FILM 1899: ANNIHILATION

FILM 1899: ANNIHILATION 

TRIVIA: Due to a poorly received test screening, David Ellison, a financier at Paramount, became concerned that the film was "too intellectual" and "too complicated," and demanded changes to make it appeal to a wider audience, including making Portman's character more sympathetic and changing the ending. Producer Scott Rudin sided with Garland in his desire to not alter the film, defending the film and refusing to take notes. Rudin had final cut.

Oscar Isaac filmed this movie and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) on adjacent studio lots. He had the same trailer for both films and would often film scenes for both movies on the same day.

Director Alex Garland decided not to reread the novel "Annihilation." Instead, he decided to adapt it "like a dream of the book."

During the lecture, Lena describes the cells in the video presentation as "cervical cancer" from a "31-year old patient." These are most likely HeLa cells, an immortalized cell line derived from a cervical cancer taken from Henrietta Lacks. The cells are widely used in Biomedical research, and the story of how cells from a patient biopsy were derived without her consent or knowledge is shown in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks(2017). The movie is based on the book of the same name, and Lena is reading a copy of the book when she sits on the couch with Kane.

FILM 1802: GHOSTBUSTERS: ANSWER THE CALL

FILM 1802: GHOSTBUSTERS: ANSWER THE CALL

TRIVIA: Although Harold Ramis could not make a cameo like his costars from the original Ghostbusters due to his death in 2014, you can see a bust of Harold just outside of Erin's university office near the beginning of the film.

At one point Erin proclaims: "Books can't fly and neither can babies". Both happened in the original Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989).

The movie is dedicated to Harold Ramis, as mentioned in the final credits.

After Erin comes to Abby's lab and announces that she has been fired, Abby says, 'Unlike Columbia, this institute is 100% behind us.' This is a reference to Ghostbusters (1984), where Columbia University allowed its facilities to be used for filming as long as its name was never mentioned.

The role of Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones was originally written for Melissa McCarthy. Paul Feig realized that Melissa McCarthy had played similar characters in his previous films, explaining "I wanted to unleash Leslie on the public in the same way we unleashed Melissa on the public in Bridesmaids (2011), with a very showy role."

At one point in the movie, Holtzmann says "they are heavier than you think" with regards to the proton packs. During the filming of the first two original Ghostbuster movies, the actors often complained about the weight of the proton packs.

When the Ghostbusters open the container with the ghost for Dr. Martin Heiss, he jokingly calls the ghost "Casper" in reference to the children's cartoon character "Casper, the friendly ghost". The creators of Ghostbusters (1984) were sued by the owners of the "Casper" properties for $50 million plus the destruction of the film prints. because their logo looked too similar to their character "Fatso", a member of "The Ghostly Trio". But in 1986 the case was ruled in favor of "Ghostbusters". Nevertheless the live-action adaptation of Casper (1995) featured a cameo of Dan Aykroyd as Ghostbuster Ray Stantz.

As of July 2016 this film holds the title for 'most disliked' trailer ever on YouTube.

Four of the cast members, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Cecily Stronghave been Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members. At the time of release, Melissa McCarthy had also hosted SNL four times. Of the original cast, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were also SNL stars, while Harold Ramis was a writer for the Canadian sketch show SCTV (1976), co-starring Rick Moranis.

CAMEO: Daniel Ramis: son of Harold Ramis has a small role as a Metal Head outside the concert Rowan attends.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Paul Feig: the voice on the other end of the walkie talkie that tells Rowan to go clean the bathrooms.

FILM 1768: EVOLUTION

FILM 1768: EVOLUTION

TRIVIA: David Duchovny turned down a role in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) to appear in this movie.

Initially written as a serious science-fiction thriller, Ivan Reitman hired David Diamond and David Weissman to re-write the project as a comedy. The original writer, Don Jakoby, actually enjoyed the changes so much, he continued working on the film alongside the other writers.

Shot in December, DreamWorks asked the locals to delay putting up their Christmas decorations. Following the shoot, DreamWorks paid the city employees overtime to light up the town in time for Christmas.

The placement of the element selenium in Head and Shoulders shampoo is technically correct. Though regular Head and Shoulders shampoo does not have any of the element, Head and Shoulders Intensive Treatment Shampoo actually does consist of approximately 1% selenium sulfide.

In certain point Orlando Jones's character tells David Duchovny to call the government, but he answers "No government, I know those guys". This is a reference to his character in The X Files.