Shyamalan): (Philadelphia): The action takes place just outside of Philadelphia.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: M. Night Shyamalan: [Acting in his own film]

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 1571: THE GOOD DINOSAUR

TRIVIA: This film marked the first time Pixar had released two films in one year, following the release of Inside Out (2015) in June 2015.

Arlo's movements were based on those of young elephants.

The original cast was to include John Lithgow, Judy Greer, Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lucas Neff, but they were replaced following major story changes. The only original cast member to still be a part of the film is Frances McDormand.

EASTER EGG: The Luxo Ball can be seen when Arlo and Spot are hallucinating.

As of 2016, The Good Dinosaur (2015) was the lowest-grossing Pixar movie ever to be released both domestically and worldwide.

EASTER EGG: One of the Asteroids at the start of the film resembles the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story (1995).

EASTER EGG: "A113" is spelled out with sticks on the fence of the bird pen Arlo approaches for feeding.

This story is an alternate history, with the point of divergence coming approximately 65,000,000 years ago: the K-T Extinction Asteroid misses Earth, so the Dinosaur Age continues.

The part when Arlo and Spot eat the berries and start hallucinating is the first hallucination scene in a Disney movie since Dumbo (1941).

FILM 1313: FOOD, INC

TRIVIA: Eric Schlosser and director Robert Kenner are vegetarians, despite the film's spotlight on meat cultivation and processing in the United States.

BOOK 125: OF MICE AND MEN: JOHN STEINBECK

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California, United States.

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

The first film adaptation was in 1939, two years after the publication of the novella, and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, with Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars.

In popular culture:

The Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the Brain (of Animaniacs fame) are somewhat similar to Lennie and George.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) two of the gremlins are named Lenny and George, after the characters of the book. They both have the same personalities as the characters Lennie and George from the novel, and are often seen together.

In Fever Pitch (1997), Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) claims that getting a boy to read Of Mice And Men is the pinnacle of his career, and it will only go downhill from then on.

John Leguizamo sings (or raps) "Which way did he go, George; which way did he go?" on his song "Voodoo Mambo", as does Tupac Shakur on "Can't C Me" (Can't See Me).

Katy Perry references the novella in her song "Pearl": This love's too strong like "Mice and Men" / Squeezing out the life that should be let in.

In Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile (1996), John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the 1999 film) is similar to Lennie in that he is large, unintelligent, and innocent at heart. In both stories, mice fall into their care at some point and ultimately, at the time of their deaths, both Lennie and John Coffey were executed in the most compassionate way possible under the circumstances that occur in both novels.

In the season 3 episode of the sitcom Friends titled "The One with a Chick and a Duck" (1997), Joey is playing with a little chicken. Chandler alludes to Of Mice and Men by saying, "Easy, Lennie", to Joey. This was written in the subtitles, "Easy Lenny", by misunderstanding.

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Film 999: Phenomenon

Trivia: Nate Pope (Forest Whitaker) is an Amateur Radio operator with the call sign WB6QLF. QLF is amateur shorthand for "I am sending with my left foot", a reference to someone whose Morse Code sending skill is very bad. This is normally sent as a question "QLF?" meaning "Are you sending with your left foot?" to an operator who is very difficult to understand in Morse.

Sean Penn, Ed Harris and Jason Patric were considered for the lead role.