FILM 1466: THE MARTIAN

TRIVIA: The Mars exteriors were shot in Wadi Rum, Jordan, which has a red colored desert. Another Mars mission film, Red Planet (2000), was shot there.

The writer of the novel, Andy Weir, first published his book for free on his own blog for fun. Then people asked him to put it in a downloadable form, then to put it on Amazon for Kindle download which he did at the then minimum price of $0.99.

The atmospheric pressure on the Martian surface averages 600 Pa (0.087 psi), about 0.6% of Earth's mean sea level pressure of 100 kPa (14.69 psi). It is so low that a "fierce storm", as they put it, would be something akin to a very light breeze messing up your hair. Author Andy Weir admitted this was his biggest inaccuracy in the story. Due to the low air density sound would not travel like it does on Earth and you would have to stand next to someone and scream for them to hear you, providing you could survive the freezing cold temperature, poisonous atmosphere and lack of pressure.

The name of the mission is Ares 3, a homage to the Greek god of war, Ares, whose Roman name is Mars. The name of the large ship traveling back and forth between Earth and Mars is Hermes, named after the Greek god who was the messenger and emissary. Hermes was seen as the patron and protector of travelers.

In the novel, Mark Watney has two Masters degrees, one in botany and one in mechanical engineering. In the film, however, he has a PhD in botany and no engineering background is mentioned, although he is shown to have a knowledge of engineering and maintenance of the mission equipment.

Drew Goddard, who wrote the screenplay for the film, was also at one point set to direct, but left that role to go direct The Sinister Six film. After that, Ridley Scott read the script and jumped into the project, rather than making a Prometheus (2012) sequel.

Author Andy Weir originally wrote the novel as a serial on his blog. Writing in this serialized approach allowed him to build the story as he went, essentially crafting each plot point around something that could go wrong, and then working out how Mark would get around it. Weir noted that he could not figure his way around failure of the crucial life support systems, so if the oxygenator, water reclaimer, or RTG failed, Mark would have died.

Here's what Mars is like, according to NASA:

Mars has a reddish-orange glow during the day from all the dust.

Sunrises and sunsets appear blue because Mars has almost no atmosphere.

One day or "sol" on Mars is about 37 minutes longer than an Earth day. The natural human circadian rhythm (or sleep-wake cycle) is about 24 hours and 11 minutes, but experiments have shown that humans have no problems adapting to cycles varying from 23 hours 30 minutes to 24 hours 36 minutes; so humans would not experience major disruptions of their biological clock on Mars.

One Martian year is nearly two Earth years. That's because Mars orbits the Sun much farther away than Earth, so it takes a lot longer for the red planet to complete one lap.

The average surface temperature on Mars is a chilly minus-80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62 degrees Celsius). But temperatures can swing from a low of about minus-195 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-126 degrees Celsius) in winter, to a comfortable 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) during the summer.

Gravity on Mars is only about 40% that of Earth's, so a person would be 60% lighter (but not Moon-bouncing light).

Mars has barely any atmosphere - about 1% of the density of the cozy atmospheric blanket around Earth. That's not enough to protect the surface from dangerous space radiation.

The "steely-eye missile man" is a reference to flight controller John Aaron's actions following two lightning strikes to the Apollo 12 rocket in its first minute after liftoff. The electrical surge caused numerous problems in the telemetry system of the craft, which if unresolved would force a mission abort. Aaron recognized the telemetry problem as similar to one seen in testing a year before, and advised that the crew to switch the Signal Conditioning Electronics (SCE) system to the auxiliary position. This control was so obscure that neither the Capsule Commander, nor the Mission Commander knew what, or even where it was, but pilot Alan Bean did, following Aaron's advice. Altering the setting immediately fixed the problem, allowing the mission to continue. Aaron's quick, calm, and effective response to the crisis earned him the appellation, widely considered to be the highest praise possible within NASA. This can also be a reference to the 1995 movie Apollo 13.

Matt Damon has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in this film. This makes him the only nominee in the Best Actor category of the 84th Academy Awards who was nominated for playing a fictional character. All the other Best Actor nominees were nominated for playing historical figures.

FILM 1457: THE GRAPES OF WRATH

TRIVIA: Banned in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin in 1940 because of its showing that even the poorest Americans could afford a car.

Prior to filming, producer Darryl F. Zanuck sent undercover investigators out to the migrant camps to see if John Steinbeck had been exaggerating about the squalor and unfair treatment meted out there. He was horrified to discover that, if anything, Steinbeck had actually downplayed what went on in the camps.

Banks and the large farming corporations that controlled most California farms were not keen on the original novel (it was banned in some states and in several counties in California, and the book was not carried in the municipal library of author John Steinbeck's home town of Salinas, California, until the 1990s) and were even less thrilled that a film was being made of it. The Associated Farmers of California called for a boycott of all 20th Century-Fox films, and Steinbeck himself received death threats.

John Ford banned all makeup and perfume from the set on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the tone of the picture.

The pro-union stance of the film led to both John Steinbeck and John Ford being investigated by Congress during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era for alleged pro-Communist leanings.

Henry Fonda currently holds the record for the longest gap between acting Oscar nominations. His first nomination was for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) in 1940, his second was for On Golden Pond (1981) in 1981, 41 years later. He received one other Oscar nomination in the period between his two acting nominations, that was for producer of 12 Angry Men (1957) in 1957.

John Ford unmercifully chewed out Frank Darien for overemoting in the scene where Ma is preparing a simple stew for the family in front of a crowd of starving children in the migrant camp. By the time Ford had finished his tirade, Darien was completely drained, which proved to be exactly the take Ford wanted for the scene.

FILM 1392: Z FOR ZACHARIAH

TRIVIA: Although set in the Midwestern United States of America, the film was shot entirely in New Zealand's Banks Peninsula. The two areas share a similar geography.

Tobey Maguire was originally cast as the lead role.

After leaving the filming wrap party in Methven, New Zealand, Chris Pine was pulled over by police and charged with drunk driving. He pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay $93 in reparation. He was let off a fine after making a sizable donation to charity.

FILM 1224: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

TRIVIA: Isao Takahata was the only living animator involved on the project who had survived bomb blasts.

The fruit drops that Setsuko eats were made by the Sakuma Confectionary Company, which in real life was established in 1949 (four years after the events in this movie took place). A few years ago, Sakuma released limited edition tin cans that resembled the one seen in the movie. Some variations of these tins also had a picture of Setsuko looking through her tin for the last drop.

This is the only Ghibili theatrical feature film to not be part of the Disney-Tokuma deal.