FILM 1928: GLASS

FILM 1928: GLASS

TRIVIA: Samuel L. Jackson said of working with James McAvoy on the movie, "As good as I like to think I am or what I do and how I do it, watching somebody transform characters in front of your eyes and have an argument with four different people is pretty amazing."

James Mcavoy based one of his twenty-three multiple personalities on a young Saoirse Ronan, whom he worked with in the film Atonement (2007).

While promoting the movie at the 2018 Comic-Con, writer and director M. Night Shyamalan noted that the film was "a once-in-a-lifetime movie in that Disney arm Buena Vista International, which owns the rights to Unbreakable (2000), and Split (2016) studio Universal Pictures, agreed to team for the film." He continued saying, "I don't think this will ever happen again, where two studios had two IPs they completely owned, and I said, 'Can we make a sequel to both, and you guys share it?' and they said 'Yes.'"

Sarah Paulson accepted her part without reading the script, even though her role was originally written for a man, for the opportunity to work with director M. Night Shyamalan. 

When David Dunn is taken into the mental hospital, the first camera feed seen is labeled H20. David's weakness is water which hints that the hospital is dangerous to him.

Although Disney owns the rights to Unbreakable (2000), director M. Night Shyamalankept the rights to any potential sequels to himself, so that the studio could not make one without his involvement. Such was his desire for creative control that he co-financed Glass (2019) by mortgaging his house.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: M. Night Shymalan played a customer at the Dunn Security store and recognized David Dunn as a former security guard at the stadium and credits him for putting him on a good path. In Unbreakable (2000), Shymalan cameoed as a drug dealer whom David has a run in with.

FILM 1924: THE OTHER GUYS

FILM 1924: THE OTHER GUYS

TRIVIA: The idea of teaming up of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg had been gestating since The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007), where Will had been viciously insulting other actors as part of a bit, but became extremely polite to Mark.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Adam McKay: Dirty Mike.

FILM 1856: CHANGING LANES

FILM 1856: CHANGING LANES

TRIVIA: A day after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Director Roger Michell had the World Trade Center towers digitally removed from the opening main title sequence in the film. In the DVD commentary, he admitted that it was a mistake to erase them, and make it appear as if they did not exist. During the re-editing of the film, Michell reinserted them as a tribute.

It was Samuel L. Jackson's choice for his character to wear a purple hat. Jackson's characters often feature the color purple: Mr. Glass wears purple clothing in Unbreakable(2000) and Glass (2019); and Mace Windu has a purple light-saber in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005).

In order to attract a wider audience, the theatrical trailer was arranged in such a way as to make the film look like a high octane thriller, as opposed to the rather slow moving drama it actually was. This move was heavily criticized for misleading moviegoers.

FILM 1831: UNBREAKABLE

FILM 1831: UNBREAKABLE

TRIVIA: Writer and Director M. Night Shyamalan always had Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in mind to play the roles of David Dunn and Elijah Price.

Of all the films he's made, this is M. Night Shyamalan's personal favorite.

One of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films.

Charlayne Woodard, who plays the mother to Samuel L. Jackson's character, is actually almost a full five years younger than her on-screen son.

The scene where David's son tries to shoot him to prove he has super powers is based on the popular urban legend that George Reeves was once confronted by a child who asked to shoot him with a real gun while he was in his Superman costume. According to the legend, Reeves, just like David, got the boy to put the gun down by convincing him it would ricochet and hurt someone else.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: M. Night Shyamalan: Stadium drug dealer.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: M. Night Shyamalan: [Philadelphia] Set in Philadelphia, like most of his films.

FILM 1812: DEEP BLUE SEA

FILM 1812: DEEP BLUE SEA

TRIVIA: The license plate pulled from the shark's teeth is the same one found in the tiger shark in Jaws (1975).

For one scene, Thomas Jane had to swim alongside a real live shark. He was only allowed to shoot this once he had completed all his other scenes.

The orange colored mini-sub visible in the wet-entry area was the same mini-sub seen in the end of Sphere (1998), also starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Preacher's description of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity (Tom Scoggins: "I spent four years at CalTech, and that's the best physics explanation I've ever heard.") is adapted from a quote by Einstein himself: "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity."

Samuel L. Jackson was initially offered the role played by LL Cool J. Jackson's management didn't like the idea of him playing a chef so director Renny Harlin created the role of Russell Franklin for him, Jackson stated about Harlin casting him as Franklin "He said, 'Now you're going to be the richest man in the world, and you're going to have the greatest scene in the movie, and it's going to be a shock to everyone!" Jackson recalled. "He sent it back, [and the part] was Russell Franklin, and I was like 'Yeah, this was great.' I've done a lot of different things in movies, or had a lot of things happen to me in the movies, but nothing like what happens to me in this one."

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Renny Harlin: as one of the workers of Aquatica that are heading home for the weekend on the supply boat.

FILM 1641: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN 

TRIVIA: Alexander Skarsgård said that one of the main reasons he took this role was to impress his father Stellan Skarsgård. He said, "My dad is a massive Tarzan fan. Growing up, we had these VHS cassettes of the Johnny Weissmuller films, and that was my introduction to the character. But those films are seventy years old, and so much time has passed, that I think mine is a fresh take. I'll never compete with Johnny Weissmuller, but I just wanted to impress my father. He was thrilled; he was more excited than I was."

In the scene where Jane and Captain Rom are eating dinner, she crosses her fork and knife. The Captain rings the bell, and tells the servant Lady Clayton is finished. After she leaves, he places her knife and fork beside each other. In formal dining, when people cross their silverware, it means they did not enjoy the meal. When they are placed next to each other, it means they are finished.

Alexander Skarsgård's first cheat meal occurred more than five months into his training. Skarsgård had been on a very strict diet for five straight months, avoiding any fat completely, as he was in the process of developing an eight-pack. He said, "It was a Sunday, and we were training hard in the gym, and my trainer saw that my will to live was fading. He told me to put down the weights and he took me to lunch. That day he let me order whatever I wanted. I got to eat pizza, pasta, tiramisu. I get emotional just talking about that day." On the last day of filming, the crew congratulated him on the end of his diet by gifting him with a huge "Banoffee Pie," a British dessert. Skarsgård said that to celebrate, he ate the entire pie by himself, in a single sitting.

Alexander Skarsgård joked that he would like Tarzan to be drastically different in the sequel because of the heavy workout and diet demands on him. He said, "We have an outline already in which Tarzan gains weight. Tarzan remains hairy and does not have eight pack abs. It has no action and Tarzan eats cake, lots of cake. I wrote it."

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was in talks to play Tarzan. Ironically, Johnny Weissmuller was an Olympic swimmer before landing in the role of the title character in the 1932 film and its multiple sequels.

FILM 1463: THE HATEFUL EIGHT 

TRIVIA: After the script leaked online, Quentin Tarantino did not want to make the film. But after they did a brief reading of the script in L.A. the cast were stunned and got excited for the film and with Samuel L. Jackson persuading him to do this film, Tarantino accepted.

Quentin Tarantino announced in 2015's Comic-Con that Ennio Morricone would compose the score for the film. Tarantino remarked that it would be the first western scored by Morricone in 40 years. Tarantino had previously used Morricone's music in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012). Morricone also wrote a brand new song, Ancora Qui, for the latter. Despite alleged tensions between the two, Tarantino decided to have Morricone on board to write new and original music for the movie. This will be the first film by Tarantino to use mainly an original musical score. Most of Tarantino's previous films have used mainly source music, with only a few cues of original score written for the film.

Despite being their sixth collaboration as actor and director, this is the first time that Samuel L. Jackson receives top billing in a film directed by Quentin Tarantino.

For the most part, the roles of Major Warren, John Ruth, Oswaldo and Joe Gage were written with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen in mind. The role of Daisy Domergue was less specific and many actresses were considered, before Jennifer Jason Leigh was cast. Quentin Tarantino said: "Daisy became one of the most interesting characters because she's on the page, but she's not on the page; an actress literally needs to invest in playing that character from beginning to end. They have to get you to that last chapter. It had to be an actress I could trust, and also a performer you enjoy watching her character work. When Jennifer came in she was very impressive in the reading, but what really got me was I'd just starting watching a bunch of her movies. I had a whole Jennifer Jason Leigh film festival. I watched one and I couldn't wait to put the next one in, she was such an entertaining actress, especially about that time in the 90s, like eXistenZ (1999) Georgia (1995) and especially Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). Those movies were built around her. Her performance was the center of the movie, and everything was built around that, and that's what was needed for Daisy."

Reunites Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh 24 years after they both appeared in Backdraft (1991), though they had no scenes together in that film. Coincidentally, both their dads Bing Russell and Vic Morrow had co-starred 50 years earlier in the TV series Combat!: Odyssey (1965).

Composer Ennio Morricone said in an interview that he accepted Quentin Tarantino's request to score the film because he liked the movie's script, and because Tarantino gave him full freedom in the composition. Morricone said he considers The Hateful Eight an adventure movie rather than a Western, and as a result, tried to make the music sound completely different from his famous Western scores. He based the music on the feelings that the script evoked in him, rather than composing music for specific scenes. Because Morricone had only about a month to produce his score, he added several pieces of music that he had originally written for The Thing (1982), some of which had never been used. Morricone finally gave Tarantino five pieces of music, which he could use in the movie as he pleased.

Director Cameo: Quentin Tarantino:  Voice of the narrator.

Director Trademark: Quentin Tarantino:  [Red Apple Cigarettes]  When Jody asks Minnie to roll him a cigarette she tells him that she uses "Red Apple" tobacco. Red Apple cigarettes appear in multiple Tarantino films. Also Bob the Mexican smokes "Manzana Roja" which is also Spanish for Red Apple.

FILM 1312: KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

TRIVIA: Actor Colin Firth did 80% of his own stunts according to stunt coordinator and second unit director Bradley James Allan.

Many of the villains in the James Bond franchise have had some form of physical dysfunction, difference or abnormality. Samuel L. Jackson's character of Richmond Valentine was originally intended not to have a lisp, however Jackson completed his first take with a lisp. Director Matthew Vaughn yelled cut and talked to Jackson who revealed to Vaughn that prior to having an acting career he actually had a lisp which he eventually overcame. It was also jokingly remarked that this lisp is Valentine's reason for being villainous.

According to "The Gentleman's Guide" on the film's official website, "The Rules" of a Kingsman Gentleman are as follows: (1) A gentleman never tells about conquests, private matters, or dealings. His business is nobody else's. (2) A gentleman doesn't clash in public with enemies or exes, or worse, with out-of-fashion contrasts, colors or styles. (3) A gentleman is always happy to serve, whether it's opening the door, picking up the bill, or merely calling a cab the next morning. Ask him for help and he cannot refuse. (4) A gentleman never reacts to rudeness. He pretends he doesn't recognize it and moves on like it never happened, because it never should have. (5) A gentleman is always on target with witty remarks, interesting facts, and conversation starters that bring the best out of everyone. And (6) A gentleman asks non-invasive questions to keep a conversation going and attention focused on others. He makes them feel like the most interesting person he's ever met, whether that's true or not.

Director Matthew Vaughn wanted the character of Merlin (Mark Strong) to have a Welsh accent but Strong found the accent too challenging and persuaded Vaughn to let him use a Scottish accent instead.

In the film, the character of Professor James Arnold is played by Mark Hamill. In the comic series, Hamill is the first celebrity kidnapped by Dr. Arnold.

The canvas shown in Richmond Valentines (Samuel L. Jackson) luxury mansion, is the same one Mark Strong has in his office in Kick-Ass (2010).

Comic book writer Mark Millar once told director Matthew Vaughn about a newspaper article he had read about how director Terence Young, who directed the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962), and had cast Sean Connery against the wishes of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Fleming had seen Agent 007 as more of a James Mason or David Niven type, the latter actually portraying him later in the unofficial spoof Casino Royale (1967). Millar has said: "Young realized he had to turn Connery, this rough Edinburgh guy, into a gentleman, and before they started shooting the film he took him to his tailor, to his favorite restaurants, and basically taught him how to eat, talk, and dress like a gentleman spy."