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 1917: HALLOWEEN

FILM 1917: HALLOWEEN 

TRIVIA: Jake Gyllenhaal helped convince Jamie Lee Curtis to reprise her role of Laurie Strode for the film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a family friend of Curtis' and is dubbed by her as an unofficial godson.

The role of Allyson, Laurie's granddaughter, became somewhat of a coveted role. Multiple popular actresses including Lucy Hale and Emma Roberts met with Danny McBride to personally talk about the movie. However, the studio decided that they wanted to go back to the roots of the first movie and cast an unknown actress, similar to how Jamie Lee Curtis was cast in the original.

As with the original Halloween (1978), Michael Myers is listed in the credits not as "Michael Myers", but "The Shape".

The film's producer is Malek Akkad, who is the son of Moustapha Akkad, the producer of the original 1978 "Halloween." Moustapha Akkad was murdered, along with his daughter Rima (Malek's sister), in the terrorist bombing of an Amman, Jordan hotel in 2005. Jamie Lee Curtis has recounted how the first person whom she saw when she came to the set for the first day of filming the 2018 film was Malek, whom she remembered as a 7 year-old child visiting the set during production of the original film. She added that seeing Malek for the first time since his father's death immediately brought her to tears.

On the tv, a newscaster can be heard describing the events of the original film as "the babysitter murders". This was originally the title Carpenter wanted for Halloween (1978). It was only changed to Halloween after the producer Irwin Yablans thought up the idea and to release it near Halloween. The rest is history.

While the film ignores all previous sequels and reboots, it pays homage to all Halloween films, as had been intended by co-Writer Danny McBride.

Jamie Lee Curtis revealed to Chris Hardwick on his podcast that she performed the sounds of the baby crying when Michael walks through the house after slaughtering the resident with a hammer and grabbing a butcher's knife from the kitchen.

FILM 1888: BLUE STEEL

FILM 1888: BLUE STEEL

TRIVIA: Tom Sizemore's film debut.

In Germany, it was distributed as "a film from Oliver Stone", even though Stone was only one of the movie's producers.

Despite the lack of financial success, the performances of Jamie Lee Curtis and Ron Silver received acclaim.

FILM 1885: THE RIVERMAN

FILM 1885: THE RIVERMAN

TRIVIA: Robert Keppel had been a University of Washington Criminology Professor when he was approached by Detective Dave Reichert to help solve the Green River Serial Murders case. Keppel was a profiler, who had helped track down Ted Bundy. While on death row in Florida, Bundy contacted Keppel offering to find the killer he had dubbed "the Riverman" in hopes that he would get a stay of execution. Keppel then began a series of psychologically grueling and often combative interviews with Bundy. Keppel became obsessed with the case and with Bundy, eventually coercing him to confess for the murders of eight women still listed as missing from his reign of terror. The real life relationship between Keppel and Bundy served as the inspiration for the movie, Silence of the Lambs (1991) staring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. The Green River Serial Killer was finally brought to justice on November 30, 2001 when advances in forensic DNA proved that suspect Gary Ridgway was in fact the killer. On November 5th, 2003 Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first degree murder in a King County, Washington (Seattle) courtroom. Due to a plea bargain centered around Ridgway's assistance in helping authorities find missing victims, Ridgway avoided the Death Penalty.

Robert D. Keppel had watched the film and was very pleased with it. He also praised Cary Elwes and Bruce Greenwood's performances.

Based on the best-selling book, "The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer" by Robert Keppel

FILM 1834: JIGSAW

FILM 1834: JIGSAW

TRIVIA: The red helix coils of the Cycle Trap are patterned after the red cheek swirls of Billy the Puppet.

Even though Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010) was originally intended to be the final film of the series, in 2012, the studio, Lionsgate, had expressed interest in continuing the "Saw" films, even contemplating doing a reboot for some time. Then, in 2016, the development for Jigsaw (2017) was officially confirmed.

BOOK 190: THE SNOWMAN: JO NESBØ

BOOK 190: THE SNOWMAN: JO NESBØ

The Snowman (Norwegian: Snømannen, 2007) is a novel by Norwegian crime-writer Jo Nesbø. It is the seventh entry in his Harry Holeseries.

The book was adapted into a film. The film was released in the UK on 13 October 2017. Unlike the novel, the film was poorly received by critics.

MY VERDICT: I enjoyed the book. It’s always hard to tell whether a book is written well when you’re reading a translation so I won’t comment on this but I did feel that the narrative was a little disjointed. It could have been written much clearer with much more suspense. The whole idea behind the murders and the investigation was interesting though, the book kept my attention. 

I did however guess who the killer was pretty early on, which is very rare for me (although I am getting better), I don’t know if that’s a mark against the book or not?

FILM 1828: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

FILM 1828: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

TRIVIA: In preparation for his role, Sir Anthony Hopkins studied files of serial killers. Also, he visited prisons, and studied convicted murderers, and was present during some court hearings concerning gruesome murderers and serial killings.

Jodie Foster claims that during the first meeting between Lecter and Starling, Sir Anthony Hopkins' mocking of her southern accent was improvised on the spot. Foster's horrified reaction was genuine, she felt personally attacked. She later thanked Hopkins for generating such an honest reaction.

With twenty-four minutes and fifty-two seconds of screen time, Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance in this movie is the second shortest to ever win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, with David Niven in Separate Tables (1958) beating him, at twenty-three minutes and thirty-nine seconds.

After Jodie Foster first read the Thomas Harris novel, she tried to buy the rights herself, only to find Gene Hackman had beaten her to it.

Jame Gumb's dance was not included in the original draft of the screenplay, although it appears in the novel. It was added at the insistence of Ted Levine, who thought the scene was essential in defining the character.

One of the inspirations from whom Sir Anthony Hopkins borrowed for his interpretation of Hannibal Lecter was a friend of his in London who rarely blinked when speaking, which unnerved anyone around him.

Jodie Foster spent a great deal of time with FBI agent Mary Ann Krause prior to filming. Krause gave Foster the idea of Starling standing by her car crying. Krause told Foster that at times, the work just became so overwhelming that it was a good way to get an emotional release.

The production received full cooperation from the FBI, as they saw it as a potential recruiting tool to hire more female agents.

Clarice Starling was chosen by the American Film Institution as the sixth-greatest film hero (out of fifty), the highest ranked female on the list. Hannibal Lecter was chosen as the number one greatest film villain (also out of fifty).

Sir Anthony Hopkins said he saw Lecter as similar to H.A.L. 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). A highly complex, highly intelligent, highly logical killing machine, who seems to know everything going on around him.

Sir Anthony Hopkins described his voice for Hannibal Lecter as "a combination of Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn."

John Douglas, on whom the Jack Crawford character was based, achieved some fame of his own a few years after this film. He was hired by the parents of JonBenét Ramsey to investigate her death and apparent murder. Up until that point, the parents had been the chief suspects in the case. While Douglas did not fault the local police for investigating the family first, as in the film, investigators usually assume that victims know their killers, he became the first public official to proclaim their innocence.

The movie's poster was number sixteen of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.

Fangoria magazine was declined the chance to cover the film because Orion and the filmmakers felt that the magazine's focus on the horror genre would stigmatize its awards season chances. They were also barred from covering Cape Fear (1991) for similar reasons.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

PODCAST: BLACK HANDS

PODCAST: BLACK HANDS

This is the story of a mass-murder that divided a nation - a story that began in a rickety old home on a cold June morning in 1994, where five members of a seemingly ordinary New Zealand family were gunned down. There were two suspects. One lay dead from a single bullet to the head. The other was the only survivor: David Bain. Since then the country has asked: who killed the Bain family? David or his father Robin? In this podcast, Martin van Beynen explores the case from start to finish, picking through evidence, the mysteries and motives, and interviewing never-before-spoken-to witnesses. He seeks to finally answer the question: Who was the killer?

MY VERDICT:

I did find this fascinating, it’s such a bizarre story it’s hard not to find interesting however this podcast did have many issues. Firstly, and I say firstly because it’s one of the first things you hear, I found the use of the emergency call in the intro to be manipulative and exploitative. Whether you believe that David Bain, the survivor of the family massacre, killed everyone else or not, this should, in my eyes, not have been used. Without concrete evidence, despite differing opinions, you can’t say he did it, however the journalist is not shy in claiming that he is guilty.  

I come to true crime podcasts to be told information, and I do like to come to my own conclusions, and yes, I agree with the journalist’s judgment but really a true crime podcast shouldn’t have one. These podcasts especially with no conviction taking place at the end should be unbiased, this is not. I don’t know if they’d be able to get away with this in America, but maybe he does it because he says ‘I think’ he did it?

However, I wouldn’t let this put you off listening to this podcast, it’s compelling, I listened to the whole series, which is only short, very quickly. There’s an interesting story being told and despite the biased nature of the narrator, you do get information from other sides. The main drawback and confusing thing is that you only seem to get audio from David’s second trial and not even a transcript of the first. I won’t spoil anything more for you… 

FILM 1781: HAPPY DEATH DAY

FILM 1781: HAPPY DEATH DAY 

TRIVIA: The Bayfield University Baby killer costume was designed by Tony Gardner, who also designed the Ghostface mask, the horror icon of the Scream franchise and which is a reworked version of the Father's Death Halloween costume.

The theatrical trailer utilizes the song "In Da Club" by 50 Cent as Tree's birthday ringtone. However, the final film does not feature this as the crew and studio could not acquire the rights. As a result, an original ringtone composition was concocted.

FILM 1778: 88 MINUTES

FILM 1778: 88 MINUTES

TRIVIA: The film runs in "real time" meaning that at the moment Jack Gramm is first told he has only 88 minutes to live, the remaining running time of the motion picture until the identity of the person who set Gramm up is exactly 88 minutes.

Was scheduled for release in 2005 but the release date was pushed back numerous times.

This movie reunites Al Pacino and Damien Leake from Sea of Love 1989.

This movie reunites Al Pacino and Amy Brenneman from Heat 1995.

THE FALL (2013-2016)

TRIVIA: Gillian Anderson declared that Stella Gibson is her favourite among all of the characters she has performed, even more than Scully from The X-Files (1993).

All of the episodes names are borrowed from lines in John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost".

Jamie Dornan was born in the same city where the story develops (Belfast, Northern Ireland).

Jamie Dornan originally auditioned for the part of a police officer.

Many characters are named after guitars or things related to that world, like makers (ex. Spector, Burns, Stagg). Smith (named for Paul Reed Smith or PRS guitars). Benedetto (taken from a jazz guitar company). Stella Gibson is actually a double guitar name.

Emmett J Scanlan and Bronagh Waugh previously played brother and sister in Hollyoaks(1995). They left the show at the same time to appear in this show together.

FILM 1651: DIRTY HARRY

TRIVIA: In 1972, a copycat crime took place in the state of Victoria in Australia, in which two men kidnapped a teacher and six pupils at gunpoint and demanded a 1 million dollar ransom. The state government agreed to pay, but the children managed to escape and the kidnappers were subsequently jailed. One of them was called Eastwood.

After Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel came on board the project, they hired writer Dean Riesner to work on the script. In his first rewrite, the bank robbery scene ends with Harry not pointing the gun at the robber, but placing it against his own temple. He pulls the trigger, laughs and then walks away. Eastwood and Siegel both felt this was too extreme, even for Harry Callahan.

The movie's line "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" was voted as the #51 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Serial killer Scorpio was loosely based on the Zodiac killer, who used to taunt police and media with notes about his crimes, in one of which he threatened to hijack a school bus full of children. The role of Harry Callahan was loosely based on real life detective David Toschi who was the chief investigator in the Zodiac case.

When Clint Eastwood approached Don Siegel to offer him the directing job, Eastwood gave Siegel four drafts of the script, one of which was written by Terrence Malick. In Malick's script, he had altered Scorpio from being a mindless psychopath killing only because he likes it, to being a vigilante who killed wealthy criminals who had escaped justice. Siegel didn't like Malick's script, but Eastwood did, and Malick's ideas formed the basis for the sequel, Magnum Force (1973).

In September 1981, a case occurred in Germany, under circumstances quite similar to the Barbara Jane Mackle case: A ten-year-old girl, Ursula Hermann, was buried alive in a box fitted with ventilation, lighting and sanitary systems to be held for ransom. The girl suffocated in her prison within 48 hours of her abduction because autumn leaves had clogged up the ventilation duct. Twenty seven years later, a couple was arrested and tried for kidnapping and murder on circumstantial evidence. According to the Daily Mail, the couple were inspired by the scene in which Scorpio kidnaps a girl and places her in an underground box.

In a 2009 poll for MTV News, the character of Harry Callahan was voted the "Greatest Movie Badass of All-Time." Dirty Harry beat other movie icons like Rambo, Ellen Ripley and John McClane to the top spot.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.